i have actually been doing a fair bit of work with drupal along with other cms, wanted to get a feel for them before i started on a few projects. now that i've selected drupal and started, i am finding a made the wrong decision, at least in selecting version 6.
the front page of drupal clearly steers you toward version 6 and has done so for months. but when it comes to anything beyond a basic site, the modules are just not ported or stable. many reviews talk about the many modules available, but those are a collection over 4 version. and projects that have depreciated previous existing modules or core are not being upgraded to version 6. in looking around for solutions and answers myself it appears that there is a lot of work being done on version 7 while 6 is still such a 'lite' release compared to 5.
so on to my questions before this looks just like a random rant.
1. are the conclussions outlined above wrong?
2. what version would long timers recommend starting a fairly complex site with?
3. how much longer will version 5 be supported?
4. what has the drupal lifecycle been like?
committing to develop (content and contributions) under an opensource cms is a great opportunity. but, i am concerned that with success the opensource side will lose way to the commercial opportunities that come up in time.
Comments
thoughts
Methinks the big link to Drupal 6 sets a big trap for new users.
Re: question 2: Definitely (for now) build in version 5.
In general, we need to build community spirit and knowledge on how to upgrade D5 modules.
I'd to see a series of screencasts, demonstrating to developers how to implement the changes here:
http://drupal.org/node/114774
I'll take on the schema API video.
Anyone else want to demo these upgrade requirements??
I think having such a resource brought to life (via screencast) will help Drupal module developers make the big upgrades that are necessary before people feel comfortable using Version 6.
Most people I've spoken to don't seem to feel a need for anything like this, but I'm sure that more resources to help developers upgrade (whether the resource is community, such as IRC time devoted to upgrading, or technical, such as a screencast, or sample diffs) will be well-invested.
thanks for all the fish
thanks for the feedback. the 'jumbled' nature of 5 that were to be addressed in 6 make it not a platform i would recommend to clients. a cms is not just it's core but modules that give it content, 6 is still an alpha (missing functionality) release and should be labeled so.
2: .... on a case by case bassis
My default is to use the latest live version (currently 6.2). But I assess the site requirements first, assess what non-standard functionality is required, and whether the modules likely to be available in Drupal 6 etc?
www.clivejames.com is a complex site (in terms of content quantity, menu structure etc.) and this is running on Drupal 6. I would be happy to put even more complex sites on to Drupal 6 in regards to taxonomy etc. But some other sites I am doing in "5" because they require more bells and whistles such as e-commerce or complex non-standard functionality.
But don't fall in to the trap of using design approaches because you know there is a neat module that a) will look fancy when, or b) is really not necessary, or c) can be done using standard functionality (with possibly the odd PHP line in page.tpl.php or in a block etc.). Some modules are un-needed complex code to do what can already be done anyway or are variants of other modules functionality.
Regards
John Bryan
www.ALT2.com
Application Integration Specialists
Tel: UK 08700 3456-31
drupal 5 for now
Well I'm finding glaring bugs with even popular mainstream drupal 5 versions of modules like organic groups, calendar, date, views, ldap_integration, etc.
I've found workarounds, but I can't imagine the drupal 6 betas being much more reliable.
update
first off, i think drupal is a great system and i appreciate the work that everybody puts into. my comments came off sounding like i was saying crap job, but i didn't mean it that way. opensource is a collaboration of people that have other primetime work and that should always be remembered. getting primetime stuff done allows the production of the things that everybody benefits from.
i took the advice above and went back to 5 and am having more success with what i was originally trying to do. making it workable for clients is going to be my job, not drupal's. still a lot of head scratching but what do you expect on something your new to.
for now i stay away from writing anything on my own just so i can find what drupal+mods can do straight out of the can. sometimes a struggle, but you start to find the info once you get your head around the terminology and apply that to your searches. and don't forget to just play with the stuff, it's not like your going to break anything.
what i can piece together for answers 3 and 4 above for anybody else that is new to drupal (like me) or just looking.
3. i think its open. as far as security, some time yet as i think 4 will still be getting security fixes until october 08. people are still submitting fixes for modules, including a few new 1's from what i can see. there may be some new coolness in 6 you won't have in 5, but i'll cross that bridge when it comes to migration and hope t all works out
4.
the old stuff (4) sticks around for a few years, nobody starts anything with that and it's mostly for people to maintain a current site. if they have bugs, workarounds are probably in place or just live with it.
the current stuff (5) can be expected to be here for a few years but will have cool down on mod support as time goes by.
the next release(6) is there but will not have all the capabilities as the current (5) for a year. if you migrate to the next release you may not have the same mod providing a functionality you need either due to maintainer lapse or core changes.
the future release (7) ignore for now unless you are developing for it, it's a long time coming. i see it as a branch that was opened for discussion and paying with.