We are still 62 days away from DrupalCon San Francisco 2010, but in order to get truly excited about the event, you’ll want to start thinking about the amazing sessions you’ll attend. Beginning today, attendees are allowed to vote on those sessions they most want to see on the final schedule in April.
This year, Four Kitchens is both sponsoring DrupalCon San Francisco and offering to share our experience and knowledge with the community. If you’d like to see any of the sessions listed below, please vote! (And tell your co-workers, friends, and pets* to vote, too.)
Mmmm… sessions
Performance testing The Economist Online using The Grinder
by David Strauss
At The Economist, we developed a load testing framework using an open source Java-based tool called The Grinder. We’ve had great success running sophisticated virtual user scripts, that accurately reproduce real user interactions on our Drupal site.
Accelerated grid theming using NineSixty
by Todd Nienkerk
This session will cover the 960.gs grid system and how to implement it in Drupal using the NineSixty theme.
CiviCRM for the uninitiated
by Diana Dupuis
No doubt, you’ve heard of it: CiviCRM. You know it is a constituent relationship management application predominantly used by advocacy and non-profit groups. Like Drupal itself, CiviCRM can be an empowering tool for groups with a mission. It can track contact data, enable memberships and donations, organize constituent groups, manage events, and make communication more effective. It can also be a challenge for developers and designers.
From Photoshop to Drupal theme
by Todd Nienkerk and Aaron Stanush
Drupal’s theme layer is very flexible and can accommodate just about any web design. It’s important for designers to remember, however, that they’re creating not really creating a page — they’re building a complete system to house the all of the site’s content.
Integrating your module with features
by Robert Ristroph
We will walk through the process of integrating a simple module with Features. To do this, we will take a simply structured module and go through the process of integrating it with Features, such that a user can export the settings of the module through the Features interface. The example module used stores some settings in a custom database table, so we can see how to integrate more than just variables with Features.
PHP for non-programmers
by Diana Dupuis
This is a friendly programming introduction for people new to coding. We’ll take a “Physics for Poets” approach to basic PHP concepts like variables, if/else statements, functions, and hooks. You’ll write a little bit of code, speak a little geek, and discover that using PHP is as easy as adding CSS definitions to a div tag. Follow up time for one-on-one “What’s that?” questions can be arranged after the session.
Creating swappable color schemes and dynamic layouts
by Todd Nienkerk and Aaron Stanush
Do you run a large network of Drupal sites? Do many of them use the same handful of themes? Make your life easier by building a highly maintainable and extensible library of color schemes and layouts using subthemes and theme settings!
Teaching Drupal to clients
by Diana Dupuis
For every new Drupal site, there is at least one client struggling to learn how to use it. As Drupal professionals, we build effective tools to meet our clients’ goals. But these tools are only as effective as our clients’ ability to wield them. How can we best equip new Drupal users for that hike up the learning curve?
Drupal School: A Curriculum
by Diana Dupuis
Do you want to become a Drupal ninja but find the process of self-education daunting? Which PHP book is a good one? Where are the tutorials? Do I really need to know SEO if I’m a programmer? If only you had a syllabus, a recommended reading list for each subject, project ideas and assignments, web and video resources to dive into to, and a lot of encouragement to spend the time (spend the time, spend more time) developing your skills in an effective way. If only there was a curriculum to follow.
That’s it! Now get out there and vote, and we’ll see you in April.
*Do not allow your pets to vote. That was a test of your moral character.
Photo by Theresa Thompson
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