Lullabot

Getting Hands-On

What are the real capabilities of Drupal? What are its strengths and weaknesses? How do you get it to do what you want? And with over 1500 contributed modules, how do you choose the right ones for your project?

This workshop will be focused on architecting, building, and theming a single project -- a Drupal-based community photo sharing site. Whether you're new to Drupal or you're still trying to decide if it is the right platform for your site, this is the workshop for you. We will get hands-on with Drupal, walk through the process of setting up a Drupal site and discuss its parts, features, modules, concepts, and how they all work together. We'll discuss best practices for creating an efficient, well-tuned site and talk about the best ways of working with Drupal to keep your site future-proof, speedy, and robust.

Attendees will use CCK, Views, and Panels, along with a handful of other modules to build the type of feature-rich photo site other companies might want to buy :-). We will show how Drupal's module system works and how it is possible to do a lot with a few well chosen modules. We'll talk about how to pick the best modules for your site and discuss Lullabot's favorites.

We'll also demo several high-end Drupal sites including recent Lullabot projects for Sony, Lifetime Television, This Week In Tech, and others - pointing out the Drupal parts and show how Drupal can be customized through contributed and custom modules and theme development. You will see Drupal concepts and solutions in real-world applications.

Registration and continental breakfast at 9:30 am, classes go from 10 am - 5 pm each day.

Who's Teaching?

This class will be led by Lullabots Robert Douglass, Jeff Eaton and James Walker. Lullabot and its founders have helped build sites for MTV, Ringo Starr, Sony Records, Lifetime Television, Leo Laporte (This Week In Tech), and many others. They have also contributed many Drupal modules including the ecommerce package, Simple Access, sIFR, TinyMCE, Login Toboggan and contributed to many Drupal core improvements and bug fixes.

Who Should Attend?

• Internet savvy individuals with some technical skills who aren't too scared of a little HTML, FTPing, and generally mucking about with a website.

Prerequisites: none.

Attendees should be familiar with general web concepts. Previous experience with Drupal is a plus, but not required. Attendance is limited so register soon.

Past Attendees Say:

It's the equivalent of taking an art class from Michelangelo. These guys know their stuff. -- Jason Crichton, Interactive Director, Elevate Studios

Smart, experienced, and friendly. If you like that sort of thing... -- Geoff Butterfield, Director of IT, The George Lucas Education Foundation

I learned more in a day with the Lullabot team, than I would have in a year on my own. Fantastic experience! -- Darren Mak, Digital Web

This workshop is great because it is hands-on, and helped me get past some of the steep learning curves that come with Drupal. -- Richard Geel, SBSI

What Should I Bring?

You will find it helpful (but not absolutely necessary) to have a laptop computer with you. Each attendee will have access to their own sandbox installation of Drupal for use during the class. However, if you would like to take your work with you, you will want to either intall Drupal on your laptop (Mac instructions, Windows instructions) or have FTP access to a Drupal test-site somewhere on the web.

Providence, RI:

We've found a great location on Providence's historic College Hill right near Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design. The Music Mansion is a 10 minute walk from downtown Providence and the Amtrak and Boston commuter-rail train station. Just a 2 1/2 hour train ride from New York, 45 minutes from Boston, and a 15 minute drive from the Providence airport, this is a very central location with affordable hotel options. Come join us for some crisp Fall days in New England amongst the brownstones and historian victorian homes that make up College Hill.

If you need help making a decision about attending, have further questions about the class, or wish to pay by means other than paypal, please contact us.