Review and update the Installation guide

I'm doing a bit of this during the 4 August 2009 sprint, starting... now. :)

will be setting up a test site & running through the docs tgeller started @ http://drupal.org/node/540220 this weekend. My goal is to comment on anything i did not understand in what's there so far, and also to supplement with instructions for installing on a remote computer using a friendly ftp client as opposed to sending average users to the command line. will post back when anything i'm able to contribute is posted, hopefully by 9 August 09:00 -0400

There should be multiple Installation Instruction linked to from the initial Installation Guide page.
That should be 1st, and then get into the long drawn out instructions. Most people don't what to read, but do. They may need to come back and read, but getting started should be first.
Suggested installation instructions:
FTP - Quick - Long
SSH (Command Lind) - Quick - Long
One-click

I'm not sure how long it takes to install if there are no problems, and you can move step to step, but as a example a FTP 10 minute installation - Just the steps with a warning this might not work.. it doesn't for everyone see Full Installation if you run into problems, or you not sure about your site configurations. ect.

thanks for the clarifications, add1sun ... re "If anyone would like to just go through the Drupal 6 docs and note differences for D7, that is totally acceptable and will be much faster than the back and forth of a rewrite," should we be making edits, then, directly on the D6 install instructions, or copying them into a sort of sandbox and working there?

(this was meant as a threaded reply to comment #3 but it's not showing up as such for me, sorry)

I agree that the docs need a rewrite according to the time-tested wisdom that the simplest instructions be presented first and foremost (just like one presents the simplest features as the most accessible and obvious ones, in application design), and then links be provided to the more advanced info and troubleshooting tips.

But now it's been clarified that for the given timeline (actual release of D7) we need to make sure existing docs work -- just to add any notes necessary for D7.

I've been scouring d.o and the web at large for instructions for installing d.o via ftp. The ones I have found were written when Drupal 4.x was the latest & greatest, yet the content of these pages makes it clear that installation via ftp client is easier for the average user to grok (folks are used to seeing a listing of files in a graphic window, after all) and that it is possible to create a single, simple page with the basic installation instructions (from download through setting permissions through running the script).

Perhaps we should open a separate issue (or, actually, look first to see if someone already started this) for rewriting -- from a brand new blank slate -- the install docs? In addition to an updated "how to install by ftp" page, I'd also like to perhaps add some info (not on the main installation instructions, this would be "dig deeper for it" information) on installing in various hosting environments such as WHM/Cpanel.

btw, addi did a great video that was the only reason I ever got my installation done (http://www.lullabot.com/videocasts/installing-drupal-6).

Sorry about forgetting to remove that first note. My error.

Extending comments I made regarding the upgrade documentation, the current install documentation needs significant clarification regarding installs on the WAMP stack and on the WIMP stack with the various versions of IIS, especially in light of Acquia's helpful creation of a Web Platform Install package of Drupal for IIS7. There is currently no documentation, for example, about manually setting up a web.config file on IIS7 to replicate the functionality provided by .htaccess. Clean urls are another issue that varies significantly depending on the version of IIS used.

I'd be happy to help w/this as needed.

I have made some changes to the approach to downloading/unpacking/moving on http://drupal.org/node/540238 -- since I am new to this effort, and fairly new to working on a *nix web server, would someone kindly review. As per my revision log: "rather than have the user perform a mv along a path that we cannot predict (due to different types of servers folks have), revised the DL instructions to first cd into the directory that the files will be served from. This made it possible to provide instructions for the mv command using a relative path that will work universally."

To see more info on the type of problems users would have been running into, and confusion they would experience, by following the instructions as they had been written (which was to first download to some arbitrary directory, then requiring the user to know the proper path when it is time to "mv" the files), you can see my comments on the page which I was writing while attempting to use the instructions as they had been written before my revisions.

I finally got the idea to have the user DL into the web directory, unpack, and provide the mv command to move the files up one directory ./

So I tested my idea & it works fine (on my server, which hosts multiple comains under WHM/Cpanel). Rewrote the instructions according to this approach.

