Apress has a new book out called Pro Drupal Development. I’ve been reading through it and have found it to be very helpful. The book starts you right off with building a module. It covers what is in the various elements and node variables. It also has a chapter covering use of jQuery with Drupal. If you really want to extend your Drupal install and know php and javascript, this is your book. This is for hard core Drupal users and hackers. Here is a recent slashdot review of Pro Drupal Development.

When I started using Drupal I needed something simpler. I needed something else to learn how to navigate the Drupal interface. The Drupal online handbook is invaluable. There is also a good book Drupal: Creating Blogs, Forums, Portals, And Community Websites published by PackT Publishers that helps you use Drupal. If all you want to do is install Drupal and start adding content to your site, sort of out of the box, then this book will help you with that.

Growing up in northeastern Ohio, I am obviously a Cleveland sports fan. I can vaguely remember the Cleveland Browns winning the National Championship in 1964 with Jim Brown at running back and Frank Ryan as quarterback. It's hard to believe that for a city that is known as a sports town, that's how far you have to go back to find a champion from the three major national sports games. Tonight the Cavs can begin to change all of that.

I’ve been reading Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Actually, I’ve been reading and listening to it. I like to listen to books. I use Audible. Huckleberry Finn is one book that is definitely worth a listen. I’ve been listening to Blackstone Audio’s one narrated by Tom Parker.

O.K., it's only been a day and already I hacked some drupal code. I added the [read more] link to the end of my teasers. I didn't change any core code. It was done in my node template in my themes folder, which is the right way to do things from what I understand. That way any updates or upgrades to the site will not overwrite what I've done.

But as I was working, I noticed how a little wrong php code can blow up your entire site. Thus the importance of a development server or a local installation. Also, I noticed that adding modules can be a little scary. Changing php versions, mysql updates and various other dependencies can have an effect on a website that is running a cms. We have nothing to fear but fear itself, and the fatal error of a misplaced semi-colon :)

Maybe the question should be - “what is a website?” After all, isn't the line blurred nowadays? There is a domain, site and a blog, a little corner of the web. I have recently gone to work for a large University (University of Akron). Now I realize the importance of a CMS. Now more than ever I know the importance of separation of content from presentation, and both of those from function or the underlying technology. When you have a large site and there are numerous people who need to provide content to that site, you need an application to allow for it.