Business

 
Introducing Ubercart:
Where it is and where it's headed...

Overview

Ubercart is an exciting e-commerce module package for Drupal. It is a flexible, easy to use system that is already working across the web to sell physical goods, file downloads, site memberships, node access, and much more! This session will be all about exposure... presenting as much of Ubercart to as many new (and experienced) users as possible. The nature and size of the module package means there is always more to learn and share, and we couldn't be more excited about the rapid pace of the Drupal 6 migration.

The session will briefly cover the project's history, basic feature set, and points of integration with Drupal and other contributed modules. It will then showcase some of the advanced features Ubercart provides with demonstrations for setting up dynamic shipping quotes, selling paid file downloads, and selling role promotions. Each of these will be accompanied with real life use cases and demonstrations on live sites where possible.

The formal session will wrap up with a word about Ubercart's development roadmap. In Drupal 5, a foundation was laid in both code and community development. In Drupal 6, we'll focus on optimization - refining the core, making it easier for developers to contribute, and taking advantage of Drupal 6's updated APIs wherever possible. Work on a D6 compatible Uber Tuber is well underway and will be reported on in this session.

If times permits, the session will close with a question and answer period.

As always, the developers are available after the session for further inquiries and are always interested in meeting new people. Feel free to stop any of the Uberdevs in the halls for a word or a high five.

Agenda

* Brief history of Ubercart.
* Ubercart features overview.
* Integration with Drupal core and contributed modules.
* Configuration demonstrations and examples:
  - Advanced shipping with Workflow-ng
  - File downloads
  - Role promotions
  - Setting up PayPal
* Development roadmap for Drupal 6 and beyond.
* Q/A if time permits.

Goals

Session attendees should leave with a broad understanding of what Ubercart is and what it enables them to do. Attendees will gain an initial familiarity with various parts of the administrative interfaces through the demonstrations, and they should know where to go to find help when they start their next Ubercart project. Finally, everyone will be brought up to speed on the current state of Ubercart development and find out how they can get involved!

Resources

* Ubercart project page - http://drupal.org/project/ubercart
* Community site/support forums - http://www.ubercart.org
* Documentation - http://www.ubercart.org/docs
* Live sites directory - http://www.ubercart.org/site
* Livetest (front end demo) - http://livetest.ubercart.org
* Admin demo - http://demo.ubercart.org
* Development roadmap - http://www.ubercart.org/forum/development/5115/...

More resources to follow... check back for updates!

Related sessions

Drupallers interested in more of the Drupal 6 work should consider attending at least the first part of the Ubercart in Drupal 6 session.

We'll also be performing A Hands On Guide to Module Development in which we will discuss the things we've done wrong and are starting to do right in module development. The session will include an example of developing a module that integrates with Ubercart.

Overview

The Drupal association is non-profit organization that provides support for the Drupal community via events such as Drupalcon, marketing of Drupal, and support for Drupal.org.

Agenda

* Update on Drupal.org improvements
* Discussion about Drupalcon North America 2008
* Legal update from Bert and Larry
* Marketing from Kieran
* Drupal association permanent members elections Jan 2009

Goals

The purpose of this meeting is to share progress in supporting the Drupal community and to learn about emerging issues in the community that need support.

Resources

Bandwidth for remote Drupal association members.

Overview

The e-Commerce suite of modules (EC) is one of the largest parts of contrib. It is fairly hard to extend, and its main devs are having a hard time evolving it and updating it at the same pace as core.

For most implementers, EC is a turnkey solution, that can work or (too often ?) not, but is not often extended because of its complexity, and possibly the time zone issues with the main developer being located in Oceania whereas most Drupal contributors seem to work in Europe or northern America.

The goal of the session is to identify ways to improve the general experience with EC, by allowing developers wanting to work with/for EC to do so.

Agenda

* Understanding the general operation of the EC suite
* Knowing when to extend EC
* Knowing how to extend EC
* Knowing how to theme EC

Goals

The goal of the session is to enable wannabe EC devs to enter the game, and tempt others who previously renounces to come back to EC.

Resources

Having read the "core" EC source code (product, store, cart) prior to the session would probably go a long way towards making the session helpful for all.

Which version ?

I'm currently planning the session to be based on the (currently alpha) eC 4. Please comment on the proposal if you think we should remain on eC 3 (or for whatever reason).

Overview

Drupal is increasingly making a place for itself among museums around the world. As a strong and flexible framework Drupal can be a good fit for these sorts of organizations.

This session will be a case study and lessons learned from two museum web sites Palantir has built using Druapl 5: The Indianapolis Museum of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago. Both sites offered a number of unique challenges but also the opportunity to share amazing and diverse content.

Agenda

* Bringing Drupal into a large, established web presence
* Designing a modern site that still has a strong artistic feel
* Bridging Drupal to legacy multimedia databases, such as museum collection databases
* Drupal as an application framework
* Existing open source museum tools

Goals

We hope to present both the challenges and rewards of integrating Drupal with large, established systems such as those of museums. We also hope to give some insight into how to bend Drupal farther than you ever thought possible.

