Geeks and God Podcast

Ok, finally....relief for all you Drupal Haters out there. This 10 episode Geeks and God series on the Drupal content management system is finally coming to a close. Time to wrap it up...time to move on.

So, today we tackle all of your questions...you've asked in the forums. You've sent us emails. You've called us...one guy even hired a skywriter to ask about the elusive "do everything for me so I don't even need to get out of bed" module. Weirdo.

Some of the questions we tackle include: How to use taxonomies and roles on your church website. How to divide your site up into multiple sites, multiple areas, or multiple ways to password protect your pages. How to setup areas on your site for small groups to function online. Having multiple themes for different users or different parts of your site. Multiple language sites, and why not to use the Event Repeat module. These questions and much much more....

But before all this, we talk about churches who are afraid of technology and the internet. It's more widespread than you may think and possible more justified. All this on today's Geeks and God podcast....

Alright. So, your ministry is sooooo web 2.0. You record your sermons or bible studies and want them available on iTunes for everyone to download. But, you've recently moved to drupal and want to know if there's a way to podcast right from within your drupal installation. Fortunately, there's a few ways!

In this episode of Geeks and God we talk about setting up a podcast using nothing but drupal (no outside software required). We talk about the 'easy way' and contrast that to 'the right way'. We decided we weren't going to actually talk about any of the recording or editing of your podcast files (see our old series in the show links for that), but we do talk a little about mp3 vs. mp4, file sizes, bitrates and other recording related stuff

We then cover setting up the Audio Module to setup your audio nodes, talk about using Audio Import module to bypass your upload limit, and give a little info on the getID3 and AlbumArt modules that come with the Audio Module. We then wrap up the podcasting talk when we talk about tracking your feed using feedburner, statcounter, and google analytics.

However, before we dive into podcasting, we encourage you to send in your drupal questions which will be answered on the next podcast....and, we talk about our pals from the south and their podcast called Hillbilly Theology. Check it out in the show links.

Alright, before you read our lame description....here's what you're really looking for:
MF dances to the G&G Theme Song

Ok, so...in theory you've got a drupal site up and running. It's all themed, functioning, and you're using cool modules. Right? Good. Now how do you keep your site from running away and getting out of control? That's what today's podcast is all about.

We talk about how to maintain your drupal site once it's up and running. We break this episode into two parts. First, we talk about good practices for creating content. We discuss using and installing a WYSIWYG editor, using taxonomy and CCK, and generally making your site 'idiot proof'.

Then, we talk about maintaining your actual installation. This means things like keeping drupal up to date, keeping your modules current, and making sure your site is running the latest security patches.

But, before all this, we get called out by one of our listeners for our website being broken on his mobile device (oops! time for Rob to write a mobile style sheet)...but he gets back in our good graces by providing us with a great, detailed review of a mobile LAMP installation. We also talk about continuing your drupal education over at our blogs (see the links section of this post).

And, finally, we need you guys to send in any drupal questions you have...this is your last chance. A future episode will be comprised of your questions. So send us an MP3 or call the voicemail...otherwise MF will just sing Neil Diamond for that entire episode...

Let's make sites that are useful, shall we? We shall. Today we talk specifically about 3 modules that help you display your Drupal websites content in an incredibly useful way.

The modules we cover in depth are CCK, Views, and Contemplate. Think of them as the Drupal trinity...(did that go too far?) These modules, when used together, are much more powerful than they are alone. They create an entire website workflow, allowing you to create pages full of content you designate, make lists of items on your sidebar, all while making them look good. It's a workflow that's worth knowing if you're becoming a Drupaler.

But, before all that, we get a couple listener reviews. First, Tim sends us a review of Adobe's new Soundbooth program, and another listener tags a cool church tech Vodcast for us on del.ico.us.

Ready to get your geek on? Hope so.

Ok, so our drupal site is starting to look good, and it's installed properly...now we want it to DO something, right? Well, good thing this is an episode about modules!

Drupal modules add all that fancy functionality to your site. You can simply create blogs, discussion forums, rss feeds, clean url paths, and much much more. On today's podcast we break the modules down into two categories: core modules and contributed modules.

First, we run you through the core modules, step by step, describing what each module does that comes packaged with drupal. Then, we move onto the contrib. modules that we'd suggest you have on a church website. These do everything from creating an event calendar to custom styling your content.

But, before all that, we talk more about The Blasphemy Challenge and ask if Christians should be more like DC Talk or POD. All that and more in this episode of The Geeks and God Podcast.