This user group now has a brand-new Web site, built from scratch using Drupal, by Web developer Michael J. Ross (SDWTG's webmaster). The site is kindly hosted by SDWTG member Ryan Belong of Studio 3-G.

There were several reasons that prompted this effort. While the old site was adequate for the group's needs, it was based upon the CMS Joomla, which in August 2008 had a severe security hole, which allowed countless Joomla-based Web sites to get hacked, including ours. Also, the redevelopment was a good excuse to learn more about Drupal and its capabilities!

If you missed the South by Southwest 2008 Festival in Austin, TX, then attendance in 2009 is a must! The festival will be taking place March 13–22. Interactive and Film: will be March 13-17, and Music will be March 17-22.

SDWTG-ers Ryan Belong and Michael J. Ross teamed up to build a new Web site for the San Diego-based Mortgage Accountability Association (MAA), which provides home loan and mortgage review services to real estate borrowers and lenders. The site makes use of PHP, HTML/CSS, JavaScript, and sIFR Web technologies.

Interested in learning how to install and do basic configuration changes for the latest version of Drupal? Then check out a recent article, titled Drupal 6.0: Installation and Basic Usage, published by O'Reilly Network's ONLamp.com. If you like what you see, you can Digg the article.