Drupal 4.7.x

Hi, I was wondering if there was some way to hack the tracker module so ONLY the creator of a specific CCK Node can see when the node is updated with new comments.

In my system I want to create a "Profile Image" CCK Nodetype, when users comment the node, I only want the creator of the node to be able to see that there are new comments for one of their "Profile Image" nodes, when they click the "What's New" link.

When there are long threads running into 2 pages or more, I see that the red/orange *new* stamp disappears as I go from page 1 to page 2.

Is there not a way I can read only the new posts as in nested replies and longish threads new posts may come at random.

Also, how to read only my comments in a long thread OR the thread-starter's comment only ?

How not to read ( or block / apprently disappear ) posts by person who are on my block-list ( how can such a list be made ) OR read only posts by my buddies ?

I'm brand new to drupal, so forgive my ignorance. Currently I do simple non-database web development in html and php using emacs as an editor. I'm contemplating moving to drupal and I'm wondering about editing pages.

When using drupal, you create pages by logging into your site and adding content online, right? If so, does that mean I have to leave all the editing conveniences of emacs behind? Or do you cut and paste between your favorite editor and the online add-content page? Or am I missing the point?

I have been away from drupal recently, but I have several projects that i have started, and not completed. I am not really a programmer by trade, and I realize that a lot of functionality could be improved. Most of these sites were built on 4.7 and some 5.0.

needless to say, im just trying to figure out what to do with these sites. i have so many of them, and feel that a lot of effort could be potentially wasted.

is there any way to partner up with other developers that share a common goal or interest, such as in the development of sites or ideas?

here are some of my samples:

http://www.thingstoday.com/ (classified)
http://www.ripdot.org/ (cemetery)
http://www.facefox.com/ (social)

http://www.boratsucks.com/ (movie)
http://www.valuebasics.com/ (trading)
http://www.travelipo.com/ (travel)
http://www.thefederalreserve.ws/ (finance,trading ideas)

http://www.ojmayo.tv/ (sports)
http://www.newsbad.com/ (news)

http://www.thebighype.com/ (news/editorial)
http://www.thefed.ws/ (informational)
http://www.thinkask.com/ (dunno yet. want to make like a yahoo questions)

I'm running drupal 4.7.2 and want to pay someone $200 to help me upgrade to the highest 5.X version. I'll need the upgrade to be done either on January 1st or next Saturday or Sunday(Jan 5-6), because my website is very active during regular business days so I want to do it when there is little traffic.

The site is also running a third party pay subscription script(amember), so I need to make sure that it will work once the upgrade is complete. I don't think it will be a problem, because there are people running drupal 5.X that are using this script.

Whoever does the upgrade will need to backup my database and drupal files first.

These are the modules I'm using so those not built in will need to be upgraded:

aggregator
blog
comment
contact
emailpage
favorite_nodes
feedback
front_page
gsitemap
help
menu
nodeauthor
page
path
ping
poormanscron
print
profile
search
service_links
simpenews
syndication
taxonomy
taxonomy_access
taxonomy_block
taxonomy_dhtml
views
views_rss
views_theme_wizard
views_ui

I'm running drupal 4.7.2 and am thinking of upgrading to 5.X I need to know though will an upgrade effect the user database tables? I'm also running a script called amember(http://amember.com) that works with the database to create subscriptions for different user levels. If an upgrade will effect the user database then I don't think I can upgrade, but feel like I should as it has been over a year. Does anyone know if an upgrade to 5 would cause problems for me? Thanks.