I will be writing out the steps I think we need to create a simple install of Drupal that supports webcomics publishing (Help me build this page!) We should focus on Drupal 6 as it is the current version (it also has several advantages over 5 that are appealing to webcomics publishers, starting with the theme system in 6)
- Need to create a Drupal Install Profile. (I know nothing about this yet!) Ideally there would be a distribution of Drupal with additional modules needed for the Drupal Webcomics Platform bundled in the install.
Info on developing Drupal install profiles is here: http://drupal.org/node/159730
DISPLAY OF THE WEBCOMIC and CREATING THE NAVIGATION SYSTEM
- MODULE: VIEWS
Needed to set up views for showing comics (and to make custom pagers work). Also to set up special comics admin view (see note at Scheduler module below).
- MODULE: CCK
Needed to set up specific Comic node. Also need image field.
-
MODULE: CUSTOM PAGERS - needed to display first/back/next/last buttons for navigation
A. Display pagers in teaser view. I know Wright has done this with Ubersoft.net and I think would be willing to share the custom code he had written for Drupal 5. I also hacked D6 to show the pagers in the teaser (see altertainment.net) although I'd like someone to check my work. More ideally we could add options for the display of the pagers in an admin screen for the module (options would include on full node, teaser, both). The services module does this - I'll look at it for ideas on how to add this to custom pagers.
NOTE: figured out how to set up two pagers -- (1) for ALL comics on the site; (2) one (with a views argument) that works for each vocabulary (set up a vocabulary for webcomic titles) (it worked when setting up two separate views and two separate custom pagers - one view and custom pager with the view argument).
B. Theming the pagers. I know this can be done. I need to try it and then I need to write up a simple explanation of how to do it.
- MODULE: TERM DISPLAY - provides additional control over display of the term (taxonomy)
ADMIN OF THE WEBCOMIC
-
MODULE: SCHEDULER - useful to pre-load webcomics (and create the nodes for them) and schedule publication of webcomics on future dates
A. Webcomics often publish on a set schedule (daily, weekly, M/W/F, etc) - it's good practice for the creator to create a buffer (work finished ahead of publication date) and "pre-load" work for automatic publication on a future date of choice.
B. It helps to create a view to show the comic title, scheduled publication date and actual publication date to keep track of your comics (both "live" and those in the buffer).
UNORGANIZED INFO --
D5 Modules to consider in D6 (based on Christopher's UBERSOFT.net install)
- Image
- Image Attach
- Imagecache (for making the little thumbnail comics
in the sidebar) - custom breadcrumbs
- read more tweak
- panels
- service links
- views bookmark (a really cool feature that lets you
create a personal bookmark list of nodes)
Complete list of Christopher Wright's add-on Modules at Ubersoft.net, along with explanations:
System Info - something any Drupal Admin ought to have in order to determine what level of php/mysql/apache/etc. you're using. Eventually you'll run into a problem where this information is relevant.
Annotate - if you want to be able to add transcriptions of comics on your own (i.e., you want it all contained in site instead of using OhNoRobot or other services) then Annotate is the best solution for you. You only need the Editorial Annotation portion of it though
CCK - the following modules
Content
Content copy (if you have multiple webcomics on one site you really need this)
Content Templates (gives you a lot of control over how your CCK blocks and nodes display)
Fieldgroup (helps you organize your CCK data entry page)
ImageField (for the comic, of course)
Link (I use this in my character archives section to link to the first comic a character appears in and things like that)
Text (for situations where the default node body text field isn't sufficient for your needs)
Date, Date API, Date Copy, Date Repeat API, Date Timezone (these are all required for other modules I use, including Views)
Image API, ImageAPI GD2 (or ImageMagick) - you'll need these to use ImageCache
ImageCache, ImageCacheUI - these allow you to create thumbnails of images, which CCK ImageField didn't support in Drupal 5
Advanced Help - I added this because it comes with extra information you can access when you're using the Views2 module
Comment closer - this is a great way to cut down on comment spam -- a lot of spambots go through archives and make bogus comments on older entries. Comment closer allows you to automatically turn off comments on any piece of content on your site past a certain age (i.e., older than one month, older than two weeks, etc.)
Custom Pagers - absolutely necessary for a proper webcomic navigation experience
getID3() - this is used in a number of different other modules, specifically in Logotool
Logotool - this creates the rotating banner effect I use on the Ubersoft.net site logo
Pathauto - this turns Drupal's default "clean" file structure into something readible. I.e., http://ubersoft.net/node/752 becomes http://ubersoft.net/comic/hd/1996/04/stop-paying-attention-just-listen-m....
Taxonomy redirect - this works like Pathauto but is specifically for taxonomy terms. Pathauto has its own taxonomy redirect function but it doesn't work as reliably. Taxonomy redirect is especially useful if you want to replace a default page of taxonomy information with a customized view
Token, Token actions - I believe Custom Pagers requires these to work.
User Registration Notification - I like to know when people are registering accounts on my site. This can also be a good warning if a spambot registers on your site because they usually have incomprehensible names.
Read More Tweak - if you ever use teasers (and include extra content beyond the break) this is good for taking the "Read More" link out of the standard place Drupal puts it in -- where it is often swallowed up by other links in the same area -- and putting it into the body of the text itself, making it a lot more intuitive to use.
Spam - a must have for anyone who wants to allow comments on their site.
Views - Very important for the creation of comic archives and media-rich RSS feeds (you need Media RSS for that) The specific parts of Views that I use are
Bonus: Views Export
Media RSS (separate Views module)
Views
Views Exporter
Views UI