Days before the launch of the Logitech Revue, Logitech's set-top box running the Android platform and GoogleTV, I was still going back and forth on whether or not it was something I needed wanted. Thanks to some convincing (read low risk buying) by Amazon, I went ahead and pre-ordered the device for it to arrive on the official release day.
Several weeks ago, I was turned on to the new Open Publish Drupal Distro that was put together by the great people over at Phase2 Technology. While no single feature included with the distribution/install profile is going to blow your mind, the simplicity and out-of-the-box configuration just might.
Having built hundreds and hundreds of sites, the question about featuring content with some sort of image rotation is often one of the top "wants" on the client's list. In some cases, the requirements are the basic rotating of images without linking to other content. However, in most cases there is not only a need to link to other content from the rotating images, but also the need to link off site. On occasion, Drupal and I have exchanged heated words trying to get this to work correctly without creating too many steps for the editor or the need for advanced theming beyond what I am comfortable with (I am no expert themer).
In the past, I've implemented this through the use of extra fields on a particular content type, exposed in a view block with some custom theming. I've also created content types specifically built for use in the featured content area. Of course, I've implemented this functionality outside of Drupal, but that is not the point here...
There is an extremely simple solution for this when working with Drupal. I'd like to introduce you to the Views Nivo Slider module. The great thing about this module is that even a novice Drupal user can install this module and get it up and running without having dig around in areas of the code where the results may be unpredictable.
I've been doing software development for longer than I can remember and a Drupal Software Developer for years. And along the way, I've used a number of solutions for local development. From a combination of half-assed packages that were supposed to simulate a true Linux environment on windows, to VM Ware installations, to completely switching my desktop to Linux, I've tried it all. Now I'm on a Mac, and I have been for years. There are several reasons why I find the OS X environment more friendly for development, but that is not the point of this post.
It became clear to me recently, that a number of my fellow open source developers are living with painfully inadequate development environments that cause headache, incompatibility and wasted time.
A year and a half ago I moved into a brand new house in an area with FIOS availability. I was so excited about this, in fact, it was one of the factors in buying my new home.
Little did I know, I might as well have been begging to get in through the gates of hell.
