This documentation covers the 5.x.2 series of MySite. For information regarding MySite for Drupal 4.7, see the documentation provided in the download.

Developers are urged to join the MySite group.

Overview

MySite pages are designed to let users create a personalized summary of the
site and their favorite places on the Web. As such, the MySite module
duplicates the functionality of tools like MyYahoo! and Google's personalized
homepage.

The module allows registered site users to create a MySite page that contains
content from throughout the site. For sites that use the Aggregator module,
users may also add feeds from external web sites to their MySite pages.

Content collections are specific to each user, and users can choose:

  • A custom page layout
  • A personal stylesheet
  • The content format for each page element
  • A personal theme for their page

MySite was written using an API/Plugin model that allows the core module to be
extended to handle additional content types. The following content concepts are
supported by MySite:

  • "Droplets" of content (HTML, PHP, or JavaScript code)
  • Blocks generated by other Drupal modules
  • Content generated by the Views module
  • Individual RSS feeds handled by Aggregator
  • RSS feed categories handled by Aggregator
  • Comments attached to a specific post (node)
  • Blog posts by individual site users
  • Forum topics and content
  • Content assigned to taxonomy terms
  • Pages added to individual books
  • User profile data for each MySite user
  • Content posts of a specific node or CCK type
  • All posts by a specific user

The intent is for the core MySite module to handle core Drupal publishing
frameworks.

In order for MySite to function correctly, you must first enable and configure
the content types that your site will use.

Suggested Usage

MySite gives your users a personal homepage for your web site. The recommended usage is to configure the third-level domain http://my.example.com to send visitors directly to http://example.com/mysite.

Under this configuration, set the MySite settings for 'MySite behavior' to 'Go to User MySite.' This is the default setting and will automatically direct users from http://example.com/mysite to http://example.com/mysite/UID/view.

If MySite is configured in this manner, you can market and promote the URL http://my.example.com as you see fit.

Giving instructions for configuring subdomains on your server is beyond the scope of this file. For more information, start with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subdomains.

Community Contributions

Since MySite uses an API, users are welcome to create their own plugins. You may read a complete plugin development tutorial at http://drupal.org/node/119583.

The following plugins have been developed and a released in the /contrib/ folder of the 5.x.2.0 tarball.

MySite terminology

The following terms are used throughout this documentation and in elements of
the MySite administrative and user interfaces.

  • User -- the person looking at a MySite collection.
  • Owner -- the person to whom a MySite collection belongs. (In cases where the
    user is the owner, the term User is generally applied.)
  • Admin -- the person(s) who may administer MySite settings and collections.
  • Personal Page -- the default MySite page for a user. Also called page.
  • Settings -- the display options available to a MySite user.
  • Content -- the content options available to a MySite user.
  • Collection -- a MySite user's current content selections.
  • Item -- a group of content displayed on a MySite page.
  • Element -- the number of headlines or stories within a content item on a
    MySite page.
  • Plugin -- a code file used to define and extend MySite options and features.
  • Content Types -- a MySite plugin that defines and controls how content items
    are generated.
  • Icon -- a graphical element used by MySite.
  • Action Buttons -- display elements that trigger changes in a user's MySite
    page.

If you need help with common Drupal terminology, see: http://drupal.org/node/21951.