News Roundup

GovCMS has modernized its hosting by moving to a fully open-source platform with amazee.io and Salsa Digital. The new system, built on Lagoon and Kubernetes in a secure AWS tenancy, supports over 310 government sites. It improves scalability, developer workflows, and security, aligning with Australia’s federal open technology standards.

Jay Callicott has published a manifesto calling for a cloud-native future for Drupal. He proposes “Drupal Cloud,” a managed, API-first platform designed to rival headless CMS providers. It’s framed as a community-driven movement to keep Drupal competitive in the composable web era.

SmartBees’ Denis Peszka shares a tutorial on building custom image galleries in Drupal 10+. Using Media, Media Library, Views, and Image modules, site builders can create responsive, reusable galleries. It’s a practical guide for Drupal developers wanting visually rich layouts without custom code.

Vardot’s Mohammad Fayoumi explains why Content Security Policy is key for PCI DSS compliance in Drupal Commerce. CSP headers restrict scripts and protect checkout pages from injection attacks. For Drupal site owners, the Security Kit module makes these protections easier to implement.

Pawel Ginalski shows how to detect meaningful entity changes in Drupal 10 and beyond. The Diff module avoids false positives from metadata or CKEditor quirks, offering both UI and service integration. For developers, this ensures cleaner revision control and more reliable workflows.

Michael Anello announced Markdown Easy 2.0.0 on DrupalEasy. This stable release adds a new “Smörgåsbord” flavor, better table support, and smarter config feedback. Site builders get a simpler setup, plus a power-user toggle with full documentation.

Jeff G. has relaunched The Accidental Coder, drawing on over 20 years in web development. With a strong Drupal background, TAC offers flexible, brand-driven, and performance-focused services. Its approach emphasizes long-term sustainability over rigid proposals or platform lock-in.

Kanhan helped Hong Kong’s Social Welfare Department cut intranet licensing costs by 80 percent. They replaced SharePoint with a Drupal-based system, while keeping Microsoft Office for backend tasks. The hybrid approach improves access, lowers costs, and supports sustainable digital transformation in government.

Kanopi has shared their perspective on why most websites last just over two years. They argue longevity comes from research, skilled teams, and redefining “support” as ongoing improvement. For Drupal agencies, it’s a reminder that strong processes can keep sites relevant for a decade or more.

The Drupal community’s week ahead is full of learning and networking. On August 27–28, webinars on Drupal AI and accessibility offer insights from amazee.ai and A11yTalks. Plus, the Atlanta Drupal Users Group is hosting an in-person coworking happy hour on Wednesday.

The Drupal Association announced that the Drupal AI Initiative has raised $175,000 with ten new supporting organisations. Funding will support AI module development, orchestration infrastructure, and tools like retrieval-augmented generation. This milestone expands dedicated staff to at least 15, strengthening Drupal’s role in open-source AI innovation

Grzegorz Bartman, co-CEO at Droptica, has released a walkthrough on using Drupal’s Views module to build content listings without writing SQL. The 28-minute session covers choosing data sources, working with relationships and filters, and avoiding common pitfalls. It also introduces companion modules like Views Bulk Operations, Better Exposed Filters, and Views Slideshow.

Klee Group has shared why they actively contribute to the Drupal ecosystem. Beyond building solutions for clients, they’ve released several contrib modules like Media Upload, Svg Maps, Views Exclude Previous, and AddToCalendar—ensuring their work benefits the wider community. Their efforts extend to events like DrupalCamp Rennes, contributions to accessibility standards through the DSFR for Drupal project, and even patches to core. Internally, they mentor new developers with documentation and code reviews, reinforcing a culture where contribution is both a business strategy and a way to strengthen open source for everyone.

DrupalCamp Burkina Faso 2026 will take place in Ouagadougou from April 24 to 25, highlighting Drupal’s role in advancing digital sovereignty, enhancing local developer skills, and creating scalable portals across Africa. The event was announced by Seferiba Salif Soulama, a local advocate and active contributor, signaling strong momentum for Drupal adoption in West Africa.

