Drupal

Futureproof Your Content: The Rise of Adaptive Content ArchitectureTomWednesday, May 22, 2013 - 08:12 On most websites, web pages are treated the same as word processing documents or magazine layouts. Text, photos, media and layout all are meticulously laid out into a single flat document.  This traditional approach is quickly becoming a liability in the “anytime, anywhere and any device” demands of the modern world. To keep up with mobile, you will quickly find yourself replicating this process for a multitude of devices, creating multiple variants of the same content. If you need to support multiple languages, you will find this problem quickly multiplies out of control. New search engine algorithms and the accelerated use of semantic markup are enabling people to narrow in and find specific elements of a page such as the time and date of interesting local events, or the hours of operations of a business. Proper content marketing necessitates the re-use and re-mixing of content components. Great content marketers publish regularly and use a variety of means such as blogs, videos, Twitter, and Facebook. The need for highly effective organic content is pushing organizations towards new publishing roles and workflows. These trends are forcing organizations to look at content differently. Not as words and photos on a page, but as orchestrated structures of discrete data. Savvy organizations are taking a content first approach by developing a comprehensive adaptable and maintainable content architecture. What is content architecture? At its essence, content architecture is about breaking content down into essential semantic components. Content is first broken down by type - blogs, events, videos, press releases, white papers and so on. Then each type is further refined into elements. For example, an event content type may be broken down to a description, time and date, location, and price for the event. Each piece of content is given a resource locator (URL) as a home; however parts or all of the content can be integrated anywhere. Ideally an API is provided to enable other systems to use and act on the raw content and its elements. Content architecture also incorporates publishing workflows. Great content is authored by subject matter experts. But often these people are not great natural writers. That is where an editorial review process becomes invaluable. Implementing a content workflow involving defined roles, permissions and editorial states helps assure everything you put out is top quality. ADaptive Content architecture checklist Conduct a content audit Group all your content into types Break each type down into elements Apply taxonomies where needed Assure proper semantic tagging of content elements Define URL patterns for each content type Create RSS feeds for all appropriate content Define content workflows for each type Takeaway The path to success on the modern social web is through content: all kinds of different content and lots of it. To further manage your content for all the ways end users prefer to consume it, you need to implement a well thought out and componentized content architecture. Starting out this way will save you time and pain down the road. Learn More Guilty of one or more of these traps? Don’t worry you’re not alone. In my next post I will cover the four steps to a great homepage design that will keep you from the traps. This post is an excerpt from the Website Redesign Success ebook. The ebook walks you through 8 simple steps to building a results-oriented website.   Download your free Website Redesign Success ebook here. Feature photo by CannedTuna Read more

More and more projects today are using CSS preprocessors, with Sass being one of the most popular out there. What exactly is a CSS preprocessor? It is a scripting language based on CSS that lets you do amazing things with your CSS. We have a new series out, Learning Sass and Compass, to get you up to speed on this new cool tool for front-end development.

I started out with CiviCRM as an end user who installed it for organization where I used to work.  My colleagues and I were self-taught through trial and error, and after a little while, we understood the concepts and day-to-day contact management fairly well.  However, we lacked the opportunity to fully explore functionality before diving in and using it. At my firm, AGH Strategies, we've been providing trainings for CiviCRM clients since the first one over five years ago.  While the training is customized to each client's needs, training is most effective when we can focus on a single process, start to finish.  Meanwhile, most public CiviCRM trainings are general, soup-to-nuts treatments of everything that require the commitment of one or two entire days. As an alternative, we're offering two targeted, two-hour "Start to Finish" training sessions in the next couple of weeks in Washington, DC. CiviEvent Start to Finish will give you the tools to make registration and participant management a simple, efficient process.  For experienced users, you can learn some of the tricks and features that have been added recently.  For folks new to CiviCRM, we'll introduce the full cycle of creating an event, processing registrations, printing event materials, and following up later.Read more and register for the training, which will be May 29 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. CiviMember Start to Finish is an opportunity to walk through the entire membership system--creating the types and rules that automate the membership structure, configuring member-related site features, and customizing the system to match your unique organization.  For those of you who joined us at CiviCon for the "Field Guide to Membership" session http://sf2013.civicrm.org/field-guide-membership that Jane and I presented, this will be the natural complement--a practical how-to session for managing your membership.Read more and register for the training, which will be June 5 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. I hope you can join us for one of the sessions!

