SeanBuscay.com: Professional Drupal web development, site management, and web applications.

Drupal Lovers: Time to Vote

Sean Buscay — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 19:41:18 +0000

I've proposed a session for the upcoming DrupalCon DC.

The session is titled, "Building Complex Application and Publishing Workflows."

Abstract:

Do your site editors need a complex publishing workflow? Should your site behave more like a web application, responding to a myriad of user- and system-triggered events? Or do you simply want to add that extra little feature that would make your Drupal site just perfect for your site and business needs?

Join us as we present a quick-start session on using the Triggers, Actions, and Workflow modules to create the workflows your site needs.

Agenda

In this session, we'll look at why you might need structured workflows on your sites, and how you can create them. Topics include:

Common reasons for needing workflows
An overview of the Triggers, Actions, and Rules modules
Scenario: A complex site publishing workflow
Scenario: A site application workflow
Mini-cases: A quick look at solutions to other common issues

Discussions on scenarios look at the end-to-end process of creating the solution:

Needs analysis
User story
Planning the logic with the Drupal modules
Implementation
Testing

Goals

Create an understanding of the reasons you might want to implement structured workflows
Provide a blueprint you can use to implement key workflow solutions
Provide base ideas for creating solutions for ad hoc needs

Please vote for it here:
http://dc2009.drupalcon.org/session/building-complex-application-and-pub...

Also from Tree House Agency, check out and vote on these sessions:

Building a Publishing Workflow with Scheduled Transitions at Node Creation

Sean Buscay — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 19:28:13 +0000

Introduction

The Need

Our clients and other Drupal site administrators would like to use the Workflow module to schedule transition states in their publishing workflow.

The Problem

Currently, within the Workflow module a node cannot be assigned a scheduled state change upon node creation. A node must be saved first, then edited a second time by the user.

After reading this comment in the Workflow module issue queue: http://drupal.org/node/189572#comment-704334 I decided to try to add a little more automation to the process of creating a node and adding a scheduled state change.

In this Post

You'll learn how to create a publishing workflow for your website, and how to improve the process of scheduling a transition change during node creation.

Let's begin.

Posted on TreeHouseAgency.com - Read more

7 Tips to Improve Webmaster Productivity

Sean Buscay — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 15:25:23 +0000

Rapid application and web site development. Increasing demand for web standards. New standards and technologies appear, grow, and morph together within shorter and shorter cycles. Webmasters must be more productive than ever.

These seven tips will help you become a more productive webmaster:

The right tools
The right environment
Patterns
Study
Web communities
Good work habits
A life

1. Use the right tools

Webmasters can find plenty of excellent tools now to:

design and develop faster
meet standards
reduce redundant tasks
automate repetitive tasks

The old saying, "Use the right tool for the right job", remains true today. Invest time today in finding yourself the right tools for the jobs you do.

You have more choices than ever before.

The net houses a myriad of web developer software. Some of the best web development applications and tools are free or open-source. Yes, many excellent web design applications still cost, yet can be worth paying for.

Don't skimp.

Come up with creative ways to buy the software you need. When I started freelancing, my first client bought me Dreamweaver Ultradev and Fireworks (2 then 3 - back in the stone age of web design). I simply built the purchase into the up-front costs of the project, and convinced the client of the need. If you are a professional web designer, build the costs of new software into your next job.

A technical discussion of methodologies for choosing the right software:

http://www.ddj.com/architect/184415067

2. Create the right environment

Create custom environments on your computer and in your office which are designed to streamline and enhance your work quality and productivity.

Optimize your computer desktop

Use a large screen or even two screens.

I currently have Dell's 24-inch wide-screen (Dell 2407WFP) at a 1920X1200 resolution.

I also have a separate smaller screen to put IRC and and chat windows on, so I can keep my workspace uncluttered.

Dell UltraSharp 2407WFP CNET Review

http://reviews.cnet.com/lcd-monitors/dell-ultrasharp-2407wfp/4505-3174_7-31899303.html

Create custom screen layouts to match your current tasks.

Make use of tools which automatically open the set of software you use while developing and to automatically move them to a screen layout which you find productive.

For example, here is my "Screen cast Tutorials" layout.

Note I have my web browser visible, which is what I am giving the tutorial on. The browser automatically moves into position and is set to a 1024X768 pixel width and height. Camtasia Studio, my screen casting software, moves in and takes up the rest of the right side of my screen. Then I have a little room below my web browser on the left, so I keep a document open to take notes while I create the tutorial.

In my next posts I'll cover the software tools to make this happen.

Zen-up Your Office

Have everything you need to do your work, within your reach.