Resources

Indianapolis Museum of Art: http://imamuseum.org/
IMA Drupal.org Showcase: http://drupal.org/node/188312
Art Institute of Chicago Collections: http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/
AIC Drupal.org Showcase: http://drupal.org/node/279485

Overview

The Facebook Platform allows anyone to create applications which tightly integrate with the Facebook.com website. These Applications can write content to a Facebook user's Profile, News Feed, and also Canvas Pages. This content can be as rich and complex as any website, so Drupal is a natural choice for developing on this platform.

This session will introduce the Drupal for Facebook project, and the best ways to use it. We will include a demo of one or more live Facebook Applications powered by Drupal and show some of the basic configuration behind them. And we'll discuss some of the differences of developing for Canvas Pages versus regular web pages.

Agenda

* Brief introduction to the Facebook API
* Brief introduction to Drupal for Facebook
* Demo of live Facebook Application
* Behind the scenes configuration of that Application
* Canvas Pages (FBML) vs. HTML
* Question and Answer

Goals

This session will give a basic understanding of the Facebook Platform for those new to it. We'll talk about why one might make a Facebook Application a part of a Drupal-powered website; or why one might build a Facebook App from scratch using Drupal.

We'll also demonstrate how the Drupal for Facebook modules work. Those familiar with Drupal will leave with a sense of how easy (or difficult) it will be to configure one of these applications.

Resources

* Facebook Platform
* Drupal for Facebook project
* Drupal for Facebook canvas pages
* Drupal for Facebook HTML pages

Slides
http://www.drupalforfacebook.org/book/export/s5/1074

Overview

This session will focus on strategic tips and tricks for creating visually stunning and highly functional Drupal sites in collaboration with creative partners and colleagues. We will discuss various dos and don’ts associated with designing for Drupal and building custom Drupal themes.

Agenda

* What best practices should you follow when designing for Drupal or building Drupal themes?
* How to communicate with in-house and external design teams when building sites in Drupal
* What’s a good process workflow for building Drupal themes?
* What things can you do to make your life easier when developing Drupal sites? What things will make your life more difficult?

Goals

The goal of this session will be to help people involved in Drupal theme development and/or creating designs for Drupal sites understand the unique challenges of the system and learn how to develop a good workflow and set of best practices that will enable them to create sites that work and look their very best.

Overview

Google has shown us that search matters. Drupal's core search has strengths as well as weaknesses. What are they and how are the weaknesses being addressed? What new search options have emerged, and how does one evaluate them?

Agenda

* Core search in Drupal 7: What needs to be done?
* Minnesota Search Sprint: What got accomplished and where does it go from here?
* Xapian, Sphinx and ApacheSolr: With so many third-party options to choose from, how does one evaluate and decide?
* Search and Drupal.org: What special needs does Drupal.org have, and how can we improve things now and in the future?

Goals

Increase focus on improving core Drupal search. Increase awareness of alternative solutions. Increase awareness of different search features, such as faceted searching. Encourage more collaboration amongst developers.

Resources

* http://drupal.org/project/apachesolr
* http://drupal.org/project/xapian
* http://www.sphinxsearch.com/
* http://groups.drupal.org/node/4102 (Search group on g.d.o.)

An update on the State of Drupal.

Overview
In this session I will show you how to create a small business network on a multi-site Drupal installation. I will be using the small business network within my own community as an example.

In small-town Canada we have seen an increase in the "cottage industry" as people in their 50s cash out of urban centres and move to the country. These micro-enterprise businesses often have only the owner (and their partner) as staff. Although the businesses offer a huge range of services, they have one thing in common--very small budgets. Individually these businesses can rarely afford expert technical support, sophisticated Web sites and beautiful Web design--but with a Drupal-based business network, small businesses can now afford to look like pros on-line.

Agenda

• The Clients
  • developing your client roster (my network includes: farmers, a gourmet restaurant, a bookshop, a naturopathic doctor and a retreat centre)
  • creating self-sufficient clients: training materials; Drupal help nights (my group has nicknamed themselves "The Drupesters")
  • managing expectations (their budget and your time)
• The Business Model
  • you are now a business coach, congratulations!
  • how and how much to charge: tips on appropriate prices
  • reduce, reuse, recycle: you must become efficient
• Technical (Drupal) Information
  • Drupal modules your clients will want
  • using template designs
  • tips on creating and using a multi-site Drupal installation

Goals
By the end of this session I hope that Drupal enthusiasts will see how they can turn too-small-for-me clients into a potential source of income.

Resources
Please come with your stories about how you've used Drupal in your (small business) community.

Making a Digg/Reddit/Propeller clone with drupal

Today user submitted story sites are very popular.some examples are digg/reddit/propeller etc.In this session i am going to show how to create such site with using drupal and available modules.

Agenda

* Architecure of social site.
* How to use drupal?
* Available modules.
* Customization of modules to achieve the needed functionality.

Goals

In the end attendee will have knowledge on drupal and its module which a user can use to build such sites and can create their own.

Resources

none.