Every year, there is at least one week (sometimes several) that I know will be a significant challenge for me, whether due to circumstance or my own tendency to push myself to the breaking point. This week (Sept 12-18, 2011) is shaping up to be one of those weeks.

This week I’m flying out to Cincinnati to give two presentations to my peers on Drupal and content migration. Sunday, I’m running my first half marathon.

I’m nervous, excited, scared.

Many developers like to develop, test out and try out features on their local machines. For Drupal on Windows machines, there are a couple of ways to get started. One of the newest is the Micosoft WebMatrix application + the Microsoft Web Platform Installer (WPI). These tools download and install a xIMP (IIS, MySQL and PhP) stack, and then help you set up a MySQL database, configure a local site, and download the Drupal source code. This is intended as a quick overview of the process of installing Drupal 6 or 7 on your local Windows machine, using the Microsoft Web Platform Installer (WPI) and to run Drupal on IIS via the MS WebMatrix application.

It’s also possible to download and configure the necessary components individually; if you don’t want the extra baggage of the WebMatrix application. Another relatively new option is the Acquia Dev Desktop to run Drupal on Windows/Apache.

Using the MS Web Platform Installer

Since Microsoft re-wrote IIS and its PhP stack for IIS, local development on IIS/Windows has become an ttractive option. Microsoft’s WebMatrix and WPI apps make it simpler to get started with Drupal 6 and 7 on your local machine, installing the IIS, database, PhP, URL Rewrite and FastCGI pieces you need as well as Drupal itself.  I visited http://microsoft.com/web/drupal/ and clicked on Drupal 6 or 7 to get started.

WPI: Drupal 6

The WPI downloads and installs the Acquia Drupal 6 distribution. A distribution is a pre-packaged group of Drupal plus some contributed modules to help you get started quickly building a site for a specific purpose, like an eCommerce or a publishing site, for example. The Acquia distribution includes many of the most frequently used modules, including Views, CCK and Calendar, though you can enable the ones you like. It also installs the Acquia Network Connector module, which allows you to connect to the Acquia support network if you wish. After clicking on the icon, the installation process went pretty smoothly on my Vista Home Premium setup. It set up MySQL and asked me for information to create a new database as well as the root admin information. Then it installed Drupal 6. There were a couple of snags here, however. For a new developer, these are confusing enough to note:

• My installation included Drupal 6.21, not the most recent version, so straight away I needed to do a core update to apply the most recent security patch. New users may find this confusing; hopefully Microsoft will address this. The modules bundled in the distribution also needed to be updated.
• Post-install, the WPI tells you it’s done and takes you to the Web Matrix app. But you still need to run http://[your-localhost-site-address]/install.php to complete the setup.
• In addition, PhP was not enabled by default for use with the Drupal app. In the WebMatrix interface, I clicked on the settings tab and saw “Use PhP” was unchecked. I also noticed that the PhP version the WPI installed was 5.1. Some modules (as well as Drupal 7) require PhP 5.2 or better. Fortunately, this was easy to remedy via the WebMatrix interface. Clicking on “Change” brought up the option to install and use PhP 5.2 or PhP 5.3. I chose PhP 5.3, and the WPI took care of the update for me.

Once I did these, the site came up and ran smoothly. Post-install, you should run cron to check for additional updates to the installed modules.

WPI: Drupal 7

The Drupal 7 setup on WPI/WebMatrix is sponsored by CommerceGuys, a great Drupal eCommerce shop. Clicking on the icon ran me through a similar process to the 6.x installer, asking for database information and landing me at the WebMatrix screen at the end. As with the Drupal 6 version, you then need to run install.php on your new setup. Once I did that, my 7.2 site was set up and ready for work.

One thing to note about WebMatrix apps: the sites are only “on” if you have the app open in WebMatrix. if you close the WebMatrix app or switch to another site, the current site gets turned off.

That’s it! Once your localhost sandbox is set up, you can download and enable modules as needed.

One of the dangerous things about being a Drupal developer is the almost never-ending itch to try something new.  Drupal has so many amazing modules and there is always something new to learn.

Suddenly, there’s a new way to geocode your locations, a better way to display your content in pretty AJAXified tabs (vertical?  how about horizontal?  in panels? views? blocks? pages?)  As we know CMS sites are never “done”, but there does come a time to step away from the ever-changing stream of shiny new/updated modules and let the thing be.

Step away from that @drupal_modules Twitter stream!

Missed the first one, but this is a great idea: using Twitter to chat about Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) laws and related issues.  This is definitely something I’ll be following in the coming weeks, given the Jan. 1 changes to Illinois’ state FOIA law and the flurry of state law amendments being proposed to change it.

Sunshine Review is implementing a new idea this coming Friday called
FOIA chat Fridays.  This is going to be very similar to the #journchat
conversations on twitter, but instead we’re going to be talking about
FOIA’s.  This week we’re looking to talk about the developments of
FOIA laws, especially in Illinois.  If you or any other FOIA-minded
friends would like to join us please do so.

* The proposed restrictions on the recently enacted FOIA law
* Disadvantages and advantages of the current law
* How the current FOIA law is working for you
* General Q&A

Where: Twitter
When: Friday, March 5th
Time: 1:00 pm CST and 2:00 pm CST
Hashtag: #FOIAchat

Just finishing up a couple of days in foggy New Orleans at the Do It With Drupal training class and it was great.  I’ve learned a lot about Panels, Drupal in the Cloud, etc. and was delighted to see quite a few drupalchix here.  Made some great new friends, too; Drupal seems to attract a diverse group of developers.   Also managed to finish a pair of fingerless gloves during the discussion, and saw an awesome double-knit Drupal hat!

Special thanks to Greg Knadisson for security tips, Emma Jane Hogbin for memorable peanut butter, tomato and salad dressing sandwich analogies, Valarie and Doug for conversation and for sharing the cab ride out, and to Sue for inviting me out for beignets at Cafe Du Monde.  Sue, I can’t wait to see what you do with Drupal!

And Libby and Charles, good luck with your new venture in scgreen.org!