Talking Drupal

Talking Drupal is a weekly chat about web design and development by a group a guys with one thing in common, we love Drupal. With hosts Stephen Cross, John Picozzi and Nic Laflin.

Talking Drupal #509 - A WordPresser @ DrupalCon 06/30/2025

Talking Drupal #509 - A WordPresser @ DrupalCon Today we are talking about DrupalCon, Wordpress, and what a wordpress guy can learn at a Drupal Event with guest Chris Reynolds. We’ll also cover Shortcode as our module of the week. For show notes visit: Topics The Pros and Cons of Short Codes Chris Reynolds' Journey to DrupalCon Comparing DrupalCon and WordCamp Funding and Organization of WordPress Events The Collaborative Spirit of the Drupal Community Wishlist for WordPress Features Composer Support in WordPress and Drupal Backward Compatibility in WordPress Challenges with Composer in Drupal Config Management in WordPress vs. Drupal Responsive Image Management User Experience in Drupal Community Collaboration Between WordPress and Drupal Resources Longhorn PHP Conference Oct 23-25 in Austin, TX Call for proposals through July 18 Join #texas-camp in Drupal Slack if you’re interested in organizing a mini Texas Camp to pair with Longhorn PHP Guests Chris Reynolds - Hosts Nic Laflin - John Picozzi - JD Leonard - MOTW Correspondent Martin Anderson-Clutz - Brief description: Have you ever wanted your Drupal site to support WordPress-style shortcodes, macros to be used within content? There’s a module for that. Module name/project name: Brief history How old: created in Sep 2010 by Dénes Szabó (denes.szabo) of Tag1 Versions available: 2.0.3, which supports ^9.3 ^10 ^11 Maintainership Security coverage Test coverage Number of open issues: 30 open issues, 3 of which are bugs against the current branch Usage stats: 13,260 sites (almost 70% are D7 however) Module features and usage For anyone not familiar with WordPress short codes, the documentation describes them as macros, and most often they are used for inserting elements into content such as image galleries, videos, playlists, and more. Shortcodes can also wrap content, however, and it’s possible to nest shortcodes as well. Drupal typically solves the problems addressed by shortcodes using custom HTML elements, as implemented in the media ecosystem, or with the Entity Embed module. I think that shortcodes may also be useful in places where Drupal might also rely on tokens, albeit with an additional module like Token Filter. Gutenberg includes a Shortcode block that can be used as a flexible way to add a variety of elements into a post’s content. I think Shortcodes are an interesting paradigm because they’re really a tool for power users. Instead of providing a UI to browse and choose elements for something like an image gallery, they allow a savvy editor to quickly write a tag that will construct a gallery using numerical ID values. I don’t think this is a tool that most Drupal sites will need, but it could be a really good way for experienced WordPress teams to feel more at home when starting to work with Drupal. /episode/index/show/sacstudio/id/37218965

TD Cafe #005 - Mike Miles and Aubrey Sambor 06/26/2025

TD Cafe #005 - Mike Miles and Aubrey Sambor Join Mike Miles and Aubrey Sambor as they discuss their experiences with public speaking at tech conferences, including the challenges and joys of presenting technical and big-picture talks. Dive into their personal summer plans, ranging from trips to Cape Cod and Asheville to beer festivals and camping adventures. The conversation also explores recent technology updates, such as Figma's site builder and Apple's new 'Liquid Glass' design, emphasizing the importance of accessibility. Tune in for a casual, insightful chat about professional growth, summer fun, and the ever-evolving tech landscape. For show notes visit: Topics Michael Miles Mike is passionate about development and working with the latest open source technologies. He has been working in web engineering since 2003, utilizing a number of different technologies, languages and frameworks. He has been working with Drupal since 2008 and is a regular contributor to the community and project. From 2015 to 2024 he was the lead organizer of the Boston Drupal Meetup Group. Since 2017 has been one of the organizers of New England Drupal Camp. In his day-to-day role as Director of Web Development at MIT Sloan, Mike leads the development, maintenance and growth of the digital properties for the school, as well as, the development team that supports them. He is a public speaker and regularly presents at technical conferences around the world. Since 2013 Mike has presented dozens of talks at many different conferences/camps across the globe. Aubrey Sambor Aubrey is a lead front end developer and accessibility advocate with over 19 years of experience in software development and leadership. She specializes in writing modern CSS, semantic HTML, and performant JavaScript and brings almost two decades of experience in web development across higher education, non-profits, and public sector projects. Aubrey is an active member of the Drupal community, contributing to open source initiatives and speaking at regional and national conferences. She champions accessibility best practices and writes about front end development, music reviews, and knitting projects on her blog, . When she's not coding, Aubrey enjoys running, spinning her own yarn, fountain pens, and exploring local coffee shops and breweries. Casual Conversation and Weather Fitness Routines and Treadmills Podcast Preferences Remote Work and Buffer Time Job Search and Conference Experience Travel Stories and Conference Talks Halloween and Conference Talks Evolving as a Speaker Technical vs. Idea-Driven Talks Managing Bugs and Building Trust Balancing Multiple Talks Figma Sites and Accessibility Concerns Apple's Liquid Glass Design Nostalgia for Old Tech Summer Plans and Conferences Guests Mike Miles - Aubrey Sambor - /episode/index/show/sacstudio/id/37133410

