Useful things I just did

Environment setup for ssh stuff on my server. Eventually found and edited my bash_profile. Remembered how to vi and unix properly. Can't remember what I was originally trying to do.

Setting up SSH. Basic stuff. Understanding SSH.

Oh yeah, here's where I started, Drupal on Dreamhost.

/me clambers back out of rabbit hole to find a new one to explore...

oh, and adding an alias to my bash_profile alias ll='ls -la' for more verbose file listings. Cause otherwise I can't *see* .bashrc, say, without at least ls -a.

Crash course: clone local, push to server, bam, test site.

More or less. Reminder: Installing Drupal. Includes db setup.

Page two of install gives me "no data from server." ... what? the first page is fine, but I click "english" and it gives up? It's not even a WSOD!

Sweet bunnies. Upgraded MAMP, again, broke things. Eventually remembered to change my mysql password in /Applications/MAMP/bin/phpMyAdmin/config.inc.php (I had changed it away from 'root' at some point, for obvious reasons).

wooo finally got through the install script. Since I've only done core stuff before I don't really know what all I should use for a production site- username, site name, that sort of stuff. Just going to wing it.

So this is probably one of those stupid questions, but do I have to go through the install script every time I push up from dev to stage and prod?

So trying to push from my local dev environment to my test directory on my dreamhost server: fails, gives me a fatal, no directory, not a git repo message. I think I just had my ssh url written wrong, so switched from ssh://user@server/files/stuff.git to user@server:files/stuff.git and that seems to work. But now I'm not quite sure what that did for me- "This directory is not the working tree, where you edit and commit code. Rather, it is simply the central location for the git objects and history..." ok, so I still need to clone from there to test site. hm.

ok, so now that I'm drawn myself a nice diagram of where my branches and repos and whatnot are, plus associated dbs, I think I can keep moving along... somewhere I had a thing for using drush to keep sites synched... Can't handle adding that into the mix right now, just going to try getting my site up and running first.

With a little help from the git pages, cloning into mysite/test so I can try just a plain install on a live site with a real db. Then I just need to figure out how to pull the db back to local (I think an export will have to do for now, lest I find myself in hours of drush trouble).

... I should really probably be doing this with D7, not a totally random variety of D8. I'll just hit mysite/test and run through the install script real quick... My php installation is too old??? you can't be serious. *checks dreamhost info* ... php 5.2.17.

*Head-desk*

Nobody say anything. TBC after some coffee, methinks.

Useful bits of Drupal doc + site building init

Warning: contents are entirely stream of conscious/notes.

The best practices guide for Drupal has a lot of very important points to consider, but for my own technical edification, I'm focusing on just a few aspects. Handy list of core modules to become familiar with if not fully memorize, just so I grasp the breadth of Drupal functionality a little better. Right now I only know a few nooks and crannies! I'd love to do a big long workshop just to be taught, start to finish, how to build a basic site.

Read this next: Using test sites has some good starting points for setting up test environments, multiple servers, the sorts of things I need to be doing below (keeping test sites sych'd. synced? argh). I'll have a local install, then push to a test server (how to keep it private while being up with the same db/etc as my live site?), then from test to live. So the only problem is that my local dev env will be somewhat different from production. Forthcoming: post on Dreamhost's setup in relation to Drupal's needs. I've only posted my placeholder site up there with FTP and plain HTML files! No idea about dbs.

Ok, so. (don't even ask about that link, I don't know.) I want to actually develop my website. I want to do this with Drupal. Obviously.

Erm, or I could update my drush setup, instead. Went for a git repo this time, for my own sanity, but now apparently it needs something called Composer, too (Almost typed "composter." Guess where my mind is). I think it might be working now, hoping I don't really need to update all those php settings again. It's a wonder anything works, given how many configuration files I need to keep track of...

-Problem the first: Which version of Drupal? Do I go with D7 and have the benefit of contrib modules, established practices, lots of support? Or do I go with D8, which I'm at least as familiar with, probably more so, and get ahead of the curve and become more adept with what's to come? Keeping in mind that D8 actually incorporates bunches of modules that used to be in contrib, probably covering most of my immediate needs, but also keeping in mind that some things might still be broken, regular updates will be necessary, and the whole thing could break at any minute?

In my experience, breaking things is the best way I learn how systems work. Even though I know I'll have to rebuild bunches of times to compensate for my own learning and updates to core while it's in development, that will help solidify any new things I learn along the way. Too often I find myself figuring something out once, but then I don't run into the same situation again in my tiny bubble, so I forget it. Database setup, for instance. I need to get my head wrapped around how the DB works.

