[development] Proposal: Drupal University

Sat Jan 2 19:50:25 UTC 2010

As a follow up to Margie's note, Packt asked me to write the Drupal 6
version of the book. The projected publishing date is June of this year.
-----
Cameron Eagans
Owner, Black Storms Studios, LLC
http://www.blackstormsstudios.com

On Sat, Jan 2, 2010 at 8:59 AM, David Shaver <d.a.shaver at dashaver.com>wrote:

> Margie I just bought your book from Amazon.
>
> David A. Shaver
> D. A. Shaver Web Design
> Web Page Design for Small Business
> www.dashaver.com
> PO Box 594 Galesburg,IL 61402-0594
> 309.343.0027
>
>
>
> On Sat, Jan 2, 2010 at 9:22 AM, <mroswell at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> > It would be great to some courses on views and cck
>>
>> I wrote the Packt book on Views 1. A number of people have said it's
>> helped them to work better with Views 2. It's not "curriculum" so much
>> as step-by-step recipes for specific tasks.
>>
>> http://www.packtpub.com/drupal-5-views-recipes
>> http://www.amazon.com/Drupal-Views-Recipes-Marjorie-Roswell/dp/1847196969
>>
>> Its focus is on the end-user, but developers will likely get at least
>> some value out of it, too, if only for the comprehensive list of
>> views-enabled modules, the list of views hooks (which don't all
>> transfer to Views 2), and a few recipes on theming.
>>
>> I've done almost no promotion, but seems worth a mention here.
>> Given the version, sales have been minimal, too, but it's a pretty good
>> book.
>>
>> By the way, lest anyone ask:  I originally planned to write the next
>> version, but seemed I needed some self-care more than I needed to
>> write the upgrade. I developed a vitamin D deficiency over the course
>> of writing the book. (5 ng/ml, really low)
>>
>> Happy New Year everyone.
>>
>> Margie
>>
>> PS. I'll bet most of us have a D deficiency. Hmmm... maybe time to get
>> a solar-powered laptop... and a solarium (indoor sun room) for
>> winter... Hmmm, book sales not quite up to all that!
>>
>>
>>
>> On Sat, Jan 2, 2010 at 9:44 AM, David Shaver <d.a.shaver at dashaver.com>
>> wrote:
>> > It would be great to some courses on views and cck
>> > David A. Shaver
>> > D. A. Shaver Web Design
>> > Web Page Design for Small Business
>> > www.dashaver.com
>> > PO Box 594 Galesburg,IL 61402-0594
>> > 309.343.0027
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > On Fri, Jan 1, 2010 at 9:29 PM, James Benstead <
>> james.benstead at gmail.com>
>> > wrote:
>> >>
>> >> After a brief discussion on the docs list this has now moved to g.d.o
>> >> at http://groups.drupal.org/node/42236. One way the project could work
>> is
>> >> for hardcore Drupal developers to do a little consulting on the course
>> >> syllabuses for their area(s) of expertise. If this is something that
>> might
>> >> be of interest to you, please join the g.d.o discussion. Thanks!
>> >>
>> >> 2009/12/28 James Benstead <james.benstead at gmail.com>
>> >>>
>> >>> I want there to be a set of free courses that people can work through
>> to
>> >>> learn about Drupal. Initially, at least, these "courses" would be a
>> >>> reorganisation of existing material, kind of like the Drupal Cookbook.
>> >>>
>> >>> I suppose the skill/experience element here is going to be working out
>> >>> what the syllabus needs to be for each course. The courses can then
>> point at
>> >>> existing documentation, whether that's text or videos or whatever. If
>> there
>> >>> are gaps, we can write new documentation - so organising things in
>> this way
>> >>> also helps us work out what documentation we need.
>> >>>
>> >>> I've posted to the Documentation list at
>> >>> http://lists.drupal.org/mailman/listinfo/documentation - I guess
>> that's the
>> >>> best place to continue this discussion. Would be great if you could
>> help.
>> >>>
>> >>> 2009/12/28 marcia wilbur <marcia.k.wilbur at gmail.com>
>> >>>>
>> >>>> I'm not sure which direction you are heading with this.
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Are you possibly considering video elements with the course design or
>> >>>> text based courses?
>> >>>>
>> >>>> If you are talking about simply reorganizing, then it is just a
>> matter
>> >>>> of management of information, correct?
>> >>>> If you are considering creating courseware or WBTs based on existing
>> >>>> documentation that could take a little more time and talent.
>> >>>> Either way, sounds like a good idea. I could help.
>> >>>>
