Evolving Web Blog

Building Usable Solr Search Filters for Large Drupal Websites
Posted February 28th, 2010
by Suzanne

Using Real Content: Data Import
Posted January 11th, 2010
by Suzanne

Sometimes, we find issues with content that are not anticipated by the planning process since they don't show up by looking at sample content or discussing the major use cases of the site. By looking at real content during the data import phase, these issues can be dealt with at an early stage in the development process.

Using Real Content: CCK and Taxonomy
Posted January 9th, 2010
by Suzanne

Building a comprehensive information architecture for a content-heavy website can be a challenge. Luckily, Drupal is great for rapid devleopment and by building content types early on, it's easier to discover issues with either the content, design, or architectural decisions.

Using Real Content: The Design Phase
Posted January 9th, 2010
by Suzanne

Every project we do at Evolving Web has a content import component. Whether the content consists of legacy data sources or a single CSV file with freshly written text, we usually have enough content to consider writing one or several import scripts to import it into Drupal.

Usability of the Header Search Form
Posted January 9th, 2010
by Suzanne

When designing the search interface for the McGill Univesrity Health Centre website, there was a lot of discussion around the interface for the header search form.

Translating CCK Field Options
Posted December 17th, 2009
by Suzanne

When building a multilingual site, it's important to ensure that the entire interface can be translated. All knids of site elements are thrown into the mix including taxonomy terms, block titles, views labels, and dates.

Form Alter for Node Locations
Posted December 15th, 2009
by Suzanne

The location module is a key component to many Drupal projects, but it can be tricky to work with. It's very common to want to alter the way the location form appears, but the location module doesn't make this easy.

Drupal Performance Settings in Code
Posted December 11th, 2009
by Suzanne

After launching a Drupal site, one of the first things on the checklist is to turn on CSS and JS caching. This really helps speed up loading times, you just have to remember to clear the cache if you update the theme on the live site.

Building a Glossary-Style View with Drupal
Posted November 19th, 2009
by Suzanne

Drupal's powerful Views 2 module comes with a handful of fantastic built-in views that show off just how much views can do out-of-the-box.

Drupal Multilingual Features Session at Drupal Camp Montreal
Posted November 5th, 2009
by Suzanne

Back in October, I gave a talk at Drupal Camp Montreal called Tips & Tricks for Building a Multilingual Site with Drupal. It was a great opportunity to review the multilingual features that we use on a day-to-day basis.