A small but very enthusiastic group came. We decided to move the meetup to the second Wednesday of each month. The location may alternate between Clearwater and Plant City, FL. Each person described their use of CiviCRM and many questions were asked and answered. Don Latshaw, fresh from CiviCon in SF presented "What's new in 4.3". There was an equal mix of Drupal, Joomla and Wordpress users. The next meetup will be June 12th and we'll look at CiviCase in depth.

Yahoo Buys Tumblr - Commence WailingJulie MillerTuesday, May 21, 2013 - 08:13 It's been announced that Yahoo has bought the social blogging site, Tumblr for $1.1 billion. With the acquisition comes reprehension from Tumblr's devout, and vocal, user base. Yahoo's CEO, Marissa Mayer posted the announcement on her own Tumblr blog today, ensuring that Yahoo will "not screw it up". Interestingly enough this was her first post ever on her Tumblr blog. I suppose she decided to wait for the deal to come through. So what could the future hold for Yahoo and Tumblr (...Yumblr)? It's hard to say what will become of the site, but here are some of the good and bad points I see for the two companies.  why it's good for yahoo Tumblr is one of the fastest growing social media sites with 120,000 singnups per day. The site manages to combine all of the hot online trends: content marketing, visual-heavy content, social/viral sharing, and microblogging. Tumblr also houses an overwhemingly young user base (46.5% are between 18 and 34 years-old). According to Quantcast, 67% of Tumblr users do not have children, meaning more disposable income. This is certainly the perfect audience for advertising efforts. Yahoo's credibility could increase if this proves to be a smart buyout. why it's bad for yahoo Some people believe that the company overpaid for the buyout. Considering the major pushback from Tumblr users to add any form of advertising, this could be true. It will be difficult to generate revenue without ads, but quick changes to the site could turn users off and have them looking elsewhere online. Strategy will definitely have to be used carefully when considering how to monetize the site. Also, it's risky to invest in social sites; remember when NewsCorp bought out Myspace in 2005? why it's good for tumblr Working with a large company like Yahoo means there are more opportunities to improve the site's speed and functionality. Not that Tumblr isn't already growing at a fast rate, but Yahoo's buyout helps the site reach an even wider audience. Everyone working at Tumblr gets to keep their job, and title, as the company will be independently operated. Mayer stated in a press conference, "The product, service and brand will continue to be defined and developed separately". This ideal makes it look like a win-win investment. why it's bad for tumblr  While Tumblr's main age demographic is between 18 and 34, Yahoo skews more toward an older audience. It may be difficult for Tumblr bloggers to identify and trust with the Yahoo brand. Despite Mayer's promise not to "screw up" Tumblr, in the end, Yahoo holds the purse strings and I'm assuming the final word will be theirs. Are they capable of relating enough to the Tumblr audience to make the right decisions and not come off as "the stepmother" company? Another major boundary to cross will be copyright issues. How will Yahoo be able to handle Tumblr's lenient policy on sharing content? Will there be legal issues to address? And if so, this may take away the easy and fun nature of Tumblr blogging.  what tumblr bloggers are saying Credit: Awkward Pygmies Credit: Aspergers Aligator   Credit: Unfiltered Rants and Raves Credit: Staying Alive What are your thoughts on the buyout? Which company do you think benefited most? Let us know in the comments below!  Featured image credit: Red Orbit Read more

