This is the first in a series of blog posts we'll be writing about Drupal, the open-source Web content management platform that I have come to know and love over the past year or so. If you have used Drupal, if you are evaluating different CMS solutions out there, or if you don't know what I'm talking about, read on and keep checking back for more posts about this popular and powerful community-driven software.
For this first post, I will skip over the question "What is Drupal?" and let you visit drupal.org to get some basic information for yourself. Once you have that, come on back...
OK. You're back. Let's get started.
So, what's the first thing you do with software? You install it. Right! This process for Drupal has a few requirements, which I will gloss over in this post, but if you've run any LAMP-based software, you should be good to go (see "Helpful Links" below). Now, whether you're new to Drupal or you've gone thru the installation process many (MANY) times, you should know that Drupal has a very helpful aspect built right into its core: Installation Profiles.
An installation profile "turns on" functionality and pre-configures a Drupal installation so that, instead of starting with a blank slate after install, you have a customized installation tailored to your needs and closer to being production-ready. For a developer, this is an ideal scenario - installation profiles help us eliminate redundancy in our work. Because, really, who wants to do the same ten or twenty tasks every time you start a new project? I sure as heck don't. Also, for a Drupal newcomer (welcome!), finding an installation profile can be helpful to jump-start your site.
Drupal has a directory of contributed installation profiles here. You may find a helpful profile in this list that fits the kind of site you want to build. However, if you don't find the perfect profile, or if you find one that's good but outdated, don't despair! Look for a similar profile, or go ahead and download the outdated one. Install Drupal using that profile, play around with it, and look at the list of modules used. From that pre-configured site, even if you don't end up keeping the installation, you will have an idea of the settings and modules you will want to use on your actual site.
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Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Microsoft to relaunch Live.com as a Facebook style social networking site
Microsoft will relaunch its Live.com search site as a search + social networking site in something that looks like Facebook.
The new Live.com will be focused on social interactions around Windows Live Messenger (previously MSN Messenger) complete with user profiles. Tightly integrated into the new site will be Hotmail/ Live.com email as well.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Microsoft will make it easier for users to maintain a single list of online friends, from which they can address emails, send instant messages and view activity updates through the new Facebook-like “feed” feature that shows, for example, new photos that friends have posted online and short messages they’ve broadcast through Twitter.
Facebook or FriendFeed style, users will be able to import content from external sources such as Flickr, or any service that has an RSS feed.
Microsoft is claiming that the changes are in response to “the proliferation of online communications services…frustrating many users by forcing them to create and manage instant messaging buddy lists, email address books and social network friend lists in information silos.”
It’s a nice line, but this screams social networking wannabe, not that that’s a bad thing given Microsoft has been sitting on a massive untapped user base in instant messaging which it has so far failed to really offer much extra to. Whether this is a serious challenge to Facebook is yet to be seen, but finally Microsoft may be getting serious about social networking, and while we may be naturally skeptical about their changes, Windows Live IM users are over 100 million, and even if they convert a small percentage, they’re the sort of numbers you can confidently apply the label FTW to.
Read more...
The new Live.com will be focused on social interactions around Windows Live Messenger (previously MSN Messenger) complete with user profiles. Tightly integrated into the new site will be Hotmail/ Live.com email as well.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Microsoft will make it easier for users to maintain a single list of online friends, from which they can address emails, send instant messages and view activity updates through the new Facebook-like “feed” feature that shows, for example, new photos that friends have posted online and short messages they’ve broadcast through Twitter.
Facebook or FriendFeed style, users will be able to import content from external sources such as Flickr, or any service that has an RSS feed.
Microsoft is claiming that the changes are in response to “the proliferation of online communications services…frustrating many users by forcing them to create and manage instant messaging buddy lists, email address books and social network friend lists in information silos.”
It’s a nice line, but this screams social networking wannabe, not that that’s a bad thing given Microsoft has been sitting on a massive untapped user base in instant messaging which it has so far failed to really offer much extra to. Whether this is a serious challenge to Facebook is yet to be seen, but finally Microsoft may be getting serious about social networking, and while we may be naturally skeptical about their changes, Windows Live IM users are over 100 million, and even if they convert a small percentage, they’re the sort of numbers you can confidently apply the label FTW to.
