[drupal-docs] node definition

[Farsheed]

I think perhaps there should be a very, very, very,
layman definition of "node" which could be one
sentence, and then has more details underneath it. 
Then a medium-technical definition, and finally, a
super-technical definition.  Having three definitions
of increasing complexity allows a reader to gradually
learn starting from a conceptual overview and then
finally dive into nitty gritty details if they want.
Probably talking about a database in a layman
definition would be confusing, since an average
beginner may not even know what a database is.

Novice technical definition:

Node: n.,
A single piece of content that is published on a
Drupal site. Examples: a blog post, forum topic,
single image.

More details:
A single node can be organized using categories, and
other people can leave comments about it.  Example: a
blog post can be categorized under "sports" and then
other people can leave comments on that blog post.  




--- Charlie Lowe <cel4145 at cyberdash.com> wrote:

> As a former "math freak," I can see where you are
> coming from. Graph 
> theory seems applicable for a better theoretical
> understanding of the 
> node abstraction layer. But you'll also lose lots of
> people with that 
> way of definining them. How about this (a rewrite of
> what already exists):
> 
> Nodes are the basic, user-publishable content type
> in Drupal, the basic 
> posts that people make to a Drupal site. Stories,
> polls, forums, blogs, 
> etc., are all different node types. Each time a user
> creates a story, 
> poll, forum, blog, etc., Drupal stores it as a node
> in the site's 
> database. Nodes can also have comments attached
> and/or be tagged with 
> categories (taxonomy). They can be displayed in a
> variety of ways, such 
> as by node type or category.
> 
> Karoly Negyesi wrote:
> > http://drupal.org/node/937
> > 
> > Node
> > Nodes are probably the hardest Drupal concept to
> grasp but they are 
> > really  quite simple. Almost all content in Drupal
> is stored as a node. 
> > When  people refer to "a node" all they mean is a
> piece of content 
> > within  Drupal, it could be a poll, a story, a
> book page an image etc.
> > 
> > I doubt this being correct. Is a 'product' in a
> webshop content for  
> > example? A group of users as in og.module? No. We
> need something better  
> > here. Here are my two cents on the definition --
> note that I am a math  
> > freak. Node is among other things is a synonym for
> vertex in graph 
> > theory.  I can imagine two types of graphs in this
> context: one is that 
> > nodes are  built by node type modules and nodeapi
> stuff and these cross, 
> > we find a  node. Also, taxonomy terms can be
> thought of edges between 
> > nodes (that  taxonomy also has hierarchy is
> irrevelant this context).
> > 
> > In layman terms, node is something where stuff
> comes together. ..
> > 
> > Regards
> > 
> > NK
> -- 
> [ drupal-docs |
> http://lists.drupal.org/listinfo/drupal-docs ]
> 



		
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