After review please just remove my comments on the page, I do not have rights to do so.

I will continue with vetting the instructions beginning on the next page after getting some sort of "go-ahead" ... i'm a little nervous still to be making edits like I made today. (gulp)

kazar

PS: I also made some inline notes surrounded by +++++, and included "kazar" and the date on same.

I'd love to have the help with the IIS portion. Just add to the existing pages or create new ones... whatever you think helps and we will organize it into a lovely grouping.

Clean urls -- need to find existing references and add them as appropriate rather than writing from scratch.

let me know how i can help.

OK I'm working on the IIS sections. One thing I ran across is that in the Prepare to Install D7 page it refers to the Drupal Requirements page which needs updating for IIS7 - "When using Drupal on IIS 7 with fastcgi" is outdated (I made a comment to that effect but can't edit the page). If you can update that.

On same page, "To achieve clean URLs" this should be changed: "If you use IIS 7 you can try the Microsoft URL Rewrite Module for IIS 7.0 CTP1" to "For IIS7 you can use the Microsoft URL Rewrite Module or a third party solution." This can then be linked to the clean urls stuff I'm updating/consolidating.

Also on that page is it really necessary to say "In view of Microsoft's support lifecycle"? Every piece of sw upgrades and older versions get deprecated. This just seems like a gratuitous dig.

I do think that the documentation needs a complete overhaul. I don't mind editing what I see in the 6 version for 7 is that what you want us to do?

actually I can't edit. the link on /getting-started/6/install/download to download drupal is bad and pointing to the front page.

Regarding multisite, ALL of the multisite instructions will have to be rewritten in light of the change to the database connection mechanism in Drupal 7 - ie, $db_url is no longer stored in settings.php, settings.php now uses an array.

It looks like the subdomain's settings.php db array needs to be configured with the new db info. I'm testing this out.

OK I've updated the multisite on IIS instructions with the new db array info, and am now looking at where to put the web.config file information. Since Drupal distros don't include this (they only include .htaccess), we need to create a sample one (we can use the one from the Acquia IIS Web Platform Installer). I'm thinking it should go in step 1:download of the instructions, but this will make the Windows section of the page much longer. I'm thinking the Windows install directions needs its own child page. In fact, perhaps we should separate all the OS- and web-server specific notes out into their own child pages, as is done for multisite. I'm going to go ahead and do that for Windows, just to keep this page from getting too long.

"the link on /getting-started/6/install/download to download drupal is bad and pointing to the front page." i made an issue for that at http://drupal.org/node/556262 -- I do not have edit rights, it seems, except for the D7 install guide underway.

Attached is my proposal for the Installation guide. Quick fast steps listed in order at the top, with information below for those who like to read, and each step linking to a page describing in detail what that step involves. I did this up fairly quickly using what I know, most of the information for the detail pages already exists, so could be created fairly quickly. I'm not sure why we don't fix what is broken now. Everything underlined would link to the information.

IMHO people should get the information in a quick easy way if they understand without having to read through paragraphs. If they don't understand they should be able to click a link for more information. With a link BACK to the short instructions so they can continue on. All the detailed instruction would be placed in order as well so they could use only the detailed instruction page by page if they wanted.

All the special information should be linked to and if is complete would be in individual link on the main page as the FTP & Command Line are. Any pages that they all share as in the Drupal Installation would only be done once and link to from all e.g.: Command Line and the FTP link to that page.

Shari

I'm going to do a final review of all comments and online doc changes for the installation and upgrade and incorporate changes this weekend. I'll try to get everything out there by Sunday so folks can review again before we hit Sept 1.

I'm still waiting for final word from add1sun b4 we get the final screenshots created with the new d7 theme.

Currently I have screenshots from the old theme and i'll put them in as place holders so we have something for folks to see and make a note at the top of the page about changes needed to the page.

