The right kind of content sharing on multiple-site web architectures

One of the most common challenges with multiple-site web architectures is determining the right level of interaction between the sites. In particular, one of the most common requirements is for some kind of content sharing. The problem with "content sharing" is that it is usually given as a pretty vague requirement at first. It's like a home storage problem - you could be talking about building a second floor on your house, putting up a shed in the backyard, or buying a storage bin from IKEA. Here, I'll try to distill some of the issues and get you asking the right questions when you encounter the problem of content sharing across multiple websites within a web architecture.

The Unpredictability of Project Estimation

One of the hardest jobs in the software business is estimating new projects. It takes a substantial mix of experience, brute force effort, and a little luck. Estimation really is an art that refuses to be mastered, taking constant re-learning in order to improve over time. I'm by no means perfect at it (I doubt anyone really is), but I've certainly learned a lot about it over the years. Here, I'll share some of my experiences.

Looking ahead to better accessibility on the web

I’ve been building web applications for the government for more than 10 years, so I’m more than a little familiar with Section 508 and what it means to develop a web site the complies with it. But recently, my team and I have gained a much deeper understanding of accessibility by participating in an experiential learning session led by Catharine McNally. I’ve gained new levels of realization about what really makes content on the web accessible and usable for all individuals.

5 Tips for Enterprise Clients Thinking About Using Drupal

Managing technology within an enterprise is no easy task. You have to coordinate among a large number of systems, technologies, organizations, and objectives. With Drupal's clear and present entry into enterprise business, I've been talking a lot lately with organizations looking to move Drupal into their already existing systems landscape. Here are five key things I stress when attempting to make such a move.

Generating Revenue from Your OpenPublish Website

For years, publishers have been moving in droves from high cost, proprietary or hand-built CMS systems to open source. Lately, it's been happing at an extraordinary rate. Their frustration with deploying flexible, revenue-driven products to their bloated and rigid CMS platforms has finally reached a tipping point. Drupal is now filling a gap in the publishing industry that is undeniable.

Using Drupal as an enterprise platform for supporting multiple content managed web sites

As I said in a post from last year, nobody wants just one website anymore. I'm increasingly faced with questions about how organizations can use Drupal to build and deploy a whole family of content managed websites. Here, I attempt to partially answer that question by outlining 5 different techniques for using Drupal within your enterprise.

A quick study of ad targeting strategies in a CMS

I get asked a lot by my clients and colleagues about integrating online ads in a CMS. It's one of those "it depends" type of questions that generally ends up taking a full cup of coffee to explain. Full disclosure, online marketing and advertising specifically as it relates to business revenue goals, isn't exactly my trade. What I can offer, though, are real implementation strategies for building popular online ad serving techniques into a working content managed website.

The changing Drupal community

With my voice still recovering from Drupalcon SF, I've been thinking a lot about what I learned. The most surprising and significant thing I learned is that the landscape of Drupal has changed in drastic ways since I first started using it 4 years ago. Even since Drupalcon DC last year, the community is different. Standing at our booth last year, a few people stopped by with curious interest. After a few minutes of small talk, most folks would mosey on to the next booth with the same ambivalent inquisitiveness in which they had found us. Not this year.

Build the right team, and let them work together

So, the DrupalCon session that I’m giving with Dave is titled “Planning and Executing a Successful Drupal Implementation.” …. Wait… sorry, I just fell asleep. Yeah, it doesn’t sound very exciting does it? Well, hopefully it will be more interesting than the name let’s on.  In an effort to try to get some folks in the door before heading out to happy hour next Monday, we wanted to share a couple of the topics this week in the blog.

The incredible shrinking main navigation

Recently someone mentioned to me the main navigation on cnn.com. I've read that site every day for about 6 years, but I couldn't tell you what even one of the main navigation items was. Lorem? Ipsum? No idea. What's interesting about this to me is that it was never a conscious decision on my part. I never realized that I never used it - I just didn't because, apparently, I didn't need it.

Now that I'm paying more attention, I'm noticing all kinds of creative ways that online publishing sites are de-emphasizing main navigation in favor of robust and well-designed homepages, user-driven navigation, and tag linking techniques. In this blog entry I share a few of these different techniques.