Re: Call for Help: Drupalify the KDevelop website

Hi again KDevelop team,

this seems like a fitting occasion for me to throw in some lines again
on this mailing list.

> our current website is unmaintainable and contains lots of obsolete legacy
> content. I want to improve that by creating a new website based on Drupal and
> link to the current website for legacy content (KDevelop 3.x).

The old custom CMS does have its charm, and is certainly well
customized for the specific content that has accumulated there over
time (and there is *a lot* of content there, especially considering
translations, etc).

But if you plan to make a "fresh start" with new KDevelop 4 content,
then Drupal is indeed a great choice.
The Drupal nodes, fields, views, and taxonomy features should easily
satisfy all the content structuring and displaying needs the KDevelop
website might have.
Even "advanced features" which I envisioned in my original design
mockups[1] (in case you still care about that), like a breadcrumb-bar
and context-aware "quick access link" boxes, should be fairly
straightforward, once the underlying content structure is set up
properly.

> My current WIP is already in git, in the kdev-www drupal branch, see:
> https://projects.kde.org/projects/extragear/kdevelop/kdev-
> www/repository/show?rev=drupal

A few comments after taking a quick look at the repository:

1) I'm not sure how much sense it makes to track a Drupal installation
in a Git repository, seeing as the actual website data (structure,
content, configuration, customization...) lives inside the MySQL
database, not in the file tree.
The only thing that definitely makes sense to track with Git is the
implementation of the custom theme.
Furthermore, a script of "Drush"[2] commands, or a "Drush Make"[3]
makefile, capable of reproducing a Drupal installation file tree
(Drupal core + modules + theme) identical to that of the live website
could be kept around (and up-to-date) either in Git or in the Wiki.

2) You shouldn't put contributed modules into the "modules/" directory
directly underneath the Drupal root, but instead into the
"sites/all/modules/" directory.
(To cite the Drupal documentation[5]: "The modules folder at the top
level of your Drupal installation is reserved for Drupal core modules
(the ones that come with the original download of Drupal). So, you
should generally create a sites/all/modules/ directory and put
uploaded modules there.")

> Furthermore we have server space provided by the nice guys at Kollide.net
> (which also host Konversation, Amarok, ...).

Do you have ssh access to that server space?
If so, you can use the aforementioned "Drush" tool also for
installing/updating modules on the live site (as well as performing
various other administrative tasks). It will make your life easier...
:-)

Cheers,

  Sam

-------
[1] http://sam.megabyet.net/kdevelop-website-design/img/news%20page%20-%20compromise%202%20%28edit%204%29.png
[2] http://drupal.org/project/drush
[3] http://drupal.org/project/drush_make
[4] http://www.drupaler.co.uk/blog/how-drush-make-just-changed-my-life/481
[5] http://drupal.org/getting-started/install-contrib/modules

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