For any installation page that needs changes, I'd like to mark it 'needs updating' until the last screenshot or link is corrected OR until it is renamed or moved to its proper location (e.g., http://drupal.org/getting-started/install is currently a d6 version. This node will need to be a d7 version once we go live and the info that is currently on this node should be migrated to another node.)

As I get the final 'to do' list ready, I'll post it so folks can make sure its complete.

Many thanks to everyone for helping get the installation docs ready.

I like the format of your pdf Shari, thanks for doing that. I think it makes a great starting point for a rewritten guide, one that presents the simplest possible steps to take with links to delve deeper for those who need or want to.

From what I've gathere the intention is indeed to fix what is broken, but first there's a very near deadline (Monday??) so we just needed to make sure the instructions (old style) work for 7

kazar

i ve been reviewing the D7 installation guide (untill step 2) and i find a long list of issues with it. my main concern is that the current guide is very long. webweaver proposed in #20 a one page installation guide. i think we should make that an d turn the current guide into pages with background-info-about-installing-drupal

This installation guide is designed for those unfamiliar with Drupal and assume limited background with CMS's in general.

If you'd like to provide a first try at a one-page install guide, I can create a page and we can put it forth for edits.

bekasu

Part of the reason it's long is that Drupal works on multiple OSes and web servers, but each of these has config notes. Please, whatever we do, let's make sure any "one page installs" list the assumptions *clearly*, ie "this assumes you are installing on a Lamp stack with Apache x and PhP v5.x etc." and then include child pages for XAMPP, WAMPserver, SnowLeopard, IIS, etc. etc.

excellent point -
I've got a separate issue about organizing longer list pages (http://drupal.org/node/567990).

I know these longer pages are tedious to read but we need to provide a systematic organization approach for them.

bekasu

The page http://drupal.org/server-permissions is the landing page for files problems listed during the requirements checking step of install, yet it gives no immediately pertinent information for newbie users on how to solve the installation error.

I suggest a rewrite.

The main section probably should be written in terms of instructions for installation.

We need subpages that cover each operating system and major environments.

I reckon:
- Installation on Windows - file permission problems
- Installation on Linux, Unix or other Unix-like systems - file permissions problems
- Installation on Linux under Plesk
- Installation on Linux under Cpanel
- Installation on MacOS
- General permission guidelines - read this if your operating system or environment is not listed.

+1
For splitting the installation guide into several sub pages. The page is too long like it is now and it will just keep growing the more situation/configurations. It is very distraction having to jump over sections that are not related to what you are trying to do, and like a sad the page is getting terrifying long to new users.

which installation guide do you mean? which page is too long? the d7 guide under development is already split into a number of pages. The book starts at http://drupal.org/node/540220

here is my attempt at a short installation guide that does not sum up all the hundreds of different options, systems and environments

you could say it is written for the 80% ;)

in line with Shari's proposal (#20) the guide refers after each step to the underlying page that offer very detailed additional instructions

the document has not been proofread yet (and only had a quick spell check)

i propose to make this quick guide the first page of the installation guide (http://drupal.org/node/540220), thus replacing the current text

https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AQLDdff6gGPwZGhocTN0ejVfNTdncmpnaDdmd... (attached as pdf)

cheers,

boris

Okay - I've set up a new page http://drupal.org/node/540220

I put some coding tags in, formatted headings, and added a reference to the troubleshooting of common problems.

Please take time to give it some love ... we can always move it to a better spot as well.

bekasu

I've fixed all the issues brought up in #15 above.

Somebody needs to double check me.

I've walked throught the install pages again and tweaked several. I removed comments after I rolled them as needed.

Please look at this page : http://drupal.org/node/540246 and decide how you want to cut it into smaller pieces.

If we are going to single out MAC and Windows with OS-specific child pages, we should also set up *NIX as a child page as well. It is inconsistent to have only non-*NIX operating systems with their own page. That is, *NIX directions are assumed on each page and all other OS's are relegated to child pages.

