luhman.org

I attended a recent BadCamp 2011 event on SEO and learned of the following useful modules :

Alchemy : http://drupal.org/project/alchemy

Content Analysis : http://drupal.org/project/contentanalysis

Keyword Research : http://drupal.org/project/kwresearch

SEO Tools : http://drupal.org/project/seotools

Open Enterprise : Drupal Distro with SEO friendly modules built in

Tutr.tv : Collection of Drupal videos

Pake, Phake : PHP-based deploy systems like Rake

Here are some things I did to customize Drupal QuickStart for me :

Setup to enable SSH / XWindows access into the VM :

- Set network interface to bridged (not NAT)

$ sudo apt-get update

$ sudo apt-get install openssh-server

Set window controls to right

$ gconf-editor &

"Apps -> Metacity -> General". Edit "button_layout".

Change "maximize,minimize,close" to

"menu:maximize,minimize,close". Exit gconf-editor.

Update Quickstart image per http://drupal.org/project/quickstart

$ cd ~/quickstart
$ git pull
$ bash -x update.sh

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With Drupal moving to the Git version control system, I'm looking at refining a good way to install, update, and customize Drupal installations using Git.

Since Drupal core, modules, and themes will be separate Git repositories, it seems like using Git submodules, or subtrees are worth looking into for module and theme management.

The Drupal UPGRADE.txt file and upgrade handbook page provide a lot of good information and procedures to perform a major upgrade (ex. 6.x => 7.x).

However, if you're looking to manage your Drupal 7 installation using Git, the upgrade guides don't provide Git-specific advice.

Here's a procedure I found useful when upgrading Drupal 6 to Drupal 7 using Git.

First, clone the Drupal 7 git repository using this :

git clone git://github.com/drupal/drupal.git

Here's the process to perform a minor update to a Drupal installation when using a combination of CVS (from Drupal.org) and Git (from your site). This would be used, for example, when updating Drupal 6.18 to 6.19.

This uses the "combined" method of pulling Drupal from CVS but managing branches on the actual site using Git. This method is outlined here :

http://books.tag1consulting.com/scalability/drupal/start/staging

• BACKUP DATABASE AND FILES
• SITE OFFLINE
• DISABLE ADDED MODULES

    $  git checkout drupal-core

Here's a PDF copy of the presentation I'll be giving at DrupalCamp Colorado in June, 2010.

Introduction to Git for Drupal

Drupal provides some "formatting tips" just before the submit button when creating nodes.

Sometimes you want to override this text to provide your own "tips" for node creation. Here's how to do this :

In your theme's template.php file, add the following function :


function phptemplate_filter_tips($tips, $long = FALSE, $extra = '') {
return 'Your tips here';
}


Also see this post : http://drupal.org/node/35122

Drush and Drush Make are two great utilities for folks who use Drupal.

Here's how to setup and use Drush Make :

Create a ~/.drush directory and download Drush Make to there :

  $ cd
  $ mkdir .drush
  $ cd .drush
  $ wget http://ftp.drupal.org/files/projects/drush_make-6.x-2.0-beta6.tar.gz
  $ tar -xvzf drush_make-6.x-2.0-beta6.tar.gz
  $ cd /var/www/yoursite
  $ cat makeYourWebSite.txt
     core = 7.x 
     projects[] = drupal 
  $ drush make makeYourWebSite.txt

Batch vs. Queue : An API Smackdown

Drupal 7 will use OO for cache and queue systems.

- createQueue
- createItem
- claimItem
- releaseItem

SystemQueue => MySQL
MemoryQueue => in-memory one request
BatchQueue extends SystemQueue

Use Drush for cron-based batch operations

Use queue to queue for later

I think the "Batch" API is somewhat misnamed. It's intent is to "batch up" and provide feedback DURING AN INTERACTIVE SESSION (ex. upgrading a site). To really batch big jobs, use the Queue API.

Unconference by Seth Cohn - Views Default Args

Grab Views default arguments by setting variables with Context module.

http://drupal.org/project/views_arg_context