Read more...
Microsoft launches open-source blogging platform
On Monday, Microsoft launched Oxite, an open-source blogging platform.
However, the software maker was quick to underline that the product is aimed at developers and not intended to directly compete with popular blogging software such as WordPress or Movable Type.
Microsoft posted the Oxite code on its CodePlex Web site on Friday and made an official announcement on Monday. The software, described as an alpha release, is available under the Microsoft Public License, one of Microsoft’s OSI-certified open-source licenses.
Oxite is a standards-compliant, extensible content-management system designed to support either blogs or larger Web sites, Microsoft said. The platform includes support for features such as pingbacks, trackbacks, anonymous or authenticated commenting, gravatars (globally recognized avatars), and RSS feeds at any page level, the company said.
Users can create and edit a set of pages on a site, add customized HTML into pages, and support multiple blogs on a single site.
Oxite is also able to integrate with Microsoft developer software such as ASP.Net MVC, Visual Studio Team Suite, and Background Services Architecture. The project began as a way of demonstrating the capabilities of ASP.Net MVC to developers, Microsoft said.
The Web site for Mix Online was built using Oxite, and Microsoft is providing the Mix Online Web site code for developers to learn from. Mix Online is the online community centered on Microsoft’s Mix Web developer conference.
Oxite is not a direct competitor to existing, established blogging systems, nor is it intended to challenge Microsoft’s own SharePoint, which includes content-management-system capabilities, according to Oxite project coordinator Erik Porter.
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However, the software maker was quick to underline that the product is aimed at developers and not intended to directly compete with popular blogging software such as WordPress or Movable Type.
Microsoft posted the Oxite code on its CodePlex Web site on Friday and made an official announcement on Monday. The software, described as an alpha release, is available under the Microsoft Public License, one of Microsoft’s OSI-certified open-source licenses.
Oxite is a standards-compliant, extensible content-management system designed to support either blogs or larger Web sites, Microsoft said. The platform includes support for features such as pingbacks, trackbacks, anonymous or authenticated commenting, gravatars (globally recognized avatars), and RSS feeds at any page level, the company said.
Users can create and edit a set of pages on a site, add customized HTML into pages, and support multiple blogs on a single site.
Oxite is also able to integrate with Microsoft developer software such as ASP.Net MVC, Visual Studio Team Suite, and Background Services Architecture. The project began as a way of demonstrating the capabilities of ASP.Net MVC to developers, Microsoft said.
The Web site for Mix Online was built using Oxite, and Microsoft is providing the Mix Online Web site code for developers to learn from. Mix Online is the online community centered on Microsoft’s Mix Web developer conference.
Oxite is not a direct competitor to existing, established blogging systems, nor is it intended to challenge Microsoft’s own SharePoint, which includes content-management-system capabilities, according to Oxite project coordinator Erik Porter.
Read More...
Monday, December 8, 2008
WordPress.com Goes Gravatar Crazy
The old avatar tool in your WordPress.com profiles has been replaced with your current Gravatar (left.) If you click on that icon you’ll be taken to Gravatar.com (and automatically logged into your account) where you can easily change your image (right). You can upload an image from your computer, paste in a link to an image on the internet, or even take a picture of yourself using your computers webcam. Cropping and rating your images are as easy as ever. After you finish your new image will automatically attach to your email address (assuming you only have one email address on your account,) or you will be presented with a simple-as-pie list of your email addresses, and you can attach the new image to any or all of them! Just close the Gravatar window when you’re done.
Of course all of the standard Gravatar features are available to you. Upload as many images as you wish, switch them as often as you like, add as many email addresses as you want to your account, and more features still in the works.
If you find that you have an “old” image for your Gravatar, simply click on the link to change it and then click on the “Use your last WordPress.com Avatar” link to get the new one back. There are bound to be some small hiccups here and there. Just let Support know when something doesn’t work quite right, and we’ll get everything ironed out in no time.
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Of course all of the standard Gravatar features are available to you. Upload as many images as you wish, switch them as often as you like, add as many email addresses as you want to your account, and more features still in the works.