But aside from that, everything is coming together well. I have a private question to an SQLite person to see how the drupal install works with that database and am waiting for their response.

bekasu

Now that Drupal works not only with both mySQL and PostgreSQL but also, via PDO, with many back ends, is it right that the docs remain so MySQL-centric?

The install docs include detailed instructions for creating db, user & pw via mysql. Seems we ought to leave that to the docs on mysql.com, IMO. We certainly don't want to have to create (and then maintain as database products change over time) similar instructions for postgres, firebird, MSSQL, or whatever folks might wish to use.

For the "average Josephine" like me, who has the average hosting account with the average already-installed MySQL, we're gonna use CPanel to make our db's anyhow ... so I keep seeing the detailed MySQL instructions as something folks who know MySQL don't need and folks who don't won't use.

thoughts?

kazar

in response to #33, re "If we are going to single out MAC and Windows with OS-specific child pages, we should also set up *NIX as a child page as well":

I find myself dearly wishing for Ajax links for OS-specific info, and for other sorts of "more information" too, so that persons stepping through the guide can simply "unfold" the info that pertains to them (or where they just want more background info etc.) without having to switch out to other pages while they are doing an installation or upgrade. This would solve both the "scary long page" problem, and the problem of "forgetting where the heck I was before I loaded this page for details on my OS"

kazar

kazar..

We need a solution for these long link pages anyway ... see this issue: http://drupal.org/node/567990

I don't have an answer, just recognize the problem. AJAX links would be good but we need it as a doc tool tagging in general.

bekasu

Hi, I have started doing just now in Drupal sprint ,Pune....:-)

drupal 7 doc documentation review

http://drupal.org/node/540236

# This guide assumes PhP (including PDO dlls which are required for Drupal 7) and MySQL are installed and running on your web server.

# This guide assumes PhP (including PDO dlls which are required for Drupal 7) and MySQL are installed and running on the remote web server.

- The documentation is linked into sections which makes it harder to navigate around the whole thing. It would be much better to do it something like http://lwn.net/Articles/358218/bigpage

http://drupal.org/project/drupal

http://cvs.drupal.org/viewvc/drupal/drupal/CHANGELOG.txt?pathrev=DRUPAL-...

- showing 5.0 only changelog ?

http://drupal.org/node/540238

Moving Drupal to its intended location

Now you need to move the contents of the drupal-x.x directory one level "up" into the web server's document root or your public HTML directory:

mv drupal-x.x/* drupal-x.x/.htaccess ./

The files from the directory you downloaded and decompressed have now been moved up a level into your web directory, and you can delete the drupal-x.x directory (which is now empty):

rmdir drupal-x.x

- There is no idea for a user to know what the result would be?

http://drupal.org/node/557898

- If highlighting some parts, then don't assume the user knows which and what you changed . This needs to be illustrated in a better way.

http://drupal.org/node/540242

You should now have both a default.settings.php and settings.php file in your sites/default directory.

- show results of the commands rather than what should be there.

documentation needs tags so people can search things faster. For e.g. "Drupal 7 web server requirements"

Aside from the comments above somebody needs to make the signup and login process secure, atleast https://

just reviewed http://drupal.org/node/570116 (Quick install for experts), added some missing periods and a missing capitalization (in new revs), other notes:
- assuming this is intentional at this point, but read more links at end of each section need to be linked
- section 3: missing command? "Give the web server write privileges (644 or [something missing])"

Yikes!

Why are we writing a completely new install guide and duplicating an ENORMOUS amount of content when the install process is virtually identical to the previous version?

This is an extraordinarily messy and unsustainable approach since it means that going forward, edits to one guide will have to be recreated in the other.

We should just note d7 differences in the existing guide.

I'm sorry, but we need to kill this guide.

Lee,
We went this direction because 1) we didn't want to intefere with ARCHIVING initiatives in the future and 2) we were asked to leave d6 book pages alone while we developed D7. When we started this D7 was unstable and there have been many seesaw changes. In fact, we were specifically told not to take screenshots until the new interface was finalized. This explains the missing screenshots for D7.

