Quite Fond of Drupal Now
Well it has to be said that Drupal has some rough edges, but my goodness, who cares! Having done a bit of real work with it now I must say that I have definitely become a fan. You may recall from earlier posts that this was by no means a foregone conclusion as far as I was concerned.
I am glad I stuck with it. If you are struggling and thinking of quitting I can only say this: give it a bit longer, it may grow on you too.
I find most of the (somewhat limited) built-in help messages to be quite good. Certainly they are much better than the tortuous mess that passes for online documentation of the system. Gosh, it needs some work. Let me be quick to give a "hats off" to the many contributors who have volunteered their time to establish as much as already exists (poor sensitive souls). Stirling effort! Don't stop, just cut and polish a little.
One area that needs a lot more work is the documentation of contributed modules. It would probably advance the cause of Drupal if a two-tier system were introduced. At one level the basics could be made available for folk who are quite capable of working out what to do with them, perhaps even how to further modify them, and so on.
The next level could be for much more polished and well documented modules. New users without the skills for level one could simply fish from this second level pond.
Actually, let's clarify that just a bit. There is already such a system of course in that a CVS version exists for the more techo folk and a collection of contributed modules is listed for everyone else. It is this collection that I think could be further divided. Either that, or contributors need to be encouraged to provide documentation of a certain quantity and quality before releasing their work.
Basically, if the Drupal community are keen to attract more users, the documentation is an area that must be improved. Yes, yes, I know, the Drupal community includes me too, so what have I done you ask? (My, you are a sensitive lot.) Well, nothing actually. We shall have to see what the future brings.
For now I am limited to waxing positive in my woffling in the hope it may encourage some who would otherwise quit or to attract back some who already have. It really is a very useful tool. If you have a need for a CMS or simply want to get a dynamic website up and running, give Drupal a fair tryout. You may just be very glad you did.
I am glad I stuck with it. If you are struggling and thinking of quitting I can only say this: give it a bit longer, it may grow on you too.
I find most of the (somewhat limited) built-in help messages to be quite good. Certainly they are much better than the tortuous mess that passes for online documentation of the system. Gosh, it needs some work. Let me be quick to give a "hats off" to the many contributors who have volunteered their time to establish as much as already exists (poor sensitive souls). Stirling effort! Don't stop, just cut and polish a little.
One area that needs a lot more work is the documentation of contributed modules. It would probably advance the cause of Drupal if a two-tier system were introduced. At one level the basics could be made available for folk who are quite capable of working out what to do with them, perhaps even how to further modify them, and so on.
The next level could be for much more polished and well documented modules. New users without the skills for level one could simply fish from this second level pond.
Actually, let's clarify that just a bit. There is already such a system of course in that a CVS version exists for the more techo folk and a collection of contributed modules is listed for everyone else. It is this collection that I think could be further divided. Either that, or contributors need to be encouraged to provide documentation of a certain quantity and quality before releasing their work.
Basically, if the Drupal community are keen to attract more users, the documentation is an area that must be improved. Yes, yes, I know, the Drupal community includes me too, so what have I done you ask? (My, you are a sensitive lot.) Well, nothing actually. We shall have to see what the future brings.
For now I am limited to waxing positive in my woffling in the hope it may encourage some who would otherwise quit or to attract back some who already have. It really is a very useful tool. If you have a need for a CMS or simply want to get a dynamic website up and running, give Drupal a fair tryout. You may just be very glad you did.
posted by Dr Peter Tylee at
6:22 pm
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home