Talking Drupal #508 - Drupal User Groups & Meetups 06/23/2025

Talking Drupal #508 - Drupal User Groups & Meetups In this episode of Talking Drupal, we dive into the world of Drupal user groups and meetups with guests Lee Walker, Bernardo Martinez, and Bo Shipley. Our guests share their experiences in organizing and participating in Drupal communities and the vital role these meetups play in fostering continuous learning and professional development. We also explore the newest features of Drupal Core 11.2 in the Module of the Week. For show notes visit: Topics Meet the Guests: Lee, Bo, and Bernardo Module of the Week: Drupal Core 11.2 Diving into Drupal User Groups and Meetups Personal Journeys into Drupal User Groups The Role of in Drupal Communities Organizing and Attending Meetups vs. Conferences Challenges and Strategies for Growing Meetups Virtual and Hybrid Meetups: Impact on Attendance Success Tips for Organizing Meetups Keeping Meetups Simple and Engaging Preventing Organizer Burnout Challenges and Changes in Meetup Cadence Finding and Retaining Meetup Members Communication Tools for Meetup Groups The Importance of In-Person Meetups Advice for Starting or Restarting Meetups Conclusion and Contact Information Resources Guests Lee Walker - Bo Shipley - Bernardo Martinez - Hosts Stephen Cross - John Picozzi - JD Leonard - Module of the Week with Martin Anderson-Clutz - Single Directory Components (SDCs) have been a focus of excitement for Drupal’s front end developers since they were added to Drupal 10.1 as an experimental module, and merged into 10.3 as a stable feature. With Drupal 11.2, SDCs now have a concept of variants, to allow for different ways of presenting a component’s information. Some component frameworks like Storybook have a somewhat different concept of variants, which is really a set of property value presets that are useful for testing. Variants with Drupal SDCs strike me as being analogous to view modes for content types, in that you can have separate template files for each variant, or you can have conditional logic within a single template based on the variant in use. Our own nicxvan, chx, and some others put some significant work into allowing preprocess hooks to be defined as OOP classes, which bring us a significant step closer to not needing .module files anymore. Hooks (and .module files) are Drupalisms, so removing the need for them is a big improvement for Developer Experience, and makes it easier for developers to get started with Drupal In Drupal 11.2 the module installer has been updated to only rebuild the container after several modules have been installed, which significantly speeds up installing multiple modules at once. Drupal 11.2 also brings us a Recipe Unpack composer extension, so when you composer require a recipe, the dependencies get automatically added to your site’s composer.json file, so you can apply and then remove the recipe and still have a fully functional site Package Manager is now a hidden module in Drupal core, which is critical for initiative like Automatic Updates and Project Browser, that the community has been working on for years Drupal core now also supports the next-generation AVIF format, with WEBP as a fallback with servers that don’t support generating them Of course there are also a variety of dependency updates as well, for CKEDitor, Symfony, composer and more, as well as too many minor improvements and bugfixes to cover in detail here /episode/index/show/sacstudio/id/37059075

