Hey All,
I would like to share a project I am working on with the Group, it's called Drupalmadsignlopers.org, and it will function as a "living" case study site, as well as a social network for Drupal Webmasters, Designers, and Developers.
After some months of working with Drupal, I would like to share back with the Community what I have learned so far, and continue to learn. When I originally came to Drupal, I was seeking a social networking platform, and I see many users who want to develop a social network for their target audience. I also wanted to bring together aspects of various site's into one. Updating tutorials will be easy enough mainly due to the fact that I will need to update the site as time goes on.
The site will encompass the aspects I have seen that are pretty much universal, such as profiles, "friends" functions, private messaging, user groups, user blogs, forums, and the like, as well as Drupal specific functions such as a tutorial section which users can contribute to, a php snippet directory, and eventually, a theme directory similar to themegarden. A good solid hosting review section, project showcase, and news section are also things I'd love to include. The site can grow over time, which provides users with another reason to return.
Features are all good and great, but I also want learn myself, as well as help others learn how to make a site that is strong in the backend, as well as laid out well visually. SEO will also be addressed.
As users browse the site, each of the sections of the site will have a "see how it was done" button, which will link them to a screencast of how to create that section. For organizations sake, and since it would be unconventional for someone to just click around all over for direction, a tutorial section which lays things out in order will be available as well.
I actually have a good outline for the creation process, and mainly I will need time to set each part of the site while doing the screencast/audio tutorial. I'd say a good 90% of the modules I need I have found are downloaded and ready. I do have a few things I am addressing.
1.-Advanced search capabilities-I want a clean search interface with filters for the tutorial, and code snippet areas.
2.-User profile layout-I'd love to do something unique, i.e-vertical tabs that run the length of the profile space about a thumb wide which have labels such as About Me, Blog, etc. as it's clicked, it expands to cover the profile area, and then goes back as the next is clicked.
3.Good tools for the theme directory and php snippet directory. I suppose cck will be fine for the snippets, and I have seen a few theme changing modules.
4.Unique look. I am considering the Black Mamba Theme, with a few customizations. http://drupal.org/project/black_mamba, I'd love to be able to afford a premium theme, but that's not possible at the moment.
5.Instillation Profile-I would like to consider providing the site in a instillation profile form, either for free, or for a low cost.
If anyone has suggestions for the above, I'd be most appreciative.
The estimated completion time for the site is one to two months, depending; I want it to launch with the full tutorial content. It's also quite a hefty task, but I enjoy a good project, so I think it'll go decently smoothly.
Hope you've enjoyed hearing about the project,
Devon