This includes any reference books, your phone (if you need one), your drinks (water and coffee are so good), your stereo volume or remote, PDA or iPhone, credit cards for web purchases, headset; basically anything you might use in a typical day.

Having a proper chair and computing environment are of utmost importance. You will work better and feel better, with less fatigued at the end of the day.

See Stanford University's Environmental Health and Safety web site, specifically their Proper Ergonomic Setup of your Computer Workstation page:

http://www.stanford.edu/dept/EHS/prod/general/ergo/compwork.html

Ambiance

If you are able, it is nice to add a pleasant atmosphere to your office.

A major boost to my own productivity and creativity came after I "Zen-up-d" my office.

I did the following:

Got rid of all extra clutter
Added a nice table-top water fountain (for less than $25 bucks)

Amazon.com: HoMedics WFL-ROCK EnviraScape Illuminated Rock Garden Relaxation Fountain: Health & Personal Care

Began burning scented candles
Began playing nice relaxing music, or really hard (depending on the day)
Splurged with my Christmas money and got myself a massage chair for about $100 bucks

Amazon.com: HoMedics SBM-300 Therapist Select Shiatsu Plus Massaging Cushion: Health & Personal Care

I did have an office fish tank once to help lower my blood pressure, but the fish kept dying, which really stressed me out.

3. Discover and document patterns

Accumulate a list of best practices for the different work you do. As you discover a better way to do something, write it down in a trusted place. Make sure you can retrieve the information by subject, task, or keyword.

If you need to do the same thing again and again, write down a checklist.

Try to follow procedures as you work. They don't have to be the "best" at first. Follow set patterns so you can tweak and improve them over time.

Re-use and improve the same code

Use mature and well tested frameworks and code libraries. I started using object oriented programming, code libraries and classes, early as web developer. As I tested, gained experienced with, and improved my code collection from project to project, I was able to build solid, well-featured web sites, fast. My code library became pretty valuable and contributed much to my building a successful interactive agency.

Following design patterns helped me solve challenges and make design decisions quickly.

Today, there are several mature frameworks which focus on building web sites and web applications.

Doing lots of web sites with similar features? Use a well-developed, full-featured, modular, and open-source CMS with a mature API. This will get you off the treadmill of struggling to add new features to your own code-driven web sites. Follow best practices when tweaking the CMS. Create modules to add custom behavior. Don't mess with the core. This will save you lots of time when upgrading sites.

See Drupal.

4. Never stop learning

The web developer career is one which requires constant learning and change. We have to study and re-study to keep up. Read web developer books, articles, white-papers, and whatever else you can get. Listen to pod casts. Sitepoint.com is one an excellent resource, with books, kits, and training videos. I expect web developers who work for me to spend at least an hour each week (on paid time) to read a developer book, browse a developer forum, or watch a tutorial. I believe an hour of learning can save up to five hours in coding.

I refer to these four books regularly during work (especially the first two) :

Amazon.com: Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, 2nd Edition: Books: Steve Krug

Amazon.com: The CSS Anthology: 101 Essential Tips, Tricks & Hacks: Books: Rachel Andrew

Amazon.com: The PHP Anthology: Object Oriented PHP Solution, Volume 1: Books: Harry Fuecks

Amazon.com: The PHP Anthology, Volume II: Applications: Books: Harry Fuecks

5. Join a web community

Becoming an active part of a web development community will improve your productivity for years to come. The benefits include:

Solving problems quickly with the help of others
Keeping up-to-date in our field
Becoming inspired
Finding tips and tricks which we might not have thought of
Helping others (and feeling good)

6. Improve your work habits

If you are able, regularly turn off your phone.
Know when to not check email.
Find your own work rhythm.
Do certain types of tasks during parts of the day which fit your energy levels.
Make use of keyboard shortcuts.

Become a master at project management. Hire a great project manager if you can.

Read the book:

Amazon.com: Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity: Books: David Allen

7. Get a life

Learn when to stop working.
Develop other interests outside your work and field.
Read books on a variety of subjects. History is pretty cool.
Turn the computer off!
Turn off that PDA/iPhone too.
Focus on your friends and family. People last. Web sites only live on at Archive.org.
Forget about your mission at work for awhile and explore and develop your ultimate purpose in life.
Sleep.
Socialize.

Power User Tip: Send Yourself a Quick Gmail from Firefox's Sidebar

Sean Buscay — Fri, 16 May 2008 01:31:54 +0000

Need to send yourself an email quickly, without interrupting your work flow?

Here's a Gmail tip I found on LifeHack.org. It was also published on Web Worker Daily as part of a great article titled, "10 Ways to Pimp Your Gmail."

Here's how:

(Modified slightly from the version on Web Worker)

Quick compose tip:

The Task: Set up a quick compose bookmarklet in Firefox to send an email within Gmail.

