Learning to Sprint with Drupal

Before you can effectively sprint, you need to learn how to walk and then run. Fortunately for Londoners interested in the Drupal content management system, there's an organization committed to helping interested developers at all levels get in the race.

The organization is the London Drupal Users Group (LonDUG), an open group that meets monthly, alternating events between presentations/discussions and sprints/drop-in sessions. This weekend, Digital Echidna is hosting LonDUG's Drupal core sprint event, in conjunction with the 2014 Drupal Global Sprint Weekend.

For sprint weekends, there's a little higher threshold for involvement.

"The biggest thing is that the basic concepts are known and familiar, in other words that the attendee has worked with Drupal before," explained Scott Reeves, the group's co-organizer. "Nodes, taxonomy terms, etc. are key concepts and if they aren't known then it's hard to get further in the vocabulary and talk about much of anything.

"For events like this, we believe that if you've built a site in Drupal, you can contribute. It helps to be generally familiar with Drupal terminology and administration – and there are plenty of non-programmer tasks to go around."

Past meetups have included topics like "Intro to Drupal," presentations on the upcoming Drupal 8 update and various elements, and discussions about favourite modules. While Digital Echidna hosts these events and its organizers Reeves and Andrew McClenaghan are employed by and the owner of the company, respectively, the events often feature presenters from other companies and areas.

The idea behind LonDUG events is to help everyone in the community become more conversant in Drupal, so that the local community can continue to grow and develop. It's an extension of the open-source nature of the CMS, where community contributions and collaboration are both its heart and its strength.

That said, at an event like this weekend's sprint, those with little knowledge of Drupal may find themselves discouraged. "This type of event is very different from an 'Intro to Drupal,'" Reeves explained. "Trying to introduce someone to Drupal and have them contribute back to the project on the same day would just be an exercise in frustration and information overload."

That's why the group alternates on a monthly basis between sprints and presentations. The range of experience amongst LonDUG attendees runs the whole gamut, which is why the group places a premium on education and mentoring.

"Not having a lot of experience developing with Drupal, I wasn't sure what to expect when I went to the LonDUG event," explained Karen Laansoo, the development manager at eCreative Studios in London, ON. "It turned out to be a really friendly, easy-going environment. I had a lot of fun! I met some great people and learned more about Drupal too."

Ryan Price, technical analyst with the London Health Sciences Centre, was a little more conversant in Drupal, but explained that the collaborative nature of the event is extremely beneficial.

"My overall experience with LonDUG has been a great one. I enjoy hearing how other people are using Drupal - their problems and successes," Price added. "Most of all its nice having someone like Scott [Reeves] who is plugged into the Drupal core community to lead the sessions and introduce us into contributing to [Drupal] 8."

Price added that he takes an active involvement in the Drupal community and sees events like LonDUG as a valuable complement – and a local one at that – to help put the wealth of knowledge out there in proper context.

"I do follow Drupal's development through Twitter, blogs, IRC, etc., but with Scott's heavy involvement it's nice to get updates from him," Price added. "It allows us to push our organization to use Drupal as a solution over commercial products with confidence in what will be coming down the line in the future.

"I look forward to continue learning and contributing to the great Drupal community in general, and especially in London."

New to Drupal or a seasoned veteran, Reeves said LonDUG offers a great opportunity to get involved and put some of that theory into practice.

"When we mentor at these events it's mostly about learning the processes and getting equipped with the tools and knowledge needed to contribute," he said. "So proficiency actually doesn't factor in too much in my opinion, it's mostly about practicing."