Talking Drupal #507 - International Drupal Federation 06/16/2025

TD Cafe #004 - Ivan Stegic & Randy Oest 06/12/2025

TD Cafe #004 - Ivan Stegic & Randy Oest In this episode, Ivan Stegic and Randy Oest discuss the impact of AI on junior developers and other roles, debating whether AI will be a disruptive force in the job market. They delve into the complexities of using LinkedIn for job hunting and effective networking strategies. The conversation shifts to new features in Figma, the potential of AI-driven coding tools like Cursor, and the importance of investing in junior developers. They also explore higher education design systems, innovative business strategies, and reflect on the balance between tactical and digital controls in modern cars. The episode wraps up with a light-hearted chat about slang, parental roles, and mentorship. For show notes visit: Topics Ivan Stegic Ivan is a prominent leader in the Drupal community and the founder of , a Minneapolis-based technology studio specializing in Drupal development, strategy, and digital transformation. With a background in physics and a passion for problem-solving, Ivan transitioned from science to tech, ultimately finding a perfect fit in the open-source world of Drupal. Since founding TEN7 in 2007, Ivan has championed Drupal as a powerful, scalable platform for mission-driven organizations, nonprofits, and enterprises. Under his leadership, TEN7 has delivered impactful Drupal solutions for clients across education, healthcare, and government sectors. Ivan is also known for fostering a people-first company culture grounded in trust, transparency, and continuous improvement. Beyond his work at TEN7, Ivan is an active contributor to the Drupal project, frequently speaking at DrupalCons and camps, hosting the ONE OF 8 BILLION podcast (formerly the TEN7 Podcast), and mentoring others in the community. His advocacy for open source and ethical tech underscores his commitment to using Drupal to make the internet—and the world—a better place. Randy Oest Randy is a design strategist, creative director, and accessibility advocate helping mission-driven organizations craft inclusive, user-centered digital experiences. With a background that spans visual design, front-end development, and content strategy, Randy specializes in building scalable design systems and digital platforms—particularly within the Drupal ecosystem. As the former Creative Director at Four Kitchens, Randy led cross-functional teams in developing cohesive design strategies, architecting front-end systems, and aligning user experience with organizational goals. He’s known for bridging the gap between high-level vision and implementation, ensuring that every project is both beautiful and deeply usable. Beyond his client work, Randy is a frequent speaker at DrupalCon, regional camps, and virtual events, where he shares insights on accessibility, usability, and design systems. A passionate advocate for open-source collaboration and digital equity, he is committed to making the web a more inclusive and empowering space for everyone. Debunking AI Myths: Junior Developers Are Here to Stay Casual Catch-Up: Podcast Conversations and AI Avatars LinkedIn: A Wasteland or a Goldmine? Creative Networking: From Fortune Tellers to Meaningful Connections Figma Innovations: Draw and Sites The Future of Coding: AI Tools and Junior Developers Flying Cars and Spam Texts Dealing with Spam Texts Exploring Higher Education Design Systems The Onion's Creative Agency The Importance of Tactile Controls in Cars Wrapping Up and Future Plans Guests Ivan Stegic - Randy Oest - /episode/index/show/sacstudio/id/36964460

Talking Drupal #506 - Automated Testing Kit 06/09/2025

Talking Drupal #506 - Automated Testing Kit Today we are talking about Automated Testing Kit demo Recipe, Why Automated Testing is important, and How this recipe helps with guest André Angelantoni. We’ll also cover Taxonomy Views Integrator as our module of the week. For show notes visit: Topics What is Automated Testing Kit Features and benefits of Automated Testing Kit Cypress vs Playwright Where should these run Automated Testing Kit recipe Demo configuration Installing and setting up the Kit Using this on an existing site Managing tests and repositories Building and using recipes Debugging and troubleshooting tests Roadmap Resources Documentation Guests André Angelantoni - Hosts Nic Laflin - John Picozzi - Norah Medlin - MOTW Correspondent Martin Anderson-Clutz - Brief description: Have you ever wanted to customize the taxonomy display view for a specific vocabulary, or even a specific taxonomy term? There’s a module for that. Module name/project name: Brief history How old: created in Sep 2009 by Derek Webb (derekwebb1) though the most recent release was made by Kevin Quillen, who was a guest on the podcast in episodes 406 and 500 Versions available: 2.0.0 which works with Drupal 8, 9, 10, and 11 Maintainership Actively maintained Security coverage Test coverage Documentation Number of open issues: 13 open issues, 4 of which are bugs against the 2.0.x branch Usage stats: 24,130 sites Module features and usage After enabling this module, when you edit a vocabulary or a taxonomy term, users with the necessary permissions will see an option to specify a view to show tagged content, and you can also choose which display to use You can create a new view from scratch, or clone the taxonomy/term/* view provided by core, or a view defined in code. Obvious it’s critical for the view to have a contextual filter for a taxonomy term Using this module could allow you to customize the presentation on a view page, for example to make the exposed filters more relevant, or even to split out the content, for example if you wanted to list only news in the main display, and have events and blog posts listed separately in attachments I found this module really helpful during some recent work on the Drupal Event Platform, so I thought I would share it with our listeners /episode/index/show/sacstudio/id/36917930