From within your Gmail account,

1) Click on "Compose Mail" in Gmail, and then click on the "New window" pop-out button on the right hand side of the compose area to bring it to a new window;

2) Once the new window has opened right-click on any part of the blue space within the opened window. In the drop down menu that opens, select "Bookmark This Page" and save it in your Bookmarks Toolbar folder.

3) Minimize the compose window. On the Firefox bookmark toolbar, right-click on the new bookmarklet you've just created, select Properties and check "Load this bookmark in the sidebar".

Now just click on this bookmarklet at any time when you want to send yourself a new task, or send someone else a quick email.

Bonus Tips:

If you want to have an email address already filled in when your compose window opens, edit the book mark URL to add the "to" value to the email link.

For example, let's say your bookmarked compose URL is something like:

http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=22&ik=eff42d89al&view=cm&fs=1&tf=1&ver=uzop0vbpl38b3cissfw9n0fss#cmid%253D1

Then add the following to your URL:

to=addresstosendto@gmail.com&

Right after the:

http://mail.google.com/mail/?

and before the:

ui=22&ik=eff42d89al&view=cm&fs=1&tf=1&ver=uzop0vbpl38b3cissfw9n0fss#cmid%253D1

Your final URL will look like:

http://mail.google.com/mail/?to=name@gmail.com&ui=2&ik=ef89al&view=cm&fs=1&tf=1&ver=uzop9n0fss#cmid%253D1

If you want a quick way to send email to yourself, and want to use Google's alias feature (say, "myusername+mytodolist@gmail.com"), then you can add the following instead:

to=name%2Bmytodolist@gmail.com&

Making your final URL look like:

http://mail.google.com/mail/?to=name%2Bmytodolist@gmail.com&ui=2&ik=ef89al&view=cm&fs=1&tf=1&ver=uzop9n0fss#cmid%253D1

Hope these tips help you in your daily work. You can add several pre-addressed quick compose bookmarklets.

From a Large Static HTML Site to a Drupal Powered CMS

Sean Buscay — Thu, 08 May 2008 00:57:22 +0000

The Need

The Archdiocese Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (Archdiocese) wanted to use its Antiochian.org web site to promote awareness and understanding of the Orthodox Faith and the work of the Archdiocese. They needed a web site to serve as a tool for effective communication to various audiences, including persons within the Archdiocese, other churches, the general public, and the press.

The site had to be easy to use for site visitors and for those who added content and administered the site. The site’s appearance and user experience needed to be pleasing, as well as serve to further communicate who the Archdiocese is as an organization and as a church.

Sections of the site needed a cohesive look and user experience, to communicate unity across its many departments and organizations.

Web site accessibility was also an important consideration when developing the organization’s site.

The Results

Successful migration of the organization’s main web site from a large static html site to a Drupal powered CMS, realizing the following benefits:

A web site based on a system and standards that are widely supported in the business and non-profit communities, providing many new support options
A standardized system to make updates in a timely fashion and provide better support
Improved search capabilities for visitors to easily find content relative to their interests and needs
A better audio system, improved video postings, an easier way to syndicate content and to enable users to subscribe to the site content

Significant Growth

87% growth in the number of unique visitors to the site each month, for a number of consecutive months, with steady growth continuing
375% increase in the number of pages the visitors are reading on the site each month

In other words significantly more visitors reading significantly more pages on the site.

The Old Site	Today's Site

The Response

In the Archdiocese's official magazine, The Word, they described my work for them as follows:

...the professionalism he brought…includes a solid technical infrastructure…a foundation on which we can build a web site that serves our [mission]. From a top-line server … to a premier open source software platform [Drupal] that we can grow affordably for the foreseeable future, Sean has left us a vehicle…that we can use for a powerful witness....

March 2008 – The Word Magazine-The Official Print Publication of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America

Comments from the site's users

Our web site is an effective tool for our church ministry. However, we cannot use this tool in isolation. It is part of a complex network, both material and technological. Antiochian.org provides this crucial network that enables our church to accomplish its witness. Antiochian.org offers:

an exceptionally comprehensive resource
an extensive wealth of materials
the most updated information
a dynamic and constantly developing web site
a systematic and methodical layout and structure
a practical and accessible environment for all users

The staff at antiochian.org are most courteous, provide immediate response, offer outstanding technical support, resolve every issue efficiently, request suggestions and implement them.

Dolly Crow, Antiochian Women

Thanks to the outreach of the CMS, I was able to easily craft a web page that Oratorical contestants, their parents and their priests can access. It's made communication means so much easier. When the CMS works for you, everyone benefits, especially in the Oratorical Festival.

