Just upgraded this from 4.7 to 6.5 and create a new design for it. I was a bit skeptic about D6, but it really has a lot of great improvements.

The process was something like:
Photoshop -> plain html/css -> drupal template -> configure all modules -> playing with views -> theming internal forms

What do you think ?

http://www.digital-karma.org

Thanks.

Comments

dkruglyak’s picture

Very interesting!

How did you manage to skip 5.x? Would be great if you could describe the upgrade steps you went through.

In particular, which 6.x contrib modules did you use? Which ones did you find not stable enough yet?

Mihai Chiriac’s picture

Actually i considered that too many modifications had to be made in order to upgrade it the classic way 4.x->5.x->6.x, so when i say upgrade i practically say i made a new website using D6, than move all the content from the old website to the new one.

The modules used are:

CCK
imagefield
filefield
Devel
Flashvideo
Imagecache
Akismet
Comment Subscribe
Global Redirect
Meta tags
Pathauto
Quick Tabs
Service links
Views

All worked ok even if many are still in development, filefield required a patch and one of them also required a small modification, but in general, all worked ok.

I couldn't achieve 2 things yet
1. Make XML Sitemap module work as it should with Pathauto. After a bulk update of the aliases, all i see in the sitemap were nodes using the /node/id version, not the path made by pathauto
2. Make a rss for a view. Some weird stuff happens that i didn't get yet understand.

3? This is offtopic, but if you wonder why the movies don't have a screenshot, it's because i didn't install ffmpeg o the server yet :)

In general, i say D6 is good for production websites. Even if there are modules in dev, they work one way or another.. generally the supposed to work way.

Net Ingredient

WorldFallz’s picture

very nice-- and thanks for the writeup.

when i say upgrade i practically say i made a new website using D6, than move all the content from the old website to the new one

I'm thinking about doing the same thing-- what method did you use to move your content over? I was thinking about using the import export api module but would be interested in hearing about your approach.

===
"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." - Lao Tzu
"God helps those who help themselves." - Ben Franklin
"Search is your best friend." - Worldfallz

Mihai Chiriac’s picture

I was definitely thinking of creating a script that take the content from the old website via some sql queries and insert it in the new one.

The website has about 100 nodes, so i had to think twice if it's ok to spend some time creating the script, or moving the content "by hand". I walked on the second path, mainly because:

1. The images in the old version were inserted via image_assist and were too small for the new one. The images in the new version are inserted via imagefield and use imagecache for printing.
2. The text part of the nodes were really "dirty". I used a weird version of tinymce on the old version, and some strange things happened with the content, plus.. the text was full of image_assist image insertions.
3. The videos were embedded from youtube, dailymotion, etc., but on the new website i choose to have them uploaded via flashvideo.
4. On the old website, all the content of a node was inserted in body, but on the new one i use body for the upper part of the node and a cck field for the lower part.

At the end, even if i had to make a script to move the content, or move directly from database, i would have to do modifications for every node in order to look as i need, so i moved all nodes manually.

If more nodes had to be moved, i would clearly made a script.

Net Ingredient

WorldFallz’s picture

thanks for the explanation-- i'm dealing with a couple hundred nodes so I think I'm going to have to write a script.

===
"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." - Lao Tzu
"God helps those who help themselves." - Ben Franklin
"Search is your best friend." - Worldfallz

sonicthoughts’s picture

Are you aggregating news or are users generating content? BTW - if you don't mind my asking, I'm wondering if you're ad revenue is meeting your expectations?

I really like the design - did you build the theme from scratch?

S.

Mihai Chiriac’s picture

sonicthoughts, the content is inserted by the users. The adsense revenue is a bit low at the moment, and is reflected somehow by the traffic volume.
I was thinking of using adsense sharing in the idea that maybe the users may be more motivated, but it seems this feature is not functionally at this moment in adsense module. At this moment, it pays for the hosting :)

I am glad you like the design. Yes, it's build from scratch, starting in Photoshop.

Photoshop -> plain html/css -> drupal template -> configure all modules -> playing with views -> theming internal forms

Net Ingredient

Mihai Chiriac’s picture

Sorry for the off topic.

Sadly, i have to sell the website. If someone is interested, i will sell it for 500$ to the first to pay this amount.

If you are interested, please contact me.

Thanks.

Net Ingredient