Talking Drupal #505 - Custom Field Module 06/02/2025

Talking Drupal #505 - Custom Field Module Today we are talking about the Custom Field Module, what it does, and why you might want to use it with guest Andy Marquis. We’ll also cover Facet Bot Blocker as our module of the week. For show notes visit: Topics Meet the Guest: Andy Marquee Module of the Week: Facet Bot Blocker Exploring the Custom Field Module Benefits and Use Cases of Custom Field Module Custom Field Module vs. Other Solutions Advanced Features and Integrations Reflecting on Past Projects and Key Value Use Cases and Flexibility of Custom Fields Advanced Features and Integrations Challenges and Limitations Future Roadmap and Improvements Resources Guests Andy Marquis - Hosts Nic Laflin - John Picozzi - Norah Medlin - MOTW Correspondent Martin Anderson-Clutz - Brief description: Have you been looking for an inexpensive way to mitigate an upsurge of bot traffic on your Drupal site’s faceted search pages? There’s a module for that Module name/project name: Brief history How old: created in Mar 2025, so about two months ago, by John Brandenburg (bburg) of Forum One Versions available: 1.0.2 which support Drupal 10 and 11 Maintainership Actively maintained Security coverage Number of open issues: 4 open issues, one of which is a bug, but it did have a fix merged 4 days ago Usage stats: 106 sites Module features and usage A number of sites are seeing a huge upswing in bot traffic, and quite often a big part of that bot traffic is on one or more pages with faceted search Crawlers try to request every permutation of every possible combination of facets. If your page has multiple facets, and in particular facets that accept multiple values, the number of permutations becomes huge Facet Bot Blocker works by allowing you to set a maximum number of facet requests to allow, what error to return, and a custom HTML message to return to blocked user agents If you have Memcache or Redis available, it’s recommended to use the appropriate module, and Facet Bot Blocker will automatically store its settings there for reduced database reads The project page is also clear that if you are able to use a true Web Application Firewall (like Cloudflare or Akamai), that would be a better strategy. But if you don’t have one available, Facet Bot Blocker can help to mitigate the surges in bot traffic that are causing problems for many Drupal sites, particularly those hosted on platforms that charge based on usage /episode/index/show/sacstudio/id/36790350