When D7 rolls out, we will again have a single installation guide for D7 with references to D6 as needed.

There was much discussion about having duplicate children pages as well. Rest assured the plan is to have only 1 install guide.
Other than a PDO page, everything seems to dovetail pretty nicely back into a similar book organization as that of D6.

During Dec, the plan (mine anyway) is to do a final review, a final run through of fresh install, and a final run through of upgrade to be sure everything is copacetic. I'd like to get screenshots as well and put everything to rest.

Then when you want the D7 installation directions to be the lead, we promote them and unpublish the D6 pages.

Honestly, at one point we had more stubs and questions on the pages than we knew what to do with.

bekasu

Hmm. Ok. Well as long as we wind up with one installation guide, it doesn't matter to me, but this just seems like a lot of extra work. What about all the edits/corrections etc that are being made to the existing installation guide in the interim? Are those changes being tracked and captured? I see that people are already adding D7 content there.

Since the differences are trivial, I don't understand why we're not just tweaking the existing guide rather than try and keep two bodies of work in sync. The screen captures for D7 are different but I would strongly suggest just dumping them completely until we have a more sophisticated publishing system where the user can choose which installation they want to see . They really add little value and make single sourcing the docs complex and difficult.

I certainly understand.

I'll do the final comparison of each of the docs to be sure we don't lose anything.

LeeHunter - the other side of the issue is that D6 is still supported, and will be until D8 releases. People will continue to be using and installing it for quite a while yet, and they need access to solid documentation that is not in the middle of being re-written/re-screenshotted, etc.

Lee ..

I printed quite a few D7 installation pages/child pages so I could read through things (old-fashioned, yes I know it kills trees).

I also started printing the current installation docs (for D6).
Did you realize the first line of the D6 installation (http://drupal.org/getting-started/install) says:

quote:
The following pages cover the installation of Drupal 6. For information about installing Drupal 5, see the Drupal 5 guide.
unquote

Are you telling me that the new direction for installation guides is for co-mingled versions? That is, D7 and D6 installation info folded into the same page?

As I started trying to put D6 exceptions into the D7 installation guide, I found links to pages that were D5 centric. Rather than cause more havoc by creating D7 versions of the child pages or linked pages, I stopped.

The original idea was to copy the D6 installation guide, fuss with it to remove D6 only info, add to it D7 only info, create new screenshots & scrub child pages/links. Once we all agreed to the D7 guide, then we rename the D6 info with a D6 name and call the D7 info the generic 'install' page name.

my understanding is that we do want to create separate versions, and archive as we go, as each version works differently, and if we don't do this, then people who are still using the older version have no support.

i think that's why the reference to D5 is there, and i would think we ought to continue on this path... right?

It depends on how different the installation process is.

If it's significantly different, yes we should have separate guides for each version.

If there's just one or two steps in a procedure that's different, or a little change in the onscreen text, then no.

I haven't gone through the d7 install guide in detail, but it looks like only the page about running the install script is significantly different in D7. Why not just have one install guide which has separate pages - Run the Drupal 6 Install Script and Run the Drupal 7 Install Script - for that part?

That way we don't have to dupe the rest of the content, which is something we should be trying to avoid.

I guess it really depends on how we are managing the archiving then - and this is something I'm not clear on...

ok, my local kablooeyed on my last cvs up, so i'm taking this re-install as an opportunity to review the install docs... which omg re-reading this thread... i am scared! i looked at both versions, and the separate d7 install guide has a nice format and has had a lot of work done to it already, so i am following that. (it appears there may be some things missing from the d6 version, so will try and note anything i notice)

NOTES: (GUIDE STARTS HERE http://drupal.org/node/540220)

Step 2 - http://drupal.org/node/540242
- comment to roll in?

Step 3 - http://drupal.org/node/540244
- needs instructions for command line with sqlite (only has mysql and pgsql at present) under h2 "Create a database from the command line"
- did some major formatting tidying
- comment to roll in?

