August 2006 - Development - lists.drupal.org

internal link filter & master filter list
by Ray Zimmerman 12 Aug '06

12 Aug '06

I'm considering writing a simple input filter module to handle internal links [1]. It would take paths like node/99 and prefix them with the appropriate base_path. I have two questions: 1. Is there an official master list of input filter syntax somewhere that I can consult to make sure I don't use syntax that tromps on somebody else's existing filters? I was thinking of using something like [ilink:<internal_path>] (for internal link). 2. Can anyone suggest an alternate solution to the problem I'm trying to solve [1]? On a related note, I believe ideally, the Links package [2] should handle internal links as well as external ... not sure if that's the intention ... Scott? Thanks, Ray [1] There seems to be no supported solution for including robust internal links in your content (please educate me if I'm wrong here). The problem is to find a way to create an internal link in my content that will continue to work correctly without modification (e.g. like menu paths do) when I move the site to a new path. See this thread on the support list for a bit more background: http://lists.drupal.org/ archives/support/2006-07/msg00058.html [2] http://drupal.org/node/72459

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faster pagination with SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS
by Gabor Hojtsy 12 Aug '06

12 Aug '06

Hi, This might be interesting to try for those working on MySQL optimizations in Drupal: http://www.arraystudio.com/as-workshop/mysql-get-total-number-of-rows-when-… Gabor

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Heatmaps on Drupal.org
by Arnab Nandi 11 Aug '06

11 Aug '06

[drup-infrastructure seems to be bouncing me, hence cross-posting here] http://www.clickdensity.com/ : "clickdensity records the position of every click on a page, building up a virtual heat map of visitor activity. But that's just the start. It also provides user behaviour analysis, segmentation and tracking." I think this is a wonderful opportunity to get some free usability testing done : if we install it on drupal.org, the data generated can be used in improving not just Drupal.org, but also the Drupal interface, since we use most of the popular modules for Drupal.org anyway. The only downside might be a few microseconds of loadtime per user, but I think it's definitely worth that much. -- http://www.arnab.org

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Install profiles should be in their own directories
by Adrian Rossouw 11 Aug '06

11 Aug '06

http://drupal.org/node/77549 I am not going to re-hash everything I said there, but I need to say that install profiles as they are now are not really adequate for many of the things we hope to accomplish with them. I have been building install profiles in one manner or another for 2 years now, and that patch is part of what I found were the base requirements of making install profiles work for us, and very likely anybody who runs more than 1 site on an install.

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Re: [development] rename install profiles to distributions
by Adam Cooper 11 Aug '06

11 Aug '06

>http://drupal.org/node/78164 +1 from me. I agree that 'profile' causes confusion and I also agree that the term 'distribution' fits exactly with what is being achieved. Adam ----------------------------------------------------------------- This message may contain confidential or privileged information, and is intended only for the addressee or other persons entitled to access the information. If you are not the intended or authorised recipient of this message please notify the sender by return and then delete it from your mailbox. Any dissemination, distribution, copying or use of this communication without prior permission is prohibited. Internet communications are not secure and may be susceptible to data corruption, interception and unauthorised amendment for which Pall Europe Limited does not accept liability. Whilst we have taken all reasonable precautions to ensure that this e-mail and any attachments have been swept for viruses, Pall Europe Limited does not accept liability for losses sustained as a result of software viruses. Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Pall Europe Limited unless otherwise specifically stated. Registered Office and Corporate Headquarters: Pall Europe Limited, Europa House, Havant Street, Portsmouth, PO1 -----------------------------------------------------------------

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rename install profiles to distributions
by Adrian Rossouw 11 Aug '06

11 Aug '06

http://drupal.org/node/78164

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Adding to Profile forms - is hardcoding the only way?
by Carl Mc Dade 11 Aug '06

11 Aug '06

I am adding a markup field to a Profile form but only want the field to show after a certain textarea. The idea is to use the links in the markup field to enter text in the textarea above it. I have set in the working code and have no problem with it but am questioning the fact that hardcoding this in seems to be the only way. Is there a way of doing this using the FormsAPI? a grouping syntax? Something like show this field only if a related field is present? Is there a hook for FormsAPI that would help? TIA Carl Mc Dade ____________________________ Web Developer for Hire http://www.heroforhire.net info(a)heroforhire.net --------------------------------- Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. Make PC-to-Phone Calls to the US (and 30+ countries) for 2¢/min or less.

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where to document additions to the core API?
by Derek Wright 11 Aug '06

11 Aug '06

with all the excitement around $node->body (which i share -- way to go, everyone!), and looking over http://drupal.org/node/64279 ("Converting 4.7 modules to 4.8/HEAD") i stumbled into a question that i don't have a good answer for, and no one in #drupal seemed to know at the time, either: in 4.8, i added a new function to the db_* API, db_table_exists(), which is a portable way to find out if a given table exists in your DB (i wrote mysql and pgsql versions). it's a potentially handy method, especially for certain hook_update_N() operations if you have to deal with some special/weird cases (what i wrote it for in the first place), but i'm not sure it's relevant to document it in #64279, since it's not really specific to "converting 4.7 modules to 4.8". nothing is potentially broken by this addition, no one *has* to know the new function exists, etc. it's *certainly* not CHANGELOG.txt worthy. however, if not in #64279, how are developers supposed to know about new functions in the API like this? 1) assume they follow all the core cvs commits closely? ;) 2) spam this mailing list about it and hope everyone who might like to know is subscribed? 3) ignore it completely -- if folks need a function like this, they'll pour through the source or the doxygen and find it (assuming it's named something intelligent). do we have a place to document additions to the API like this? do we need a sub-page off of #64279 for additions that aren't specific to updating? am i being crazy, and this should just go directly into #64279, after all? ;) thanks, -derek (dww)