TD Cafe #003 - Mike Anello & Mike Herchel 05/29/2025

TD Cafe #003 - Mike Anello & Mike Herchel In this episode, Mike Anello and Mike Herchel dive into a casual conversation covering a wide array of topics. They start by discussing the concept of a podcast with almost no effort required and the mystery of Stephen's involvement. The conversation then quickly shifts to Florida Drupal Camp, mentioning its impressive 16 uninterrupted years, the increase in attendees, and how fun it is. They touch upon single directory components in Drupal, their importance, and intricacies like CSS styling, schemas, and Experience Builder. The discussion also includes insights into popular Drupal events like Florida Drupal Camp, Drupal Dev Days, and the upcoming DrupalCon. They infuse humor and personal anecdotes while engaging in thoughtful technical exchanges and playful banter. For show notes visit: Topics Michael Anello Mike, widely recognized by his username "ultimike," is a prominent figure in the Drupal community with over 15 years of experience as a developer, educator, and community leader. As the co-founder and vice president of DrupalEasy, a Florida-based training and consulting firm, he has been instrumental inshaping the careers of countless Drupal professionals through comprehensive programs like Drupal Career Online and Professional Module Development . Anello's contributions extend beyond education. He has been deeply involved in the Drupal ecosystem, serving as a core contributor to the Migrate module, co-maintaining several contributed modules, and actively participating in issue queues and documentation efforts . His leadership roles include membership in the Drupal Community Working Group and the Conflict Resolution Team, as well as organizing the Florida Drupal Users' Group and Florida DrupalCamp for over a decade. As the host of the long-running DrupalEasy Podcast, Anello provides insights into Drupal development, community news, and interviews with key contributors, fostering a sense of connection and ongoing learning within the community (). His dedication to mentoring and community building has made him a respected and influential voice in the Drupal world. Mike Herchel Mike is a seasoned front-end developer and a prominent contributor to the Drupal community, with over 15 years of experience in web development. He is best known as the lead developer of Olivero, Drupal's default front-end theme, which emphasizes accessibility, modern design, and user experience. (ImageX) In addition to his work on Olivero, Mike serves as a core CSS maintainer for Drupal and is the creator of the Quicklink module, which enhances site performance by preloading links in the user's viewport. He also has amazing calves. They're the size of small children. Rumor has it that his vertical jump is over 4.5 inches! He has also contributed to the introduction of Single Directory Components (SDC) into Drupal core, aiming to streamline component-based theming. Beyond his technical contributions, Mike is an active community leader. He has served on the Drupal Association Board of Directors and is a primary organizer of Florida DrupalCamp. (Drupal) As a speaker, he has presented at various events, including EvolveDrupal, discussing topics like the future of Drupal theming and the Starshot initiative, which seeks to make Drupal more accessible to site builders. Professionally, Mike works as a Senior Front-End Developer at Agileana, where he continues to advocate for accessibility, performance, and the open web. He shares his insights and experiences through his personal blog at , contributing to the ongoing evolution of Drupal and its community. Discussion Topics: The Best Podcast Idea Ever Florida Drupal Camp: A Legacy of Success Single Directory Components: Getting Started TD Cafe: The Podcast Name Debate Deep Dive into Single Directory Components Experience Builder and Component Integration Custom Themes and Single Directory Components Design Tool Integration CSS Variables and Component Architecture Template File vs Render Array CSS Preferences: Plain CSS vs Post CSS Top Drupal Events Concluding Remarks and Personal Plans Guests Mike Anello - Mike Herchel - /episode/index/show/sacstudio/id/36744590

Talking Drupal #504 - The Marketplace 05/26/2025

Talking Drupal #504 - The Marketplace In this episode of Talking Drupal, we dive into the intricacies of the Drupal marketplace initiative with our guest, Tiffany Farriss, CEO and co-owner of Palantir.net and long-time board member of the Drupal Association. We explore the goals and challenges of creating a trusted Drupal marketplace, discuss how site templates can lower the barrier to entry for new users, and examine the importance of maintaining community trust and the sustainability of Drupal. This episode also includes a spotlight on the Views CSV Source module and an in-depth discussion on community feedback, the potential value and business models for site templates, and the steps needed to make a go/no-go decision on the marketplace by the upcoming Vienna event. For show notes visit: Topics Meet Our Guest: Tiffany Farriss Module of the Week: Views CSV Source Deep Dive into Views CSV Source Introduction to the Drupal Marketplace Goals and Challenges of the Marketplace Working Group Community Feedback and Sustainability Monetization and Fairness in the Marketplace Risk Mitigation and Future Plans Exploring the Impact of Releases and Usage Challenges and Successes of the Drupal Marketplace Defining the MVP for the Drupal Marketplace Addressing Community Concerns and Governance Engaging the Community and Next Steps Final Thoughts and Contact Information Resources Guests Tiffany Farriss - Hosts Nic Laflin - John Picozzi - Norah Medlin - MOTW Correspondent Martin Anderson-Clutz - Brief description: Have you ever wanted to present data within your Drupal website that comes from a CSV flat file, without having to import that data to your Drupal database? There’s a module for that. Module name/project name: Brief history How old: created in March 2024 by Daniel Cothran (andileco) of JSI, though I met Danieal at Midcamp earlier this week and he was emphatic that his colleague and co-maintainer Nia Kathoni (nikathone) deserves significant credit Versions available: 1.0.11, which works with Drupal 8.8, 9, 10, and 11 Maintainership Actively maintained, latest release was last month Security coverage Test coverage Documentation - a robust README Number of open issues: 4 open issues, none of which are bugs Usage stats: 56 sites Module features and usage With Views CSV Source installed, you can create a view that uses a CSV as a source instead of the Drupal site’s data. You can point to a file within your site’s filesystem, or it can be a remotely hosted CSV. If the file requires authentication for access, it is also possible to include encoded credentials in a header. Now you can use CSV Fields to specify the columns you want to pull into the view, and you can use the “group by” to specify datasets to represent, for example to plot as lines in a chart You can also create filters, either a CSV Field that acts a standard text filter, or a CSV Field Options filter that creates a dropdown of all the unique values in a specified column Your assembled data can be shown in tables or charts, and can also be manipulated using standard view configuration, or using contributed modules like Views Simple Math Field The module also comes with sort and a contextual filter plugins It was impressed by a demo of Views CSV Source in a lightning talk at Midcamp yesterday, so I thought it would be fun to talk about today /episode/index/show/sacstudio/id/36690405

