zicasso launches drupal-powered web2.0 travel site

three weeks ago, zicasso.com launched a drupal-powered free personalized online travel service that aims to connect travelers to a global network of quality, pre-screened travel companies. unlike many internet travel sites which provide cheap fares or packages, zicasso is targeted for busy, discerning travelers who want to plan and book complex trips (the ones with multiple destination stops or activities).

zicasso was favorably reviewed in popular web publications including; pc magazine, techcrunch, ars technica and the san jose business journal.

zicasso chose to build their application using the open-source cms system, drupal to leverage the wide array of web2.0 functionality provided by the open source community.

the application was rapidly constructed by a small development team led by cailin nelson and jenny dickinson. the team took advantage of "core" drupal modules including cck, panels, views, imagecache, workflow and actions.

using drupal, the team leveraged existing frameworks for much of the development including user authentication and management, workflow, security, administration, content management, blogging, tagging, text indexing and searching, sophisticated form flows, access control, search engine integration and optimization and image manipulation and management.

initial load testing demonstrated high application scalability, even with a fairly simple production deployment architecture.