So you’ve tried CCK, Views, and a whole host of other modules, and you can’t get the functionality that you want out of Drupal. It’s cool, Drupal still has you covered.
Although I am still a Drupal newbie, I have about 25 years of client server programming under my belt. As I have been learning to use Drupal since March I also have learned a lot about efficient ways to do the Drupal installation including setting up the database and CleanURLS up front. I believe that I may be able to help people new to Drupal to avoid some of the mistakes I made initially and make their experience better. This will give them a more positive view of Drupal and may keep them from giving up early.