[documentation] Some thoughts

Fri Aug 7 21:53:51 UTC 2009

Shari and to Ilyse also.

Jennifer and Ilyse addressed a lot of what you said and I agree with them.

I'm really glad you posted. Sherri, I really appreciate your returning to
Drupal and your willingness to "hang in there."

Just to clear up a couple things. The command line is not for people who
have web servers at home. I don't know any developers with web servers at
home. Some Drupal developers do like working on local installs of sites (on
their own computer) while in development. But those sites are not accessible
to the web.). For most web hosting accounts, even the super cheap ones, you
can get command line access to your remote server by logging into it from
your own computer via "SSH" (see below).

I agree with you about the instructions that there should be a version that
is completely without command line.

However, I want to empower you to consider working at the command line...
even if you don't consider yourself a geek.

I'm about to tell you what the command line is and how to get there...

But I first want to say that I'm a rabbi by training and I just starting
coding a couple of years ago (I'm 51 years old). I still mostly build my
Drupal sites by turning on modules, clicking settings etc all through the
browser. However, for some stuff like installing and updating sites... I
have found working at the command line absolutely* liberating*. (Just one
example... when you install Drupal at your web hosting company while being
logged in to the command line at your remote host... you are moving files
from the drupal.org server to your web host's server. The files never go
through your home Internet connection or touch your computer. It takes about
15 seconds to install Drupal core this way, and it is extremely reliable.
After that... FTP looks pretty pathetic. And it really isn't hard to do, see
below.)

My willingness to get a *little bit* geeky, in small increments, and with a
lot of help... have been very rewarding.

On a Mac you get to the "command-line" simply by opening up the application
"Terminal." Terminal is found in the Utilities folder inside the
"Applications" folder. By simply opening the Terminal application... you are
at the command line.

If you are on a PC, I think the best way to start is by downloading a free
program called PuTTY. I know for sure that is what you use for the SSH part,
getting access to your remote server. Here is where you get PuTTY:
http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/

When you make a choice in a graphical user interface, you are sending a
command. With the "command line" you simply send those commands directly.
There are certain advantages for doing certain things that way.

The main command you need to know is the one you use to navigate around your
computer or a remote computer like your web server: cd nameoffolder
Replace "nameoffolder" with the name of the folder you want to move into.
"cd"  stands for change directory.. To go "up" a level (go outside the
'folder' you are currently in), you type: cd ../
or to go up two levels: cd ../../
Also helpful is: ls
which lists all the files in your current directory.

I'll try to send later a good web site that has a very simplified command
line cheat sheet.

You typically get access to your web server via the following: ssh
webacccountusername at example.com and then you are prompted for the password.
Replace webaccountusername with your hosting account user name and
example.com with your domain name. You need to have SSH enabled on your web
hosting account if it isn't already. Submit a help ticket to your web host

You paste the following command to download Drupal, to either your own
computer or to your remote host:

cvs -z6 -d:pserver:anonymous:anonymous at cvs.drupal.org:/cvs/drupal co -r
DRUPAL-6-13 drupal

That entire drupal installation will be inside a folder called, "drupal."
You need to get the entire contents of that directory into the public root
level of your web site. I often do that with FTP cause the GUI on my FTP
software makes that easy. So FTP software is good for some things.

NOTE (this applies to FTP installations as well): Avoid problems by not
installing Drupal into a sub-directory on your server. Or if you do,
hopefully you'll know how to create a sub-domain on your server so that
Drupal thinks you are at the domain root even if you aren't.

Notice  the "6-13" part in the command above. Later, when 6.14 comes out,
and you want to install that for a *new* web site, you replace the "6.13"
with "6.14"

To update your current site when 6.14 comes you navigate to inside the main
drupal directory on your server and paste:

cvs update -r DRUPAL-6-14 -dP

and voila, your site is updated (in about 3 seconds). Always go to
example.com/update.php logged in as user/1 (the person who created the site
initially) after you update the Drupal core or modules files. (Replace
example.com with your domain name).

I didn't put this all here to dismiss AT ALL your seeing the need to have
instructions that are 100% FTP oriented. I just wanted to hopefully
encourage you to try the command line (as someone who came to the command
line very late in life) and I want to debunk the idea that it is only for
geeks.

Have a great weekend...

Shai

On Fri, Aug 7, 2009 at 3:57 PM, Shari <webweaver64 at yahoo.com> wrote:

>  Hi my name is Shari, and I've been a member of this group for a long
> while (actually forgot). I joined drupal.org over 2 years ago. I've
> started and stopped working with Drupal over and over. I am however
> recommitting myself to actually sticking with it. I plan to do this by
> investing my time & money, and that means also giving back to the community.
> However it's been my experience in the past, and again that although it's
> everywhere that Drupal wants people to join in, and to make Drupal user
> friendly, this isn't my experience.
>
> I joined the documentation originally because this is the 1st thing anyone
> new sees, if it doesn't make someone feel included & that it is
> understandable, they're gone.
>
> Out of the CMS's that are out there that I've tried and looked into I chose
> Drupal originally for 2 reasons.
> 1. It can grow as my experience grows.
> 2. People actually answered my questions in the forum.
>
> I've walked away from Drupal for 2 main reasons.
> 1. Documentation is way over my head.
> 2. Outside of the forum, it feels unfriendly.
>
> I got started today by looking for something I could do, and went with the
> Documentation Issues for D7. Review and update the Installation guide. So
> started at the installation instructions and downloading D7. Right off the
> bat, I noticed it saying "This documentation focuses on performing tasks at
> the command line." Maybe I missed something but, that right there is not
> user friendly. I've installed Drupal any number of times, and I still don't
> know what the command line is. Most people who know nothing about Drupal and
> want to install it, are going to start with the Installation Guide, and
> right off it's made Drupal feel like if your not a programmer or someone who
> is familiar with the "back end" of a system you should turn around.
>
> So I wondered where should I discuss this, I jumped into the IRC channel
> posted just that question "Where is the best place to discuss
> documentation?" There were 25 people sitting in the channel, I waited over
> 25 minutes and never received a response. Why are you in the channel if your
> not going to chat?
>
> Unfriendly feeling... again.
>
> If Drupal truly intends to appeal to people outside the "geek" community,
> this is the 1st thing that needs to be addressed.
>
> What can I, what is the 1st step, I can take towards making that happen? Do
> I post a comment to the issue about my thoughts on it. Do I go into the IRC
> channel, do I post to this mailing list. Where does the discussion begin,
> and happen?
>
> I'm willing to do something, I just need a bit of help getting there.
>
> Shari
> WebWeaver64 @ Drupal.org
>
> --
> Pending work: http://drupal.org/project/issues/documentation/
> List archives: http://lists.drupal.org/pipermail/documentation/
>
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