By sapud on
Hello,
I am tasked with installing Drupal for a new project. I am trying to find out it I should install version 6, then update to version 7, or if the two versions will be substantially different to justify waiting until version 7 comes out.
Thanks in advance.
Comments
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Drupal 7 isn't even in alpha, yet. It's going to be months before it's released. You're much better off using Drupal 6 but choosing your modules carefully and avoiding any that look like they won't be ported to Drupal 7.
Michelle
Gotchas to avoid
I'm brand new to Drupal, and absolutely loving it. I don't know what took me so long to get here!
I'm diving right in with 6, learning tons about CCK, Views, etc, and have seen the D7 pledge link for modules. I'll be doing module development shortly as well.
I wanted to ask, though, is there any advice out there about how best to make new D6 development as D7-friendly as possible? Are there any things to avoid that will make porting to D7 more difficult?
Thanks
e.
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Upgrading Drupal core is easy. What you need to watch out for is contributed modules and custom coding. For contributed modules, avoid any that don't have any stated D7 plans on their project pages, especially those that still don't have full D6 releases, unless they are new modules. Keep an eye on the progress of D7 to see what's going into core to avoid solutions that are a dead end. With custom code, take good notes on what you did and why and don't hack core or other modules.
Michelle
Thanks
Good points. I started a thread to collect advice about possible dead ends, etc here: http://drupal.org/node/642188
Major upgrades in Drupal (5
Major upgrades in Drupal (5 -> 6, 6 -> 7, etc.) are not a one-click, 5 minutes task. A reason to wait for Drupal 7 could be that you want to spend as little hours as possible and if you really need some of the new feature, but then you will have to accept that your site may not be finished before next summer. (Don't forget that even if D7 would be ready in Jan or Feb, it might take a while before all modules you need are ported as well.) However, I advice you not to wait. Drupal 6 is a good and stable platform and it will be supported until Drupal 8 is released.
Given the fact that you just created a drupal.org account, I assume that this will be your first Drupal site. I think that the first couple of sites you build with Drupal (or in general: the first couple of things you make with your new tool set) will never be perfect, simply because there is so much to learn. Drupal makes many things easier for you, but learning is also about making mistakes and figuring out what you will do differently next time. That's why I advice you to start learning now and build the first version of your site now on Drupal 6. Once Drupal 7 is out, you can choose to improve your site while either staying with D6 or upgrading to D7.