Peter Samore, NAC Oratorical Festival Coordinator

The Archdiocese Web site and its Content Management System has greatly improved the communications and efficiency of all of us doing the Good work of the Church

Michael Srour, the Fellowship of Saint John the Divine

The Internet has become a vital part of our ministry. When scattered across the continent, Antiochian.org has been a great help for us, in bridging the communication gaps within the Fellowship of St. John the Divine, and keeping us connected with the other organizations and departments of our God-protected Archdiocese. The guys…have been easily reachable, quick to reply with valuable solutions, and always providing us with updated state-of-the-art technology, so vital in internet ministries.

Nicolas Ellaham, Fellowship of St. John the Divine – President, Diocese of Ottawa, Eastern Canada and Upstate New York

The Archdiocesan Content Management System has been an invaluable aid in keeping the web site of the Diocese of Oakland and the East current and relevant to our “customers”: the faithful of the diocese and more widely, those around the world who visit the site. Without the diligent and prompt work of the [site] staff, we would be unable to produce the high quality site that we have.

Dn. John Shumski, Diocese of Oakland, PA and the Southeast

I congratulate you…on an outstanding archdiocese web site. The new site looks great - very professional - very informative - interesting – is [easy] to navigate - and filled with useful material!

Very Rev Dr Joseph F Purpura, Chairman, Department of Youth Ministry

Modules and Tips Useful for Posting to Your Drupal Site with a Blogging Application

Sean Buscay — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 00:56:47 +0000

Proper Configuration Checks for External Applications to Use Taxonomy Terms

If you want your users to be able to assign terms to their content when they are using an external blogging application, like Windows Live Writer, make sure you have the Taxonomy module enabled, and that you have selected the appropriate content types, those available to the Blog API. I have forgotten to do this a few times when adding a new content type to use with the Blogging API. Each time a new content type is created, taxonomy requires you to go back and specify whether your new content type can use a vocabulary.

Content types section: admin/content/taxonomy/edit/vocabulary/<vocab id>

Getting Good URL Names by Using Pathauto

If you have Drupal’s Path Module enabled to allow users to rename URLs (custom URLs), I recommend using the “Pathauto” module in combination with your external blogging client. You can set it to give the content a URL based on the post title.

http://drupal.org/project/pathauto

HTML Filter Considerations

Use Case: You want blog users to post content that uses more HTML than the default Filtered HTML input format.

Create an input format allowing your chosen extra HTML tags
Then from the “Input Formats” page at: admin/settings/filters
Click the “configure” link for your new filter in the “Operations” column.
At the URL admin/settings/filters/<filter id> where <filter id> is the filter number, choose which roles may use the extra HTML filter, for example, the “blog user” role.

Now, unless your extra HTML or Full HTML filters are your default filters for your content, which I do not recommend, then when your “blog user” posts from Windows Live Writer, their posts will be submitted and displayed with the default “Filtered” HTML Input format (with no pictures or other html elements).

To overcome this issue, I recommend the Preferred Format module

http://drupal.org/project/preferred_format

Once enabled and configured you’ll see a new permission at: admin/user/permissions titled, “can set preferred format”.

Select which roles can choose their preferred (default) input format.

Note: The user will also have to be in a user group which is allowed to user other input formats than the default Filtered HTML format.

If you want to set the preferred default format for a user go back to the user’s edit screen at: user/<user id>/edit

You’ll see a new section titled, “Preferred Input Formats”. In this section, assign the default input format for each content type.

Note in the example screen shot I have selected the Full HTML option as the preferred input format for blog entries. Now, even when the post is via Live Writer, the post will display in full html.

Note, some external blog editors like “Ecto” allow you to set the input format within their software.

Configuring Drupal for Posting from External Blogging Applications

Sean Buscay — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 23:55:54 +0000

An external blogging application like Windows Live Writer will allow you to create and publish posts from your desktop to your Drupal site. But, before you can post via one of these applications you’ll need to enable and configure your Blog API module and a few additional settings.

Step 1: Enable the Modules

Enable your Blog and Blog API modules here: admin/build/modules

Step 2: Make Content Types Available to External Clients

Select the content types you’d like to make available to external blogging clients: admin/settings/blogapi

Step 3: Create Roles to Post Content via the API

Create the roles you’d like to give external blogging privileges to: admin/user/roles

Notice, in the screen shot example, I have created two roles. One called, “blog user” and another called, “jot user”. This will allow me to assign separate permissions for two different content types. Yes, you are not stuck with just adding blog posts via an external client.

In this example, I’ll allow some users to post jots and other users to post blog entries. I can also give some users permissions to post to either content type.

Step 4: Set Up Your Permissions, Don’t Forget the Blog API Permission

Now assign posting permissions to your roles:admin/user/permissions

I have given both the “blog user” role and the “jot user” role permission to administer content with the blog API. Don’t forget this step.