-Databases and test sites: Keeping local and test sites synchronized... using drush.
What is stored in the db? How does Drupal use its db? how is it accessed? Can I easily switch dbs? What would that be useful for? How do I move the live db back to stage and dev sites for testing? download a backup and connect? is there a faster way to get it re-connected, too? (drush!) Looks like I definitely don't want to use the same database for more than one instance of the site or I'll risk contaminating it with screwed up code. Probably reading the drush instructions for drush sql-sync will clear a bunch of this up.

What's a session variable, exactly? cookies?

Acquia cloud does this very nicely on its own with the drag and drop setup. Do I need a paid subscription to push to production? can I host my site somewhere that isn't Acquia and still use Acquia cloud? How much time should I spend playing with Dev Desktop?

What do I do on the backend v. the frontend? what will I use the CMS interface for, just content creation? Adding modules? Theming (this is a knowledge void for me right now)? Develop on a test, test the new thing, then install on the live site? What do I do frontend and what backend and then push? how much pulling should I do? I need to separate my creation phases (site building/dev and site maintenance/content updates)...

[TODOs are bold]

Local/Drupal: complete!

k, picking up from where I left off yesterday - configuring and finishing the local install of Drupal. References: dev env set up page and installation/configuration instructions. Instructions focus on command line tools, so that's good. Thank goodness I had already installed Git and know a few Unix commands or I'd really be behind the curve on this.

1. Neat, here's a handy list of best practices for CMS usage. Completely agree about backups, and definitely need to test mine for the WordPress site I'm maintaining. ...Documentation can be such a rabbit hole; if I don't stop myself I'll just keep reading for hours.
2. First we check system requirements, which I already looked at yesterday. Double checking in more detail now. I will want to enable clean URLs on my own site later on.
   • Web Server: Apache, check. Apache Virtualhost configuration file would be httpd.conf, I think, so I change the AllowOverride to "All" there.
   • DB server: MySQL is what MAMP uses, with PHPMyAdmin, so I should be set there. Not sure how to check what rights my account has or how to change max_allowed_packet, so I'm hoping everything just works. And my PHP is obviously already connected to MySQL. 
   • Good lord I wish I knew what I was doing.
   • Might need to up my memory for my own photography site later on. Maybe by the time I do that, I'll have plenty of experience and it'll be straightforward.
   • My favorite words today: "Enabled by default." 
   • On the bright side, I feel pretty confident about my skills once I have things installed. It's just finding all the configuration files and prying out info about new systems that's challenging.
3. 
   Download instructions not relevant, already have the local directory and Dreamhost has its own instructions that I'll use for my site later. oop, actually I do need to drop the Drupal folder contents into my specified web root, or just redirect the web root. I "woohoo'd" when I saw this in my browser. A little soon for the woohoos, perhaps.
   
   
4. Oh hey, Mac specific install notes regarding PHP, MAMP and other things from my last post. Whoops. Also this note on CVS repository... Question: is this relevant, and wouldn't the Git functionality supersede it? I should figure out how to keep my local version up to date. I bet that's later in the instructions... 
5. Looks like Drupal will create its own DB, so I'm off the hook for that... Might have to adjust settings.php, but I know where to find it, so I'll come back to this step if the install script throws an error. 
6. Checking my MAMP install against the instructions here. Hm. Well this is saying I DO need to create my DB (and here are those pesky user rights from above). hm! all these instructions overlap, so I'm just going to stick with this one, then check back on the INSTALL.txt instructions, and really everything should work fine anyway. Really appreciating the detailed instructions on this link for db creation (necessary or not). Found max_allowed_packet here, too. 
7. Annd filling out the db info on the install page... looks like I wont need much more from the help docs at this point, though I do wonder if I should do "minimal" or "standard." Standard makes sense for testing, rather than custom, right? right.
8. Ok, I think... I think that's done. I get the site login page, changed some settings as in the MAMP local instructions above, db works, only thing I feel stupid about is not installing in the directory I should have. Question: how could I move the entire shebang? What's connected? MAMP needs the location, but the installation script wrote a whole bunch of db links I'm not sure about. Not critical, just irritating to my file system.

And with that, I move on to the rest of the dev env instructions and start my first patch/module/test!