If you find that you have an “old” image for your Gravatar, simply click on the link to change it and then click on the “Use your last WordPress.com Avatar” link to get the new one back. There are bound to be some small hiccups here and there. Just let Support know when something doesn’t work quite right, and we’ll get everything ironed out in no time.
Read More...
WordPress.com gets WordPress 2.7 features
Automattic has now implemented the WP 2.7 edition on their WordPress.com blogging portal.
The final version of WP 2.7 is not yet released though users can get their hands on a near release RC edition.
This hints at the possibility of near future release of version 2.7 for the self hosted version users.
WordPress 2.7 is a major update to this popular open source blogging platform. Some users might admit that it could have been the version 3 of WordPress.
The back end has been massively updated to make it more user friendly. They have totally revamped the editing screen compared to previous version.
We have been using the RC version of WP 2.7 since quite sometime and we like what we see.
Read More..
The final version of WP 2.7 is not yet released though users can get their hands on a near release RC edition.
This hints at the possibility of near future release of version 2.7 for the self hosted version users.
WordPress 2.7 is a major update to this popular open source blogging platform. Some users might admit that it could have been the version 3 of WordPress.
The back end has been massively updated to make it more user friendly. They have totally revamped the editing screen compared to previous version.
We have been using the RC version of WP 2.7 since quite sometime and we like what we see.
Read More..
Why Joomla Web Designing is a Better Option?
Joomla CMS is the latest rage in website designing. It is getting popularity due to its easy accessibility and dynamic features.
Hurray! I just completed creating a new website and that too ALL By my Own. Well thats the kind of freedom Joomla web designing has provided you. Your website will look and feel exactly the way you like it. You need not worry about designers fussing over your ideas, or the exuberant cost that you have to pay for good website designing.
Joomla Web Designing is a the easiest way so for being introduced for CMS (Content Mangement system of a website). For those who are still unaware of what Joomla exactly is, let me tell you, that Joomla is an open source content management system, that is used to build a website and used henceforth, for any editing that the website might require.
Small and Medium sized businesses that develop a medium sized website, are really really fond of this easy to use web designing technique. It is most suitable for those websites, that have a lot of content in their site, which needs regular changing and editing. Corporate websites, institutions, portals, and several others have used Joomla we designing successfully and have also declared it as the best web designing tool so far.
The reason why Joomla has been recognized with the best tool award is that it has an active community working for it and supporting it continuously. There are many plug-ins and extensions that come along with the Joomla package, to expand the functionalities of this CMS system. With Joomla you can make a simple 3-4 page website (the way I did for an experiment) or you can also create a forum or a blog from it. Manage client contacts, online library of documents, podcasts, calendars, gallery, booking system or videos.
Read More...
Hurray! I just completed creating a new website and that too ALL By my Own. Well thats the kind of freedom Joomla web designing has provided you. Your website will look and feel exactly the way you like it. You need not worry about designers fussing over your ideas, or the exuberant cost that you have to pay for good website designing.
Joomla Web Designing is a the easiest way so for being introduced for CMS (Content Mangement system of a website). For those who are still unaware of what Joomla exactly is, let me tell you, that Joomla is an open source content management system, that is used to build a website and used henceforth, for any editing that the website might require.
Small and Medium sized businesses that develop a medium sized website, are really really fond of this easy to use web designing technique. It is most suitable for those websites, that have a lot of content in their site, which needs regular changing and editing. Corporate websites, institutions, portals, and several others have used Joomla we designing successfully and have also declared it as the best web designing tool so far.
The reason why Joomla has been recognized with the best tool award is that it has an active community working for it and supporting it continuously. There are many plug-ins and extensions that come along with the Joomla package, to expand the functionalities of this CMS system. With Joomla you can make a simple 3-4 page website (the way I did for an experiment) or you can also create a forum or a blog from it. Manage client contacts, online library of documents, podcasts, calendars, gallery, booking system or videos.
Read More...
The Pros and Cons of Using Joomla!
For those of you who have not heard of Joomla!, it is a content management system that allows one to build a complex web portal without the need of advanced web programming knowledge. You download it, install it, add a template then enrich the CMS with extensions. This way you can transform your site into a webshop, link directory, photo gallery and pretty much anything you set your mind to. But like any other CMS, Joomla! is not perfect.
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