installation profile

This would appear to be the best place to start discussion. Please include only a single module and reasoning for choosing the module. Once a significant number of modules have been identified it would be interesting to experiment with the set to determine what features would appear to be missing.

For example:
Module - Views
Justification - Currently the simplest method to expose collected data in a tabular form to end users. It easily provides multiple variations on the data and it also allows for manipulation of data in a consistent way.

Check out the design and strategy doc for lots of background info. Automated packages are being built on drupal.org, any feedback is appreciated!

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It seems like the combination of drupal.org/git and Open Atrium is a good start. With that we can share code, document issues, and document the project.
The missing piece in my mind is how to collaborate on live sites before committing work to code.

Use cases:
* Clone - clone from other developers
* Share - share your development sites with others
* Collaborate - work on a single site with other developers simultaneously
* git pull - clone site from distribution releases and dev code
* Open Source - Can you run it on your own server?

Hosting options:

In this thread the question is asked if a music distribution or separate modules is the best way to achieve turn key functionality needed for a music site. The answer, I believe, is an alternative path.

The alternative path is to abstract things out into an application layer, with Features. There is lots of info about Features on the project page (and it shares some ideas with the now defunct Patterns module), but conceptually this graphic sums it up best:

Having had some experience working with Features this year, I can tell you it is pretty raw. A Feature has hooks and functions to turn on and off things on your site. At its simplest, it will turn on a few modules and change a few defaults. At its most complex, it will need to manually override database variables. It's messy development and takes time. But the real beauty is that it allows developers to focus on functionality instead of technicality. It also allows independent development of features that, combined, can achieve something that looks like a distribution. And for the user, they don't need to know how it works, they just need to know what it can do.

We are lucky, since we have already identified some useful features needed for an art & music Drupal site / mobile application, and perhaps the next step is to refine and prioritize the list.

I'm working on putting my intranet pass-on installation up in an installation profile. It should be coming soon!

Buenos días,

Tengo una duda a la hora de estar realizando un perfil de instalación de Drupal (installation profile). Logro que active los modules, themes, y cree content type, de forma correcta un poco lo básico. Estoy intentando entrar un poco mas a profundidad con los content type, quiero agregarle desde el perfil de instalación campos de CCK, como texto o file, pero no encuentro una vía o forma adecuada para hacerlo mediante el perfil de instalación.

For those of you who understand the German language:
I created a Drupal distribution for creating advanced (German language) homepages. The intention is to enable Drupal newbies to get their first website started more quickly.

We have installed aegir and in out of the box installation we have only one profile called "default". We need to create 3 separate installation profiles for 3 different types of sites. Is there any specific documentation or tips about how to create more profiles in aegir system ? Thanks in advance.

(Side node: does my "include the word awesome" quota include the subject? ;-) )

Overview of awesome: Building installation profiles is currently difficult. Inconsistencies, a lack of documentation, and cumbersome iterative testing results in frustration and overconsumption of caffeinated beverages. This must be awesomed.

Description of awesome:

I recently started using Drupal extensively over the last six months or so. It's awesome and I love working with it. A couple of weeks ago, much to the annoyance of the denizens of #drupal, I started looking into building an installation profile with a bunch of my usual customizations and presets for the various modules I use on more or less every site, be it my own or someone else's. The aforementioned IRC-dweller-annoyance comes from the fact that there's precious little documentation for this fun little jaunt, so I've had to bug 'em with a lot of questions.

The installation profile system is flexible, but that flexibility seems to come at a serious loss of ease-of-use. Does this module want its settings as entries in the {variable} table? Or does it want its configuration data stored as an array? If it's an array, what keys are used? And how are they used? How about adding a view to the system (not hard, but potentially tricky - are there dependency issues? what about potential configuration problems?)?

