Wanted to announce three new Organic Group modules that I just added to my sandbox (og2mlm, og_hierarchy & og_translate). We created these modules for the IDRC in attempting to emulate the basic features of Yahoo Groups.
Organic Groups Mailing List Manager (MLM)
http://cvs.drupal.org/viewcvs/drupal/contributions/sandbox/mgifford/og/o...
Messages posted to an organic group will be sent to a specified MLM which will propagate that message to all subscribed users. This is set up for Sympa at the moment, but hopefully it will be extended in the future to deal with different mailing list managers. The IDRC was looking for a robust way to distribute mail to a number of high volume groups. Members of a group will be able to receive or send information either through the web or through their email client. The implementation in og2mlm_sympa requires SOAP functionality that has yet to be written into Sympa.
Organic Groups Hierarchy
http://cvs.drupal.org/viewcvs/drupal/contributions/sandbox/mgifford/og/o...
This module is intended to handle a specific permissions situation not easily managed in Drupal or Organic Groups. We allow a group of users to be empowered as OG "creators" by "head creators" who retain authority over the creators' groups. Multiple such hierarchies can be created in parallel. The model is that of a Drupal site used simultaneously by a number of organizations: each organization should be able to delegate responsibilities and authority in a hierarchy that is isolated from the others.
Organic Groups Translate
http://cvs.drupal.org/viewcvs/drupal/contributions/sandbox/mgifford/og/o...
This module allows group owners access to translate their group's title & body without needing them to have access to the whole slate of locale functions. It does this by adding a menu item providing a menu of strings to be translated for that group. The existing i18n module does not work conceptually for objects within groups. This module provides a more user-friendly way for individuals to provide translated content for the group.
These three modules can be used independently, but have various requirements. I've posted these to the sandbox for review, but plan to migrate these over as contributed modules shortly.
Mike
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interesting enough. thanks.
please describe how your mlm module is better/different from og2list. your hierarchy module needs more explaining. i have no idea how users or content flow up and down the hierarchy (if at all).
og2mlm / og_hierarchy
og2mlm:
I'd describe og2mlm as an effort to simplify what drupal has to be responsible for in creating a web/email discussion space. It hands messages to and retrieves them from a mailing list manager (MLM: in this first version, Sympa). The MLM takes care of the heavy lifting of address aliasing, bounce tracking, threading, etc. The og2list approach, on the other hand, manipulates the mail transport agent (MTA) directly, and so requires a more involved and lower level install (creating aliases and transport maps, etc.), and also puts the onus on Drupal to handle a bunch of things that MLMs are well-equipped to address. The project we are implementing is detailed here:
http://wikis.bellanet.org/floss-dgroups/index.php/Main_Page
og_hierarchy:
The og_hierarchy module grants users with the "head creator" role authority to empower other users as group creators and to retain power over these creators' groups. It does so in conjunction with the role assign module by relating "creators" and "head creators" via common membership in an og_hierarchy group; when they are so related, the head creators are given automatic admin access to the creators' groups. The readme is more detailed:
http://cvs.drupal.org/viewcvs/drupal/contributions/sandbox/mgifford/og/o...
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Steve McCullough, PhD
:: Drupal . Web . DevOps . Linux
:: http://irrational.ca
Execllent news, thanking
Execllent news, thanking you, but I do have a question about the translation.
Will I ever be able to translate the names of the groups that I have created.
Have a Good Christmas.
The module og_translate
The module og_translate module allows you to translate the names of the groups and the description. That's all it does. So yes.
Mike
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OO
Module upgrades
Are there plans to migrate these modules to Drupal 5.x or 6.x?
When a client requires it
We'd love to upgrade it, but haven't heard word from the client if they are going to make the jump to 5.x just yet. If your interested in sponsoring it we can talk specifics. I think most of the time would be in testing it with the latest og.
Let us know. In the mean time I should really publish this as a project more formally.
Now that there are formal projects for the code above:
Organic Groups Translation
Organic Groups Hierarchy
Organic Groups - Mailing List integration - Thanks Alan for adding/extending this!
Mike
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