Editor's Pick | Vol. 1 | Issue. 44

Through the Fields of Desire

kids celebrating
Vicky Adams / Unsplash

Dear Readers,

Have you ever found yourself standing on the hallowed grounds of a game field, surrounded by the dispersing crowd after the exhilarating clash of Titans? You close your eyes and immerse your soul into a space, in all its nooks and corners, you so wished to be present. It's a unique form of astral projection, fueled not by science but by the sheer force of desire.

You stand there, taking in all the heat and vigor that field contained minutes before. You feel the lingering warmth of the competition, the echoes of cheers and roars that once filled the air. The field was a sacred space where legends once broke sweats, champions basked in glory, and hearts shattered in defeat. I can't fathom which will be louder, the cheers of the win or the agony of the loss. I suppose it will be what your heart resonates with most.

Nevertheless, your favorite heroes might be grappling with the sting of loss, but amidst the pain, there's an undeniable awe for the magnificent game played by others. You might catch snippets of satisfaction, determination, and even complaints in the fading murmurs. After all, it's a game; one wins while the other loses, and still, it is only a game, and more games will come!

In this field of desire, the cycle continues. Your heroes are already picking themselves up, now bearing the weight of criticism and shame. They brush off their shoulders, drowning out the din of naysayers. It's a journey!

Similarly, there are instances where Drupal may face setbacks, encountering the echoes of coding challenges and the occasional murmurs of discontent. It's a dynamic game where advancements and setbacks coexist. Yet, like the heroes on the physical field, the Drupal community persists. After moments of criticism and setbacks, Drupal picked itself up, learning from the experiences and evolving to conquer new coding horizons powered by desire.

On that note, let's look into the top stories by The DropTimes from the past week.

With a bang, Drupal debuted at the Web Summit Lisbon, one of the largest and most influential technology conferences worldwide! The keynote address was delivered by Baddy Sonja Breidert, the former chair of the Drupal Association. Dries Buytaert expressed gratitude for the substantial support from key sponsors, including 1xINTERNET, Acquia, FFW, and Phase 2. Alex Moreno posits the recent foray into Web Summit in Lisbon served as a concrete stride toward escaping the confines of the Drupal bubble. The NEDCamp 2023 also came to a glorious conclusion!

In the wake of the end of the life of Drupal 9, the Drupal community is buzzing with calls for migration. The blog post by Symetris highlights the need to upgrade to Drupal 10, which offers improved content management, enhanced security, performance optimizations, personalization features, and a new front-end theme, among other benefits. Also, Acquia has strategically moved to retire the Drupal 9 Certification exams, scheduled for November 30, 2023. With a substantial 47.5% of websites remaining in Drupal 7, Promet Source stresses the growing disparity between the capabilities of Drupal 7 and the advancements incorporated into Drupal 10, positioning the latter as a superior, performance-optimized, and feature-rich web platform.

The hums of DrupalCon Lille still haven't settled with Drupalists discussing sustainability and inclusivity lessons from the Conference. Specbee's latest blog post, penned by Siddhant, explores the transformative power of Google Analytics 4 (GA4) and its impact on Drupal marketing strategies. Meanwhile, DrupalCon Portland 2024 has initiated the Call for sponsors. Acquia has unveiled the winners of the 2023 Engage Awards, recognizing organizations that excel in delivering innovative digital experiences by uniting marketers and technologists.

Remarkably, PreviousNext recently wrapped up a crucial phase in developing a decoupled Layout Builder for Drupal, led by Lee Rowlands, as part of the Pitchburg Project. Notably, the project's success extends beyond the conclusion of its statement of work, as it serves as a foundation for continued advancements within the Drupal community. Acquia has announced its acquisition of Monsido, a platform specializing in website accessibility, content quality, search engine optimization, data privacy, and performance.

The Commerce CyberSource module for Drupal has successfully tackled third-party library conflicts, unveiling its Drupal 10 version with improved payment processing capabilities. Drupal users seeking optimal page caching now have a robust solution with the LiteSpeed Cache module tailored for Drupal 8 and beyond. The article by Kevin Quillen from Velir discusses the key module, which offers multiple methods for referencing and safeguarding secrets in the Drupal content management system.

DrupalEasy is set to commence its spring semester of Professional Module Development on January 30, 2024. The 12-week course is led by industry veteran Mike Anello. Similarly, Emble provides personalized Drupal training courses at three proficiency tiers: Drupal Web Editor, Drupal Application Manager, and Drupal Developer. The classes are designed to cater to individual needs and organizational requirements, ensuring effective and swift knowledge transfer.

Oliver Davies launches the inaugural episode of the Beyond Blocks podcast featuring Matt Glaman. Authored by the experienced Mike Hubbard, Acro Commerce shared insights on configuring Drupal and React/TypeScript components. Lucio Waßill has introduced the "Monitoring Ntfy.sh Integration" module. This innovative addition to the Drupal ecosystem promises to enhance monitoring capabilities by providing real-time notifications through the Ntfy.sh platform. Gatsby.js, the open-source framework powered by React, GraphQL, and Node.js, excels in crafting high-performing, content-rich sites and is the prime discussion in the latest article by the AIVAnet team.

This encapsulates the highlights from The Drop Times. We invite you to share any suggestions, contributions, or feedback, as we sincerely value your engagement within our community. Thank you for being part of this journey. Until our next edition, keep exploring, sharing, and embracing the power of knowledge!

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Warm Regards,

Alka Elizabeth
Sub-editor, TheDropTimes