WordPress Online

I have only read the Drupal section of the book, so I can’t comment on the other two sections.

I have been trying to learn how this powerful CMS system works as I start my first Drupal site, and have spent many hours on the official website reading documentation and community posts from the incredibly helpful folks over there. However, sometimes computer people have a hard time communicating effectively with the less-technical among us. As an instructor myself, I constantly have to remind myself to slow down and make no assumptions when I teach – a skill it takes a long time to master.

This book is a shining example of that skill put to good use. The author is extremely talented at phrasing things in “real English” and makes no assumptions that the reader has any pre-existing knowledge. His explanations are well thought out, and make perfect sense out of what can be a complex subject. He has obviously spent a lot of time crafting the words to ensure you get the picture. I’ve had many “ah-ha!” moments reading this book, where something came together and clicked in my mind – even after reading many other explanations elsewhere.

There are a few features and modules mentioned which are available only in the upcoming Drupal 4.7 (which is currently available in a beta test version, and working quite well just as it is), but it would have made no sense to publish a new book that only covers older features when the new version is literally weeks away.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning Drupal.
Rating: 5 / 5

When I picked up this book I knew what phpBB was (my main reason for getting the book), but the other two applications were foreign to me. So, let me start off by briefly pointing out what each application is and does:

– Drupal is a CMS, content management system, (think Wikipedia) that allows users to input and update information

– phpBB is bulletin board software (very much like Invision or Jolt from surface appearances)

– WordPress is blogging software (do I really need to say more after 2005, the year of the Blog)

The publisher has chosen to group what amounts to three separate books on three open source applications together based upon the ‘community’ aspects that they engender, allowing groups of users to come together to post, comment and counter-comment.

The book is effectively a collected user manual for these three applications, but that does not really go far enough. Yes, the material for each is available online, but this book collects the documentation together in a user friendly manner. Anyone that has tried to install and operate a complex piece of software based upon the canned manuals can appreciate the complexity involved. Using this book is essentially like having an experienced guru looking over your shoulder offering advice as you go through the process. This can be the difference between 30-60 minutes of simple work and 5-6 hours of confusion, frustration and ranting.

Add to this the advice on configuration and usage/management for avoiding pitfalls and achieving best case results, and this book can pay for itself in no time (I bill at $50 an hour and consider my personal time even more valuable).

Bottom line, if you want to keep users on your site (i.e. not farm out these services), and want to use a CMS, bBoard, or Blog using open source software, it is worth your time to check out these options. If you then decide to use one of them, this book can save you a chunk of time and frustration.

P-)
Rating: 5 / 5

This book was useful for comparing and contrasting Drupal, phpBB, and WordPress. Before reading this book, one might have reasonably wanted to use Drupal where phpBB would have been a better and simpler choice, or tried to use phpBB when something with the power of Drupal was required. Having all three technologies in one place was useful in doing the compare/contrast required to make the decision.

However, the treatment of each technology is cursory. Having used the book to decide that I needed to use Drupal for my site, I did not find the book sufficiently detailed for me to do that successfully. The description of the Book module, which the author correctly describes as one of the most useful in Drupal, warranted only three pages. There’s not much as far as best practices or warnings about what not to do, so it’s hard to use the book as the sole source of information about building your site.

It’s useful for its ability to help choose between apparently similar technologies, and it outlines the capabilities of each in a way that may make it easier to use a more detailed book on one of these three topics. However, you will need at least one more book.
Rating: 3 / 5

I bought this book mainly for the Drupal section but the entire book is done quite well. The Drupal section is excellent and really walks you through everything from installation to modules to maintenance. The Themes section could have been a little more in-depth.

This book is perfect for anyone that is interested in any of the three topics that have very little experience with them. This book could certainly serve as a reference for doing small things within each app. Very good read!
Rating: 4 / 5

As a fairly experienced IT Professional who is now entering into the world of web design and deployment, I found this material, particularly the section on phpBB very insightful and helpful in guiding me through the dangers and pitfalls of installation and maintenance. Not only is it well thought out and logically laid out, but it was also written in plain English and not comupter-ese, making it an invaluable aid in implementation. I recommend this book without reservation.
Rating: 5 / 5

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