>> >>>> On Mon, Dec 28, 2009 at 8:39 AM, James Benstead
>> >>>> <james.benstead at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> Thanks for the comments.
>> >>>>> Drupal Dojo is great, when it's running - but it does seem to me
>> that
>> >>>>> it lacks a little organisation. What I am suggesting doesn't
>> necessarily
>> >>>>> need to be new documentation, per se, but instead the organisation
>> of
>> >>>>> existing documentation under a useful structure.
>> >>>>> Perhaps calling it Drupal University is a bit misleading as I don't
>> >>>>> forsee there being any formal assessment or accreditation, but there
>> would
>> >>>>> be structured courses to work through. For example, "Drupal 101:
>> Beginning
>> >>>>> Drupal" which could teach complete newbies how to set up a core
>> installation
>> >>>>> on a local or remote server; or "Drupal 201: Basic Theming" which
>> could
>> >>>>> explain how .tpl.php files worked and how CSS works in Drupal.
>> >>>>> The Packt books are great, but they are short and sweet and they
>> don't
>> >>>>> offer an overall structure. Pro Drupal Development is superb and
>> offers a
>> >>>>> great structure, but it has its limitations: in short, it's a book.
>> First
>> >>>>> off, you have to buy it, for real money. I have no problem with
>> people
>> >>>>> making money out of open source software (especially when their work
>> is as
>> >>>>> brilliant as in the case of PDD), but I do think there should be a
>> free,
>> >>>>> "open source" alternative. If for no other reason, the cover price
>> of PDD is
>> >>>>> huge for developers in 2nd or 3rd world countries (i.e., the
>> majority of the
>> >>>>> population of the planet) and they should have an alternative.
>> Secondly, you
>> >>>>> can't interact with a book: having a structured set of web resources
>> would
>> >>>>> mean people could comment on and discuss the resources, kind of like
>> >>>>> students do on a real university campus.
>> >>>>> I suppose the resource that gets closest to what I'm thinking is the
>> >>>>> Drupal Cookbook - this could be Drupal 101. It fits my proposal
>> because it
>> >>>>> doesn't provide new documentation, but just organises what's already
>> out
>> >>>>> there. But more importantly, it answers the question, "I am at stage
>> X in
>> >>>>> learning Drupal, what should I do next?". Granted, it answers the
>> simplest
>> >>>>> version of this question, and for more advanced developers the
>> answer well
>> >>>>> may be multi-faceted - "if you want to specialise in X, go and learn
>> Y" -
>> >>>>> but it does crystallise what I'm proposing.
>> >>>>> Again, anyone got any more thoughts on this?
>> >>>>> --
>> >>>>> Google Talk/Windows Live Messenger/AIM: james.benstead at gmail.com
>> >>>>> Yahoo! Messenger/Twitter/IRC (Freenode): jim0203
>> >>>>> Jabber: jim0203 at jabber.org // ICQ: 7088050
>> >>>>> Skype: jimbenstead
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> 2009/12/28 Yani <akayani at aapt.net.au>
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> http://www.drupalbook.com/
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> That looks like a good one. I'll make that my first D7 book.
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> Yani
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>> >>>>>> From: development-bounces at drupal.org
>> >>>>>> [mailto:development-bounces at drupal.org]
>> >>>>>> On Behalf Of Andrew Schulman
>> >>>>>> Sent: Monday, 28 December 2009 7:37 PM
>> >>>>>> To: development at drupal.org
>> >>>>>> Subject: Re: [development] Proposal: Drupal University
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> > Shell out some cash on books by Matt Butcher / Packit Publishing.
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> The Packit books are fine as far as they go, but are usually short
>> and
>> >>>>>> basic.
>> >>>>>> For a detailed look at Drupal's big picture, I highly recommend Pro
>> >>>>>> Drupal
>> >>>>>> Development, 2nd ed. by John VanDyk.  2nd ed. is for D6, but I see
>> >>>>>> that a
>> >>>>>> 3rd
>> >>>>>> edition for D7 is due out in April.
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>
>> >>>
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Margie
>> http://www.BaltimoreUrbanAg.org
>> http://www.FarmersMarketVideo.org
>> http://www.FriendlyCoffeehouse.org
>> http://www.packtpub.com/drupal-5-views-recipes/book
>>
>
>
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