Drupal Use at Western: an Introduction

Some concepts about Drupal and Open Source use at Western Washington University

Transcript

1. Western Web Edit …Drupal for Western
2. What is Western Web Edit? .. A Content Management System .. based on Drupal .. that enables regular humans to create and maintain modern, dynamic websites. It’s a website for creating websites
3. What is Drupal? Drupal is a free and open source content management system (CMS) Drupal is an open source community Drupal, the word, is from the Dutch for droplets. Hence the druplicon (mascot) in the form of a water droplet
4. What is Open Source? Open Source means that the source code is supplied for those that want to modify or improve the system. It implies a community that contributes their time to create extensions and fixes. It is the opposite of proprietary software.
5. What’s so great about Open Source? So the community – people like us - fix it to work the way we want it It is the opposite of proprietary software. Lots of ants will straighten a path… A company is more likely to cling to its “features”
6. Of course not! It depends on: •  An active, dedicated community of developers with needs like ours •  A base product with good “bones” ……..structured …….good design principles ……..modular …….strong security policies •  Sufficient product maturity for capability and stability Is Open Source always good?
7. So…what is Drupal? Drupal is a stable and mature open source product with one of the most active communities in the open source world. It has a fabulous security team and over 15000 modules contributed by thousands of developers. Drupal is a robust, well-supported content management system
8. What is a CMS? A Content Management System is a tool for publishing website content that allows for: •  browser-only editing access (no special software) •  content-centric rather than page-centric production •  = re-usable content •  = re-configurable content
9. What is a CMS? ………………………………….. re-usable content Two different pages, some of the same content. Edit one, both change.
10. What is a CMS? ……….………... re-configurable content
11. What is a CMS? ……….………... re-configurable content How can this be the same data? Because CMS content is made of fields: •  Title •  Author •  Date •  Event type Choose which fields you display, where, in what format. When you change it, the display changes everywhere it occurs on site.
12. Page-centric vs Content-centric? Static Web The page is smallest unit •  you can link to it •  you can link to it again •  the page has no values – just text If you repeat a PIECE of content, you have to maintain both copies; when today’s date changes, you have to update the content manually Dynamic Web •  Content is made of fields •  Fields have a value –  a number –  a link –  some text, etc Example: List all the titles of calendar items that have a type “holiday” that haven’t happened yet… When you add new content, or today’s date changes… the whole site is updated automagically… it’s “dynamic” web
13. The power of fields… Amazon.com Their database associates buying and browsing history with a user name to show the logged-in users’ browsed but un-bought items, or offers to buy back previously bought items.
14. The power of fields… When displaying an article in one subject area, lists the titles of the other articles in the same subject area. This list is created once and grows automatically as content is created in the same subject area.
15. The power of fields… •  Create a list of all the courses your department is teaching next year – List only those taught by Prof. Smith – List only Spring Term Courses – When you add a new course – all the pages using that data are updated •  List the events that haven’t happened yet…. and the list is updated for you each day
16. What is Western Web Edit? A website for creating departmental and college web sites That provides the tools for you to create a dynamic web site •  authenticated editors use any browser to create or maintain a website
17. Why Western Web Edit? The goal: •  facilitate more vibrant, up-to-date websites •  by enabling content experts to create and maintain modern, dynamic websites
18. Don’t we do that now? What people said before CMS and dynamic web: •  It’s complicated •  So much can go wrong! •  It doesn’t think the way I do •  I don’t remember what program to use And… no fields, just pages!
19. The Drupal Experience http://dev.wwu- demo.gotpantheon.com/ Just a demo - no styling fake content
20. Status •  Defined Requirements by working with three colleges (Woodring, CBE, CFPA) •  Site-building in progress now •  Design group created to refine home page design for academic groups (ATUS, UComm, Admissions, CFPA, & student rep) •  Launching capability for target colleges late May (Design avail early summer)
21. Design Team University Communications: –  Derek Bryson (graphic designer) –  Matthew Anderson (design and policy) CFPA –  Courtney Hiatt (marketing designer) –  Jesse Sturgis (graphic designer) Admissions: –  Phil Acuncius (graphic designer) –  Jamin Agosti (student employee) ATUS –  Emilie Nouveau (Drupal expert and designer) –  Marie Raney (team lead)
22. Thank you marie.raney@wwu.edu Questions?