Master the tools in your Drupal site-building arsenal to future-proof your information design! See sloppy blobs battle discrete chunks - and lose! Learn basic concepts AND expert tips for organizing your website. Uncover secret strategies for making findable, usable content and sites that are easy to support and migrate. Win PRIZES!! Some of the topics covered include: why and how to PLAN your names, the magic of spreadsheets, always be multilingual-able, why NOT to share fields, when and why to use tags, and more! No Drupal knowledge required, and a number of these insights will apply to ANY Web project you are planning.

1. Plan your Chunks!
Future-proofing your Site’s
Information Architecture
@adellefrank (adellefrank.com)
2014 October 5
DrupalCamp Atlanta

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A bit about me & about Drupal
Hi, I’m drupal
I make websites …
with and help YOU!
from Adelle

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Who are Y’ALL?

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Outline
*PRIZES for participation!
1.Why Plan your Chunks?
2.How to Plan?
3.Which Chunks to Plan?

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Why Plan? Karen McGrane 2013 Keynote
"It’s a war of blobs
versus chunks:
sloppy blobs of where
there’s no distinction
between content & form
VS.
clean, flexible,
presentation-independent
chunks.”
http://karenmcgrane.com/2013/05/23/drupalcon-

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Why Plan? Zombie / Device Apocalypse
IA DEFINITION:
Designing and building
STRUCTURES
that make it easier to
FIND, USE, & MANAGE
shared information
on any DEVICE.
Photo Credits: hello world by Windell Oskay
(https://www.flickr.com/photos/oskay/472097903); Samsung Galaxy Gear by Hi-tech@
Mail.Ru
(http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Samsung_Galaxy_Gear_Comparison.j
pg); Flat Screen LCD television by Vector Fresh
(http://vector4free.com/vector/flat-screen-lcd-television)

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When NOT Planning hurt YOU?

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Why Plan? Change happens & is HARD: be Kind
• Changes
–Updates
– Migrations
–New web technologies
– My organization
• Easier to change in PLANNING than on LIVE
site! (know system limitations & gotchas)
• Be nice to your future self, authors, & those
who come after you.

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How do YOU Plan sites?

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How to Plan?
• Think BEFORE you click
• Self-documenting, as you go
• Use simple tools (like Checklists)
– Drupal Groups, Content planning checklist for a
Drupal site
https://groups.drupal.org/node/144374
– John Walling, Drupal Project Check List
https://checkvist.com/checklists/61331?simple=
true
• Think in CHUNKS

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Which Chunks to Plan? Drupalese 101
Drupalese 101:
http://drupalcampatlanta.com/nod
e/154
@annikagarbers is a better
explainer than me, but I’ll try!

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Which Chunks to Plan? Mental Map
http://druvision.com/content/drupal-information-architecture

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Which Chunks to Plan? Imitate Gurus
• Larry Garfield, Developing Drupal sites: Plan or Perish
http://www.palantir.net/blog/developing-drupal-sites-plan-or-perish
• Jody Lynn, Semantic Site Architecture
https://austin2014.drupal.org/session/semantic-site-architecture
Older version of slides at:
http://www.slideshare.net/jhamiltoorion/semantic-site-building-
drupal-7
• Kristen Pol, Hook 42 Presentations at Stanford Drupal Camp
http://www.hook42.com/blog/hook-42-presentations-stanford-
drupal-camp

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Questions?