Here is a pragmatic approach to applying Drupal to faceted navigation, using the standard Drupal Taxonomy module.

Drupal is causing us headaches again. It can supposedly do everything, or rather, proponents of Drupal love to claim it can do everything. It's no wonder the backlash can sometimes be a bit strong. This article is quite measured compared to other rants I've heard in the studio, and seen online. Anyway, I have always found the IA and taxonomy modules fit nicely with the theory and the way IA is supposed to work. Well the thinking and documentation behind them does, but as with all things Drupal, implementation is often another story. Usually it's a case of hammering away at the various config options, and trying one's best to try and interpret the cryptic help messages in the Drupal interface, and then the penny drops, and yes, it is powerful once you get it. A thought: do people claim to love it so because they have invested so much effort into getting it to work and survive with it – like a variation of Stockholm Syndrome?

This is a handy reference for tracking what packages you get with your Linux Distro. We've been hitting problems with version differences between our dev server and the client's staging server, so we've opted to set up a new VM that is closer in configuration to what we're aiming for. This has helped confirm that we are installing the right thing.