Step 4 - http://drupal.org/node/540246/
- need to fill in [LIST OF TYPICALLY MISSING DIRECTORIES?] and associate perms
- major reformatting (many missing closing li's, typos, miss labeled fields, etc.)
- needs screenshots
- many comments (to roll?)
- think the 2nd half of this page should be split into a subpage
- only halfway through proofing this, have notated the spot where i ended

that's as far as i got so far!

The default install instructions under Download describe command line downloading: http://drupal.org/node/540238

Is that correct? I would expect that most new users on shared hosting accounts typically would use FTP -- as in, download to their desktop, unpack, then upload the whole thing via FTP directly into the public HTML directory. This fits nicely with the create DB using Cpanel, PHPMYadmin etc. etc.

Two paths? One for command line, one for FTP and control panels?

Boris - I totally agree that we could use some more simple quick-install type content. Maybe alongside the "Quick install for experts" we can have a "Quick install for non-technical users"?

I think we should definitely address that once the guide is cleaned up (or sooner if someone wants to take it on).

Everyone - I have been stuck on this "Step 4" page of the install guide for like 2 weeks, it's all cleaned up to about halfway where it goes all bunk. Wondering if it would help to break the OS specific stuff into separate subpages? http://drupal.org/node/540246 halp!

i had one vote of approval for breaking out the pages, so i'm gonna go ahead and do that. it really does seem the thing to do.

also the feedback i was given included that MAMP should really be the first recommendation for OSX since it's much more straightforward, so going to add that.

actually... the more i look at this, i'm not even sure why this OS specific stuff is on this page. it seems more about installing drupal than running the install script. ??? changing mind about making subpages, not sure it belongs here. will wait for 2nd opinions.

made it through page 4 finally!!!!!!!!!! http://drupal.org/node/540246 D7ized the notes at the bottom. removed the OS specific stuff (now just need to find it a home). much improved!

(someone pleeeease double check my command line code, i am non-reliable!)

and... moved the OS specific stuff for mac and linux under the windows section on "page 2" http://drupal.org/node/540242 - quite certain this needs a review too, but i cleaned up the (terrible) formatting.

added the missing links and cleaned up the quick install guide tonight http://drupal.org/node/570116 needs review too!

@arianek The quick install guide is looking really good. I suggest making the following change, because it could trip up newcomers who are following letter by letter.

Change this:

'username'@'localhost' is the username of your MySQL account

to this:

'username' is the username of your MySQL account

Possibly add this? --
'localhost' is the server name used to access MySQL

Thanks so much for putting in the time to write such a clear guide. I know MANY people will benefit.

nadavoid - good catch! i've made that change, definitely clearer.

I've done a style edit on the D7 installation guide.

I still have *serious* concerns about the way we're forking existing content.

Yeah Lee, I'm not really sure how to contend with that. I mean *ideally* it would be awesome if we had a better method of managing the versions. But in this case, so much work had been done on the 7 version that it seemed silly to not keep working off it... not sure what the solution is here. Suggestions???

Having an install page that goes over doing this stuff with FTP, CPanel, and the like would be good. I'd be happy to help with this if it's indeed wanted. That's how I do all my installs since it's much faster than doing it via command line.

jsimonis - if you are up for writing that out, go for it! just post the link here for review after. and be sure to specify what platform you're on. :-)

with direction from addi, i've migrated the D7 install guide into the main guide (and archived the other draft section). please review! http://drupal.org/node/628292

Comments on new installation guide:

My background: I am a complete novice to web-design/programming. I built 2 drupal sites and self-taught the basics of html/css. I have just installed D7 alpha5 - at www.room271.net (it was exactly the same process as D6 for me). So I am a good candidate for a non-technical perspective!

General:

The book navigation links (the 'go-to-next-page' links) do not flow from step 1 to step 2 etc. Instead, the next page link often goes to OS specific advice first. I would find it much less confusing if you were automatically taken from Step 1 to Step 2 without having to go through the OS specific advice too (unless you want to).

