Peer 1 Hosting Multisite

Transcription

1 Peer 1 Hosting Multisite

2 Peer 1 Hosting Multisite Contents 1.0 Project Overview P Project Information P Site Functionalities P Modules P. 7 P.2

3 1.0 Project Overview Section 1.1 Peer 1 & Project Background In the Fall of 2011 Appnovation Technologies was chosen by PEER 1 Hosting to create websites for their UK, US and Canadian businesses. PEER 1 Hosting wanted to rebuild all its major web properties and create a long-term, scalable website platform. The project was built and executed using Drupal and also involved migrating information from PEER 1 Hostings existing sites. The Drupal CMS was chosen for its multisite framework and multilingual capabilities. The multisite platform also allows for easy addition of new websites and site maintenance as all sites share the same code base. PEER 1 Hosting is one of the world s leading web hosting solutions providers. For over a decade PEER 1 Hosting has been delivering the power of the Internet to any organization that needs it while simultaneously cutting through the frustration of under performing technology and poor service. They do this by providing award-winning Managed Hosting, Dedicated Servers, Colocation and Cloud services. P.3

4 2.0 Project Information Section 2.1 Team & Structure Peer 1 Home Page PROJECT MANAGEMENT Project management tools used for this project were Active collab and Google Docs. DRUPAL VERSION 6.x due to its level of stability and contributed module completeness at the time of project inception. HOSTING As PEER 1 Hosting is a web hosting company, they were responsible for the hosting of their own project. P.4

5 3.0 Site Functionalities Section 3.1 Key Functionalities Nerve Advice Page The key functionalities built into the new site include: Multisite Platform The new web site will be built using the Drupal multisite platforms This system allows for the easy launch of new websites on the same code base while allowing for a selection of features The platform allows for the easy management of the website code base but separates the database data storage such that the websites can have unique content Intelligent Site Search Apache Solr will be set up for the new website Fuzzy search such that users can easily find the appropriate content P.5

6 3.0 Site Functionalities Section 3.1 Peer 1 Live Chat Support Workflow Workflows for publishing content as outlined by PEER 1 Hosting requirements Multiple triggers and actions were configured Multi-Language SEO The Drupal multilingual module was included to allow for multiple content nodes for different languages Modules were installed to create SEO friendly URLs, and allow for complete control over titles and meta tags Analytics and Live Chat The current CRM API code was embedded into the site The current Live Chat system was embedded Knowledge Base An integrated Drupal knowledge base was set up to replace the old knowledge base system P.6

7 4.0 Modules Section 4.1 Major Contributed Modules Nerve Meet Someone Page Apache Solr Search Integration PEER 1 Hosting was using a third party system for their search and knowledgebase functionality, which was not up to par with Apache Solr. Apache Solr allowed Appnovation to not only search the content within the node, but it also allowed the system to extract and index content from attached documents. The previous system would only allow for searching on a single type of content, whereas Apache Solr provides for a site-wide search, which can be customized to exclude nodes, node types, and even configure bias settings. CCK Any site built with Drupal cannot do without the Drupal Content Construction Kit (CCK). CCK was used to create a multitude of content types used throughout the PEER 1 Hosting site. The site had about 10 content types ranging from basic page nodes to complex product pages, which were integrated with Panels and Views. P.7

8 4.0 Modules Section 4.1 Nerve Meet Someone Page Panels The Panels module was used in order to allow PEER 1 Hosting to supply different layouts for different sections of the site. Previous to this site, PEER 1 Hosting was forced to manipulate template files for every change, which then would need to be pushed to production by an IT team. Ultimately they wanted an easier way to manage the layout, without the need to modify any sort of code. The Panels module supplied the site with a very simple way of modifying layouts and content within the layout thus giving people with non technical backgrounds the ability to manage the site.. Essentially, Appnovation gave PEER 1 Hosting the basics of Panels, without inundating them with all the great features of the module, which they did not really need. Views Just as with CCK, no site can be built without the versatile Views module. The PEER 1 Hosting site had over 15 Views to be incorporated. Views were used throughout the site to show things like related content, slideshows, and videos. Default Views were set up to allow PEER 1 Hosting to pick and choose various Views within the Panels interface to fill out content on certain pages. Domain Access Domain access was used here to allow PEER 1 Hosting to have both a Canadian and American site. PEER 1 Hosting wanted to support both a Canadian English and American English site. This was not necessarily translation, but was still treated as such, since the site was going to be translated for French. Domain Access allowed us to set up domain-specific variables and images. P.8

9 VANCOUVER HE ADQUARTER S 152 W. Hastings Street Vancouver BC, V6B 1G8 T: F: ATL ANTA OFFICE 3414 Peachtree Road, # 1600 Atlant a, Georg ia T: LONDON OFFICE 3000 Hillswood Dr ive Hillswood Business Par k Cher t sey K T16 0RS UK T: +44 (0) w w w.appnovation.com [email protected]