Since we’re just getting started and I’m the only subscriber... Hello? Anybody there? ... Anyone? ... Bueller? ... Anyway, since I don’t want to be talking to myself, why don’t we introduce ourselves?
John, Everyone. Everyone, I'd like you to meet John Wilkins.
I’ve been a web developer for a long time. In web time, I’m practically Moses. I’ve been doing this professionally since 1994. And, although my non-Drupal website hasn’t been updated since the Mesolithic Age, I’ve been working with Drupal since version 4.6. And enjoying it since version 4.7. (The development version of my website is running Drupal 5.0 RC1 and should be up soon. Maybe I should just put it up now and slap a “beta” sticker on it.) [update: It’s now up and running!]
I’ve contributed to LoginToboggan, Page Title, Devel and TAC (Taxonomy Access Control). And 2 of my patches for Drupal core just got rolled into 4.7.5 and RC1. Woo-hoo!
My <abbr title="Cascading Style Sheets>CSS creds go back to 2001 when Jeffrey Zeldman said “to hell with bad browsers” and challanged web developers to take CSS layout seriously. I was a charter member of the CSS-D group and, while helping in the table-to-CSS journey, became a humble CSS guru. Okay, maybe not humble. I’ve found the CSS Holy Grail and realized it’s just a cup.
And I live and work in Ahwatukee.
So tell me about yourself. Come here often?
Comments
Hi John!
Hopefully we aren't the only two in Phoenix that use and enjoy Drupal.
To introduce myself in regards to Drupal, I am a relatively recent 'convert' to Drupal. I switched most of my sites from Mambo/Joomla about a year ago. I wish I could say that I've contributed to Drupal, but the truth is that I'm not the greatest coder in the world. I do, however, share your zeal for proper design, both aesthetically and semantically, which was one of the factors in my switching to Drupal.
As a bit of background, I've been a web developer for a number of years now. I started out programming Java, and quickly realized that there are two kinds of people out there, and I'm the kind that does NOT like programming Java. Since then, I've been working more in CSS, semantic and SEO-friendly design, web analytics, and search. I currently work with a Google partner as a Google Analytics Consultant and a Google Enterprise Search Consultant. I live in East Mesa, and work in Paradise Valley.
My second full-time job is my wedding photography business - Ferguson Photography, which, I'm proud to say, is powered by Drupal.
It would be great to see some other Drupalers in the Phoenix area!
Jerry Ferguson
Hi Jerry!
I completely agree with you about Mambo/Joomla; those table-based layouts drove me nuts! And Drupal has had semantic layout for a while now. Have you seen Drupal 5.0’s new CSS API and cacheing? It’s sweet.
Your comment about Java reminds me of a joke I saw recently: “There are 10 kinds of people. Those that understand binary. And those that don’t.”
You’re a Google consultant? Interesting…
I‘m sure there are many more Drupalers out here; it will just take a little while for them to notice this Group.
- John (JohnAlbin)
Arizona Wedding Photographer Ferguson Photography
Hi Jerry
Just been looking at yours and other photography websites. Must say I like yours in particular.
The off black grad BG compliments the foreground images to my way of thinking. Keeps the foreground images uncluttered and the whole site is easy on the eye [not that others sites aren't great as well I might add].
I'm about to jump in making a new site using Drupal and have a question or two for you -
Is that BG grad a plug in?
How do you ensure the images are sharp on screen?
How to make a gallery.
I gather you made the entire site in Drupal. Is it relatively easy to make. I get the impression drpal is made up of modules. How is this different to say Dreaweaver.
To start my site, do you know any good tutes for startup guys like me.
Thanks for the good work
penandme
www.indonesianimages.com
Bueller here...
Hi John and Jerry
Bueller here…
My name is Cynthia and I was searching on the internet for groups and came across this one (small one at that ). I live in Tempe and am an aspiring web designer focusing on CSS and SEO.
My problem is that I don't have any real job experience in web design and I come from print and prepress with all kinds of graphic app experience, but have been working towards this goal of becoming a freelance web designer for the last few months. I am educated in graphic design, and web design, know coding and some web based data driven apps, but feel like I need some direction or mentorship with my situation.
I can afford to work for someone for free for a while as well. I don’t mind going out and pitching someone on a redesign of the site and doing it pro bono but I have all kinds of concerns about the clients expectations and it could just be a real nightmare for someone like me. There are a lot of sites that need a good redesign to put it nicely and I probably could pitch a redesign. I see it a real need for pure CSS conversion designs as they are the most search engine spider friendly and a site could potentially get some good ranking. Blah blah blah . What I’ve discovered is that all job ads are for PHP ASP etc programmers with years and years of experience and very little front end designer jobs.
Can anyone give me advice on how I could gain some real job experience or no someone who might assist me in some directional objectivity?
I have been experimenting with WordPress as of late but the Drupal has peaked my interest. I like the fact that these apps are customizable with CSS.
Well anyway enough of my dribble.
Cheers
Cynthia
Hi Cynthia!
You are the second person to make this same offer in the past month! Unfortunately, I’ve already taken up someone on the free work offer in exchange for mentorship.
Hopefully, with more people joining the group, you’ll be able to find someone. It‘s a tremendous offer. Do you have an on-line portfolio of your graphic design work?
Also, if we get a few more people in the group, we could set up a meet up and chat about anything Drupal. Themeing and CSS-based design is certainly a popular topic.