Specifics:

Step 1: Download and uncompress Drupal

- This is all written for doing it from the site itself. I am a complete non-expert so from my perspective the easiest way is always to:

a) Go to http://drupal.org/project/drupal and download the latest version to my home computer
b) I usually extract the file locally
c) And then upload into the appropriate directory using my ftp client (filezilla)

Anything involving command lines is really off-putting from a beginner's perspective so I would say avoid it (but I'm sure this is not what more competent users would like).

Step 2:

- no comments!

Step 3: settings.php

- instead of 'copy the default.settings.php to settings.php' under instruction 1 I would make it explicit that you need to create a new file. Just reword it basically.

- separately, in the FTP comments bit it says: '...check both the Read and Write boxes for "Owner", "Group", and "Others" (leaving the Execute boxes unchecked).'

It works for me simply to check the 'owner' boxes, not 'group' and 'others' too so unless I am wrong (a strong possibility) maybe just say to check the 'owner' boxes here?

Step 4:

- no comments!

------

ps. I found the installation very straightforward which means it can't be that difficult!

pps. why doesn't drupal come with a settings.php file? I.e. why do we have to add it manually? - wouldn't it be easier if it was automatically included?

thanks for the review nicl! will take that all into account for the beginner's quickstart guide that i'm hoping we'll get written up, that'll be geared towards people who aren't using command line.

i *think* the settings.php works like that because if you have a multisite installation it is a bit more complicated and you have to make several copies with the right db listed in each. (but i'm sure someone more technical can correct me here!)

I came to this thread via the front page post on d.o wanting to help complete the installation guide for drupal 7. Unfortunately, I'm now a little confused.

I've read through most of the basic installation guide at: http://drupal.org/node/628292. But that guide appears to be the live guide for drupal 6. Is this issue meant to be about creating a new installation guide for drupal 7? If not, why not?

The most helpful thing for a new user is a screenshot at each stage of the installation, giving them confidence that all is going well. Or even a screenshot of an error screen so that they don't panic when they see the same screen. Because of the vast improvements in the installation process for drupal 7, there is no way screenshots can be used if the guide is for both drupal 6 and drupal 7!

I think a drupal 7 specific guide is much needed.

Any comments?

I took a stab at a quickstart guide for beginners, here: http://drupal.org/node/628292. Please review.

The idea is to provide an overview of the installation steps at a glance. New users can follow links to get more in-depth instructions if they get stuck on a particular step. I was unclear how the current install guide relates to Drupal 6 vs Drupal 7. These instructions are written for Drupal 7.

I've just installed Drupal 7.0 Beta 1 and noted one change that needs to be made to the installation guide. On this page:

http://drupal.org/node/540246

at the end of the page, the user is instructed to change permissions on settings.php and possibly also sites/default. In fact, the installation script takes care of this. The user does not need to do anything.

thanks for the note jacobson - it's actually been further streamlined since that was last reviewed, so definitely needs an update. i think that may still need to be done depending on how permissions are set up initially, but we should definitely check with one of the core folks as to the ins and outs of it at present.

marking "needs work"

@arianek, although you archived the old draft section Install Drupal 7 as you noted at #65, that "old" document is still recommended from frontpage announcements for beta1 and beta2 by webchick, and it seems that i'm not the only frustrated one who'd wasted hours following those links (see the comments #68 by ff1 and #69 by Carolyn).

@Sahin, please exercise restraint when frustrated.

@arianek, what links should the beta announcements ("You can also help by testing the installation guide...") be updated with? To the Installation Guide or to its child Basic Installation?

Subscribing to review this after #952606: INSTALL.txt needs correction and clarification gets committed.

@Heine,
http://drupal.org/drupal-7.0-beta3 is pointing at the archived page (restraint, restraint, re...).

I think that the beta announcements should be edited to link to Basic Installation.

i've updated the link (i added a proper url alias for the page too - http://drupal.org/documentation/install/basic) and i think i've got the links updated in all the other mentioned places now.

@heine - please to the basic install guide http://drupal.org/documentation/install/basic thanks!

