At the DrupalCon Portland in May this year, Dries Buytaert showed the audience the mobile phone he was using when Drupal came into existence. It was an archaic model with many real keys and an antenna. From that time to the present times of super-evolved smartphones, Drupal, too, has come far. As for any other, Drupal also has had a journey of ups and downs, with its popularity spiking in the times of Drupal 7 and to the present level of mixed reactions. Nevertheless, the idea of ‘come for the code and stay for the community’ keeps resounding the tech corridors like no other.
Some recent discussions across the Drupal community have highlighted the threats faced by foundational community-building practices like events. An article authored by Ales for Agiledrop rightly emphasizes the dwindling attendance at some of the pioneer Drupal events over the years. Even after restoring the pre-pandemic codes of conduct, the number of attendees has failed to fare high. In this context, the news about Drupal 7 websites moving en masse to systems like WordPress resounds.
Drupal must be at a crossroads—a crossroads is much better than an impasse. It is also poignant to mention the morale boost presented by the Drupal Starshot/Drupal CMS project. The Drupal CMS’ seventeen points of power presented by Dries at DrupalCon Barcelona and the entire project pose the most optimistic road for Drupal. Hand in hand, sustainable measures to bring fresh, talented minds into Drupal and its community programmes should also be implemented. Most of all, Drupal deserves that.
At TDT, we are reaching out through an email campaign to kindle Drupal meetups across locations anywhere in the world that have a sizable Drupal developer community. As with any such campaign, this, too, would have a hit-miss ratio to share. But we are confident that with the help of once-active community contributors, we can bring in enough momentum to reignite the passion and bring out changes. Mind that you are the organizers—the real champions; we just promote and offer support to get the word out.
On that cheerful note, let’s peek at last week's important stories.
Drupal CMS is preparing for a significant update with the introduction of a new base recipe, scheduled for its initial release on January 15, 2025. This update will replace the traditional "Standard" install profile and aims to deliver essential, modern functionality to enhance both the user experience and the overall usability of Drupal for its target audience. Read more about the new developments.
The organizing team of DrupalCamp Colorado 2025 is reaching out to the community for input on what inspires attendees to participate and how the event's focus should evolve. Attend this survey and make your voice is heard.
An article published by Agiledrop addresses the pressing need for well-attended Drupal events, emphasizing the importance of reversing the declining trend in attendance over the past decade. In the article, Ales argues that larger audiences at Drupal events foster a broader range of discussions, enhance networking opportunities, and attract more sponsors, speakers, and exhibitors.
Drupal CMS builds on strategic initiatives like Project Browser, Automatic Updates, and Recipes, allowing users to configure features during installation easily. AI-powered site-building tools are also in development, streamlining tasks such as content type creation and migrations. Read how a transformative era is arriving for Drupal with the announcement of Drupal Starshot, now referred to as Drupal CMS.
DrupalCon Singapore 2024 will feature a keynote session titled "Drupal CMS Panel: Key Leads Answer Your Questions," where key figures from the Drupal community will discuss the future of the platform. Scheduled for December 10, 2024. The session will include Dries Buytaert, Lauri Timmanee, Pamela Barone, Cristina Chumillas, among others with Gábor Hojtsy moderating the discussion. Know more.
Henadzi Koltun, Head of Business Development at Attico, recently shared insights on the strategic considerations for managing multi-regional Drupal websites. He highlighted the importance of determining whether to centralize or decentralize development when choosing between domains, subdomains, or catalogs. In the article, Henadzi explains that using subdomains or separate domains allows localized development teams to manage projects independently, which also benefits local SEO, analytics, and advertising efforts.
Dominique De Cooman, Co-founder, co-CEO, and CTO of Dropsolid, delivered two impactful sessions that emphasized the growing importance of integrating Drupal with other open-source platforms to create a stronger digital ecosystem. His sessions explored how combining platforms like Drupal and Mautic can help businesses stay competitive, deliver more value to customers, and foster a more collaborative and resilient community. Here is a detailed write up giving detailing the informative sessions.
The DrupalSouth Steering Committee has announced the election process for the 2024 committee, encouraging participation from members of the Australian and New Zealand Drupal community. Voting is open until midnight AEDT on November 4, 2024. Click here to know more about the candidates and the election process.
The Palermo Drupal Meetup will take birth on Thursday, November 14, 2024, marking the start of a new community for Drupal enthusiasts in Palermo. Dive in to learn more.
Annertech has been attending DrupalCon since 2008, and first came on board as a sponsor in 2016. DrupalCon Barcelona 2024 marked the company's third consecutive year as a platinum sponsor. Here is a first hand experience of DrupalCon from the Annertech team written by Alison Visser.
Jan Winkler, CEO of Consentmanager.net, has announced the release of a new plugin that simplifies the integration of cookie consent banners on Drupal websites. The plugin is designed to help website administrators ensure GDPR-compliant consent for cookies, allowing users to provide explicit consent in a legally sound manner.
The Southern California Linux Expo (SCaLE 22x) is inviting speakers to present at its 2025 event, scheduled for March 6-9 at the Pasadena Convention Center. The deadline for proposal submissions is November 1, 2024, with acceptance notifications beginning December 1. Read the article to know more about the tracks and further details.
Drupal consultant Chris Kelly has developed a customized solution for creating travel galleries after finding current Drupal modules inadequate for his needs. His design features a scrollable carousel of thumbnails where users can enlarge, select, and add details to images—features unavailable in existing modules, which he found cumbersome or unintuitive. Click here to read.
The Drupal Association has unveiled a comprehensive guide and a free, downloadable Request for Proposal (RFP) template to assist organizations in crafting effective RFPs that prioritize open source solutions, particularly those involving Drupal Certified Partners. This initiative aims to streamline the procurement process for website design and content management system (CMS) projects. For more, click here.
The DropTimes has curated a selection of key events in the Drupal and accessibility communities for the week of October 28 to November 3, 2024. See more here.
Thank you,
Sincerely,
Thomas Alias K,
Sub-editor, The DropTimes.