I have given the “blog user” role permissions to:

create blog entries
delete own blog entries
edit own blog entries

I have also given the “blog user” permission to upload files.

However, I have not given these permissions to the “jot user”.

I want to allow both users to post content via an external blogging application but I want to separate my permissions for posting blog entries and posting jots, so I may assign them separately to various users.

In the node module section of the permissions page I can manage role permissions for my custom content type called, “jot”.

I have given my “jot user” role permissions to:

create jot content
delete own jot content
edit own jot content

Step 5: Assign Permissions to Users through Roles

Now, let’s give a user permission to post blog entries.

Edit the user’s account:user/<user id>/edit
Where <user id> is the user id number for the specific user you want to edit.

Check the “blog user” check box under the “Roles” section to assign your user to that role.

To give a user permission to post jots, select the “jot user” check box.

Tip

You can get to a user’s account edit page, by starting from: admin/user/user

View your table of users, sort by username, status, or other dimensions and then click “edit” in the “Operations” column to edit the user’s account.

Success

And that’s it. You have successfully Configured Drupal for posting from external blogging applications.

Free Tagging from Windows Live Writer to Drupal

Sean Buscay — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 20:41:26 +0000

Allowing Tags to be Added in the Post Body Text

Free Tagging when the Blog API Does Not Support It

The following is a quick code sample showing the start of a Drupal module which lets a user add new tags to a post by placing the tags in the body of the post in a format like so:

[tags]blog, blog api, blogging, Drupal 6, weblog, windows live writer, wlw[/tags]

Jump to the Source Code

Use Case

I’m only using code like this for one use case. It’s for clients who do a lot of editing and posting of their Drupal content through Windows Live Writer.

With Windows Live Writer and Drupal, my clients use the “Movable Type API”. Without extending the API, it does not yet support adding new vocabulary terms. Thus, from Windows Live Writer to Drupal sites, one can only tag content with existing terms. This code allows new tags to be added.

The terms are added to a specified vocabulary id and associated with the new or updated content node.

The inline tags are removed from the body of the text before insert or update.

Yahoo! UI Library: Grids CSS for Drupal Themers

Sean Buscay — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 20:25:14 +0000

A brief resource description for Drupal Themers

We'll look at:

What's YUI Grids CSS and what are its benefits?
What's in the library?
How do we use it?

Formats available:QuickTime (.mov), Flash Video (.flv), Text Summary, PDF Summary, PowerPoint Presentation

Note: The sound quality on the low res version is somewhat poor. You may want to watch the High Res QuickTime Movie, or just download the PDF to view.

A brief resource description for Drupal Themers

We’ll look at:

What’s YUI Grids CSS and what are its benefits?
What’s in the library?
How do we use it?

The Yahoo! User Interface Library (YUI)

A set of utilities and controls, written in JavaScript, for building richly interactive web applications using techniques such as DOM scripting, DHTML and AJAX. The YUI Library also includes several core CSS resources. All components in the YUI Library have been released as open source under a BSD license and are free for all uses.
Source - http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/

YUI Browser-Support Philosophy

Graded Browser Support-

“provides a sane path to achieving accessibility and graceful degradation while still building richly interactive interfaces in the browser”

Source - http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/ & http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/articles/gbs/

A broader and more reasonable definition of “support.”
The notion of “grades” of support.
A-grade browsers are identified, capable, modern and common.

A-Grade Browser Support Chart

http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/articles/gbs/index.html#gbschart

Why YUI: CSS is important to Drupal Themers

We can quickly build Drupal themes with multiple page layouts
Presentation works well in most browsers
Supported and tested by Yahoo! Developers, so we can worry instead about making good looking Drupal themes

Core CSS resources

YUI Reset CSS

Removes and neutralizes inconsistent default styling of HTML elements across A-grade browsers

http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/reset/

YUI Base CSS

Applies a consistent style foundation for common HTML elements across A-grade browsers

http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/base/

YUI Fonts CSS

Offers cross-browser typographical normalization
and control

http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/fonts/

YUI Grids CSS

Provides over 1000 page layout combinations

http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/grids/

Benefits of YUI CSS

Creates a level playing field across A-grade browsers.
Provides a sound foundation upon which you can explicitly declare your intentions.
Offers full A-grade browser support.
Provides consistent font sizing and line-height.
Provides appropriate cross-OS font-family degradation paths.
Supports user-driven font-size adjustment in the browser, including cross-browser consistency for adjusted sizes.
Works in both “Quirks Mode” and “Standards Mode.”

