I've been given a set of requirements by my client and I've figured that modifying Drupal would be my best bet. What I would like to check is whether the following requirements are feasible to achieve. I know XHTML, CSS, PHP & MySQL, so I'm capable of making the mods if Drupal is flexible enough.

Requirements
Web Page Customisation - would I be able to create my own design using XHTML & CSS to be used in Drupal?

Paid Member Subscriptions - would I be able to setup a member subscription area? Would I be able to restrict access to certain pages so that only paid members could view them?

Search Facility (including advanced search for members) - would I be able to create a custom search facility by writing my own PHP scripts to interrogate the MySQL database and return resultsets etc.?

Anonymous Emailing System - would I be able to setup a system in Drupal whereby a member could select another member's username (without knowing their email address) and type a short message which would then be emailed to that member automatically?

E-commerce System - would I be able to sell items using Drupal?

Banner Advertisement System - would I be able to manage banner advertisements using Drupal?

Your advice would be much appreciated!

Comments

tjharman’s picture

Web page customistion: Yes, Drupal has great theming abilitiy

Paid Memeber: Yes, look at the Simple Access module (there's others too)

Search Facility: I don't see why you wouldn't, if you know PHP then anything's possible :)

Anon Email: That's already built into Drupal.

E-commerce: I don't have experience here, so can't comment.

Banner: Yes, there's a banner-ads module, not sure if it'd meet your needs or not.

The best thing to do is to install Drupal and have a play, see if you can bend it how you need to.

Robert Castelo’s picture

Yes, you can tick off all of your requirements.

Some features you will need to download and install contributed modules, e.g. ecommerce, subscriptions, and banner ads.

Cortext Communications
Drupal Themes & Modules

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Drupal Specialists: Consulting, Development & Training

Robert Castelo, CTO
Code Positive
London, United Kingdom
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syawillim’s picture

Yes Drupal can do pretty much what you are wanting, it may fall down a little with the advanced search requirement.

I would like to ask one question though before you commit to your client's project, especially if they are a paying customer, do you have the experience with Drupal? I noticed that at the time of this post you had been a member of the community for just under 4 hours and you are asking "can it be done" questions indicating that you have no experience.

Drupal is an outstanding system but I provides a very steep learning curve and you don't want a paying client left hanging while you figure out how to do something. Much better to be confident that you know that you can make Drupal do it.

www.slickfish.com.au
professional, affordable web site design, production and maintenance for small business

stretchwickster’s picture

it may fall down a little with the advanced search requirement
Would it be possible to explain your comment in a bit more depth?

You are right in assuming I am new to Drupal and yes I am trying to ascertain whether or not Drupal is worth learning for this particular project.

You mention that Drupal has a "very steep learning curve". How long would you suggest it would take to familiarise myself with Drupal to a level where I could accomplish the above tasks? Also, which resources would you suggest as being particularly pertinent reading for learning Drupal.

...you don't want a paying client left hanging while you figure out how to something...
Quite right. However, I have made it clear to my client that I am just starting out in this line of work and my pricing is HEAVILY discounted for this reason (whilst I become proficient in the necessary tools e.g. Drupal).

syawillim’s picture

I am by no means a expert but Drupal's search feature is not one of its strong points. I believe that it is on the list of things to be addressed in upcoming releases. As an example try doing a few searches in Drupal and check the quality of results against the same searches through Google.

The PHPtemplate engine will allow you to do pretty much any customisation that you may want to do, so I would suggest you base your theme on this.

Subscriptions and restrictions to content can be achieved via a combination of the eCommerce and Taxonomy Access modules and use the Private Messages module to get the email functions you want. The Banner module will provide you with the advertising system you require.

www.slickfish.com.au
professional, affordable web site design, production and maintenance for small business

stretchwickster’s picture

Thanks for the info everyone - your input has been much appreciated. Drupal seems to cover all my needs for this particular project and, from your comments, seems to be flexible enough to use in future work too - so I'm sure the time taken to learn Drupal will be time well spent!

syawillim, You mention that Drupal has a very steep learning curve.

How long would you suggest it would take to familiarise myself with Drupal to a level where I could accomplish the above tasks?

Also, which resources would you suggest as being particularly pertinent reading for learning Drupal.

syawillim’s picture

How long would you suggest it would take to familiarise myself with Drupal to a level where I could accomplish the above tasks?

The only answer I can give to this question is "how long is a piece of string". It will really depend on your determination.

My first Drupal site includes all the features you want, but I cringe every time I look at it. It has taken me about a year to get to the level I am at and I still consider my self a noobie.

Definately start with handbook.

www.slickfish.com.au
professional, affordable web site design, production and maintenance for small business