I’ve often wondered what Drupal was all about as a CMS so I started playing with it the other day.  It’s actually a very flexible tool that could help people create wonderful affiliate sites but me, I’m used to Wordpress.

However, if you have a Drupal site and want to add some money making auctions from eBay to your site, this is a quick guide on how to do so.

How to use PhpBay and Drupal

Set up Drupal and make sure there are no error warnings.  I strongly
recommend that you use Hostgator for Drupal hosting as they offer many configurable options that ensure Drupal will work without a hitch.

When setting up Drupal, you want to turn on the “PHP filter” module so that you can execute PHP code.

Purchase PhpBay if you haven’t done so already and download the API.

Edit the config.php file to contain your ebay partner network (EPN) ID:
# CAMPAIGN ID (ALSO KNOWN AS PID OR AFFILIATE ID)
$config['ebay_pid'] = “123456789″;

Upload the following to your drupal root directory:
Folders:
images
phpbay
and the file auctions.php

Now, go to create a new Drupal page or post and enter your auction code like this example:

<?php
require_once(“phpbay/ebay.php”);
phpBayAPI(“macbook pro”, 15, “111422″, “”);
?>

and make sure to check “php code” in the input box.

Troubleshoting:
If after creating the page/post you only see the original code:
Make sure that you:
1- turned on the PHP filter
2- In the composition window, make sure you clicked on “php code”

If after creating a post the images don’t show up:
1- make sure that you copied the contents of the .htaccess file provided by phpbay to the TOP of the .htaccess file made by drupal

As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve always owned a PC. I started out working PC’s, helping PC users connect to the Internet, building PC’s, networking PC’s, and now I work in a professional setting with a whole bunch of PC’s. However, the more access I have to Apple products, the more I feel that they are the better option for personal computing. Apple computers are fast, the operating system is intuitive, computer performance is solid, and the user experience is beautiful. In addition, I hardly ever hear about any Mac users having problems with their equipment…and when they do, things get taken care of quickly and effectively.

I’m becoming a fan of Apple and the Macintosh more and more every day. Software compatibility is getting much better, especially with the new version of Microsoft Office for the Mac. I believe that compatibility has been a (if not THE) major issue and the reason why people were hesitant to switch to the Mac. Now that Apple switched to the Intel architecture, their performance has increased even more and it also made it possible for people to run Windows on the Mac, therefore getting rid of the compatibility issue.

Now that the Mac can run Windows and Windows applications, there is no reason for people not to buy a Mac. With the price of entry so low, your next computer can easily be a Mac. Mac Mini’s pack a nice punch and cost roughly $600. You provide the mouse, keyboard, and monitor and you’ll be ready to roll.

I think that Apple will continue to grow its audience and users, but I believe that it could really experience exponential and explosive growth if they would release Mac OS for the PC. Although the software would cost less than a new piece of hardware, they could instantly grab millions of users who want to try out the Mac OS for themselves. The Mac operating system is already running on the Intel platform, so why not make it available to those of us who still have a PC? I believe that if Apple were to to this, they would become the number one software giant, hands down. Computer users don’t want another version of a bloated software that hogs more resources and requires more attention to use (Vista, anyone?). Computer users are at a point now where they need something fast that allows them to run applications securely and reliably. I predict that in the near future, Apple will release a version of their OS for PC users. What do you think?
[poll=7]

For the record, I’m a PC owner. I’ve had PC’s from the start, worked on PC’s, built PC’s, sold PC’s, modified PC’s, and even made an attempt to freeze PC parts to see if they could shatter (answer: I could not shatter those parts). However, in the last few years I have had a growing desire to become a Mac owner. I will switch someday, and I think that someday is a little closer with today’s announced release of Apple’s Macbook Air.

The Macbook Air is “the world’s thinnest PC” with it’s thickest part being THINNER than the current smallest laptop’s THICKEST part. Got that? It’s so small that it fits inside an envelope!

Being so small, you would expect this thing to be somewhat limited, right? WRONG! This is a full featured laptop. With an 80GB hard drive, a 13.3” LCD screen with a 1280×800 resolution, built in iSight, 1.6Ghz specially built Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM, built in Wireless N and Bluetooth technology, this laptop packs a punch and has a battery life of around 5 hours!

Available for pre-order today, the Macbook Air will be shipping in approximately 2 weeks.