By fresh-off on

hey! exciting times! i've recently aquired some new php and mySQL skills want to attempt creating my first customized drupal site! i'm hoping i can get some feedback on what i plan to do, before i do it!

i plan to use the drupal 5 release candidate, initially creating the site in subdomain of my site.
short-term and immediately, the site will be brochure-ware site with a blog and image-gallery/portfolio.
near and/or mid term goal would be to add a shopping cart to the site.

long term.. well, i havent gotten there yet.
after setting up the basic short-term functionality and testing, i plan to do some very extensive theming.

next more testing, and once i'm happy i'd like to move the site from the subdomain and roll it out as the newest version of my actual website. however, i'm not sure how to do that. the moving from the subdomain part, that is.. i'm sure there are instructions here on how to do it, but i dont even know what its called to search for?

also, (obviously) i'd eventually like to upgrade to the official drupal 5 release. will this upgrade be difficult? (heh.. and yeah i know "difficult" is a relative term)

in terms of my skill level, i'm extremely comfortable with advanced CSS; and as i said, I've acquired some php and mySQL skills which i'm looking forward to testing out! using a swimming analogy with the php/mySQL skills: i feel like a little kid who finally has the courage to go jump in the deep end of the pool!

  1. so, does my plan sound wise?
  2. how do i move the site from a subdomain once its completed and tested?
  3. how difficult will upgrading from the RC to the official release be?

thanks for any suggestions or input!!!!

Comments

JasonMR’s picture

JasonMR commented

Hey Fresh-Off

Developing and Testing
Sounds like a good procedure. It is always smart to develop in small steps, and thoroughly test each development step, as this helps with tracking down and resolving bugs.

Development in Subdomain
Why not just stick the site into your domain in its own folder (e.g. /public_html/drupal/), and once ready, use an .htaccess in the root folder of the domain, to resolve all URLs (deleting the additional folder name). That's what I've done (can post the content of my .htaccess file if you want to follow this path and are interested)? Seems much simpler to me, as other wise you will have to worry about ensuring the links you've set up resolve correctly (e.g. if you post images with the full URL). It can be done your way, but seems like a little "too much hassle" for my taste. Having said this, my way is also not perfect, as it puts a little extra work on the server.

Also check out this page in the Handbook regarding test sites:
http://drupal.org/node/22282
It's generally wise and very highly regarded in the Drupal community to read the hanbooks offered.

Upgrading
I'm not responding with personal experience, but with knowledge from reading forum posts and documentation. Though, what I've read is the following. You shouldn't have any troubles at all with core modules, but you might run into trouble with other modules, as they are often not developed with the "same speed", which might created problems.

So, if you just use core modules - no worries mate. If you use a variety of additional modules - problems could arise, but don't have to.

HTH

Bright Regards
JasonMR