Source - http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/fonts/
http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/base/
http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/reset/

Benefits of YUI Grids CSS

Offers 4 preset page widths, 6 preset templates, & the ability to stack & nest subdivided regions of 2, 3, or 4 columns.
The 4kb file provides over 1000 page layout combinations.
Supports fluid-width (100%) layouts as well as preset fixed-width layouts at 750px, 950px, & 974px, & the ability to easily customize to any number.
Template columns are source-order independent, so you can put your most important content first in the markup layer for improved accessibility & search engine optimization (SEO).
Self-clearing footer. No matter which column is longer, the footer stays at the bottom.
Layouts less than 100% are automatically centered.
Accommodates IAB's Ad Unit Guidelines for common ad dimensions.

Source - http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/grids/

Visit the Yahoo! User Interface Library (YUI) website

http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/

Yahoo! UI Library: Grids CSS web page

http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/grids/

Grids CSS web page: Important Sections

Video: The YUI CSS Foundation - http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/grids/#video
Getting Started - http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/grids/#start
Using YUI Grids CSS - http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/grids/#using
CSS Reset/Base/Fonts/Grids Cheat Sheet - http://yuiblog.com/assets/pdf/cheatsheets/css.pdf

Get Things Done with Microtasks for Daily Work with Well Defined Paths to Completion

Sean Buscay — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 15:17:01 +0000

Steve Pavlina over at Personal Development for Smart People proposes a solution to avoiding the “enormous blob of complexity” when working on large projects. Many of the regular projects we work on daily have an already well defined path to completion. Steve proposes breaking those types of projects “down into a lengthy list of ‘microtasks,’ planning it all the way from beginning to end if possible”. In doing this preplanning upfront, we can move into the project and just flow from microtask to microtask until completion (next action to next action for us GTD users).

Steve wrote an example list of microtasks involved in writing a new blog article. You can find his original steps here: http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2007/07/microtasks/

I have modified his list for my own purposes. Below is Steve’s list with my modifications highlighted in yellow.

Writing a new blog article.

The steps are in sequential order:

Define a primary objective for the article (inform, persuade, entertain, or inspire).
Brainstorm topic ideas, or review the list of reader-submitted topic suggestions, starred and shared Google reader items, recent delicious links, article ideas in someday list.
Select a topic.
Do a quick and dirty, free-form writing session to get ideas down without regard to structure.
Decide how to organize the ideas for clarity (chronological, topical, hierarchical, sequential, etc).
Sort the output of #4 based on the desired structure. Define the main sections and subsections.
Identify supporting material to include (examples, analogies, quotes, statistics, images, stories, links, Wikipedia, etc), and add it to the outline.
- Checkhttp://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/03/where-to-find-g.html
- http://www.sxc.hu/
Refine the outline from #6 and #7 for completeness and balance.
Expand each section of the outline into paragraphs (and bullet lists if appropriate).
Insert meaningful subheadings into the article.
Write the opening.
Write the closing.
Edit the article for content, clarity, and conciseness.
Spell-check the article.
Brainstorm possible titles for the article (clear, interesting, keyword-rich).
Select a title.
Select blog categories for the article.
- Look at delicious for examples
- Look at technorati for examples
Decide when to post the article (now or future-post).
Publish the article.
- Post with Live writer or on-line editor.
- View post on-line.
- Look for display problems.
- Verify tags and images are fine.
Tag with delicious, digg, and other places.
Email and tell people you know who would be interested in the article.
After the article has been online for several hours, evaluate reader feedback and fix any reported typos.
Make sure I am subscribed to all places this article might receive a comment on.
- My own blog
- Digg
- Delicious
- Technorati
Set date to check back on article in one month for stats.
- See who’s linking.
- See where other traffic is coming from.
- See what search phrases land people on the article.
- Evaluate opportunities for further promoting.

--modified from http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2007/07/microtasks/
--(used by permission)

Steve Pavlina has a number of great articles on his blog Steve Pavlina's Personal Development for Smart People . Another favorite of mine is Freeing Mental RAM at: http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/08/freeing-mental-ram/ .

Case Studies in the Archives

Sean Buscay — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 22:04:46 +0000

I recently reviewed a number of client cases from over the past years. I’m reminded that I have been privileged to work with some great clients; doing great work together. I’ve selected a sample of cases to share with you because of the successful results the work produced for the client.

New World Pasta: A Full Service Client

Maintain and develop websites for multiple New World Pasta brands.

Projects include:

Developing and installing a new intranet with a database-driven content management system that allows approved department heads to add, edit, and manage their own content using a Microsoft Word-like interface via a secure web-based interface.

Developing and implementing an HTML E-Mail Campaign designed to introduce consumers to a new pasta product in their area. Work included pulling from a large consumer database records by zip code.

