He will be my best friend for the next two months.

Drupal will be my best friend for the next two months.

After I presented my finalized thesis idea last week, I started searching for different web application framework, hoping to find something suitable for my thesis project. I figured Drupal is a good place to start with. Drupal is an open source content management framework with built-in functions and add-on features including social networking, image file management, and user forums. It’s based on MySQL and PHP, languages I am very comfortable with, and supports Japanese! Yes!  I need the Japanese support, because I am targeting Japanese nail enthusiasts for the first prototype. There is a fair amount of documentation available on Drupal’s website, and user forums are pretty active. Corey, one of ITP residents, told me that Amanda Bernsohn, ITP alum, used Drupal for her thesis project http://itsallaround.us/. It’s encouraging. I can always ping her if I need some help.

Here is a list of features I would like to learn more and assess if I want to incorporate them into my thesis project. It is a lot of information, so I will take advantage of the spring break, digesting all documentations and tutorials to familiarize myself with Drupal framework.  I want to be able to start coding a prototype after spring break.