Dries Buytaert has switched from writing blog posts in raw HTML to Markdown after 20 years. He’s using the Markdown Easy module in Drupal, now improved to support mixed HTML. The change has sped up his workflow while keeping his Drupal-powered publishing intact.

The Drupalers Association Pune has launched a fundraising drive for DrupalCamp Pune 2025. Funds will support events, subsidized access, and compliance costs for this long-standing volunteer group. With fewer sponsors this year, DAP urges community support to keep India’s Drupal scene thriving.

Adaptive has launched Interact Links, a new AI-powered navigation feature for Drupal sites. Instead of loading static pages, these links open conversations with context-aware prompts. Site editors can add them easily, offering users faster answers and a more interactive experience.

Ani Duong of LitExtension has published a step-by-step guide on using the Backup and Migrate module for Drupal 9. The tutorial covers enabling the module, setting up private directories, scheduling backups, and restoring when needed. It’s a practical resource for site owners migrating off Drupal 7 or 8 and ensuring secure, reliable backups.

Shefali Shetty from Specbee has shared nine tips for choosing the right Drupal agency. Her guide stresses trust, transparency, and long-term fit beyond just technical expertise. It’s a practical checklist for organizations to confidently evaluate Drupal partners.

Talking Drupal #516 features Dharizza Espinach and Jacob Rockowitz on Drupal CMS recipes and data audits. Dharizza explains how the Google Analytics recipe simplifies setup using prompt-based config in the UI. Plus: Field Data module adds a tab to audit field-level content—perfect for migrations and content cleanup.

Joe Mari Borinaga at Promet Source explains how hidden bot traffic inflates hosting costs on Acquia and Pantheon. He shares Drupal-specific detection methods—like log analysis, user-agent tracking, and security best practices. This guide helps government and higher-ed sites regain control of budgets and improve infrastructure resilience.

Drupal GovCon 2025 brought government tech and Drupal together at the University of Maryland. Sessions tackled AI, civic tech, SEO, and tools like Single Directory Components and Facet Bot Blocker. John Picozzi’s recap highlights the community spirit and practical insights that defined this year’s event.

DrupalCamp Ruhr 2025 takes place on September 12 and 13 at the Unperfekthaus in Essen. Attendees have until Friday, August 22 to buy tickets that include the camp’s exclusive T-shirt, after which tickets remain available but without the shirt. It’s a great chance to join two days of sessions, collaboration, and community connection.

Longhorn PHP 2025 runs October 23 to 25 in Austin, featuring workshops, 33 talks, four keynotes, and contributions from the Drupal community. Blind Bird pricing ends Sunday, August 24, with ticket prices rising afterward. Now in its sixth year, the event highlights PHP 8.4, 8.5, and best practices across APIs, DevOps, testing, and accessibility.

Sponsorship opportunities are open for DrupalCon Vienna 2025, happening this October in Austria. Booth packages—Diamond through Silver—offer visibility, tickets, speaking slots, and branding perks. It’s a prime chance for companies to engage the Drupal community and support open-source growth.

DrupalEasy's Michael Anello just launched a multi-day course on Single Directory Components, or SDCs. It’s an 18-hour class starting September 8, with hands-on SDC training for modern Drupal theming. Great fit for site builders and maintainers looking to deepen their component-based development skills.

The Drupal Association will share global AI survey results in a live webinar on August 28. Over 200 business leaders helped identify top AI priorities across industries. These insights will shape the Drupal AI roadmap—important context for builders and agencies tracking AI trends.

Stephen Musgrave at Capellic shares strategies for stopping AI bots from hammering Drupal faceted search pages. Cloudflare WAF, Pantheon’s AGCDN, and the new Facets 3.0 Exposed Filters submodule proved especially effective. These solutions restore cache hit ratios above 90%, making them essential for high-traffic Drupal sites.