Talking Drupal #503 - TD Cafe #002 - John and Jason 05/19/2025

Talking Drupal #503 - TD Cafe #002 - John and Jason In this episode, John Picozzi and Jason Pamental explore the connections fostered by using Drupal across different geographies, the evolution of conferences, and how design systems are being utilized at Chewy. We also delve into the application of AI in e-commerce and coding, and discuss the practicalities of maintaining governance in large organizations. Join us for an engaging discussion filled with personal anecdotes, professional insights, and future prospects. For show notes visit: Topics John Picozzi John Picozzi is the Solutions Architect at EPAM Systems, where he helps organizations implement scalable and sustainable digital solutions—most often using Drupal. With over a decade of experience in web development, John has become a trusted voice in the Drupal community for his commitment to open source, user-centered design, and thoughtful architecture. John is a contributor to Drupal and an active member of the community as the organizer of the Drupal Providence Meetup and New England Drupal Camp. He’s also well known as a co-host of the Talking Drupal podcast, a weekly show focused on all things Drupal, where he interviews community members and shares insights on development, strategy, and community engagement. Outside of podcasting and coding, John frequently speaks at DrupalCamps and conferences across the U.S., offering sessions that span technical deep dives to community and career development topics. You can find more about his work and speaking engagements at , or follow him on Jason Pamental Jason Pamental is a designer, strategist, and technologist specializing in typography, variable fonts, and digital design systems. He is currently Principal Designer at Chewy, where he leads their design system efforts and helps guide their mobile app architecture and strategy. With over 30 years of experience, Jason has worked with organizations such as Adobe, ESPN, Fidelity, and the State of Rhode Island to shape impactful digital experiences. He’s a globally recognized expert in web typography and the author of Responsive Typography. His work has helped define how variable fonts are used on the web today. Jason is a frequent speaker at conferences like Beyond Tellerrand, An Event Apart, and SmashingConf, and he shares his knowledge through writing, teaching, and open source contributions. His articles, presentations, and resources can be found at — short for Responsive Web Typography — and many of his talks, videos, and associated resources are available on An active supporter of the open web and the Drupal community, Jason is committed to bridging the gap between design and development. Outside of work, he enjoys riding bikes, making espresso, spending time with his family in Rhode Island, and following Leo and Henry around Turner Reservoir, posting photos on Instagram. Hosts John Picozzi - Jason Pamental - . /episode/index/show/sacstudio/id/36618480

