I just upgraded Drupal with a security fix.  With WordPress, the upgrade process is so painless and automatic.  You click a link and WordPress takes care of just about everything.  With Drupal I thought I was back in the dark ages.   First I had to find the update instructions.  Buried in the Tar/Zip file is a file named UPGRADE.txt.  There the instructions started off with an enthusiatic "Let’s begin!"   Whew… I’m glad they had that exclaimation mark….

There were fourteen manual steps to follow.  At the end of the fourteen steps there was a reference to see more information on upgrading at the Drupal site.  Boy I could hardly wait to read more information.  Instead they gave some minimal information about what releases are supported and then told me I could find more information in… what for it….  UPGRADE.txt in the file packaged with my Drupal files. 

So I went and read the UPGRADE.txt file and at the bottom was a reference to see more information on upgrading at the Drupal site.  Boy I could hardly wait to read more information.  Instead they gave some minimal information about what releases are supported and then told me I could find more information in… what for it….  UPGRADE.txt in the file packaged with my Drupal files.   

Repeat the above two paragraphs indefinitely.

I had a need to learn Drupal, the open source content management system.  This post is to capture some comments about the experience.  To do the experience justice would require writing a book.  Anyway…

The server I had access to runs windows XP.  All early indications was that while not optimal, Drupal does run under XP.  This is accurate, but I discovered that to use friendly urls requires the apache web server re-write mod which is not a part of Windows IIS.  There are versions of a re-write mod available to install on windows but who wants to mess with the Windows IIS system.  Since this is a test system I can live without the friendly URLs.

The server already had PHP and MySql installed so the installation of Drupal went fairly smoothly although I have on the administer page the following:

One or more problems were detected with your Drupal installation. Check the status report for more information.

which tells me directory permissions are set wrong.  This message persists regardless of what I do with permissions and does not seem to affect the installation.  I’ll live with this until I get a chance to track down the issue (ISS permissions vs NTFS permissions perhaps?)

I managed to get this site converted from the original hardcoded html to Drupal based.  But then I found one of the modules I was using (the book module) had a bug.  This of course was discovered by first noticing a that I could not delete a book, then googling around, wading through postings etc.  Finally finding a thread of patches, each one followed by "patch failed" message.  Finally at the bottom of the thread was a "patch passed" message.

Great!  I now have a patch, but no instructions on how to apply it.  Back to google.  Search "drupal patching".  What… download Cygwin?  Crap….   I don’t want to install more software on the server.  Especially an entire Unix emulation system.  (Note I like Unix, have used Unix, have installed Cygwin on other systems etc. )

More googling…. what about GNU patch.exe.  Ok I’ll try that.  Hey am I having fun yet?  Well I am really appreciating WordPress and its automatic update feature on its modules.  If a module in WordPress has an update available I’m notified and by clicking a link it will automatically apply the update.  Nice.  With Drupal… No I’m not having fun yet.  Now I’m trying to figure out how to get the patch program to run under Vista (my desktop machine).   

Ok, I’m going for the easy fix…. Open MySql Admin, find the catalog, open the book table and delete the record… Done!

I have had three father figures in my life.  My dad, my sister’s significant other, and a surrogate father.  They all have something in common.  They grew up during the Great Depression and they served in World War two.  Two of them in the Pacific Theater and one in the Italian Theater.

They also all displayed similar characteristics.  Fugality and self reliance.  They did not feel they were entitled to anything.  What they had they earned.  I think that this is the great difference between the "Greatest Generation" and today.  Today people think they are entitled to free health care, housing and education.  Today people feel that someone else is responsible for whatever situation they are in.  They are the last ones responsible, if at all.

I think the Jefferson had it right.  We have the right to pursue happiness.  Happiness is not an entitlement.  We have the right to find a job, work hard to pay for an education, take our earnings and buy a home we can afford.  But the bottom line is that our condition is, and should be, our responsibility.  Government aid should be applied in a manner that helps us, if needed, in our pursuit.  Rather than trying to guarentee the goal of our pursuit.

Neither my mother or father graduated from college.  I was the first.  I worked, I briefly had food stamps, I got help from my mother.  I went to a state school, and one of the less expensive ones at that.  I graduated and went to work.  I saved money.  When I was laid off from my job I had saved enough money to go to grad school and get an MBA.  It was my responsibility, not yours or the government.

I think if more people took personal responsibility for their life we could once again talk about a "greatest generation".  As long as we believe we are entitled I don’t think we can.

I find it incredible that

1. People think that content management systems manage content
2. People think that web based systems remove any requirement that authors understand any html
3. Everyone wants to edit content, but no one wants to learn how to administer a CMS

Point 1.  Content management systems don’t manage content, people manage content.  People may use a content management system to help them, but the system does not manage the content.  The CMS is a tool that people wield.  Content can be managed without a CMS.  Content can be edited without a CMS.  Does a CMS make it easier?  Well it depends.  You can learn to manage/edit content using a filesystem and a text editor.  Basic HTML is not difficult to learn.  Using an ftp client is not difficult.  If you are managing a small site and making all edits yourself, this can be a very simple solution. 

Or you can use a content management system.  But if you are working by yourself, you have to learn the CMS.  Including how to install it, install additional modules you might need, administer it, use it’s editor, create templates, etc. 

Point 2.  Editing in a WYSIWYG editor in a CMS looks easy.  I have heard people describe it as "just like editing in MS Word".  Well, yes, if you are doing simple text editing.  But if you are uploading images, building tables, inserting flash and other useful things that people want to do on the web, then understanding HTML and other web technology is important.

Point 3.  When I’m talking with clients about what they want to do, invariable the response is "I just want to make simple updates to some pages".  Content management systems do so much more than that.  So if that is all you want to do, what are you going to do will all of the baggage that comes with a CMS?  Are you going to apply security updates when they are released?  Are you going to learn how to efficiently upload images?  Are you going to learn the administrative interface?

Content management systems are powerful tools.  In fact, a useful analogy might be to carpentry power tools.  They can be very powerful and make your life easier.  But to use them you have to first be trained as a carpenter.  You have to understand which tool is used for which task.  To many users think that if the just have a CMS installed they can build and maintain web sites.  I would not want to live in a house someone built if all they did was buy some power tools.