- John (JohnAlbin)
Real job experience
Hi Cynthia,
In roughly one month we will begin a site redesign for a mail order/e-commerce company out of Illinois. If you are interested in working on the project in conjunction with another developer, I'm sure we can find some snippets to provide you with a little experience and help build that portfolio. Drop me an e-mail if you're still interested!
Hi Everyone!
Nice to meet you John, Cynthia and Jerry! Drupal sparked my interest as a compliment/alternative to DotNetNuke. .NET development is really my expertise right now and I'm looking to expand my horizons a bit with Drupal. Now, if only I can find room in that fire for one more iron!
Welcome, Paul!
I know the feeling! I want to do so many things, but I have to try to keep my priorities.
Thanks for joining the group. When we get a few more people to join, we’ll organize a meet-up!
- John (JohnAlbin)
Hello
It's nice to see this group. My name is Wendy Putler and I've been doing web stuff for a long time now. My first site went live in 1995. I mostly use PHP and MySQL (although I've done a little with ASP & SQL Server).
I just put up my first Zen-cart site and loved the flexibility of it. Made me decide that a CMS would be good for my next project. I need to get the project up and running quickly though and need some help learning Drupal at lightning speed and/or help with site setup if anyone is in the market for what I think will be very short project - especially if you know what you are doing with Drupal.
After doing some review. I determined that Drupal seemed like the best CMS for my project. I installed it yesterday and added modules for eCommerce, Organic Groups, User Node, Node Family, Node Profile, Views, Devel, CCK and Profile Plus (but having problems with that one). But now I'm thoroughly confused about which one will do the function I needed in the first place ;-)
My strategy right now is to start with a clean install, then go back and do one requirment at a time.
/Wendy
Your experience is typical
Almost everyone (including myself) has the same first-time experience.
Fortunately, Drupal 5 has a feature which helps a little if you can’t tell what a particular module does. Try this URL on your site http://example.com/admin/by-module. It lists each module and links to what it does.
How fast do you need a site up and running? And what are your requirements? That’s what I do for a living. 480-598-3338
- John (JohnAlbin)
Hello Phoenix Drupalers!
My name is Josh.
I've been working with Drupal for a little over 2 years now. I've done several custom themes (one of which I contributed to the drupal Community). I created the OpenID URL module and have submitted several patches for a few other modules (banner, ecommerce...). Anyways, I'm looking to meet up with other Drupalers in Phoenix. Is there a regular monthly meeting that occurs? I look forward to meeting you all.
Would love to meet up!
Hey, Josh!
We don’t (yet) have a regular meet-up. I’ve been waiting for a good number of subscribers before proposing it. But it looks like now might be a good time to try one!
- John
Albin.Net : friendly web development
- John (JohnAlbin)
Oops..
Umm.. I saw this thread after I posted here http://groups.drupal.org/node/3349#comment-16102
John, feel free to move my post if necessary. Thanks.
Meetup.com....
hey guys, I joined the meetup.com for the Drupal events, and I also stopped by the ASU web site (they have a section developed in Drupal with tutorials and discussions) and left a "feedback" to join the meetup. Would be cool if a dozen of us gathered, and we meat somewhere on the "neutral land" like South Scottsdale or at least in between North Phoenix and Tempe.
What do yo say?
Meetup.com...
The closer you can get to the east valley, the better for me. I do a Ruby on Rails in Chandler (3rd Tuesday), and the AZ PHP in Tempe (4th Tuesday).
~Swoop
Swoop
jrbeeman said that he can
jrbeeman said that he can get some people from ASU involved since they have quite a few Drupalers over there and he suggested Rula Bula in Tempe.. I think it's on the Mill street.
Watch this group, hopefully we'll get something going soon - http://drupal.meetup.com/cities/us/az/phoenix/
jrbeeman said that he can
Fantastic location, but can they accommodate a large party with laptops?
~Swoop
Swoop
second the Rula Bula suggestion!
we're 3blks from Rula Bula with a handful of developers from JumpBox. We'd attend the Drupal mtgs most likely if they were held there.
sean
--
Drupal install in 30sec with JumpBox
Rula Bula
I think we could get a group from ASU to Rula Bula ( Google map - http://tinyurl.com/2eb9ll ). If we go on a weeknight, there shouldn't be a problem, although we may want to call to check.
Kathy
Tuesdays
they have live music every night but Tuesday. I would recommend Tues on the back patio:
http://www.rulabula.com/current_calendar.htm
--
Drupal install in 30sec with JumpBox
How about Saturday or Sunday?
or even Monday the 3rd? Most of the people should be off... I don't think I could make it on any other day beside weekends :(
I'd do my best to make it
I'd do my best to make it any night - Tuesdays I can make it after 7:30 PM but any other night I should be generally okay to make it.
should we vote for the day
should we vote for the day and time? Long weekend is coming.. I guess I could make it any time on the 1st, 2nd or 3d... my only concern was getting back home to the N.Phoenix while I'm new to the area :)lol
This Thursday?
What does everyone think about meeting up this Thursday (Sep 13)?
what time do you have in
what time do you have in mind? Thursday is not a very good day for me though...
Wow - this just keeps not
Wow - this just keeps not working out. Why don't we try and plan for a date further out? Wednesday Sep 19 or Monday Sep 24?
Jeff, may be actually
Jeff, may be actually schedule a meet up on the meetup.com - it should email everyone there as well. This way there will be this small feeling of urgency :)lol
I'll try my best for any time... my wife is not driving and I'm picking her up from school in the evenings, I'm kinda binded by that... but I will do my best to make sure I could come that's why I asked about the time.
..so... nothing is going on
..so... nothing is going on uh..?