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Gnome looking for hosted Drupal test site
by Rowan Kerr 10 Aug '06

10 Aug '06

Looks like the Gnome project is moving ahead with their website infastructure makeover[1]. They are still in the process of evaluating CMS's and looks like from [2] they are in need of someone to host a Drupal test site for them. Any takers? -Rowan [1] http://desdeamericaconamor.org/blog/node/286 [2] http://live.gnome.org/GnomeWeb/CmsRequirements

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Drupal administration survey draft based on 10 interviews
by Kieran Lal 10 Aug '06

10 Aug '06

The survey questions and responses listed below are derived from interviews conducted with Drupal administrators from novice to expert. The responses must be evaluated for clarity and conciseness. All questions are multiple selection in that the survey taker can select those that apply to help us best understand the Drupal users in aggregate. Each question in the survey will have an other selection so we can look for answers that did not surface during interviews. The survey will be done using SurveyMonkey.com. It will run for 45 days linked from the front page of Drupal.org. If you complete all the questions in this survey and would like to be recognized as a contributor to improving Drupal user experience please indicate your Drupal.org username Drupal.org username_______________ How would you describe yourself as a Drupal administrator? (select all that apply) New user Non-technical user developing community or social change web site forced to become "accidental technologist" Inexperienced with Drupal but curious. Learning fast based on other web site building experience Experienced user, comfortable with configuring site rapidly Module developer who understands what's going on behind the scenes Other_______________ How frequently do you administer you your Drupal site? (select all that apply) Monthly Once every couple of weeks Several times a week Daily for 30-60 minutes of website management Daily for several hours in site development and deployment Other_______________ How long do you administer your Drupal site in a single sitting approximately? (select all that apply) Thirty minutes to an hour Few hours Half a day All day long Other_______________ How does Drupal help you accomplish your goals as a web site administrator? (select all that apply) Rapid deployment of features and ability to meet customer requirements saves time Web based content publishing is easy and allows for end user contributions Learnable website that can be taught to users and allows website developers to leverage existing learning when building new sites Allows for monitoring and logging of the website Module configuration, extensibility with new modules, and clean code make it easier to configure the website as you need it Dynamic and exciting community allows for rapid and fun learning Other_______________ Why do you use Drupal? (select all that apply) Features, extensibility, integration of modules, clean code allow you to customize your site Speed of deployment and re-use of existing functionality Quality community is helpful, has smart people, is very active, and is working on community solutions not just technical capabilities Allows users to create content, categorize content, and add navigation to the site Other_______________ How does Drupal help your users? (select all that apply) Gives them the features they want quickly Allows users to create web based content such as forum posts, or blogs Drupal community innovates and provides community building capacity with Drupal Cost effective and winning over non-technical decision makers Other_______________ What are some common Drupal administration tasks? (select all that apply) Monitor site through reviewing logs, looking at user activity Manage spam through comments, track backs, forum, and user registration Configure modules Update modules, install modules, test patches, track fixes for modules Work on themes and add theme template to customize module output Learn about Drupal capabilities and features, understand terminology, and plan improvements Manage users accounts, change permissions Respond to user feedback during testing and make changes Create web pages through the creating content types Other_______________ What are some infrequent Drupal tasks? (select all that apply) Add new features by adding modules or coding new features Manage spam, delete content and comment, and banning users Modify existing content such publishing to the front page, making content sticky, or changing titles Layout content in positions with blocks, views, or designing a content section Change site theme or theme a content section Modify site navigation Other_______________ When you administer your site you find it easy to: (1 is not easy, 5 is very easy) 1-5 Add new features and install modules 1-5 Automate tasks using cron 1-5 Manage user information by editing user account permissions 1-5 Change themes or make changes to layout with theme templates 1-5 Post, edit, and version web pages and other content types 1-5 General settings such as changing titles, or date format When you administer your site you find it hard to? (1 is not hard, 5 is very hard) 1-5 Discover where to configure site settings, or where all the different places where a site needs to be configured are 1-5 Understanding Drupal specific concepts or understand technical language without pictures 1-5 Upgrade modules manually, manage module conflicts in output, download modules that don't include dependencies 1-5 Manage content specifically creating new content types, viewing differences in node versions, importing content, or seeing multiple previews of content on a single page 1-5 Manage large groups or users, nodes, menu items, comments, blocks 1-5 Get overview of new content and activities on site 1-5 Configure user permissions with existing granularity 1-5 Manage menus such as changing menu block weights for all menus on a page, or ordering menu items within a menu What other important tasks did not fit into the categories above for you? (select all that apply) Analyzing logs to understand the state of your site Integrating modules and resolving clashes in the output Setting up a testing process including creating a test role, soliciting feedback from users, configuring corrections, and working with module development process to get bugs resolved Work on the theme and templates to create structure and distinct looks to sections of the site Hide output from modules such as node links or browsing links Managing menus with the menu editing interface, bulk menu editing, and menu options Manage performance of the site Identify popular content Aggregate content from other sources into a site Here is table which was used to manually cluster responses from the interviews: http://drupal.org/node/77193. The clusters were used to make up the survey responses. If one of the survey options is confusing or needs to be reworded please consult the table and source interviews to help in making the responses clearer. Interview 1: http://groups.drupal.org/node/1136 Interview 2: http://groups.drupal.org/node/1135 Interview 3: http://groups.drupal.org/node/1133 Interview 4: http://groups.drupal.org/node/1137 Interview 5: http://groups.drupal.org/node/1134 Interview 6: http://groups.drupal.org/node/1139 Interview 7: http://groups.drupal.org/node/1143 Interview 8: http://groups.drupal.org/node/1144 Interview 9: http://groups.drupal.org/node/1146 Interview 10: http://groups.drupal.org/node/1148

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