Just had a read-through of the quick install guide for beginners.

The bullet list under 'To download Drupal and copy it to your webserver:' could do with a re-read, as it seems to go backwards and forwards in places. Don't have time to copyedit it myself, sorry :/

I think that INSTALL.txt has really good instructions. I presume you've all been reviewing those as you revise the online version?

@joachim - that is brand new from the sprint a couple weeks ago, it could certainly use a technical review (if anyone has time!) I have only updated the formatting on it. http://drupal.org/documentation/install/beginners - there's a separate issue for it here if anyone can follow up: http://drupal.org/node/997028

@evandonovan - this has been in the works so long it would have been a while ago if so, if you are able to review against it, that would be a great help. (i have to switch gears and make some attempts for the upgrade guide for the next few days).

setting to needs review

I added a comment to the /install/basic because I couldn't find this issue.
1st off I love this page, thank you to whom ever did the simple work of simply stating what needs to be done. My only suggestion is to change the one line including what someone without ssh access would need to know. Everything else is completely understandable by anyone who has installed any other system. I also added the permission that Drupal should return to as that was something I worried about after reading that Drupal should do it. I wanted to know what it should be. I used what Drupal did change it to on my test install while following the directions. I don't mind making the following change, if it's ok or agreed on.

I suggest the following:
Change this:
* For example, on a Unix/Linux command line, use this command: chmod a+w sites/default
To this:
* i.e.: with *nix command line chmod a+w sites/default or with a ftp or file manager right click and set to 777
* Drupal should reset this when it's completed the installation (chmod a-w sites/default or 555)

i've been working on reviewing and cleaning up the install and upgrade guides (as they're going to be prominently linked to from the d7 release announcement), and spent some time looking at some of it with webchick today.

i've now removed the basic install guide page (which had been the parent to the quick install guides and the main install guide pages) and moved its content to a new page Quick install with FTP (so uneedstuff's comments should be applied there). now all of the main install guide and the quick install guides sit in the first level of the section, which will be better for new users arriving in that section.

webchick and i set up redirects from the old basic install guide, and the archived page (now hidden) to the main install guide as well, so no more busted/old links.

comments 78, 79, 80, 82 still need work/review

For review http://drupal.org/node/547860
I completely rewrote this as it is different in Drupal 7 from how you need to do things in Drupal 6. I created the notes from my own installation, and noted at the top what and how as I noticed in some of the comments from other pages, that this information would be helpful.

For review http://drupal.org/node/570162
Rewrote using the new update.txt changes, I think the comment can now be removed. I was unable to test as I ran into an error, so I'm not sure if this works.

=== edited ===
I was able to complete the upgrade and added the bit about error messages afterwards as I was very confused seeing them. Once I activated taxonomy they all went away.

Re http://drupal.org/node/570162

> Disable all non-core modules

This is the official line, but it's also a really bad idea :/

@ joachim I believe ya, I actually have yet to get a running site with all my content showing correctly. I'm on my 3rd try ;)

@uneedstuff

re: comment #84, i've opened a new issue to mark those changes for review http://drupal.org/node/1016828

re: comment #85, which is regarding the upgrade guide, i've had to revert the changes, because of the formatting and filed a separate issue here, which i'll go cross link from the upgrade guide thread as well. http://drupal.org/node/1016834 - for reference, upgrade guide issue is here: #536854: Review and test the upgrade guide for Drupal 7

did a final review of all the main pages and fixed some wrong links, updated page statuses, a little formatting, etc.

http://drupal.org/documentation/install/run-script needs D7 screenshots, but after that, this issue is closable (if someone decides to do that, pls assign this issue to yourself, so nobody duplicates the work, thx!)

(also, there's a decent number of comments to roll if anyone's looking for something to do.) ;)

working on the d7 images for the install script page

screenshots ahoy! since i don't think anyone else wants to do anymore "final reviews" of this, i'm gonna mark this fixed. (there are a couple small follow up issues that have been filed separately along the way.)