September: Tandem with Computer Professionals' Union

Okay, it is very obvious that I'm quite out of the blogging scene recently.

But just to give a good reason [in which case I hope you hear me out], I'm preparing for Drupal talks this September in cooperation with the Computer Professional's Union [it's a union here in the Philippines that is aimed in responsible and sensible technology] for the Software Freedom Tour here in the PH.

CMS / Drupal Talk schedules are as follows:

• SEPTEMBER 6 -- Makati University | demographics 230
• SEPTEMBER 20 -- Makati University | demographics 1500

This is of course in lieu to the Software Freedom Day which will be held around the world to promote Open Source technologies [hmmm, reminds me of "The Happening"].

Don't be left out. Let's keep it up Philippines... we already flunk the Olympics. Soon it's the next gen's brains.

July 2008: Drupal 5 or Drupal 6. Which do I choose?

It's July 2008. You are new to Drupal and you don't know which version to begin with...

Regarding which Drupal version to use, please don't get confused.

FACT: The most popular Drupal version is Drupal 5 (to date).
FACT: D5.0 was released Jan. 15, 2006 while D6.0 was released Feb. 14 2008.

What do people consider in choosing?

• Built-in features. Usually the latest version has the neatest features (fortified and improved). Of course, you need to create a list of all your needed features. You don't expect Drupal to do everything for you. You''ll have to install or code some of the things that are not inherent. Which lead me to...
  

• Contributed modules. Some Drupal developers are not moving to D6 because Views and CCK for D6 are not yet in their final version. These two modules are the most essential in terms of building a Drupal-based website on-the-fly (I myself am a CCK addict). And since both are in the early release candidate versions, many are not-so-hesitant to switch to D6. My advise to you? Create a list of features that your website needs and check if the functioanlities have a compatible module in the Drupal version that you are suspecting to use. Find those modules here.
  

Interestingly, Views and CCK for Drupal 6 already have release candidates.

• Buzz. Drupal developers are segregated in many ways: Geography, Culture, Gender, Motive, etc. Some are there only to Drupal services, and some are there to enjoy collaborating with other people by learning/creating cool functionalities and software improvements. No matter what the motives are, "hype" is always there to guide everyone in the hive. What?@# You're not familiar with any Drupal events? Now is the best time to buy an event ticket to attend one, or, organize one with your local community.
  

• Documentation, Learning Resources, and Support. Are there good Drupal books I can buy? Are the new Drupal hooks well documented? Are screencasts and online classes available? Are Drupal mentors within reach in my local community? --These and more will definitely define your Drupal experience. It is very critical to have good support and back-up in times of dreary dead-ends. If you find yourself not-at-ease with your local community... then join another community. Or better yet, get yourself on a chatty mood, ask, and participate in forums and Drupal chatrooms. Get that well-deserved support you are longing for and get ready for some Drupal lovin' --and make sure your code of ethics are intact (so as not to get kicked out).

Happy now? I hope you found your nirvana. I know it sounds like you'll need a lot of patience to wait for everything you desire (for your website that is) but the good thing is that there are hundreds of people helping and reaching-out to make Drupal the best web framework ever.


RESOURCES ONLINE to prove my point:

• New Features in Drupal 6 (by Greg Knaddison)
  
• Drupal 6 + Views 2 + CCK 2 + Panels 2
• Convering D5 modules to D6
• Upgrading from Drupal 5.x to Drupal 6.x
• Still not enough? Ask around... Or get a Drupal coach and negotiate for their hourly fee.
  

Philippine Drupal Code Sprint @ the Kubo: A Huge Success!

Congratulations to the Drupal Code Sprint held at a "Kubo" in Manila!

It is great pleasure meeting Filipinos with the same passion for Drupal. And you know what? We ended helping out two non-profit orgs. in the same day too!

Websites were created for Kodao Productions and Philippine Peasant Movement, all in one day.

My deepest & sincerest thanks to J Francisco who came all the way from Hawaii just to initiate, organize and share this event with us. Mahalo!

To Rick and DL of CPU, it's really nice working with you again ;) Thanks for bringing the kubo back for this special activity.

Salamat din sa mga bagong kaibigan (Thank you to our new friends).

For more info, visit http://groups.drupal.org/philippines

Drupal at the Philippine Open Source Summit in Cebu

Just so you know, I never intended to hurt any minuscule feelings at Room 102 at Cebu International Convention Center. What supposed to be a "tech-talk" turned out being an early-morning show for some of the audience. (Thanks for the warm compliments. I'm so happy that you liked it).

Moving forward with my blog... I never expected to get such wild audience participation in my entire life! From government officials, non-profit orgs, to private-owned companies.

It feels so overwhelming to know that many were convinced with the power of Drupal as a social publishing platform and as a web framework.


Here are the topics discussed (because I presented in impromptu):

• What Drupal is -- History and origin of the name
• Who uses Drupal -- Piclens presentation of top websites created in Drupal
• Where can we find Drupal users/developers around the world -- (gmap representation)
• Common Job Descriptions in the Drupal community
• What you need to setup a Drupal site under 3 minutes -- demo of Uniform Server + Drupal 6
  
• The Philippine Drupal Group

Special thanks to Keiran Lal (aka Amazon) of Acquia and Jimmy Berry (aka boombatower) for the marketing collateral and presentation templates respectively. Also, I give my acknowledgement to Steven Peck (sepeck) and Jacob Redding (jredding) for the inspiration and encouragement.

I take this a sign for more Drupal events to come (here in the Philippines of course)!