Introduction to

Drupal

by

Leo KleinWeb Coordinator

OAR, UIC

Leo Klein (Elevator Speech)

• Web Coordinator: OAR, UIC

• Colleges attended: UIC, Sorbonne, FU (Berlin), Queens College (CUNY), ITP (NYU)

• Jobs attended: Bobst Library (NYU), Newman Library (Baruch College, CUNY), COE (UIC)

• Interests: Web Design, Usability

• Personal Website: www.LeoKlein.com

• Blog: ChicagoLibrarian.com

HUGE DISCLAIMER

I Know What I Know

Small Disclaimer

It's 'Content Management' Not 'Content Organization'

Is it Time to CMS?

• Large amounts of similar data: events, news, other media, etc.

• Feature requests: calendar, forums, blogs, galleries, etc.

• Multi-user Environment: password-protected content, expanded range of people providing content

• Server-Side: Access to Server-side resources and someone to maintain system

Why Drupal?

(Druplicon)

Drupal in EducationAmherst College Ohio State - Math Dept.

Wash. Univ. – Arts & Sci. BYU – Comp. Sci.

Origin of DrupalOrigin of DrupalOrigin of DrupalOrigin of Drupal

Drupal Born – 2001*• Originally developed by Dries Buytaert and fellow

students at the University of Antwerp

• 2001 – Initial Release of Drupal

• 2004 – Drupal taken up by Dean Campaign

• 2005 to now: • High Profile Conversions (Onion.com,

Observer.com, Amnesty International)• From "Community Plumbing" to "Roll-Your-Own

Push Button CMS"

* More Info: http://drupal.org/node/769

Drupal.org

Resources from Drupal.org

Joys & Sorrows of Open Source

• It’s Free

• It’s Open

• It’s Innovative (sometimes)

• It’s "Scratch Your Own Itch”

• It’s Frustrating

• It's Fun

Types of Users

SW-HW*:

• Server running either Apache or IIS

• PHP (Scripting Language)

• MySQL or PostgreSQL

Human:

• Person comfortable installing the above three

• “Some assembly required”

Requirements

______* http://drupal.org/requirements

Drupal in 3 Parts

Drupal Core

• What You Get 'Out of the Box'

• Essential Features(Node, Block, Taxonomy,

Theme Engine, Comments, RSS)

• 'Legacy' Features(Story, Forum, Blog)

Contributed Modules

• "Building Blocks" of Drupal

• Hundreds to Choose from

• Most Essential Modules:• Content Construction Kit• Views• ImageCache• Organic Groups

Life & Death of a Drupal Module

Modules are built for a specific purpose and for a specific release of Drupal

How to Tell if a Module is Alive and Kicking -- or in the 'Deadpool':• Recent updates?• Recent Support Questions/Issues?• Attitude of Maintainers (Helpful or Not)?

ThemesAmor Azul Imagination

NewsFlash SEO Position

Drupal Roadmap

• Drupal 6.0 (Feb. 2008)• Improvements:

• Installation• Theming • Internationalization

• Drupal 7.0 (Feb. 2009?)• Incorporation of CCK & Views into Core

Drupal as a Community

• Open Source encourages - and requires – an open, responsive Social Organization

• Great team of Developers (some local in Illinois)

• Learn the terrain & benefit from It

Other Helpful Sites• Lullabot

Wonderful source for podcasts and other high quality information on Drupal - http://www.lullabot.com

• DrupalDojoExtensive collection of screencasts and other "lessons"http://drupaldojo.com

• Mastering Drupal Number of good screencastshttp://www.masteringdrupal.com/

• Dries Buytaert's BlogPersonal Blog of Drupal's Founder - http://buytaert.net

Drupal Groups

• Drupal in Education (378 members)http://groups.drupal.org/drupal-education

• Chicago User Group (General)http://groups.drupal.org/chicago

• Chicago Meetup Grouphttp://cdmug.org/

• Drupal4UIChttp://listserv.uic.edu/archives/drupal4uic.html

Leo Klein’s Drupal Tips

• Try "Sandboxes" at OpenSourceCMS.com

• Experiment locally

• Follow the forums at Drupal.org

• Join a Drupal Group (http://groups.drupal.org)

• Check out the competition

Ultimately: Bend the CMS to your needs (& not the other way around)

Happy Drupaling!

Leo Robert Kleinlrk 'at' uic 'dot' edu

msn/aim/ghoo/yhoo: 'leorobertklein'

www.LeoKlein.com