Drupal 5.x or 6.x?
I'm new to Drupal.
I'm aiming to build a school website for Sept 2008.
To start with it needs:
- pages/books of static information (eg prospectus)
- forum
- download area with 50 categories for 1000 pdf documents
- teachers blogs with student comments
- teachers can start a book and students add material to them
- email between school departments and also other users
- interactive calendar
- duel languages for the static pages
As you can see, most of this should be basically covered by the 6.x core. But I'd like some advice: if I build the site and add content for Sept, and then add modules for extra functionality as the become available, will I have to re-do all the content and accounts?
Basically, does adding modules to an existing site usually mess up the site? Would it be better to build the site using 5.x and the existing modules right from the start?
Cheers.
Nope, adding modules at a
Nope, adding modules at a later stage does not break it.
You're right that most will be covered by core, but I often find when building sites that there are some smaller modules that I love but take a while to be upgraded... stuff you don't really think of...
For example, you want the Pathauto module, or Google Analytics, or some other "accessory" module, but often these are the slowest to be upgraded. They're not critical, but they're nice to have.
However, the choice is yours: 6.0 is the way of the future!
Hope that helps!
Cheers
Mark
Code Baboon
Drupal based services
thanks for the reply...
> For example, if you want the Pathauto module
Well as I'm a noob, I don't actually know which modules I'd miss! I'm leaning towards the approach of making the initial site within the constraints of the 6.x core and using that as a learning experience, and then hopefully by Sept many of the 'must have' modules will have been updated, so I can then start to give the site more/better features.
However, any further advice is welcomed. I'm particularly interested in anyone who started using Drupal 5.x just after it was released, how well they coped without modules for six months, any problems they had when they finally started to add modules, and whether they're confident the upgrade to 6.x will go well.
Google Analytics has already
Google Analytics has already been ported to Drupal 6 and Pathauto has a -dev release for D6 as well. There's a great list for keeping up with which modules are ported over to D6 yet or not:
http://groups.drupal.org/node/5036
Drupal 5.x or 6.x ?
Not sure about Calendar module being updated to R6.x
Anyone could confirm / infirm ?
Also deciding between 5.x and 6.x
This seems to be an awkward time to begin a site with Drupal.
I am building a modest website for an alternative agriculture organization, by myself. It will be a fairly straightforward content site, with six sections containing several sub-pages each. The primary sections are a resource library of information and the other is a collection of detailed descriptions of projects in progress; plus there are a few other less complex sections and informational pages. No user signup at this time. Originally, I was planning to build it in Wordpress, with which I am very comfortable, but in the future as the site grows it may be too limited. Therefore, I am deciding to take the plunge with Drupal.
Now that I am warming to the idea of Drupal, there seems to be a dilemma over which version to use.
Arguments for version 5
- More modules support v.5. I don't care about all those gadget-y modules, but Views & CCK seem important. If I want to have full control over creating a robust CMS and UI, I should go with 5
Arguments for 6
- Upgrading can be a bitch, and in 6 months I imagine that version 5 will seem out of date.
- Would rather not have to learn 2 versions of Drupal within a short time period.
- The improvements made to css and other architecture in version 6 seem compelling so I could build a better site and more easily if I start with 6.
I am fluent in CSS and comfortable enough with PHP. My basic question to those with more experience is this. Could I build a fully robust site with Drupal 6? These are my requirements beyond creating default pages:
- Formatting graphically rich home and section top pages, based on a few distinct templates
- Add 1 or 2 more dynamic elements to a page besides Title and Body.
- Flexible hierarchical navigation
- Deliver to the client a CMS with rich HTML tools and the ability to upload images
Like I said I know I can deliver all this with Wordpress, and no doubt with Drupal 5, but would Drupal 6 be a wise choice today, or in the very near future?
Any Answers?
Does anyone have an answer to this? I am in exact same dilemma.
argument won't change
This is always the state of things. Your needs dictate your solution. There just isn't a better answer.
Can you accomplish your site in Drupal 6 and assorted contributed modules now? Then use Drupal 6. If not, then use Drupal 5. I have generally found upgrading Drupal to be fairly straight forward but my needs are generally modest and simple. I currently have no sites on Drupal 6 but am exploring options with one of them.
Can you build a site in Drupal 6? Maybe. Depends on your needs.
- Formatting graphically rich home and section top pages, based on a few distinct templates
Using taxonomy / categories in either 5 or 6 this is pretty much a similar method. Drupal 6 theming is richer and has nice shiny new documentation too. Mush from Drupal 5 still applies though.
- Add 1 or 2 more dynamic elements to a page besides Title and Body.
Are they regular elements? Try it. If not try CCK dev version. The dev version does work, just waiting on some additions. Depends on your time line.
- Flexible hierarchical navigation
Huh? Menu module is core
- Deliver to the client a CMS with rich HTML tools and the ability to upload images
Drupal is weakest in an out of the box solution overall in this area. There are a number of solutions and approaches. My needs are modest so this never really bothered me and I can't answer. Popular simple ones seem to be IMG and IMCE modules.
-Steven Peck
---------
Test site, always start with a test site.
Drupal Best Practices Guide -|- Black Mountain
Drupal 5
I actually just redid my personal site . I had actually installed Drupal 6, but then realized that there were not enough modules upgraded. CCK and Views are not ready and without those, you really can't do much in my opinion.
So, I went back to Drupal 5. I am able to install many modules and have lots of features that I cannot have with Drupal 6. There is no reason to think that Drupal 5 is an inferior product. And the modules for Drupal 5 are going to be more stable than the ones for Drupal 6, more than likely.
I would suggest installing Drupal 5. Keep in mind the modules you install. You can never really know when a module will be upgraded (unless you work on it yourself). You eventually will be able to upgrade to Drupal 6. Also, since your go-live date is September, it may seem like a good idea to wait. But there is no guarantee of anything being at a better place by then. Go with Drupal 5 and upgrade later if you are able to.
Unless. You really want to use a feature in Drupal 6 that is not in Drupal 5 or another Drupal 5 module. But this should be a critical feature.
This my opinion, having just gone through this, but also having some good experience with Drupal already.
--
Alan
Drupal v. 5 or v. 6
I have been having the same dilemma. I think you helped me decide to go with v. 5.
What I want to do is create a blog (about Linux), a place where people can submit links, and a forum. So I am not asking anything very fancy.