Cloning the Twitter web site in Drupal: how you can do it, and why you don't want to! From the Do It With Drupal conference.

1. ...in Drupal

3. What that means

4. What that means
How we did it

5. What that means
How we did it
Why you shouldn’t

6. So… what is Twitter?
• Streamlined info flow
• 140 character messages
• Just your friends
• ...And eighty jillion users

7. Twitter is growing.
Source: Jason Kottke (http://www.kottke.org/07/05/growth-of-twitter-vs-blogger)

8. Twitter is simple.

9. No, really. Simple.
Public User's Friends'
Timeine Page Posts
Individual Favorites Update
Post List Form

10. What can users do?

11. What can users do?
• Post an update

12. What can users do?
• Post an update
• Follow a user

13. What can users do?
• Post an update
• Follow a user
• Bookmark a post

14. What can users do?
• Post an update
• Follow a user
• Bookmark a post
•…

15. What can users do?
• Post an update
• Follow a user
• Bookmark a post
•…
• Profit!

16. Why rebuild Twitter?
Image: Exploding Dog (http://www.explodingdog.com)

17. Why rebuild Twitter?
• “Sandboxed” communication
Image: Exploding Dog (http://www.explodingdog.com)

18. Why rebuild Twitter?
• “Sandboxed” communication
• Integration into a larger site
Image: Exploding Dog (http://www.explodingdog.com)

19. Why rebuild Twitter?
• “Sandboxed” communication
• Integration into a larger site
• The simplicity challenge
Image: Exploding Dog (http://www.explodingdog.com)

20. Why rebuild Twitter?
• “Sandboxed” communication
• Integration into a larger site
• The simplicity challenge
• Because it was there
Image: Exploding Dog (http://www.explodingdog.com)

21. What hath Drupal
wrought?

22. What hath Drupal
wrought?
• The actions (post, follow, favorite)

23. What hath Drupal
wrought?
• The actions (post, follow, favorite)
• The views (timeline, friends, favorites)

24. What hath Drupal
wrought?
• The actions (post, follow, favorite)
• The views (timeline, friends, favorites)
• The Simple™

25. What hath Drupal
wrought?
• The actions (post, follow, favorite)
• The views (timeline, friends, favorites)
• The Simple™
• ...In 24 man-hours.

26. What hathn’t Drupal
wrought?

27. What hathn’t Drupal
wrought?
• Some layout details

28. What hathn’t Drupal
wrought?
• Some layout details
• The SMS (SMS module)

29. What hathn’t Drupal
wrought?
• Some layout details
• The SMS (SMS module)
• The API (Services module)

30. What hathn’t Drupal
wrought?
• Some layout details
• The SMS (SMS module)
• The API (Services module)
• The Community (magic)

32. What did we just see?

33. What did we just see?
• One content type

34. What did we just see?
• One content type
• Two flags

35. What did we just see?
• One content type
• Two flags
• Four helper modules

36. What did we just see?
• One content type
• Two flags
• Four helper modules
• Five views

37. What did we just see?
• One content type
• Two flags
• Four helper modules
• Five views
• 200 lines of custom PHP

38. What did we just see?
• One content type
• Two flags
• Four helper modules
• Five views
• 200 lines of custom PHP
• One custom theme

39. The content type
• No title, no options: just a body field.
• Custom page.tpl.php in the theme

40. The sidebar
• Two blocks
• Defined by module
• 50-60 lines of PHP
• Faster, but brittle

41. Friends and favorites
• “Following” flag
• “Favorite” flag
• Works cleanly with Views

42. The update form
• Custom form in our module
• Simple validation
• Twitter’s Javascript

43. The listing pages
• Views module
• blittr.com/[list-style]/[username]
• Filtered by Flags

44. The look and feel!

45. The look and feel!
• Duplicates Twitter’s HTML
• Uses Twitter’s CSS
• Ignores the majority of Drupal’s data
• Seven replacement templates views fields)
(page, page-node, block, node, views-table,

46. The other bits
• SMS Framework module
• Services module
• Mobile theme
• Personal CSS skins
• Privacy

47. The other bits
• SMS Framework module
• Services module
• Mobile theme
• Personal CSS skins
• Privacy

48. Yay!

49. This was a
Terrible Idea

51. Drupal is not
(just) a framework

52. Drupal’s mastery curve
can be steep

53. Drupal is not
an island

54. Drupal is
a powerful tool

55. Re-use the
techniques

56. Don’t rebuild Twitter...

57. Don’t rebuild Twitter...
in any system!