Web Design Process: Yet More Lists

ll right, first things first. Before I go trying to put my website together willy nilly, I need a plan, a master list of desired components and functionality, and a general idea of how to get from here to there. Disclaimer: I have not actually done this before! I've worked on sites designed by someone else, I've done some super basic HTML/CSS work (like my pesky resume and my placeholder website), and I've certainly spent plenty of time thinking about it and reading and researching. So here goes:

Things I'd like from my site:

• A Gallery of photos: no commenting, prints for sale, easily populated (Lightroom export?), cataloged by keyword, location, highly searchable, and someday I'd like it to include interactive collaging
• About/info page: bio 
• Contact: email, links to me elsewhere like twitter etc, RSS for photos and blog?
• Blog: old posts from blogger + new posts, shiny layout, browseable, comments, share buttons
• Portfolio: other design work, samples, articles, projects, certificates, whatever else
• Someday: a sandbox area near the portfolio for projects in progress, something to do with Github? 
• Aesthetic: simple, lots of white space (or black space), nice OFL (Open Font License) fonts and thin lines, simple image display, good navigation, one animation/movement/interactive element on top page. 

The basic steps outlined below are a combination of my notes from several sources. I learned most of the prototyping and user-testing steps from a class called Human Computer Interaction taught online by Scott Klemmer from Stanford. Not my favorite class on Coursera due to some frustration with the peer-grading setup, but nonetheless informative.

I also discovered that a local web design etc firm called Clikzy Creative posted their entire design process to their site so that clients will know what they're getting into. My process will be a bit different, of course, but it's good to know how a more formal environment would handle the same task.

• Essentially: "Discovery, Site Map, Content, Wireframe, Mockup, Revise, Develop, SEO, Launch."

The Moxie Design Studio also has their process up on their website. They do a bunch of websites for local Alexandria businesses, so I had seen their work quite a few places already. They also list a general set of project prices on their site, which is somewhat unusual, but very helpful since I had no idea what I should be charging for my work.

• So again, an essential process looks like: "Discussion, Goals, Mockups, Revisions, Development and Programming, Soft Launch and Client Training, Full Launch and two weeks included Support." 

It's really hard being independent and not letting clients take advantage of you by asking "just a quick question" that actually takes half an hour and is billable. And that's just one reason I'd rather not work for myself!

Back to my own website. A few basic steps to get there:

1. Define required elements - site map (above)
2. Find appropriate platform
3. Wireframing, prototypes, mockups - grids?
4. Testing it on unsuspecting potential users - feedback and revision
5. Build, develop, whatever you want to call it
6. Design details/ illustrations? Finishing touches
7. Later additions: animation, better databases? E-commerce... 

Each step along the way will probably be a bit more involved, but that should give me a good starting framework to go on. Don't mind me if both my website and blog suddenly disappear while I'm shuffling things around...

Technical Testing Tribulations

ay back in November I finally staked my claim on a corner of the internet by registering and hosting a website under my name. I had stalled for almost a full year, thinking there was too much I would want to research before pinning down a registrar/host. Turns out that was the easy part (once I realised I didn't need a slew of dedicated servers in the former Soviet Bloc).

After choosing DreamHost at the recommendation of a friend and a popular website (Lifehacker, who recently re-affirmed DreamHost's dominance), all I had to do was learn how to code an entire website. And not just any website, one that would display a photographic portfolio dynamically and interactively and [buzzword] and [so on]. Ok, so I haven't quite gotten to that part yet, but the site exists and is a decent placeholder.

The holdup is that I'm the sort of person who can't just throw up something pre-fabricated and call it a day, I have to learn how to code the entire thing myself, learn databases and cascading stylesheets, from scratch. Maybe once I've done that I could take an easier route, but without understanding the background it seems too much like cheating. Besides, most of the point was giving myself opportunity to learn, given that my photos probably aren't going to start flying off the shelves (there are some up, but they, too, are placeholders).

So in the meantime I've just been using the web export feature in Adobe Lightroom (a god-send for those of us who like cataloging, integration with other applications and services and powerful but simple tools). The problem I'm leading up to is that I'd like to stop hosting the photos I use in blog posts on Picasa and move them all over to a dedicated storage folder on my website. Heck, someday I should move this blog there, too.

The problem is that to use a photo in a post, I need to have a link to the .jpg file that will never change, or at least use a relative link to just "/kitten.jpg" rather than "http:// blah/folderA/section56/kitten.jpg" and so on. So that's one solution. But I also need the photo to link to a gallery view on my website, so that the clicker can browse through other photos from my blog, and also use spiffy navigation controls to browse by keyword or just mosey back through other parts of my portfolio.

I'm not going to list how much of that I have no idea how to accomplish, because it's too overwhelming. But, I've written an entire blogpost about it now, so that will hopefully motivate me.

Oh, and the reason there are random photos of pie here is because they're hosted on my website, just... not very sophisticatedly.