Lancaster Convention Center Authority: Full Site Development

Developed The Lancaster County Convention Center Authority’s website.

Site Features Include:

Flash Intro (Animated Images)
Scrolling latest news ticker
Database-driven back-end that serves up real-time information and administered through a custom designed content management system
Contact database and management system
Contact forms processing and email notifications
Secure site administrative section allowing the client to control the dynamic sections of their site

Felicita Resort: E-Marketing Campaign and Search Engine Optimization

Developed and implemented an E-Marketing campaign for Felicita Golf and Spa Resort. The strategy involved Search Engine Optimization for Felicita’s website.

Developed a plan to optimize Felicita’s site to bring potential visitors to the site. This included:

Analyzing potential key words to determine which words in Felicita's category are searched for most on search engines
Analyzing websites that come up with high rankings in key search engines to determine issues such as:
- Key word density
- Best site structure
- Best content
Developing and implementing a site structure that is “search engine friendly” -including adding tags, descriptions, and keywords to the site code

Results have included top-rankings on top search engines and a significant increase in targeted web traffic resulting in more contacts and reservations off the site.

Hershey’s and Donovan Advertising: Animation Examples

Updated Hershey’s Chocolate World's website intro page animation with their new characters. Animation features include multiple animated gifs with individual timing, sliced and constructed in an HTML table. Also developed an animated gif as part of a teaser campaign for the opening of Chocolate World’s new 3-D show.

Designed and developed this banner ad to drive traffic from a vending association site to Hershey’s vending site.

Donovan wanted to add a little more zip and excitement to their newly developed website. This was done with a Flash Intro to the home page.

OnQ Technologies and Donovan Advertising: Meeting Internal Business Needs

Created a press images site for OnQ Technologies.

Site features include:

The ability for press to browse thumbnails of press images and product shots
Pop up windows with larger images for each thumbnail
A zipped image archive from which the press can download high resolution versions of all images

Note: HTML emails and letters were sent out to the press and editors inviting them to the site.

Designed and developed internal database-driven contact management and new business development application to be used by all staff via a secure Internet connection.

Features Include:

Easy to use contact management forms to add and manage new business contacts.
Contact responsibility assignment.
Contact tasks and notes tracking.
Due date settings and tracking.
Full reporting system to manage contacts and work off of during new business meetings.

OnQ Technologies and the YMCA: HTML Interactive Emails

Client needed a way to quickly contact a list of editors and invite them to visit their trade show booth for an upcoming event. The solution was to build an interactive HTML mailer to send to a list of editor contacts contained in the client’s database.

Features Include:

Integration with client’s database to send a mass emailing with customized fields (such as names, titles, and email addresses.)
Compelling graphics to fit the client’s brand and the theme of the tradeshow.
Animation to add some excitement to the mailer and entice the editors to visit the trade booth to enter to win a new X-box.

A regional YMCA needed to send out an information and reminder piece to an email list of their corporate contacts. Developed an interactive HTML mailer to send to the list of contacts contained in the client’s database.

Features Include:

Integration with client’s database to send a mass emailing with customized fields (such as names, titles, and email addresses.)
Compelling graphics to fit the client’s brand and the mailer theme.

South Central Surgical and the Tavern Steakhouse: Communicating Brand Image

Designed and developed South Central Surgical Associates’ website. The site was part of a re-branding campaign to brand the associates as a warm and friendly practice.

Site design strategy included:

Using a Flash Intro showing warm and friendly people with their comments about South Central Surgical Associates
Using warm colors and images (including staff)
Providing Search Engine Friendly content with correct meta-tags and keywords
Providing an articles and resource section as a service to patients and to increase search engine indexing

This site is an example of taking a single ad concept to the extreme. From a single print add concept, designed and developed a full website for the Tavern Steak House. By taking the print ad a step further into another media, this began to develop an integrated brand image for the restaurant.

Site Features Include:

Online menu.
Printable coupon.
Contact form and tell a friend form.

495 Enterprises: E-Commerce Portal

Designed and developed 495 Enterprise’s online furniture store.

Site Features Include:

Full E-Commerce site with custom built shopping cart and secure server integration.
Online product catalog with built in product search function.
Database-driven back-end that serves up real-time information.
Database-driven title tags and keywords for search engine optimization.
Secure site administrative section allowing the client to control the dynamic sections of their site, including adding shop sections, and highlighting vendor and products.
Vendor sign up and virtual shop setup, allowing vendors to have their own virtual shops where they control inventory, customize content, and manage orders.
Contact forms processing and email notifications.
Custom built HTML mail forms to allow client to send branded HTML mailers to prospective vendors and customers.

