I have built 4 successful Drupal sites at this educational institution where I am employed. I am basically a data guy, but thanks to the rich collection of Drupal modules and documentation I have managed to muddle through. The sites all use standard templates and modules with very little tweaking of CSS or PHP by me. The sites mainly deal with managing required documents - entering some meta-data, uploading the document, passing the document around for approval, scheduling renewal. Most of which I have built with the usual modules CCK, ViEWS, WORKFLOW, etc.
Now one of the clients wants to ramp up their website. I can't find a module that fits the requirements. What do people suggest I do next?
-- Hire a consultant? (I don't have a budget, per se, but am willing to spend some of my own money to get myself up to speed.) Can I get someone that will work with me to get me over the hump? Or is this too small a task?
-- Get more training? (Sure that make sense, but where?)
-- Buck up and figure it out!
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
George
Comments
describe the problem here?
Have you described your specific problem to anybody in the community? That would be my first step. It's possible someone has done something similar but not necessarily in the form of a contrib module. People get real creative with stuff like Rules, VBO and what-not. At the very least if you are able to narrow the custom code to some "advanced theme-ing" or Views/Rule plug-in or whatever you'll save yourself some dough and maintenance headaches.
But if you're going to spend your own money I would definitely say training instead hiring a consultant. That way you're investing in yourself not just your employer/client.
Hmm...
The first thing I suggest is to plan on attending the Drupal meetup at MIT on Oct. 2. You will find a lot of smart, helpful people there.
I don't have any idea what "ramp up" means in this case because you didn't describe it. I've seen what seemed like complex issues solved by simple modules, so it might not be as bad as you fear.
Nancy Dru
The "self-help" group as well
As well as the MIT meetup, feel free to drop by the Drupal Self-Help group. The latest one was tonight but we'll meet again in two weeks.
http://groups.drupal.org/node/255168
Look for it on this list. It's a slightly different format, but both are very good forums for asking this kind of question. Especially if you can show the site and describe what it is you're looking for.