Posted by michaelfavia on February 8, 2007 at 7:51pm
Noticing the unusually high interest but lack of experienced developers at our local DUG I would like to propose assembling a Drupal Crash Course that covers the basics and gets everyone on some firm development/contribution footing. Topics that i would like to cover:
- basic database schema (table relationships, incoming FK support)
- bootstrap process and its relation to loading modules (a good over view of this helps you understand how everythign works)
- drupal menu system (D5 and preliminary info on D6 hook_router/dispatch split)
- module hook system (key to modifying or creating a module)
- theming appropriately to keep core and modules clean of unnecessary edits
- development best practices (IDE, CVS, Local Dev Setup, etc)
If someone is interested enough in these topics that they'd help me put together an outline of things they would like to know about then i'd be happy to walk through it for a group (or split among others). Nothing terribly formal is necessary. Just let me know.
Comments
Theming standards
I have a strong interest in developing/maintaining some theming standards, so I'm certainly willing to help conduct a crash course on making clean, elegant themes.
Too many themes are either rigid or so overly robust as to make modifications to the CSS nearly impossible. Garland is a great example: It's so finely designed to operate in many types and versions of browsers that it makes modifications very, very difficult. It basically tries to be everything to everyone. It could achieve the same look with more simplified CSS if it were willing to ignore IE<6 and relative positioning.
Todd Ross Nienkerk
Editor, That Other Paper | Co-founder, Four Kitchen Studios
Todd Ross Nienkerk
Digital Strategist and Partner
Four Kitchens: Big ideas for the web
IRC: toddross
I was hoping you would say
I was hoping you would say that Todd. I couldn't agree with you more and I was writing it with you in mind. Id like (and by "I'd like" i mean "I'd like to help you") to show people a number of things including how to theme properly using built in mechanisms (templates, theme hooks, etc), and how to get the output they want without editing core and contrib modules thus polluting their upgrade path (it is way to common to start hacking core or modules). Basically I'd like to demonstrate how to get what you want and still leave a small footprint that is easy to maintain and upgrade around.
Dojo is working on theming
Todd - I'm still hoping to figure out a way to make it to Austin AND the DrupalCon (the next week?). Would be great to sit in on any sort of theming class y'all would teach (Other Paper is one of the best). The Drupal Dojo just did a lesson (and will continue to work on) Merlin's 'Themer Pack Project' and is looking at other theming projects that would enable learning and make Drupal a bit easier for themers and designers. Think the crash course you're talking about would be ideal for the Dojo - with close to 500 members (ranging from newbies to seasoned developers) there's quite a bit of Drupal good we can do (with a little guidance).
Gus Austin
Director of Chaos and Confusion
PepperAlley Productions
What am I trying to do with Drupal?
Gus Austin
Excellent proposal! Per your wiki, is 3/9 Austin DUG meetup OK?
Hi Michael,
It was good meeting you at the Austin DUG and thanks for your excellent idea to walk through some topics for Drupal users.
I'll respond to your request within a week to help you "put together an outline of things".
Thanks!
EDITED on 2/22: I see you've created a SXSWi wiki. Please let me know if I can assist you with any of the logistics. Also, is it OK with you if we publicize the Friday, 3/9 "Dinner and drinks meetup" as shown on your wiki as the Austin DUG's meetup for the month of March? If OK with you, 3/9 would effectively take the place of the Austin DUG's "first Wednesday of the month" meetup.
Walt Esquivel, MBA; MA; President, Wellness Corps; Captain, USMC (Veteran)
$50 Hosting Discount Helps Projects Needing Financing
Walt Esquivel, MBA; MA; President, Wellness Corps; Captain, USMC (Veteran)
$50 Hosting Discount Helps Projects Needing Financing
I was just hoping to put some faces with names
Are you going to SXSW, or are you already in Austin and feel like everyone is coming to you? My POV is I'm already going to get overloaded with exposure to new technologies in the sessions I'm paying for. I really don't need a crash course in Drupal.
I just want to get together with other Drupal users. Put faces with logins. There are always a few sessions at SXSW that cover the basics, but most people going already know the basics and are interested in seeing advanced CSS techniques, video streaming, etc, etc. SXSW is about looking out past the cutting edge and being inspired by the best work done that year.
