No Drupal anymore, but my own custom made portal

I used Drupal as my CMS on the Linux Mint Users Belgian site, but I found it too hard to bend and flex the way I wanted it to look. Other non-techie users found it a bit to difficult to write their blog entries through Drupal, so I disabled the blog facilities in Drupal, and added a standalone Wordpress driven blog system (http://blog.linuxmintusers.be/) for them. It now just needs a nicer theme but mods and admins find it much easier to post their rants that way.

In the end, I didn't use any major Drupal component any more, but still struggled to move the panes the way I liked, could not add a YouTube movie without adding another mod, ...
It made me decide to create my own portal from scratch. Some basic HTML/CSS and my static portal was a fact.

The layout is good now. Next week I will begin the migration from a static site to a PhP/MySQL driven portal. Setting up the database, creating the web-based front-ends for the contributors, test-driving on my local LAMP box here. Once all set and done, it is just a matter of uploading the whole stuff on our webhosters reserved parking lot.

Drupal was to massive for what we needed. Taking into account that the site will merely be static, with updates on a weekly or bi-weekly base, a custom written PhP/MySql project can easily take care of that.

Setting up Drupal was a nice learning experience and if ever the traffic and needs would change in a way that a full fledged CMS is needed, Drupal will once again make its appearance.

But now I write my own code and I'm able to respond quickly to demands from the Team.

And most important, the fun is back. Hacking your own code and seeing others appreciate your work is also a major stimulant for the man behind the curtains LOL