My idea for GSoC 2009 is to build an application, either online or offline (each has its advantages), to generate this installation profile. I'd envision the workflow to look a little like this:

• Present a list of modules to the user (everything with a supported build for 6.x, say). The user picks what they want enabled. Do dependency checking so required modules are also included. Order modules to satisfy dependencies (or just make the user do it).
• Present the configuration options for core, as well as for all selected modules. The user preconfigures all modules all nice-like, or clicks "use defaults" when they don't want to fiddle with it.
• For modules where you have to create items (ImageCache presets, Views, Panels, etc.), the user specifies the stuff to be loaded in at the start. (Now that I think about it, doing anything significant with Views or Panels might be difficult, aside from "copy and paste an exported spec".)
• The user can load in nodes (pages, etc.), generate URL aliases if Pathauto is included, and build menus to link it all together. (This step and the last might need to be merged--it's awfully hard to build a Panel that slurps in a node if that node hasn't been added yet, for example.)

This isn't a complete list and I'm sure I'm forgetting some stuff, but it's a start--I think the general idea is pretty clear. Obviously some of this would require participation from module developers (maybe a better import API for Views, cough cough); the above is playing pie-in-the-sky a little on that front.

There's some other fun stuff that could be done, too, and streamline a lot of the maintenance of installation profiles. The automated profile builder could, for example, build an "independent profile", which doesn't need to be packaged with a complete installation like Prosepoint or whatever. Instead, it includes the code necessary to bootstrap the profile from a base Drupal build. An independent profile could, during the installation process, get the latest supported versions of any specified module or theme if one doesn't currently exist (I don't know if functionality for this exists on drupal.org at present, but if it does it could be leveraged) and unpack them into the correct places. Instead of tossing around full-size Drupal builds for a given installation profile, now you're downloading a single text file and letting the system handle the rest.

Why is this awesome:

First, a little bit about me: I participated in GSoC in 2007 and 2008. Both years my project focused on usability, on lowering the barriers to entry to hit the ground running with open source software. In 2007, I was tasked with writing the framework for a package manager for Windows, to allow for easier deployment of open source software (just get people to download the conduit, the reasoning went, and they can grab whatever open-source software they like). In 2008, I wrote a set of tools that integrated with Visual Studio to ease use of the Mono Framework and testing on Linux.

This idea's similar in principle: lower the barrier of entry so people get interested and get hooked on Drupal. With a system like this (especially if it included that independent profile bit mentioned above), it would be relatively easy to quickly create quality profiles. And, perhaps more importantly, it'd be easier to get new people into Drupal because the preset profiles just work. You want a quick blog? Download simpleblog.profile, which sets it up as a single-user blog. You want a brochureware site? Download brochureware.profile, which uses panels for a cool-looking layout and drops in a low-key theme. Right now, Drupal has a reputation for being crazy-powerful and also being mean and a huge pain to learn at first. I know that when I first started with Drupal, I went to look at the preconfigured installation profiles, and was disappointed--instead of being able to see a quality working site right off the bat or being able to hit the ground running with a site that was mostly configured the way I liked it, I found out I'd have to start completely from scratch. I got over that hump--the second time I tried to learn Drupal, the first I got confused and quit--and absolutely love Drupal now, but that's not the case for everyone who encounters it. It's easier to just say screw-it and go find something a little easier to start with, y'know?

All in all, I think it's a tool that would provide some pretty considerable benefits in the adoption and ease-of-use areas. One might even call it awesome. ;-)

Mentors:

• ?

Difficulty: Medium when it comes to writing the code, but Hard in terms of length/duration. It may be more than can be done during GSoC. (If I was chosen, I might try to make it my Senior Capstone project for my degree program, which would keep me on the project through May of 2010, at the least.)

[Edit: 2 Mar 2009] Pre-Alpha Drupal 6.x Washington version of PFT is up and running and open for Business Objects at http://projectflowandtracker.com/ Hope to see you at my DrupalCon DC presentation Thursday, March 5 at 4:15 in the Berners-Lee Room!
Details at http://awebfactory.com.ar/node/391
Session page: http://dc2009.drupalcon.org/session/project-flow-and-tracker-business-ob...

Online demo site