Thx for the feedback. i live
Thx for the feedback. i live about 5 blocks from the convention center where SXSW is held. I understand your concern and if others agree with you then maybe a better time for such a crash course is at our next local DUG. I just thought i might offer it to the larger audience if they were interested in such a session. If there is general support for such an idea then the we might proceed. if we don't get any other response form out of towners then maybe we'll do it another time. Regardless i plan to be meetigng for an evening or two with other developers for the meet and greet aspect.
We're flexible
We can get as high- or low-level as people would like. We've tackled all sorts of problems, and we'd love to share our experience.
I didn't mean to suggest you weren't cutting edge
Sorry if I implied that. I just meant, I already know Drupal. I spend the majority of my day knee deep in it right now. I'd like to get together and talk shop (preferably over beers!), but I don't really want sit through a presentation about it.
I'd just like to figure out a place and time. If michaelfavia lives that close, maybe grill out there? I'd be willing to put in $50 towards that.
I share a similar feeling
I would love to meet up with other drupalists. I my self am not an expert by any standards but am beyond just the basics. Looking forward to associating screen names to faces and talking.
Peace,
Matthew Pare
Pare Technologies
info at paretech dot com
www.paretech.com
Peace,
-mpare
Pare Technologies
Drupal Consulting, Themeing, and Module Development
806.781.8324 | 806.733.3025
www.paretech.com
Figure Something Out? Document Your Success!
Understood. The only reason
Understood. The only reason i suggested it was because a large percentage of our DUG are not active developers but would like to become so, or at least learn more about how drupal works for them and their businesses. If more sentiment like yours is expressed without significant interplay from interested parties we'll cancel the crash course idea. Thanks for sounding off.
What Was I Thinking?
I would like to recant my previous comment. When I was fist starting off in Drupal I would have killed for such an intimate introduction to Drupal. How many of you had such an introduction? I don't know about the rest of you but I came to Drupal, left, came back to Drupal about a year later, left, then finally came back to Drupal and stayed. Had I been personally introduced to it and introduced to its power and the advantages over other solutions I probably would have stayed the first time I discovered it. I think it would be a great idea to do an introduction. What, we would spend an hour on an introduction and a lifetime of helping others. Sounds like a splendid idea. If you need help or if no one else is available I would be happily do the introduction myself, though I think there are others more qualified to do so. Sign me up I'm in. Lets give back to the community and lets get others into this community. I want everyone to know how wonderful Drupal is!!!
Peace,
Matthew Pare
Pare Technologies
info at paretech dot com
www.paretech.com
Peace,
-mpare
Pare Technologies
Drupal Consulting, Themeing, and Module Development
806.781.8324 | 806.733.3025
www.paretech.com
Figure Something Out? Document Your Success!
Both?
Nothing stops us from having both. First, a module- and theme-building bootcamp. Next, advanced module work.
I'd also encourage people to stay an extra day or so after SXSWi if they'd like to. I'm not aware of anyone from my company going to the music part of the convention that follows SXSWi.
I DO have a nice grill and a
I DO have a nice grill and a patio. :)... <-- that is both drool and a nice pause. seriously i'd b open to have a few developers over for some bbq or some such. depends on how the weather looks as we get closer. but i have a nice place up on a hill that overlooks downtown. let me know if others are interested.
Crash Course vs. General Meet-n-Greet
I'd be happy just to have a chance to meet other Drupal users and discuss a few questions I have about open-source content management systems in general. However, I'm already feeling a little overwhelmed by all the sessions and networking events. I could probably make time for a casual meet-n-greet that also featured some short presentations on Drupal basics. However, I'm not sure if the crash course you guys have in mind would be right for me. I don't know PHP and MySQL, but I have been playing with Drupal enough to create some basic taxonomies, add a few modules, and tag and organize some content. Of course, I usually feel like my lack of understanding of PHP and databases in general makes it hard for me to understand the different options in certain modules. So, to figure out how a module's settings work, I spend a lot of time changing one setting at a time and refreshing the page where I think something should have been affected to see what happened.
that seems to be the general
that seems to be the general consensus and im happy to do the same. i just wanted to offer a crash course as an option to those who were interested. if anyone is still interested in the nickel tour of drupal bootstrap, modules, theming then they are of course free to just ask with an extra beer in your other hand and ill talk all night. ;)