Drupal is a fantastic tool, and it really is easy enough for even a complete newbie to setup and use. However, the overall documentation is not very good -especially in the area of initial install and setup. There are so many potential "gotcha's" that it's no wonder that there are so many confused users asking for help. Many of their problems are simple permission errors that were not clearly explained in the setup directions.
My background is in system and network administration, but I've written a number of technical manuals for various products. One thing that I learned while testing my technical manuals is that most users do not (at first) want to know why a thing should be done. If you tell them exactly, step by step, what to do, they will follow those steps and end up with a install that works -which is all that they want. I also learned that you can never assume that the user will know all of the little in-between steps -like setting up file permissions- and directions on those steps should be included also.
I'm willing to help re-write (improve) the Installation directions if that is allowed. Is there a team for this kind of thing already in place?
E.
Comments
INSTALL file?
Are you referring to the INSTALL file? If so, just submit a patch using the bug tracker.
Newbie in Support
It doesn't seem that installing drupal should be so difficult, but i have spent endless hours trying to do so. I've searched around and around to find directions that do not assume anything in the steps. There is nothing. Much less time and energy would be spent on replying to questions like mine if the documentation were there - believe me, i would much prefer not having to come back to the support forum again and again for answers to very basic questions. Thank you.
Eva
Contribute documentation
Now you have found the answers, please help them turn into documentation.
The install really is simple if you know what to do
Honestly, if you know what to do, it shouldn't take more than 15-30 minutes to have a functioning basic Drupal site up and running as it should. The problem is that many new users are not familiar with all of the jargon and the confusing error messages. So they spend hours trying to hunt down simple answers that an experienced user could answer in 30 seconds.
There are still going to be unusual problems that come up that might stump even experienced users, as I found out myself yesterday, but those are the problems that SHOULD be presented in the forum. As it is, the forum is flooded with questions about things that should have been covered in the Installation directions -mostly basic permission issues- and that is not always the fault of the new users. They just don't know what to do, or how to find the answers.
I'm not blaming anyone, or anything negative like that. I just think that it would be good to clarify certain areas of the documentation so that Drupal is easier to set up for less experienced folks.
To further this effort, tomorrow, I'm going to do a fresh install of Drupal and document each step. My idea is that a if a new user follows the steps that I give them, they will end up with a properly functioning site the first time. Hopefully, it will work but who knows?
Multiple scenarios
Part of the problem is that Drupal can be installed on a number of operating systems (e.g. Linux, Windows or MacOS) running different webservers (Apache or IIS) using several databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL or MSSQL). Sometimes people have shell access, sometimes people have FTP access, sometimes they have to install the database scheme using a web application, and so on. We can't, and shouldn't, cover each single scenario.
We are often asked to help with Apache or MySQL specific configuration problems. These are addressed in the Apache and MySQL manual and should not be replicated in Drupal's installation guidelines.
Guide to really simple installation
Dear Ernest
I think I am the person you are talking about. I really want to try out Drupal but I don't understand the installation instuctions. Any idea when your simple guide might be ready? You can test it out on me if you like.
Installation problems
hi ernest sunil here you said
"To further this effort, tomorrow, I'm going to do a fresh install of Drupal and document each step. My idea is that a if a new user follows the steps that I give them, they will end up with a properly functioning site the first time. Hopefully, it will work but who knows?".
Please can u tell me if you have done this, If yes please send me the instructions or post it over here.
Need to know how to get it to work
right from installation.
My Machine is an windows xp Pro, P 1.7 Ghz with 256 mb Ram.
I am using apache 2
Pls help
installation completed!
Ernest,
I finally worked out my set-up problems.
It just had to do with a combination of settings.
See the last post under
Now I have to figure out how to create content, site lay out etc.
Erik
I saw that.
I'm happy that your site is working. Now the really fun part starts -adding content. Ugh. Lots of work. Lots of experimentation.
i've started working on post-
i've started working on post-setup documentation, so maybe we can establish some documentation guidlines together so our information is styled the same way.
It's true the documentation needs to be more clear and complete
Did you ever finish that step by step instruction because I would like to read it if you did. I need some help.