In January 2010 I released Status Messages Alter, my first Drupal module released to the community. I’ve created many modules over the years, I finally had the time to give something back to my fellow Drupal enthusiasts. I’m very excited about this.

What does this module do?

The module provides developers with a new hook called hook_message_alter. This hook comes handy when you have annoying messages being displayed and you want to get rid of them, or if you want to have your own custom code fire off when specific messages occur. This is an api module and does not offer any kind of theming. You’re allowed to override that yourself. I’ll explain that later.

How do I install the module?

Simply place the module in your modules directory and enable the module. If you’re upgrading from a previous version, you may see a warning message. This warning message is there to notify you that you may have to check your other enabled modules that implement hook_message_alter for compatibility. This isn’t really going to be an issue because only a few people downloaded that first release :)

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I like the concept of Digg. It helps free up the information so more people can find it. If you don’t know what Digg is, please go and check out Digg right now. Please comeback or you’ll miss out on what I have to say.

In this article I’m going to tell you how you’re going to create your Digg-like site, I’m going to give you some examples of Digg sites that are out there, and then I’m going to give you my contact information in case you want to get started and need my help.

Let’s get started because there is a lot of competition out there and we don’t want to miss out on our opportunity now do we?

Getting Started

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I’ve FINALLY open sourced my first Drupal module. I’ve written several Drupal modules for clients in the past; however, this is the first one I’ve open sourced and given to the community. I’m very, very excited about this module.

For those of you that don’t know, I’ve been an open source developer for years. Now, I’m finally able to give back!

I’m proud to announce the arrival of Status Messages Alter to the Drupal community. This module adds hook_message_alter to Drupal 6, enabling developers to change the status messages before they are delivered to the user. This has been something I’ve been wanting for a while now, and I’m sure others have been wanting this too!

Now it’s finally here. I hope you all enjoy the module as much as I already have.

Drupal is ideally equipped to be used as a base system for creating a custom social networking site like Facebook and MySpace. While these large social networks have their place, niche social networking web sites can help promote businesses, products, projects, and hobbies of any nature.

This book provides careful instructions and clear explanations to take you through the setup and management of your social network site, covering topics from users to marketing to maintenance. It will help you create your own social networking site, suitable for whatever audience you decide!

This book will take you from the very basics of both Drupal and Social Networking right through to more complicated aspects, like creating your own custom design and features for the site. With no experience of Drupal required, the book will introduce you to this award-winning CMS and carefully take you through the steps to create a social networking site from it. As the book progresses, you will learn how to add to and expand your social networking site, adding more features and adding value for your users, and how to make your users feel part of the community. Social networking web sites rely on their users contributing to the site, and this book helps you structure a site in a way users can easily and enjoyable contribute to the site – creating a powerful social network.

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