Can this be done?

By ggevalt on 24 Jul 2006 at 13:33 UTC

I run a small non-profit in Vermont that aims to help students write better. We are in collaboration with schools, students, professional writers, teachers and universities/colleges and newspapers. We currently have a very basic, static site at http://www.youngwritersproject.org. I am in the process of building a new Drupal site that will be interactive and afford students an opportunity to create a community of young writers.

Part of what we do is seek submissions from students, usually in response to a prompt. These submissions are then judged and the best are selected for publication. We presently have a crude php-based system for doing that; a friend created this. ( http://youngwritersproject.org/submit1.php ) The submissions are uploaded into a MYSQL database and onto a hidden page; this submissions page is viewed ONLY by selected judges. I will not bore you with the tediousness of the present set-up but this project is very successful and the number of prompts we receive is enormous and the present set-up is very cumbersome.

I am seeking to integrate the submission process into the new Drupal site (which is not operable yet, but you can see where I'm headed at http://www.youngwritersproject.org/drupal ) I am having issues with this installation and am in the process of starting from scratch to build a firmer foundation.

I am, as you might guess, a newbie so please be patient.....

HERE IS WHAT I NEED HELP WITH...I want to build a feature (or use one that is already created) that would allow students to go to the site, click on a special link that would allow them (or their teachers or parents) to submit work that would NOT be published; as part of the submission process, I need them to fill out the author's name, school, grade, e-mail addresses, phone number, prompt keyword and headline, all information that would go to the separate MYSQL database. When the submission was completed, I'd like all entries dropped into a HIDDEN page, protected by password, that would pull out and set on top of each entry, Headline (title), Name, School, Grade in byline form.

I would then like to be able to allow selected judges to go to that hidden area, use the password, SELECT the prompt keyword(s), view the submissions and VOTE on each ones they like.

I would, as administrator and editor, then like to be able to sort and select ALL entries that received votes and then select which of those I wish to publish to public view on the site and then do so on a timed basis; I'd like a summary (I would write); that summary would be published on the front page (node) which would then be linked to another node that would contain summaries of EACH of the selections chosen; each could be clicked to read full versions. I would also like to be able to copy (cut and paste) the entire string of chosen entries in one file (i.e., one entry on top of another on top of another) for use in Quark as part of the process for how I build each week's newspaper page we publish.

Now from my limited knowledge of Drupal this seems entirely possible; I am hoping this can be done through settings, a module or simple php coding (again my knowledge is very limited) or a combination thereof.

Is there anyone out there who can help?

Thanks much,

Geoffrey Gevalt
http://www.youngwritersproject.org

Comments

There was and evaluation

syawillim commented 24 July 2006 at 13:47

There was and evaluation module (I think that is what it was called) being developed that covered some of what you are after.

Another place you might want to check out is www.drupaled.org.

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It seems possible. I have

geeloo commented 24 July 2006 at 15:44

It seems possible. I have some tips to start.

HERE IS WHAT I NEED HELP WITH...I want to build a feature (or use one that is already created) that would allow students to go to the site, click on a special link that would allow them (or their teachers or parents) to submit work that would NOT be published;

Create a new content type (cck or create a node type based on story) and configure it.

as part of the submission process, I need them to fill out the author's name, school, grade, e-mail addresses, phone number,

Sounds like profile info ?

prompt keyword and headline,

Custom fields for your content type or taxonomy ?

all information that would go to the separate MYSQL database.

If you're moving the entire process to Drupal then why do you want to keep your existing mysql database ? It would be easier to "nodify" your existing contributions and manage new ones with their workflow (do not publish, etc.) by using drupal built-in features. But you probably have good reasons to do so. If you keep a separate database then you will probably have to create a module.

When the submission was completed, I'd like all entries dropped into a HIDDEN page, protected by password, that would pull out and set on top of each entry, Headline (title), Name, School, Grade in byline form.

I'm probably missing something here, but is a "hidden page" a node which is not published, waiting for approval ?

I would then like to be able to allow selected judges to go to that hidden area, use the password, SELECT the prompt keyword(s), view the submissions and VOTE on each ones they like.

You can use voting_api (with a rating module like simplevote).
You can create a role "judge" and give it the privilege to "vote".

I would, as administrator and editor, then like to be able to sort and select ALL entries that received votes

Views module ?

and then select which of those I wish to publish to public view on the site and then do so on a timed basis; I'd like a summary (I would write); that summary would be published on the front page (node) which would then be linked to another node that would contain summaries of EACH of the selections chosen; each could be clicked to read full versions. I would also like to be able to copy (cut and paste) the entire string of chosen entries in one file (i.e., one entry on top of another on top of another) for use in Quark as part of the process for how I build each week's newspaper page we publish.

To sort and select entries, you can use book module :
- select contributions from a view (views.module) via outline link,
- sort with weight,
- use printer-friendly version or an export module to export in your preferred format (i don't know if a Quark format is available...).

Now from my limited knowledge of Drupal this seems entirely possible; I am hoping this can be done through settings, a module or simple php coding (again my knowledge is very limited) or a combination thereof.

For me it's possible.
Maybe it's more complicated than that (I probably missed something).