Hi - we're working on a couple of new sites and have never used Drupal before but like the look of it.
So, our host's Fantastico installs Drupal 6.1 and off we go...After a few days we like what we see and we are ready to start adding modules to get our sites working the way we want.
But wait!
Almost everything that we need to add is not ready for Drupal 6. CCK, Imagefield, Pathauto - these are some of the things that sound great for our needs (community sites) but are not ready.
So... should we start our sites with Drupal six and wait? Or should we back off and install D5? From a few days experience here and on other Drupal sites, it seems like *everyone* uses CCK and Views. So is it reasonable to expect the D6-compatible modules to be along any minute due to demand or does it not work like this with Open Source projects?
We have considered going back - uninstalling D6 and starting again with D5 until the D6 modules begin appearing in greater numbers. Or is this course of action just storing up some upgrade grief for ourselves later on? How difficult is upgrading?
Maybe there are already some great D6-ready modules that do what CCK, Pathauto and Imagefield, etc etc, do but even better? Does anyone know? Can anyone point to some good discussions of this issue.
What are the compelling arguments for pushing on with D6 on one hand or going back and re-starting with D5 on the other? We want to get these sites up and running and out to the public in a couple of weeks...
On a side note - we don't think it's very clear sometimes. With the Drupal-6 filter turned on when searching for modules, CCK shows up - but after trying to instal it with our D6 test site - it breaks. The text at http://drupal.org/project/cck says...
Drupal version 6 is currently in HEAD. We will be creating a preliminary, development version for D6 soon, but no final release will be issued until the D6 version of Views is released and we can incorporate the Views changes into CCK's Views integration. The current code works fairly well for clean installations, but there are still some known problems with updates that are being investigated.
...does this mean it's supposed to work in D6 or not? What does HEAD mean?
Anyway - thanks to anyone with any answers to any of the above. Sorry if this is posted in the wrong place but we are new and sometimes the forums set-up is just as confusing as the difference between a page, a story, and a node!
Yo!
Dr Paul
Comments
For the time being, the
For the time being, the bottom line is to wait with any (serious) site until at least CCK and Views are ready and bug-tested. Field definition (CCK) and query design (Views) are so essential that you simply cannot have a site with some "body" run without them. You can, of course, set up test sites to your heart's content, but to get any real-world work done, you need CCK and Views, end of story. So, stick to 5.7 until they are there.
Thanks for your no-nonsense
Thanks for your no-nonsense reply, modul. Seems pretty convincing.
Does anyone have any other points of view and can anyone answer the question of how painful it is to upgrade from D5 to D6?
And I know there might be no clear answer to this but does anyone at least have a guess as to when CCK and Views will be ready for D6, ballpark?
This month?
This Summer?
This Year?
Yo!
Dr Paul
Contributed modules status
Many modules are listed in the Contributed modules status page.
"Nice to meet you Rose...run for your life." - The Doctor
Thanks!
I was wondering the same thing if I should update to v 6.1. Thanks for the information.
As suggested by many, 5.7 is
As suggested by many, 5.7 is best for production sites if you really do need & use the modules that aren't available for 6.
But there wouldn't be any harm making 6.1 a backburner test site, that way when you decide to upgrade you'll already be familiar with 6.
I built & maintain 1 site on 5.7 but decided to go with 6 for my own site.
I don't need many modules & am trying to learn how it all fits together, so less modules means a bit less confusion for me.
Drupal 6.1 or..
If you're new to Drupal (as I am) and just starting out, I strongly recommend you do not go very far before looking into Joomla. Joomla 1.5 is only a little further along than Drupal 6, so I recommend Joomla 1.1.14 (or is it 15 now???).
Not trying to rain on the Drupal parade, I'm strongly looking into Drupal because it was recommended as a newspaper CMS, but so far (since yesterday noon) I have been disappointed and am beginning to think I will recommend we use Joomla.
- Hank Castello
www.CompuSolver.com
worrying trend..
I notice a lot of posts like this lately and it's very worrying. A lot o noise is being made about Drupal, but, when people come in, they automatically look at the most recent version...notice that there is a scarcity of add-on modules (compared to other cms tools like joomla or typo) and away they go elsewhere...probably not to come back because their first impression is a bad one.
I wonder if there is there another way of presenting Drupal 5.7 more prominently than Drupal 6 for newbies? i.e.
people who aren't logged in to drupal.org?
or is that a stupid idea?
The knock-on effect of that is less and less people will be using drupal 6 which means less bugs reported.
I think it's been a PR
I think it's been a PR disaster. We'll be talking on here in a year's time about "avoiding the D6 launch nightmare". Shame really, there were too many key modules just not ready for 6, then 6.1 to be flaunted so openly on the front page with all the new guys downloading it, then filling issue queues and forums with "where are my module" questions.
heh heh
This happens with every new Drupal release. The doom sayers all say Drupal will suffer some horrible fate, etc etc but it somehow keeps plugging along and gaining ground.
-Steven Peck
---------
Test site, always start with a test site.
Drupal Best Practices Guide -|- Black Mountain
-Steven Peck
---------
Test site, always start with a test site.
Drupal Best Practices Guide
well, I'm (sort of) glad to
well, I'm (sort of) glad to hear that. I was around for the 5.1 release and there didn't seem to be as many "where are my modules??", "port to 5?" threads as there are now, but maybe there were.
5.7
If you need to use views, CCk or pathauto stick with 5.7. Or any other module. Some of the 6 versions of some modules are still buggy.
Even on my new sites, I'm using 5.7. But as steve said, set up a localhost setup on your computer and set up a version6 for your site.
~silverwing
_____________________________________________
Land of Midnight | MisguidedThoughts | showcaseCMS
Thanks to everyone for
Thanks to everyone for replying on this thread.
We have gone ahead with Drupal 5.7. It's our first attempts so not bothering with a 6.1 version while we try and understand the whole Drupal thing.
Speaking of PR disasters- does anyone know why our host only has 6.1 on Fantastico for single-click install - was that at Drupal's behest?
The fantastico route is how we came to it and I can't imagine too many websites NOT needing views and CCK at least to start with... and if they did, wouldn't that be a blog and wouldn't they be better off with Wordpress?
no
You would have to talk with your host about that. Fantastico is a service your host company pays for, nothing to do with Drupal. That they are using the latest secure release is a good thing though.
-Steven Peck
---------
Test site, always start with a test site.
Drupal Best Practices Guide -|- Black Mountain
-Steven Peck
---------
Test site, always start with a test site.
Drupal Best Practices Guide
How much are you willing to do for yourself?
It seems to me that Drupal 6 is usable for sites, if you're willing to put more work into it. Nodes can be constructed without CCK, and images are made easier by the Image module being ready for 6. You can build your own blocks without requiring Views.
It may not be as fast as it might be if you used all of the pre-constructed modules, but on the other hand, you'll be quite familiar with the way things work in Drupal 6 once you've finished.
--
-john
--
-john