Over the past year, many librarians and directors have contacted me about finding different software to maintain their library websites. For a variety of reasons, the tools we currently support (Contribute, Dreamweaver, and TypePad) are not always a good fit for member libraries. To meet these web service needs, we are exploring a tool called Drupal.
We cannot currently provide a timeline for when Drupal will be available for member library use, and I apologize for the disappointment that this may cause. I can, however, tell you what we are doing to move the project forward.
We began the project with a "sandbox" installation of Drupal 6, and, shortly thereafter, Drupal 7 (the latest version) was released with many enhancements. Then the Koha migration happened, and Drupal was temporarily set aside. This summer we abandoned Drupal 6 and made the decision to focus on Drupal 7. We now have a new "sandbox" installation, and our plan is to evaluate whether it is feasible to offer it for member library use and then develop recommendations for policies, workflows, settings, and modules. Greg Barniskis and Kerri Hilbelink deserve recognition for their work on planning and preparing these test environments.
We are investigating Drupal because it is a powerful tool that is likely to meet many libraries' needs. Here are some features that we are excited about:
- It is web-based. There is no software to install, and it can be accessed from any computer with Internet access.
- It has a fine-grained permission system that could make it possible to grant library staff total control over a website.
- It is highly configurable, with lots of add-on modules to provide modern website features (e.g. slideshows, image galleries, calendars, web forms, RSS feeds, etc.).
- It has a strong user community, including many libraries.
We are committed to providing easy-to-use tools to help you achieve your website goals. If Contribute, Dreamweaver, or TypePad still meet your needs and you want to continue using them, we will continue to support these tools for the forseeable future. All the planning, testing, and preparing that we do with Drupal is intended to improve the service we provide member libraries, and we look forward to sharing the results with you in the future.
Madison Public Library switched our public web site and our WordPress blogs to Drupal this year. We love it, for all the features Rose mentioned, and more, including the ability to show some pages only to logged in staff, not the public. We're happy to give a tour of the backend of our Drupal 6 site to anyone who's interested.
Posted by: Tana Elias | 08/26/2011 at 10:15 AM
Thanks, Tana. We fully intend to take you up on that offer. :)
Posted by: Rose | 08/26/2011 at 02:56 PM
I just want to second Tana's post and say I'll do my best to answer any questions you may have.
Posted by: Jon Muzzall | 08/27/2011 at 10:33 AM
Tanya and others, Waukesha Co System is looking into Drupal. Any demos or background info would be appreciated as we start this process. Ameyers at wcfls.lib.wi.us. Thanks!
Posted by: Angela Meyers | 03/29/2013 at 08:44 PM
Angela, you don't mention the scope of your project, but one thing that helped me get started was setting up a free site at Drupal Gardens -- it will teach you nothing about the technical side of managing a Drupal site, but it's an opportunity to try the interface as an end user to see if it's worth more effort and investment.
Some other ways you might learn more:
- Learn online: Lullabot & Drupalize.me, Drupal.org, and more for self-guided learning.
- My fave book on Drupal is O'Reilly Media's "Using Drupal"
- Take a Drupal course available through ALA or local college/tech schools
- Attend a Drupal event - DrupalCon is in Portland in May 2013
- Drupal4Lib email list
- Network with: OWLS, Winnefox, WVLS, IFLS, and SCLS
Posted by: Rose | 04/01/2013 at 10:31 AM
That's a great list, Rose. I especially love the help people give on the drupal4lib listserv.
Angela, we've been very happy with the complex things we've been able to do with Drupal. Our main site is still a Drupal 6 site, but our upcoming additional projects are likely to be on Drupal 7. I'd be happy to discuss our site(s) with you over the phone or through web conferencing software...and you're of course welcome to visit!
Posted by: Jon Muzzall | 04/03/2013 at 02:19 PM