Agathon Group - "The Good Stuff"

Why It Worked

This was a fun project for Agathon Group, in part because of the challenges we faced. We’ve heard good things about Drupal from our peers, but never had the opportunity to use it in the wild. The extremely short development cycle made for creative project management and quick build-outs.

Several things went well with this project, and contributed to its overall success.

Drupal Functionality Customization

We used Drupal’s Module API to create the custom administration options; the built-in Drupal CMS options didn’t scratch the itch we had, so we built something that did, without having to resort to modifying core files. This means that our client can upgrade Drupal without having to worry about retaining customizations that we made.

Drupal Theme Customization

Agathon Group did not create the design for this site, but we built a custom Drupal theme to integrate the client-supplied design and XHTML with the Drupal core. As with the API for functionality, we were able to apply the design to the entire site without having to customize Drupal itself.

Unobtrusive JavaScript

The site uses jQuery to provide unobtrusive JavaScript interaction. If you disable JavaScript and try to use the website, you’re still able to do everything you can with JavaScript turned on—it just might take a few more clicks. We first wrote code to function without JavaScript, then used jQuery to pull in interaction where we needed it. This technique not only provides automatic degradability for non-JS browsers, but it also let us divide and conquer programming responsibilities in our team. One of us created the standard functionality, and another came in and added the JavaScript layer.

Communication

We used Basecamp to marshall communication between us and the client. It proved crucial for tracking todos, storing design revisions, and making sure everyone was on the same page.

We used GoToMeeting for conferences with the our client, pulling in participants on both sides of the project spanning six timezones, several home offices, a couple real offices, some coffee shops, and even a train or two.

Agathon Group is an entirely virtual team, so we used our own Jabber server for internal communication. We also realize the value of face-to-face work, and a local coffee shop hosted some of our staff for a couple hours while we built critical functionality (and ate scones).

Overall, we learned that non-trivial projects can be built quickly, with the right clients, tools, and staff. We happened to have all three, and the end result is a pretty cool website.