Posting to Drupal 6 with Windows Live Writer

Sean Buscay — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 14:17:47 +0000

Demonstrates using Windows Live Writer to post to a Drupal 6 powered blog. Includes adding a photo, and adding terms to a post.

Formats available:Quicktime (.mov), Flash Video (.flv), Text Summary, PDF Summary

Screencast Summary

We’ll begin from within Windows Live Writer.

Make sure you have already selected the Weblog account for your Drupal site and for your desired content type. In Windows Live Writer, each content type which Drupal makes available through the Blog API appears as a different Weblog account.

Within the Live Writer editor, begin by entering the title of your post in the section labeled, “Enter Post Title Here”.

Then use the rest of the text area to enter your body text.

To add a picture to your post click, “Insert Picture” on the Windows Live Writer sidebar at the right side of the application.

You have the option to select an image from your computer or insert a picture from the web.

In this example, I’ll browse to a photo on my desktop and select it for insert.

Et viola, nous avons une image .

Now let’s select some terms for our post.

Click the “Set categories” bar at the bottom of the Live Writer application window.

Note: Drupal provides Live Writer with a list of terms available for blog posts.

If you do not see a list of terms available for your content type then check the following:

Confirm your taxonomy settings at /admin/content/taxonomy. You’ll want to make sure your content type is listed as one of the content types to categorize using your vocabulary.
Verify your Blog API module has this patch: http://drupal.org/node/224006

After selecting your terms, you can click back to the editor, and the category selection box will close.

Now let’s post to our blog. Click the “Publish” button on the Live Writer Menu Bar. Again, make sure you are publishing to the correct Weblog account.

After posting to Drupal, Windows Live Writer opens a browser window to view the post on the Drupal site.

Verify:

Your body text posted.
Your picture uploaded.
Your selected terms are displayed.

We have a successful post!

SeanBuscay.com: Professional Drupal web development, site management, and web applications.

Drupal Lovers: Time to Vote

Abstract:

Agenda

Goals

Building a Publishing Workflow with Scheduled Transitions at Node Creation

Introduction

The Need

The Problem

In this Post

7 Tips to Improve Webmaster Productivity

1. Use the right tools

You have more choices than ever before.

Don't skimp.

2. Create the right environment

Optimize your computer desktop

Zen-up Your Office

Ambiance

3. Discover and document patterns

Re-use and improve the same code

4. Never stop learning

5. Join a web community

6. Improve your work habits

7. Get a life

Power User Tip: Send Yourself a Quick Gmail from Firefox's Sidebar

Quick compose tip:

Bonus Tips:

From a Large Static HTML Site to a Drupal Powered CMS

The Need

The Results

Significant Growth

More Pages with Better Content Resulting in Better Search Engine Ranking

The Response

Comments from the site's users

Modules and Tips Useful for Posting to Your Drupal Site with a Blogging Application

Proper Configuration Checks for External Applications to Use Taxonomy Terms

Getting Good URL Names by Using Pathauto

HTML Filter Considerations

Configuring Drupal for Posting from External Blogging Applications

Step 1: Enable the Modules

Step 2: Make Content Types Available to External Clients

Step 3: Create Roles to Post Content via the API

Step 4: Set Up Your Permissions, Don’t Forget the Blog API Permission

Step 5: Assign Permissions to Users through Roles

Tip

Success

Free Tagging from Windows Live Writer to Drupal

Allowing Tags to be Added in the Post Body Text

Free Tagging when the Blog API Does Not Support It

Use Case

Yahoo! UI Library: Grids CSS for Drupal Themers

A brief resource description for Drupal Themers

The Yahoo! User Interface Library (YUI)

YUI Browser-Support Philosophy

A-Grade Browser Support Chart

Why YUI: CSS is important to Drupal Themers

Core CSS resources

YUI Reset CSS

YUI Base CSS

YUI Fonts CSS

YUI Grids CSS

Benefits of YUI CSS

Benefits of YUI Grids CSS

Visit the Yahoo! User Interface Library (YUI) website

Yahoo! UI Library: Grids CSS web page

Starting Base Markup

Choose the Overall Page Width

Available Template Presets

Preset Template Code

YUI Base CSS

Get Things Done with Microtasks for Daily Work with Well Defined Paths to Completion

Writing a new blog article.

Case Studies in the Archives

New World Pasta: A Full Service Client

Lancaster Convention Center Authority: Full Site Development

Felicita Resort: E-Marketing Campaign and Search Engine Optimization

Hershey’s and Donovan Advertising: Animation Examples

OnQ Technologies and Donovan Advertising: Meeting Internal Business Needs

OnQ Technologies and the YMCA: HTML Interactive Emails

South Central Surgical and the Tavern Steakhouse: Communicating Brand Image