Drupal for Libraries

Leo Klein on Drupal for Libraries Talk Given at the Metropolitan Library System (Chicago) Feb. 29, 2008 Created by Leo Klein, ChicagoLibrarian.com

Hey, Wait a Minute!

Why Content Management?
In the Beginning:
Everything Done by Hand
Early Database-Driven Sites:
Home-made, DIY
Current CMS Potpourri:
Many Choices (Good, Bad & Ugly*)
______ * http://www.opensourcecms.com

Why Drupal? (Druplicon)

Libraries That Use Drupal Florida State Univ. Uminn Bio-Med. Library Hoover Public Library (AL) Wendt Library (U. Wisc.)

Origin of Drupal

Early Drupal User Group Meetup

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 http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1398641189

Drupal.org

Resources from Drupal.org
Software
Documentation
Bug Reports, Feature Requests, etc.
News
Forums
Groups

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

Requirements
SW-HW*:
Server running either Apache or IIS
PHP (Scripting Language)
MySQL or PostgreSQL
Human:
Person comfortable installing the above three
“ Some assembly required”
______ * 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)?

Themes Amor 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
Drupal.org Main Drupal Site
Lullabot Wonderful source for podcasts and other high quality information on Drupal - http://www.lullabot.com
Mastering Drupal Number of good screencasts - http://www.masteringdrupal.com/
Dries Buytaert's Blog Personal Blog of Drupal's Founder - http://buytaert.net

Library-Related Resources
DRUPAL4LIB – Listserv http://drupal4lib.org
Drupal Group http://groups.drupal.org/libraries
Drupalib http://drupalib.interoperating.info/
Local Chicago User Group (General) http://groups.drupal.org/chicago

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 Klein
leo 'at' leoklein 'dot' com
msn/aim/ghoo/yhoo: 'leorobertklein' www.ChicagoLibrarian.com

http://chicagolibrarian.com	850
http://playdrupal.com	79
http://drupal.hostsh.com.br	34
http://ehow247.com	32
http://www.chicagolibrarian.com	31
http://www.slideshare.net	23
http://hostsh.com.br	15
http://www.hostsh.com.br	13
http://www.drupal.hostsh.com.br	8
http://www.grupobiblios.org	8
http://iocasa.pagodabox.com	6
http://huongdancachlam.vn	6
http://translate.googleusercontent.com	5
http://www.playdrupal.com	4
http://davidrothman.net	3
http://goodboy111.blogspot.com	2
http://www.freeweb.hu	2
http://161.98.1.237	1
http://all-for-women.com	1
http://3.gmodules.com	1
url_unknown	1
http://chicagolibrarian.com:80	1
http://code4lib.org	1
http://gutian.wordpress.com	1

Drupal for Libraries

by leoklein on Feb 29, 2008

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Drupal for Libraries — Webinar Transcript