[documentation] [Documentation task] Installing Drupal multiple sites, multiple Drupal Install Texts

[Spz Toid]

On 4/11/06, zirafa <drupal-docs at drupal.org> wrote:
>
>
> Thanks for taking on this task - I'm sure you are aware of the other
> docs that have been written in similar spirits?  Might help as a
> reference point, or give some ideas.


In January, Kieren asked someone to clean up the install doc that ships with
Drupal, and incorporate comments collected regarding the original version.
In my set of 4, the doc Kieren referred to would be the single site - shell
version. The multi-site versions were split off to make the single-site
versions shorter. Also, a lot of Drupalistas use phpMyAdmin.

I chose to focus on a single-source document, simplifying the workflow and
reducing chances for errors, by using conditional text. I tried to be as
complete and accurate as possible, because a lot of people refer to this
particular document, and to write as unambigously as possible, especially
for people that use English as a 2nd language.

Some of the language is a bit wordy which could potentially confuse or
> make readability difficult.


Yeah, everyone needs a good editor. ;-)  But honestly, explaining the
.htaccess installation for multi-sites gave me fits, and I hope that my
explanation is an improvement over the source I collected the info from (who
I'm grateful someone wrote a forum post about). That was a lot of work just
figuring that out and how to present it. I'm glad it's over. I figure by
putting this set out on the table, the Drupalistas can refine it further.
That's what I did, using Dries' original doc, while trying to add accurate
details I learned while installing Drupal myself. The .htaccess section for
multi-sites is new, for example.

Also I'm wondering about the target
> audience for each of these docs - i.e. I noticed you are assuming that
> a phpMyAdmin user would not use the command line to manage mysql, but
> would then depend on it to create the /files, /tmp directories, chmod,
> and set cron jobs.


I also realized late today, the inconsistency about the /tmp and /files
instructions, as you point out. But I also thought that this section might
be scraped entirely if, as Kieren suggested in an earlier comment (the
outstanding tasks of which, I've saved at the top of each doc) ...if the tmp
and files were installed correctly from the tarball in the first place.

Also, lot of people use cpanel or poormanscron, bypassing the need to setup
cron 'the hard way'. I do. I also use FileZilla ftp client, along with
phpMyAdmin. I don't think this setup is so uncommon.

My guess is that if they aren't using mysql on the
> command line, they probably don't rely on the command line a whole lot
> or don't have access.  Also when evaluating the target audience it may
> be useful to consider the language choices you make - technical
> references ('ASCII files', may be out of scope.


You're right, the doc should be edited towards the target audience. Editors
are good people, and most welcome.

Lastly, I noticed the docs site is wiki-fied - is that open to public
> editing?


YES! I strongly encourage a peer review, and I'll incorporate any edits into
my source docs and subsequent versions. I can use DIFF to see changes folks
have made. But I haven't tested this process out, and I'm willing to support
comments about it (like what's broken, if anything, so I'll try to fix it,
so folks can really edit.)

Thanks a lot for your comments zirafa!.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.drupal.org/pipermail/documentation/attachments/20060411/bd7793b7/attachment.htm