In Drupal 7 core all the common objects, like nodes, users, comments, and terms, are called entities. Entities are a base level conceptual object designed to be used as a base for objects in core and contrib. But, there is a problem with the core entity pattern we can improve on in our contrib modules.

Entities have a controller used for their loading operations. The controller is a class that can be swapped out for alternative controllers when developers want to do something fancy, like have their own node caching setup. But, only the load operation is on the controller. The other CRUD (create, read, and delete) are hard coded in functions like node_load, node_save, and other object operations. The CRUD control for entities can't be completely swapped out. Let's take a look at a base pattern to use for completely swappable controllers. Read more »

As Git becomes more popular and widely used a GUI becomes even more important. This was especially important when Drupal recently looked at what version control system it was going to switch to. (If you're interested in the Drupal (unofficial) decision checkout Angie Byrons post on groups.drupal.org)

When I surveyed the Git GUI landscape SmartGit stood above the rest for your standard user.

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Quite a few Drupal modules rely on outside libraries to work. Some are JavaScript based requiring outside plugins and others are based on outside libraries. When users install these modules they, also, have to download and install the outside library. This is a pain that drush make and the Libraries API in modules can help with.

A typical setup will have a drush make file with a project and associated libraries defined within in them. The author who puts together the profile or top level make file will need to know the library and where it needs to go.

A little known feature about drush make files is that all projects can have make files and drush recursively builds each one out. So, if a module has a make file and the module is included in another make file the modules make file will be executed as well. Read more »

The admin area of a Drupal site should be themed differently according to recent usability research. The idea is that an admin or a content editor needs the context that they are doing admin functions, which an admin theme can provide. The concept of having an admin theme is different for many Drupalers. While numerous Drupal shops have been using them for quite some time, a lot of discussion has focused on using the theme for the site in the admin area. Drupal 7 is embracing admin themes by using one and taking the admin area to a whole new level. But, we don't have to wait for Drupal 7 to have a smoking hot admin theme. Let's take a look at 3 good admin themes for Drupal 6. Read more »

Over the past year the number of good looking freely available Drupal themes has really gone up. Yet, I am still amazed at how many sites are still using Garland as their theme. Especially the personal sites of so many Drupal developers. Don't get me wrong, Garland is a great theme. It's just a very well used theme which means its lost some of it's luster. So on the heels of my post about 5 Hot and Free Drupal 6 Themes, here are 5 more well designed themes for your usage considerations. Read more »

Drupal has long been known as a CMS with few good free themes and even fewer that anyone would call hot. While there have been many great sites built with Drupal the lack of hot free themes has long been discouraging. That is, until recently. Over the past year there has been a boom in hot free Drupal themes so here are 5 of them that recently caught my eye. Read more »

When it comes to good Drupal search the options are limited. There's Drupal core search which isn't anywhere near the search experience we've come to expect. It's a search engine written by CMS developers. On the other hand we hear about Solr. To use Solr you either need to pay a company like Acquia to host it or run Solr as a Java program on a web server. While the Solr module provides all you need to get it going, for most of us this simply isn't an option. For those of us who want more than Drupal core search offers but aren't ready to jump to Solr there's an option in the middle. The Lucene API module. Read more »

Wordpress is the top blogging platform. So, when I decided to build this blog I fully expected to use Wordpress and was really looking forward to it. As a full time Drupal developer it's inspiring to use a different tool. This gives me a chance to use a different and refreshing user interface, see under the hood of a different source code, and be inspired in my daily developing.

But, when I looked over my resources and requirements it turns out Wordpress was not the best fit for this site. Since a big part of engineering web applications is starting with the best tools for your task (or at least the best as far as you can tell) here is why I chose Drupal instead of Wordpress. Read more »