95737 Drupal Programmer

HI THERE! I'm in the market to hire a freelancer programmer/developer for some work with Drupal, the open-source content management/blog system. I am a website publisher, currently using Movable Type to publish my sites .. I consider myself well versed in MT, its template system, architecture, and capabilities. MT, however, has been more problematic than I ever imagined, and with all the good things I've heard about Drupal, I'm ready to make the switch. The sites I publish are, in essence, blogs .. but with Drupal I'm hoping for more functionality and flexibility. I'm based in Manhattan. While I'm willing to work with a programmer over the phone and email, in-person just works so much easier. WHAT I NEED Someone who meets the Project Requirements, as listed below. Someone who communicates well .. I'm not a novice when it comes to programming, but certainly there is terminology and methodology that are foreign to me .. you should be willing, and able, to explain these to me. I probably don't need to know why a certain character is used in a piece of code, but I do need to know why that piece of code works to accomplish my goals. When this project is completed, I need to be able to make small to moderate changes and updates on my own, which is why explanation is needed. Someone who respects, and adheres to, deadlines. We will need a time frame put in place, and you'll be fully expected to meet deadlines for each phase. This is non-negotiable .. you should know at least that much. PROJECT REQUIREMENTS I publish a trio of blogs that are all, generally, in the entertainment realm. Each of these needs to be ported to Drupal. I imagine there will be some difficulty in moving the current posts from the sites (one site goes back three years) to the new Drupal system from Movable Type. While I'd love to not sacrifice backward compatibility, I'm okay with it if it's impossible. * First and foremost, I need a general primer on Drupal's architecture. I want to be able to understand how the system works, rather than just leave it in your hands to do all the necessary work. This is crucial. * The end product needs to be a a mutli-site single-user-account setup, so users who sign up on Site A can also be part of Site B's user community. * Enabled features need to include: Basic blogging .. comments .. send-to-friend cabailities .. user profiles with avatars/icons .. email/mailing list .. separate pages for About, Advertising Info, etc. * Themes seem to be where I lose myself. I don't quite understand how this all works, though I've been able to download and install new themes from Drupal's listings (a relatively easy process). I'm looking for Drupal to power a new layout/format for each of my sites, beyond what seems to be the standard two- or three-column layout. I haven't seen many, if any, Drupal sites break out of this framework .. so I'd need to know whether it can be done, though I imagine the answer is "Yes," so long as you know the CSS framework. In Movable Type, this is easily done via MT's template tagging, where the output for certain data fields can be placed wherever I want it. Can Drupal do this? This ability is needed. * Web design, but not in the traditional sense. The aesthetic design of all this can be completed externally/outside this project. But I will need the basic framework of the sites put in place and explained. MY EXPERIENCE LEVEL I am familiar with HTML, CSS, and web design. I know a wee bit of PHP and MySQL, but mostly just enough to get by when installing ready-made software packages. WHAT I NEED FROM YOU An estimate on your fee. I imagine this project will be more suited to a flat-fee agreement instead of an hourly fee. Also, a timeline on how long you (realistically) think this will take. If you have any questions or need me to explain something in more depth, just ask. Let me know if you're interested!