I am going to try to create a Business Directory using Dupral and existing modules.
I'm not experienced with Dupral (I've only played around a little bit), so I know it won't be easy.
I'll follow the advice here and the other threads that talk about it. I don't have loads of time to do this so it’s going to take a while. Hopefully this thread will help others too.
So far I've installed Dupral in a domain I own (http://www.bcninsideout.com) and some of the modules I’ve been playing around with. I am going to try to concentrate only in this project (business directory) as it's very easy start looking all the modules and get sidetracked.
One of the modules I've installed (just yesterday) is CCK which seems to be useful for this purpose I'm trying to learn how that module works and what it does.
My first questions are;
- Should I uninstall (or unable) all the other modules I’ve been playing with and concentrate only in the ones I need to create a directory?
It kind of make sense as, sometimes, I find myself playing around with them.
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Are Taxonomy and CCK modules enough or will I need more modules?
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Which other modules will I need?
Any suggestions
I'll be back as soon as I can, probably with questions :-)
Thanks to everyone
Manuel
Comments
Welcome Aboard!
Hi!
I am in exactly the same boat. Sounds like you are on your way with drupal. If you can get a separate installation to futz in, it helps a lot. Then, you can put all your module tests into there, and only put into your live site the modules you need. I don't think having extra modules in your live site is too risky if they are there already. Uninstalling might be a bigger problem. If you want to go that route, might be best to reinstall Drupal vanilla, and reinstall only the modules you are going to run. I think you can go either way with that, depending on lots of factors.
I started with Drupal about 2 months ago, working on a niché business directory as a hobby that someday will allow me to knock off Rupert Murdoch from the top of the heap... well, it's really just a hobby for fun and maybe profit someday.
In response to your questions...
CCK (with views, a prerequisite) will allow you to create any kind of directory from a data/forms/display standpoint. I think it would be hard to think of a directory design this could not support. Maybe you could whine that google-maps isn't already integrated with GPS coordinates for every address in the world, but to me, that would be expecting a little much. CCK is a GREAT alternative to PHP/SQL programming.
This is my understanding from picking up on the tone around here. To get the real word on this, I think we all are somewhat on our own to pick up the hints, read the latest, and come to our own conclusions.
PROVEN SOLUTION
A simple yet powerful solution for a directory is to just use CCK to add fields to the STORY content type for address, phone, and whatever other data you are including in your directory. For what it's worth, after a lot of thought and looking around, this is the path I am taking. For reasons not to go this way, best you get someone who is using another approach, who would be more objective.
A directory seems like something so generic, I was expecting a business directory module ready for use in my site. That turned out to be unrealistic. This group here is the state of the art for out of the box Drupal business directory modules.
If you are into database design, you might want to put addresses in records that are not part of the base stories, then read them in for display. The upside is you can have any number of addresses associated with a drupal 'story' in a more elegant way. However, if you can work with each story being a directory listing, it is a lot simpler to just put the address and other directory info in with stories.
My reason for writing this is I was getting a silent treatment earlier in the drupal forum for asking a question a lot like yours. A kind soul pointed me here, so I am just trying to let you know, cluelessness is definitely part of what happens to some of us entering into this world.
Views and CCK
I think Views, Panels, and CCK can make a good combination for developing a B2B website.
Previously we developed a b2b portal, but when we look at the power of panels, views, and CCK, it seems that a directory can be ready quite faster in terms of time, and hence cost of development can be reduced.
However, I think the only disadvantage would be some limitations due to CCK, Views, etc. It is noted that sometimes the teams come up and say "I can't do this because we're using Views / CCK, for this kind of functionality we need custom development", but I guess we can compromise 5% if we're getting 95% of the work done according to desired results using CCK and Views, etc.
Just my thoughts and suggestions. But others are welcome to suggest as well.
Thanks
Waqar
4 Ace Technologies
Couple of kinds of views
In building this directory, we needed a taxonomy-based view for the upper-level stuff (the links to different topics), then a node-based one for the individual topic pages. Wasn't too bad to build - except for the breadcrumbs. Those drove us nuts, but maybe that was my not understanding how to use any of the custom breadcrumb modules.
One other thing that was very helpful: the node import module. We had a ton of listings ready to go and it was very easy to to get them into a CSV file, then import that.