Ala Batayneh at Vardot explains how component-based design is reshaping Drupal UI strategies. With Single Directory Components now in core and variant support in 11.2, modular theming is maturing fast. From Emulsify to Varbase CBD, this approach accelerates development, design consistency, and AI-assisted prototyping.

The Splash Awards Germany and Austria 2025 deadline is extended to August 22. The awards will be held on October 15 in Vienna, during DrupalCon Vienna. This year, winners can also qualify for the International Splash Awards, returning after six years.

Submissions are now open for Birds of a Feather sessions at DrupalCon Vienna 2025. These informal meetups let attendees connect around shared interests, from Drupal development to hobbies. Organizers encourage early proposals, with rooms assigned and posted on the schedule.

Drupal developer Luhur Abdi Rizal has released Pasir v0.1, a new PHP application server built in Rust. It offers a fast, no-config alternative to PHP-FPM and supports major frameworks including Drupal. Pasir is experimental but shows promise with features like HTTP/2 support, Docker compatibility, and request tracing.

The 2025 Pacific Northwest Drupal Summit session schedule is now live, featuring over 20 talks on accessibility, SEO, AI migrations, and more. The event runs October 18–19 at a new venue — McMenamins Edgefield Hotel near Portland. Registration is open, with an early-bird discount through August 21.

CiviCRM is now available on DrupalForge.org for instant demo site launches. This integration brings a powerful CRM tool to nonprofits and civic groups using Drupal. Salim Lakhani announced the update, crediting Vinay Gawade and the community for their contributions.

GraphQL 5.0.0-alpha3 is out for Drupal, released by Klaus Purer at Jobiqo. It modernizes plugin definitions using PHP attributes and fixes 13 issues. The update supports Drupal 10.4 and 11, with improved test coverage and type handling.

Acquia has appointed Chris Tranquill as its new CEO, effective immediately, per their August 19 release.
He brings 25+ years of experience in customer engagement software, most recently at Khoros.
For the Drupal community, this may signal a shift in how Acquia approaches digital experience strategy.

The Drupal Association has opened the 2025 Drupal Business Survey for agencies and service providers.
This year’s edition is officially Association-managed, with refined questions for stronger trend analysis.
Results will be shared at DrupalCon Europe in Vienna this October, guiding community business insights.

On TD Café #008, Martin Anderson-Clutz and Jürgen Haas dive deep into ECA 3.0 and Modeler API. They explain how the decoupled architecture streamlines contributions and enables future integrations like n8n and MCP. For Drupal devs, this means easier automation, clearer UIs, and better paths to AI-driven orchestration.

Jo Fitzgerald explains how to scaffold a custom plugin manager in Drupal using Drush’s generate command. The tutorial walks through setting the module name, plugin type, and discovery method—highlighting best practices for Drupal 10. It’s a useful guide for developers building custom or contrib modules with reusable plugin architecture.

Denis Peszka of Smartbees offers a hands-on tutorial for adding structured data in Drupal. He shows how to use the Schema.org Metatag module with Composer and Drush, plus testing tips. This is a solid guide for boosting SEO, click-throughs, and visibility with schema markup.

Travis Christopher argues Drupal’s “identity crisis” is actually its greatest strength for enterprises. While modern stacks offer clarity, they stumble on workflows, permissions, and integrations Drupal handles with ease. The takeaway? Drupal’s complexity isn’t a flaw—it’s the feature that makes it fit messy real-world needs.

Version 1.2.0-alpha1 of the MCP Drupal module has been announced. It adds early support for Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol, enabling LLMs to interact with Drupal systems. Features include per-tool configuration and a low-code MCP Studio for workflow building.

Alejandro Madrigal Leiva will host an online session on August 23 to explore new ways of contributing Single Directory Components in Drupal. He aims to move beyond packaging components in modules or themes. The session will test ideas live and is open to all interested in theming and SDCs.

The Drupal AI Initiative held a two-day off-site to refine strategy and set concrete roadmap goals. They secured $300,000 in new funding and expanded their network of contributing agencies, known as “Makers.” Survey results shaped feature priorities, with a webinar planned for August 28.