One of the big reasons I had for making the switch to Drupal is the great "Book" content type. It allows structuring of individual pages into a navigation hierarchy, and generates the "table of contents" and inter/page navigation automatically. I wanted to use it for writing longer articles, and wish I'd had it in place to use for the Interface 2006 ePortfolio background information article .
Initially, I wrote up the background article in a wiki, thinking it might be handy if others were able to edit. But, nobody has, and I think the article is less useful/usable as One Long Page Of Stuff. It would make more sense in smaller, bite-sized pieces that could be individually linked. Smaller granularity, allowing for reuse or something equally wishful.
So, to test out the waters, I just moved a copy of the Interface 2006 ePortfolio background article into a structured book here on my blog.
What's the difference between the two? The wiki page version is theoretically more "open" – others are able to edit it. The Drupal book version is theoretically more usable as a reference – easier to navigate and link to. It's also got comments enabled, so feedback is still pretty easy. Any thoughts on the two approaches?
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Did you ever figure out which way to go with this? I’m at a crossroads between a wiki style page and using books within Drupal for a new site I am developing.
I’m actually still doing both, depending on the audience…
Also keep in mind if you want to use drupal more like a wiki you can use the Freelinking module.
I am waiting for the wiki module for Drupal to work for version 5. Any idea when that will be?
Hello everybody. I have the same interrogation than dnorman. I’lm working on a project of collaborative Internet site and my first idea was to take mediawiki. But I see some people saying using Drupal for knowledge management even in great compagny. So I a afraid. Is the choice of Mediwiki a big mistake ?
Mediawiki enjoy me on thoses points :
-scalability (I think to th big wikipedia)
-interwiki link
-langlinks
-extension
-semantic mediawiki
- power of models concept
-reuse of models from wikipedia
-inclusion capabilities from wikipedia
- simily script language with extension like ParserFunctions and StringFunctions
What of those thinks are’nt in Drupal
Specially to D’Arcy
- do you know where It should be possible to see a Drupal site with open editing user access which let all or a set of users edit the site or part of th site ?
-In which way don’t you find that versioning/revisions is harder to follow in Drupal than in a MediaWiki ?
Specially to Chris L
-Is it really more difficult to obtain a nice print of an article in Drupal than in Mediawiki. I thing tha it’s a great functionnality of Mediawiki to be able to give a print without the menu and other stuff which have no utility on a piece of paper. Do you confirm ?
- In wich way, Drupal seems to have eclipsed WP in most of the ways relevant to you ?
Norman :
- don’t you thing that is possible to use model’s mediawiki concept, catagorisation and DPL extension to structure individual pages into a navigation hierarchy ?
- What do you means by generates inter/page navigation automatically ?
@Eric
- Yes, Drupal can be set up to allow anyone to edit anything, much like a wiki. (check Access Control, and configure to be as secure or as open as you wish – you might want to enable Revisions for the content type(s) so you can walk back any changes though…)
- Drupal doesn’t offer as clean of a diff function as mediawiki does. There’s probably a module to make it display better though, but I personally find it much easier to follow the diffs in mediawiki.
- yes, I think Mediawiki’s categories, etc… can be used. But n00bs won’t grok them, so you’ll need to provide some support. Novices get how to use dropdown menus for taxonomies. They don’t get how to add [Category:whatever] to categorize stuff (even though it seems simple to geeks).
- for inter-page navigation, I’m meaning the table of contents generated to list all pages in a book. Similar to the navigation block that MediaWiki generates for a single page, but spanning multiple pages and reflecting the hierarchical structure of the pages, rather than the semantic headings within a page. Makes it easier for people to navigate a set of pages if that level of UI is taken care of automagically.
Can anyone please tell me if Drupal could possibly be used as a publishing platform for producing textbooks? I was recently told that I should not be using QuarkXPress and should switch to Drupal. The thing is, It seems to be only a web-development tool similar to Joomla. Can Drupal be used to build and export high-resolution print-ready PDF files? Thanks.
if your target is a printed book, Drupal is not the right tool. I’d guess Quark is better suited for page layout and prepress management. Or InDesign.
How did you manage to set up a Drupal Book using WordPress 2.7?
D'Arcy, have you thought of editing your Drupal user access to let all or a set of users edit your book. It would give it a bit more of a Wiki type flavour. I have played with this a bit, but I did find that versioning/revisions were harder to follow in Drupal than in Wiki software such as MediaWiki.
Gerry – I thought of that, but I’m unsure if I want people having to create accounts on my blog at all. Once I finish the member-level node access module, maybe I’ll try making some pages editable by Anonymous to see what happens…
But, yeah – the shared editing by a group is one of the cool features of Drupal. Something I’ll have to keep in mind as an option here.
Combined with the ability to restrict which kinds of content can be created/edited by specific “roles” of users, it could be a really cool way to let others play in the sandbox…
Top 10 Signs You Might Be “Addicted To Blog”
10. You check your blog stats a LOT. You occasionally
get up in the middle of the night and sneak a peak.
9. Your significant other suspects you are having an
affair with your blog. Even when you’re alone with
your special person, you do find yourself thinking
what your blog might be doing right then…
8. You “mental blog” while driving or on the
train, and sometimes even when you are alone in the
shower.
7. You filter everything through your post-writing.
You can’t watch a movie, see a play, read an
article, or share a sweet moment with your child
without thinking of whether it’s blog-worthy.
6. You suffer from “blog envy” when another
blogger posts something juicy before you do. You
suffer “comment envy” when said post gets
40-something comments – the jerk!
5. You “binge blog” 3 or 4 posts at once—only
to feel guilty and empty afterward.
4. You ditched all your real friends for blog
friends, because, well, “they understand.” You
bypass [4]Bowling Alone at the bookstore (who really
cares?) while you reach for [5]Naked Conversations.
3. You think, “I can stop at any time.”
2. Your lunch hour has become your “blog hour.”
You keep a few posts tucked in your desk in case you
need them during the day.
1. After 5 minutes of meeting someone really
interesting you ask, “So – do you blog?”
This post was co-written with Ann Handley
Source:
http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2006/05/addicted_to_blo.html
———-8<———
#11. you install software with a “Book” content type in the interest of writing even longer articles.
dayum. i’m an addict. time for an intervention…
I think I hit just about every one of the signs, except for numbers 4, 2 and 1.
but… at least it’s a quasi-productive, non-destructive addiction. I’m not out knocking over 7-11’s to feed my meth habit or anything…
Is there any way, using the Drupal system, to still allow a "one-long page" or print view? I find the breakdown and navigation highly annoying most of the time… i.e. when just reading
I'm enjoying watching your switch to Drupal. I used Drupal years ago before moving to WP– it was much less featureful then. I dread the thought of switching now, even though Drupal seems to have eclipsed WP in most of the ways relevant to me…
I know there’s a way to view the entire book in DocBook format, so I assume there must be a way for Drupal to generate a full page again, or perhaps even a PDF of the book. That could be cool. I’ll look into it…
Thank You
I am looking for wiki module inside Drupal. Is there any?
Thank You