I've previously blogged about using MarsEdit with Drupal – and the unfortunate shortcomings that keep me from using this otherwise great blog editing software for all but a few specific types of Drupal posts.

I've stumbled across a suggested change online, from a writer who seems much happier using the combination. Oddly enough, he has his MarsEdit posting settings specify Movable Type, not Drupal, as the blog software. Hmm, I don't see why that should be or why one would even think to try that… but for fun, I'll try it here.

Will report afterward on what I find…

Following my first look at Drupal 7 and my notes on building a "sandbox" Drupal 7 site, here's a report of my next stop in going 7: upgrading a site from Drupal 6 to Drupal 7.

Someday you'll likely want to do the same. But this is a major upgrade, not a trivial "Drupal 6.19 to Drupal 6.20" kind of affair. "Yeah, one of these days I need to get around to that", you say... while your poor D6 sites fidget anxiously... like nervous freshmen huddling outside the gym locker room... fearing the gauntlet of cackling seniors daring them to walk on in.... 

Oops, sorry; serious flashback. Anyway, a major upgrade is a can't-avoid-it-forever exercise, so let's charge in. I ran into problems during my experience (gee, there's a surprise : /  ), but I managed to fix them as outlined below. If you've got a Drupal 7 installation running and are ready to uplift an old site or two, read my tale and let me know if it's of any help!

Following up on my review of the book Drupal 7 First Look, here's a closer look at the creation of my first Drupal 7 site: a generic "sandbox" site to be used as the base for future sites. While every Drupal site you or I create will call for its own unique setup, there are parts of a Drupal configuration that I'll likely want to replicate on any new site, such as installation of key modules, or creation of useful roles and vocabularies that I always end up using. I'd prefer to do those things just once, rather than from scratch every time; hence the sandbox site. 

Here's what I did. Drupal beginners, see whether there's something useful in there for you.  

Author: Mark Noble

Pages: 288

Publisher: Packt Publishing

Publisher's page: Drupal 7 First Look

ISBN: 978-1-849511-22-3

Summary: Good developer-oriented overview of what's new in Drupal 7.

Putting the book to work

Drupal 7 First Look (hereafter First Look) was released by Packt Publishing in November 2010, several weeks before the official release of Drupal 7 (D7) itself. "Learn the new features of Drupal 7, how they work and how they will impact you", runs the book's subtitle – a goal of interest to site builders awaiting D7's release at the time, and site builders now who've yet to approach D7 months after its release.

As with my previous review of Packt Publishing's Drupal E-commerce with Ubercart 2.x, I wanted to base a review on not just a reading of the book but a hands-on application of it. My guess was that First Look had its sights set on people like me: users with a Drupal 6 (D6) background and an interest in D7, but with little idea of what to expect. The Preface confirmed as much:

The world is going Drupal 7, and Drupal Ace is right on top of... er, nothing. Although D7 hit its official release in January, I'm only now exploring its features and building a test site. 

Learning a new version of a CMS can be a challenge. Fortunately, quick-acting authors are there to help with documentation and books. I'm accompanying my first look at Drupal 7 with, appropriately enough, Packt Publishing's Drupal 7 First Look. The book begins with a look at what's new in D7, moves on to overviews of installation and upgrading, site building, and administration, and then plunges into the deep nuts and bolts of theming, database changes, and other information for developers. So far, the earlier sections have been a helpful guide as I set up a D7 site from scratch for the first time.

I've been taking notes as I go, and will have a review of the book posted here shortly. I'll also have plenty to say in the future about Drupal 7 itself, which has surprised me with some great improvements in ease of administration, flexibility of content planning, and overall refined organization of features. Upgrading my sites to D7 (or at least those relying on D7-ready modules) actually sounds fun.

In the meantime, here are some links to get you started with exploring the latest and greatest Drupal. Anything in D7 you're loving (or not so loving) already?

• Drupal 7 home | drupal.org
• Drupal 7 - Easier and more powerful than ever | drupal.org
• Make an Upgrade Plan | drupal.org
• Drupal 6 contributed modules that are in Drupal 7 core | drupal.org
• Drupal 7 First Look | Packt Publishing (Also see link to free sample chapter, "Site Building with Drupal 7")