G2 Crowd http://www.g2crowd.com/ is a web site that describes itself as providing business software reviews. They are currently running a comparative review of CRM products http://www.g2crowd.com/categories/crm/compare in which they classify CiviCRM as a 'small business' CRM (but then Salesforce is also classified the same way, along with Workbooks.com and Microsoft Dynamics CRM). Currently (at this time) CiviCRM has only 9 reviews (against 536 for Salesforce) so it would be great if it got a few more, so if you would like to post your review you can do so here... http://www.g2crowd.com/products/civicrm-reviews Mark

Download Here we go! Portland's Drupalcon is here. Here is a quick update about some of the exciting things that Metal Toad is bringing to the event. Stop by our booth (#207) and come party with us Tuesday and Wednesday. Come watch us record the podcast live and even step up to the mic if you dare. T-shirts, wine, stickers, foosball, Drupal!?!?! Whoa. ToadCast can be found on iTunes. Check us out and give us a review/rating. We have a handy form for you to submit questions, topic ideas, and tips that we'll read on the air! Yay. Give it a try. Thanks for listening. Topics discussed: VIP Welcome Lounge C.O.M.P.S Foosball Tournament and Reception Filed under drupal, podcast, drupalcon, portland.

I want to thank the good folks at ThinkShout and ZivTech for organizing the Drupal DoGooders Happy Hour to benefit my family and me, as well as giving people attending DrupalCon an opportunity to hang out and have some drinks. Even though I will not be in Portland this week, I plan to be present in spirit, beginning with a virtual appearance there. Join the crew this evening (May 20) at about 4:00 PDT to raise a glass in toast of doing Drupal Good and for a quick Q & A with me beginning about 4:30. What a long strange trip it's been. From Sunnyvale in 2007 when I conceived the Embedded Media Field module, to Boston DrupalCon in 2008, where I presented my first State of the Media session, to DC in 2009 where we launched the Media sprint supporting the Media suite of modules, to Chicago 2011 and Denver 2012. These are the fun times that I recall fondly, doing good with my fellow cohorts. And by doing good, I mean really doing good things. Because where else in the business world can you spontaneously form a group of competitors, build something awesome, and give it freely to the rest of the world? I'm really going to miss that this year. I mean that even though I continue to contribute to Drupal whatever and whenever I can, I am going to miss seeing you guys this year. There is a magic that happens when you get three or more Drupalers together in the same room. But circumstance has had its way with me these past two years and until we have a DrupalCon "Three Mile Island", I will have to be content with a virtual appearance. So, join me on Monday evening to see my Stephen Hawking impersonation. read more

The Press Release How-To Guide, Part 1: WritingJulie MillerMonday, May 20, 2013 - 07:23So your boss has asked you to write a press release about your company's first annual Hawaiian Shirt Block Party. You might query, What the heck is a press release? A press release is simply a written or recorded announcement directed to the media in an effort to report a newsworthy event. Well that sounds easy enough, but the media need to be able to access and decipher quickly if your document is a press release.  In this post I will discuss how to properly draft a press release so that its intent is recognizable and trustworthy and its content hooks the reader.  Keyword to Keep in Mind: Inverted Pyramid What does it mean?  It means that the main idea of your announcement goes at the beginning of your press release.  Here's an example chart for your to keep an image in your head while writing Image Source: WikipediaHeadline:  Keep your headline as short as possible while still making sense. Limit characters to around 150-170 in you headline.  Make sure you include your keywords. So, with our Hawaiian Shirt Block Party example, our headline might read something like, "Pretend Town's own Festivitee's, Inc. Holds First Annual Hawaiian Shirt Party This Friday" Location/Date: This goes right before your first paragraph so as to orient the reader. Here's an example of the format, "Pretend Town, Pretend State - May 13, 2013 - First sentence of first paragraph."  Introductory Paragraph:  You have to expect that this may be the only part of the press release the journalist will read, so put the bulk of your information here and keep it as concise as possible. Be sure this information answers the questions, "who, what, where, when, and why". The Who is our fake company, Festivitee's, Inc. The What is the first Annual Hawaiian Shirt Block Party. The Where is Pretend Town. The When is This Friday. The Why is to raise awareness for the awesomeness of Hawaiian themed apparel.  Body Paragraph (the "fluff"): The body paragraph fills the reader in on the other information that is pertinent, but isn't really the main announcement. The body is usually a couple of paragraphs and fills in information such as statistics, background information, names of key people involved, quotes, etc.  About the Company:  Write a short paragraph about the company or person the press release is regarding. Include a link to the professional website.  Media Contact Information:  Include a line with a person's name, phone number, email address, and physical work address so that the media can contact him or her with questions.  Closing Line:  The final line should have "# # #" or "ENDS" to inform the reader of the end of the press release.  Remember, press releases are to be newsworthy. Don't write a press release with the intent to sell something - journalists will see through this, and doing so will give you low credibility. Remain honest and focused with your writing and you will see results.  Stay tuned for part 2 of this post where I will discuss how to send out your press release to the media.  Was this post helpful to you? Let us know in the comments below! Read more

