So, have any of you ever tried to use Drupal? I remember being introduced six years ago. It was my first content management system. I thought I knew about web design ,and then all these new terms get thrown at me: nodes, taxonomy, vocabularies, term, tagging.

So as any good self learner would do, I jumped on the forums. Post after post went unanswered and as I read it was obvious these users were obsessed with their API that only , well, a “robot” could understand. So I took the path of least resistance. I moved to Joomla.

Do you remember Joomla, say two years ago. The forum was lively. Moderators would actually answer your questions. I even PMed a few when I started out and they were glad to help me. Joomla was easy to catch on to. Joomla taught me PHP. I loved Joomla.

Well, I am disappointed in Joomla these days. I like to think I have helped the cause. I have contributed several free modules. I have made SEO improvements on a few. I answer questions from Digitalpoint users concerning Joomla both in threads and by PM. I have asked not and wanted not.

However, I can’t overlook the fact that about one out of every 12 posts I have posted on Joomla forums has gone unanswered. They are good questions I think. I hardly ever ask a question without first searching the forum threads and searching Google. I try to ask the questions in a way that will benefit anyone who reads it.

But, alas, they go unanswered. And you know what, Drupal’s forums are picking up. Seems there is a new crop that is enjoying the flexibility Drupal offers and is helping answer questions.

Maybe it is because Joomla alienated a good bit of their userbase with their “tunnel” interperation of what GPL stands for. Who knows. But if you want to learn Drupal. Now seems to be the time.

The robots are now at Joomla and obsessed with their new code.

Tags: Joomla

Dreamhost was my first host. I was introduced to it by a fine young man named Anthony who runs Small Park .

Most of you who have been in the web world awhile know that Dreamhost offers a great package but has failed to deliver at times. I remember a few years ago, during the California energy shortages my sites seemed to never work like I wished they would.

I host my sites and a few clients on a dedicated server from Hostgator now. But I have always kept my Dreamhost account. Why you might ask?

Well Dreamhost has some benefits that surpass the rest.

Test sites!!!!!!

Thats right. You should ALWAYS build a test site before you deploy your actual site. I even keep backups of my live site on Dreamhost so I can try new features.

First of all, Dreamhost give you a load of diskspace and bandwidth. Are they overselling? Sure, but who isn’t. Plus as I said I am only using them for test sites.

You also get UNLIMITED FREE subdomain names. So if I want to run my latest Joomla test site. I simply create the suddomain, joomlatest.dreamhosters.com, and BAM, I have a place to test my new Joomla site or any other package I might want to try.

I like it, it works for me.

Don’t forget they increase your maximum bandwidth and disk space every month you host with them. Pretty nice.

Tags: Hosting, Joomla