Drupal "versus" WordPress

Submitted by dave on Thu, 2008-04-17 18:43.

I watched this video at a recent lugradio event.

I was expecting a live talk, so at first I was disappointed that the presentation was a video, and neither Selena or Andy (who made the video) were actually there. But the video has some amusing moments, so I warmed up to it.

If you're in the Drupal community, I recommend watching. It nicely presents some of the mystery and complexity that users have to go though to get started. The best parts are about 5 minutes into the video, IMHO.


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Screencast of Drupal for Facebook

Submitted by dave on Mon, 2007-11-19 12:12.

At the recent Bay Area Drupal Camp, I presented Drupal for Facebook. I built a small Facebook Application and walked through how I used Drupal to create it. Now the details of this presentation are available in two screencasts.

If you're curious about what Drupal for Facebook is, or if you've downloaded it but are having trouble setting it up, these screencasts are for you.

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Drupal Configuration from Development to Production

Submitted by dave on Fri, 2007-10-05 19:09.

At the recent DrupalCon, a recurring topic of conversation centered around the challenges of developing sites on one or more development machines, then later integrating those changes to a production environment. I've had to deal with this for every one of my sites, and have come up with my own approach, which I've written about previously.


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Drupal for Facebook

Submitted by dave on Fri, 2007-09-21 13:56.

Recently, I´ve been working to make Drupal the premiere framework for developing Facebook Applications. I´m calling the effort Drupal for Facebook and I recently presented it at DrupalCon 2007.


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Using Drupal's Workflow and Revision Moderation Modules Together

Submitted by dave on Tue, 2007-09-04 18:31.

Recently a client requested this relatively simple publishing model:

  1. Some users are Editors. They may add and edit pages.
  2. Other users are Publishers. Publishers may review the changes made by editors, and if acceptable, make them visible to the public.
  3. Editors cannot publish content, and Publishers cannot edit. This important rule means that no single user can (maliciously or accidentally) add erroneous content to the site.
  4. Published content may be edited (by Editors). The changes are not visible the public until a Publisher approves them.

As an experienced Drupal developer, and I thought this model would be easy to build. I would use Drupal's roles and permissions to enforce the first three rules above, and the Revision Moderation module to enforce the fourth. I'd also use the Workflow module to facilitate communication between Editors and Publishers, and the Actions module to make publishing a one-step operation. Easy, right? If only it were, I wouldn't be writing this now.


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How to Hire a Website Developer (if you're not technically inclined)

Perhaps you're looking to upgrade a website. Maybe build a brand new one. Chances are, you don't know how this work is done. It's like choosing a car mechanic when you can't tell a rotor from a piston. How do you find someone trustworthy?

When my car needs repair, I cross my fingers. But software development I know something about. This advice should take some guesswork out of your decision. Here's what you do...

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Hovertips - easy and elegant tooltips

Submitted by dave on Tue, 2006-08-22 07:40.

The text shown in italics are examples of hovertips. Move your mouse over the italic text to see what happens.

Text like this appears when you hover. And disappears after you move your mouse away.

This is an example of a hovertip.

What's a hovertip?

A hovertip is a kind of "tooltip" that appears when the mouse rests above something.

I call them "hover" tips to distinguish them from clicktips. Click your mouse over underlined italics to see a clicktip.

What's a clicktip?

A clicktip is also a tooltip. But unlike a hovertip, the user must press the mouse button to see one.

The clicktip text appears on the page, rather than floating beneath the mouse.

And the text remains visible until unti the user clicks a second time.

A single page can have any number of these things.

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Screencast Showing tac_lite (and devel_node_access) in Action

Submitted by dave on Thu, 2006-08-17 00:23.

This screencast shows how to configure the tac_lite module. It also shows the devel_node_access module, which is useful when using any access control in Drupal.


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Drupal file handling wishlist

Submitted by dave on Tue, 2006-05-02 23:34.

I know I'm not the only one feeling limited by Drupal's current file
support. Here's a write-up of ways I think it could be improved.
Comments are welcome.

File Realms -

Currently, the only system-wide file settings are

  • where uploaded file's are stored (all in a single directory)
  • whether files are transferred by Drupal, or the web server

You must transfer files by Drupal if you need any sort of access
control. But this adds significant overhead to each file
transfer and is problematic for high traffic sites. In many
cases only some uploaded files require access control, so ideally


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