Drupal Justification
- WYSIWYG editing
- Fine level control of the things that users are allowed to do and see
- Ability to dynamically generate lists of databases. So, as soon as a new database is add to the wiki it will be added to appropriate lists.
- Ability to require particular fields and have those fields completed by drop down menus, radio buttons etc. This will prevent variability in things like using scientific versus common names, and help prevent users from forgetting to add key pieces of information.
- Tag system to allow users to include and search on any appropriate keywords.
- Integrated search system, including content level searches
- Drupal 7 is the newest version and using it will guarantee support of the install for a minimum of ~5 years without a major upgrade. It is currently in Alpha, but by the time we would actually want to release anything should be stable.
Modules
- CKEditor (D6 installed) - WYSIWYG editor
- Wikitools - provides some settings to get a more wiki-like behavior
- Diff - adds a tab for sufficiently permissioned users. The tab shows all revisions like standard Drupal but it also allows pretty viewing of all added/changed/deleted words between revisions.
- Talk (D6 installed) - removes comments from the node page and puts them on a separate tab. This style of commenting is very popular on Wiki sites (usually called the "discussion" page) and on news websites where the goal is to separate user generated content from editorial content
- Table of Contents - for automatically generating TOCs at the top of each page
- Views (D6 installed)- for creating dynamic lists of databases with particular features and users
- Google Analytics - for tracking usage
- Path Auto - automatic generation of path from page content (e.g., title)
- Content Lock (D6 installed) - locks pages while they are being edited. forgotten locks can be released after specified time. can also lock permanently.
- Notifications (or something equivalent) - advanced management of notifying users of updates
- Feedback - to solicit feedback during testing and perhaps once the site is live as well
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Domain Access - to manage content among wiki, forums, main site, etc.
- Domain Strict - to keep areas that are under development private
- Domain Blocks - for separate side blocks in different areas of the site
Info & modules for non-wiki components of the overall Ecological Data site
- Blue Droplet Video - for short courses and tutorials on database management systems and programming
- Building a blog using Drupal