That's an interesting discussion regarding experience in PHP, JavaScript, CSS etc. From one point I agree that those are important to know if Customer wants to implement something specific. From the other hand if you start modifying Drupal modules or creating a new one then you must carefully document all changes. Otherwise support of such site with custom PHP code might become quite complex task. For you or for whoever maintain it. <br>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">2010/8/16 Sam Cohen <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:sam@samcohen.com">sam@samcohen.com</a>></span><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">
While I think you can be a Drupal consultant without knowing PHP, if you don't know it, you should definitely have a working relationship with someone who does know php and someone who understands how to write a custom module, use Drupal hooks, theme overrides and you should be able to bring that person in as needed. ( It's probably also a really good idea to have a working relationship with a jquery/javascript person too. )<br>
<br>Without such a person, you're going to have to tell clients "Drupal can't do that" or if you're honest "I don't have the skills to make Drupal do that." <br><br>If you have a relationship with a developer/coder, you can at least tell your clients "I'll get you an estimate on that" and then sub-out parts of the job to the developer.<br>
<br>Sam<div><div></div><div class="h5"><br><br><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sun, Aug 15, 2010 at 4:57 PM, Kevin Davison <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:kevin@quevin.com" target="_blank">kevin@quevin.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">
<div style="word-wrap: break-word;"><div>I agree with Nancy and Larry. But each client is different, and the requirements are rarely the same from client-to-client. So that last 20% is not the same last 20% each time. You have to be flexible, learn something new each time, and hopefully what you learn before can be applied to the next project. And don't hesitate to ask for help.</div>
<div><br></div><div>And there aren't many "wrong ways" to develop something, since it may be fine to use CSS to arrange everything if you choose. Perhaps time and budget are factors. But you may be able to design/develop similarly with Panels, a different sub-theme, a theme of your own, Display Suite, Views, or a hundred different TPL files if you want. Don't hack core OR a base theme (dealing with a hacked Zen now w/ an inherited project).</div>
<div><br></div><div>My point (or advice) is to consider the best practices first, and then use a method you know best. You will realize some faster way to do the same thing differently next time. Like the first time you're introduced to Views and template files. Or hook_form_alter.</div>
<div><br></div><div>Kevin</div><div><br></div><div><font face="Courier New" size="3">--- </font><br><font face="Courier New" size="3"></font><br><font face="Courier New" size="3">Quevin, LLC</font><br><font face="Courier New" size="3"> <a href="http://Quevin.com" target="_blank">Quevin.com</a></font><br>
<font face="Courier New" size="3"> <a href="http://twitter.com/Quevin" target="_blank">twitter.com/Quevin</a></font><br><font face="Courier New" size="3"> <a href="http://linkedin.com/in/quevin" target="_blank">linkedin.com/in/quevin</a></font></div>
<br><div><div><div></div><div><div>On Aug 15, 2010, at 13:34 PM, nan wich wrote:</div><br></div></div><blockquote type="cite"><div><div><div></div><div><div style="margin: 0px; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">
<div style="margin: 0px;"></div><div style="margin: 0px;">Larry is quite right in this. But I'd like to point out that for many sites, half of that "other 20%" is also not difficult - it's getting the CSS right. I have many amazed customers who "only want a little code written" who get what they want from just tweaking the CSS. I am frequently asked "Do I need to know PHP?" and "Do I need to know HTML?" Well, I know consultants who don't know PHP at all (and a few who deny it). If you really want to learn those things, I suggest, in this order: 1) CSS, 2) PhpMyAdmin, 3) HTML, 4) cPanel, 5) PHP. And the last one really depends on how "dirty" you want your hands to get.<br>
</div><p><font color="#ff007f" face="bookman old style, new york, times, serif" size="4"><i><b>Nancy</b></i></font> </p><p><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. -- Dr. Martin L. King, Jr.</font></p>
<div style="margin: 0px;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><hr size="1">
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">From:</span></b><span> </span>Larry Garfield<br></font><br>Download a couple of modules, built some node types with CCK, configure a<span> </span><br>couple of views, throw a downloaded free theme on top of them... click-click-<br>
click-click...<br><br>Mind you, the ability to "click together" 80% of what you need is what makes<span> </span><br>Drupal such a great platform. You can even get some really amazing<span> </span><br>functionality that way without writing any code, just making clever use of<span> </span><br>
existing modules. That last 20%, however, is what separates a "looks like<span> </span><br>Drupal" site from a finely tuned, custom-themed, customized solution. It's<span> </span><br>also where most of the time, effort, and money goes in a project.<br>
<br>Now, many many sites don't need that last 20%, or they may think they do but<span> </span><br>really don't. Part of a consultant's job is to help a client figure out which<span> </span><br>of that 20% they really need, and which they can afford.<br>
<br>A consultant's job is to make the client happy in the end, not to give the<span> </span><br>client what they say they want. That's a very subtle but important<span> </span><br>distinction. :-)<br></div></div>
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