Meet Jake. Jake administers a Drupal site. Jake is not a developer, nor does he want to be. Jake does not care about field formatters, image styles, or even draggable views. What Jake cares about is being able to load new content to his site without feeling a tingling sensation up his spine that keeps saying: "just throw the monitor… that will make it better… yeah…." Meet Tara. Tara owns the company that Jake works for. Tara has never even heard of Drupal, but she trusts Jake, and if Jake is happy, Tara is happy. Never much for micromanaging, all she cares about is that Jake's reports are all in the green when she needs to cut checks to pay the overhead. One of her countless concerns while running her business is that Jake can do his work as efficiently as possible while he and the site contribute to the company's bottom line. Jake and Tara are stakeholders. Sooner or later they will be in the market for a new site to replace their existing relic from the technologies of yesteryears. Jake will have to use this new site every single workday; Tara will need to pay for it. In short, they will care about how easy it is to administer. They will care about the how many steps it takes to add a page, the complexity of that process, and never having to know the difference between a node and a taxonomy term. Meet Mike. Mike is a Drupal developer. Mike builds a new site, but he has forgotten about Jake and Tara's stake in the project. Many of you know how the story ends. For the rest of you, here is the short and sweet version: Mike develops an amazing site that exceeds all expectations of the site viewers, but fails to make the site easy to administer. Over time Jake developed a growing resentment of the site's admin. Content updates are slow to surface, the site grows stale, and repeat viewers visit less frequently. Jake constantly complains to Tara about how much he hates the new Drupal site. He finally throws his hands in the air, quits his job, develops a drinking problem and his wife leaves him. Tara starts to grinds her teeth at night and deals with chronic neck pain as a result. All she knows is that no one in the entire company can even figure out how to add a new blog category and thus draws the conclusion that Drupal is nothing but a big confusing ball of pain. She spreads that word to every other business owner that she runs into at the big annual industry convention. Unfortunately the convention is in Vegas that year and with every Old Fashioned she downs, her tongue gets a little more loose in the slanderizing of Mike and the blue drop that haunts her nightmares. Everyone loses. Do I exaggerate; a little, and only for comic relief in the midst of describing what is frequently a grim reality. Let's forget academia, let's forget case studies, UX theory, and all that other fancy-pants stuff that makes people sound important and let's just say the unspeakable truth: Drupal is written for developers by developers and unless you put some time into the admin area, it is flat out confusing to non-developers. When so many seasoned devs find the infamous "Drupal Learning Cliff" to be insurmountable, what can you do for your less tech savvy clients? The answer is simple: you factor administration improvements into your project scope. All you have to do is plan for it, include it into your spec, and implement it as part of the project. One way or another this has to be part of your process. Drupal is additive by nature, you simply have to take the time to add to the admin experience just like you do to the front-end. There is nothing stopping you from making use of all the same types of hooks and module development capabilities in the sites admin as you do in the front facing side of things. The only excuse is not taking the time. Whether due to time or budget constraints, the admin is always the bearded step-child that gets set aside and forgotten, weeping under the floorboards while its finely