• Content & User Centric
• For those who are evaluating: Use it for what it's good for, don't try to shoehorn it into things it shouldn't do
• Modular: without the modules, it's just a set of APIs that listen for HTTP requests
• Event-driven: hooks instead of listeners
• Skinnable / themable - everything passes through the theme layer
• Organic: a bonus for a vibrant community but sometimes leads to code repetition -- there are some examples of this in the theme layer
• APIs - things that live inside the magical '/includes' folder. They're very separate from the modules that are visible to end users. You wouldn't turn off the 'user' or 'node' modules.
• API layer:
  • Menu API: routing (path 'x/y/z' requested, what module should build it?) menus, navigation, breadcrumb trails

• Overall introduction. What drupal is, who's using it. Extensibility, roles
• Drupal as a community
• Drupal jargon: nodes, CCK = 'fields' in D7, Views, themes, menus, taxonomy, menus, permissions, roles, hooks, cron, druplipet
• How does drupal work?  Description of the stack, starting with OS -> web server -> PHP/database -> Drupal -> core subsystem -> cor modules -> contrib modules -> theme system -> HTML -> CSS/Javascript
• Discussion of CCK and taxonomy

If you are not at drupalcon or are not a drupal user, feel free to skip this post entirely.  These are just my notes from the sessions I attended.

Tickets are booked to Paris; tickets are booked to San Francisco.

We will be six in San Francisco, with tagalong extras depending on the day and the inclination of our local friends.  We have nebulous plans:  look for us in the cheap seats at the Giants-Astros game on July 4.  I'll be the one in the bleachers with the beer; that's all you need to find me in the crowd, right?  We'll do a night tour of Alcatraz and I'll relearn the San Francisco bus system and pictures, pictures, pictures!

I made my final decision regarding drupalcon Paris this morning. In the time since I've known about the location of the event I've gone back and forth on the question until it felt like madness and whiplash. Do I spend the money? Is it worth it? How will I explain to my friends? Am I right to burn vacation days on this madness?

Until this morning, I had plausible deniability and weasel words.  "I think I'm going," I would say. "Not sure, though."

I learned this morning that indeed, The Workplace will allow me to attend Drupalcon Paris without burning vacation time if I'm paying for the conference. I really and truly expected the decision to be taken out of my hands. It now becomes a fiscal decision: cost of travel and accommodation versus benefit of attendance and networking.

Much to think about while I do data cleanup. If you're wondering what in the world this is about, see http://domesticat.net/2009/04/dragon-or-drop