Multi-Headed Drupal

Stop me if you've heard this one...

Drupal University

• 30 Colleges
• 40 Departments each
• Over-worked IT department wants centralization
• Departments want to be special snowflakes

How can we square that circle?

Not rules, more like guidelines

Separate sites

Separate sites

• Never mind, KISS
• Give everyone their own Drupal

Separate sites

Features.module

• Dump configuration to code
• Packages of functionality
• Easily distributable (Sometimes)

At least until Drupal 8...

Install profiles

• Since Drupal 5
• Quasi-modules in Drupal 7
• All the power of a module...
• ... plus install wizards
  • Create content types
  • Create content
  • Create roles
  • Create users
  • Set config variables
  • ... Do anything that has an API

Install profiles

+

Features

=

Distributions

Distributions

• A web application built with Drupal
• Examples:
  • Open Atrium
  • Drupal Commons
  • OpenScholar
  • Conference Organizing Distribution (COD)
  • Open Academy
  • Panopoly
  • Your custom distribution here

Many many more...

Example

DEIMS

• Drupal Ecological Information Management System
• International Long-Term Ecological Research Network (ILTER)
• Data collection site-in-a-box
  • Local team data
  • XML feeds to share data
  • No inter-dependence

Multi-site

Multi-site

/
  sites/
    default/
      settings.php
    www.drupal.edu/
      settings.php
    biology.drupal.edu/
      settings.php
            

sites/sites.php

$sites['www.drupal.edu'] = 'main';

$sites['fapi.api.drupal.edu'] = 'fapi';

$sites['multisite.building.drupal.edu'] = 'multisite';

$sites['fundraising.drupalassociation.com'] = 'da_fundraising';
            

/
  sites/
    sites.php
    default/
      settings.php
    www.drupal.edu/
      settings.php
    fapi/
      settings.php
    da_fundraising/
      settings.php
            

Multi-site

If you have one server admin team...

... use Multi-site

If you have many server admin teams...

... use Separate sites

Modern deployment practices mitigate the first

Example

University of Minnesota

• ~15 Installs
• Many sites per install
• 100s total
• 2 install profiles
• No features updates
• Can have custom themes

Domain Access

Domain Access

• Access Control module
• Node grants (here be dragons)
• Domain == subsite
• Affects node view
• Suite of modules

Domain Access: Basics

Domain Access

Example

Interlochen Center for the Arts

• One instance, ~6 domains
• Shared theme w/ color tweaks
• Easy content sharing

Organic Groups

Organic Groups

• Rewritten for Drupal 7
• Any entity == "group"
• Any entity belongs to a "group"
• Users join groups

Organic Groups

Access control

• Per-group Roles
• Per-group user membership
• Per group node/field edit/delete permissions

Organic Groups

Integration

• Views plugins: Included
• Ctools/Panels Context plugins: Simple
• Very good Chaos suite integration

Organic Groups

Group nodes

Organic Groups

Permissions

Organic Groups

Example

California State University Northridge

• College or Dept = Group
  • Group node has settings
  • Lots of Entity Reference
• Separate roles per dept
• Panels Ev. / Panelizer
• Very similar themes

Just because it's different sites now doesn't mean it has to be

Just because you call it a "site" doesn't mean it is

What does "site" even mean?

What does "site" mean?

• A presence on the web
• An organization's home page
• A path root
• "What I have access to"

Single-site

Access control

Workbench Access

• Divide site into administrative sections
• Sections != path (unless you want it to be)
• Assign roles or users to sections
• Affects edit, not view

Variable themes

• ThemeKey
• Panels
• Panels Everywhere
• hook_custom_theme()
• ... Or just don't

Single site

Example

Mt. Holyoke College

• Many departments, centrally managed
• Workbench access
• ThemeKey for (some) theme switching

Mix and Match

Multi-site can host any combination of sites

• Multi-site / OG
• Multi-site / Domain Access
• Multi-site / Workbench Access
• Multi-site / Domain Access / OG

Example

Barnard College

• 50 departments
• One site with Domain Access
• ... and Workbench Access for edit control