Talking Drupal #502 - TD Cafe #001 Martin and Jake 05/12/2025

Talking Drupal #502 - TD Cafe #001 Martin and Jake Welcome to the first episode of Talking Drupal Cafe. Join Martin and Jake as they delve into an insightful conversation exploring the challenges and responsibilities associated with being a module maintainer. Discussing project types, the significance of sandbox modules, the impact of Drupal CMS, and the role of AI tools, they highlight issues around burnout, sustainability, and community support. Discover how the Drupal community can better support maintainers and the importance of continued contributions. This episode also touches on upcoming conferences and the significance of face-to-face interactions in the Drupal community. Martin Anderson-Clutz Martin is a highly respected figure in the Drupal community, known for his extensive contributions as a developer, speaker, and advocate for open-source innovation. Based in London, Ontario, Canada, Martin began his career as a graphic designer before transitioning into web development. His journey with Drupal started in late 2005 when he was seeking a robust multilingual CMS solution, leading him to embrace Drupal's capabilities. () Martin holds the distinction of being the world's first Triple Drupal Grand Master, certified across Drupal 7, 8, and 9 as a Developer, Front-End Specialist, and Back-End Specialist. (TheDropTimes) He also possesses certifications in various Acquia products and is UX certified by the Nielsen Norman Group. () Currently serving as a Senior Solutions Engineer at Acquia, Martin has been instrumental in advancing Drupal's ecosystem. He has developed and maintains several contributed modules, including Smart Date and Search Overrides, and has been actively involved in the Drupal Recipes initiative, particularly focusing on event management solutions. () His current work on the Event Platform aims to streamline the creation and management of event-based websites within Drupal. (TheDropTimes) Beyond development, Martin is a prominent speaker and educator, having presented at numerous Drupal events such as DrupalCon Barcelona and EvolveDrupal. He is also a co-host of the "Talking Drupal" podcast, where he leads the "Module of the Week" segment, sharing insights on various Drupal modules. () Martin's dedication to the Drupal community is evident through his continuous efforts to mentor, innovate, and promote best practices within the open-source landscape.(TheDropTimes) Jacob Rockowitz Jacob is a prominent figure in the Drupal community, best known for developing and maintaining the Webform module—one of the most widely used and feature-rich form-building tools in the Drupal ecosystem. His work has significantly enhanced Drupal's capabilities in form creation, data collection, and user interaction. Rockowitz began his Drupal journey while working as a consultant for Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), where he spent over 18 years. Facing the need for robust form functionality during MSK's early adoption of Drupal 8, he created YAML Form, which later evolved into the Webform module for Drupal 8 . This module has since become integral to many Drupal sites, offering extensive features for form management.() Beyond Webform, Jacob has contributed to other projects like the Blueprints module, aiming to improve structured content modeling in Drupal. He is also an advocate for open-source sustainability, often discussing the importance of community involvement and the challenges of maintaining large-scale open-source projects .(, ) As an active member of the Drupal community, Rockowitz frequently speaks at events such as DrupalCon and New England Drupal Camp, sharing his insights on module development and community engagement . He maintains a personal blog at , where he writes about his experiences and thoughts on Drupal development.(Drupal) For show notes visit: Topics Introduction to Project Maintenance Types of Projects and Their Significance Sandbox Modules and Work Projects Passion Projects and Inherited Projects Challenges in Managing Multiple Modules The Role of Recipes in Project Management AI and Automation in Project Maintenance The Future of Project Maintenance and Contributions Evolving Drupal and Community Contributions Enterprise Features and the Trash Module Marketplace and Site Templates AI and the Future of Web Development Contribution Credits and Bounties Guiding Users and Module Selection Drupal Adjacent Solutions Sustainability of Contribution The Importance of Community Engagement Hosts Martin Anderson-Clutz - Jacob Rockowitz - /episode/index/show/sacstudio/id/36521840

Talking Drupal #501 - 500 with Dries501 05/08/2025

Talking Drupal #500 - Community Edition 05/05/2025

Talking Drupal #499 - Contact Form Initiative 04/28/2025

Talking Drupal #498 - DOJ Accessibility Ruling 04/21/2025

Talking Drupal #498 - DOJ Accessibility Ruling In this episode of Talking Drupal, we discuss the latest DOJ accessibility ruling and its implications for Drupal with special guest Josh Mitchell. Josh, a seasoned expert who has led teams in digital agencies, governments, and non-profits, sheds light on what the ruling means for state and local governments, the importance of accessibility, and steps to achieve compliance. We also explore the Sa11y module, a powerful tool for enhancing website accessibility, and compare it with the Editorially module. Additionally, we touch on the upcoming MID Camp 2025. Tune in for an insightful discussion on making web content more accessible for all. For show notes visit: Topics Can you give us an overview of the DOJ Accessibility Ruling Does this apply to federal websites When does this go into effect How does this affect current sites Hwo is Drupal positioned against this Does this rule apply to all content such as PDFs Any tips to organizations JS widgets Resources Fact sheet for meeting the requirements of the rule Guests Joshua "Josh" Mitchell - Hosts Nic Laflin - John Picozzi - Kathy Beck - MOTW Correspondent Martin Anderson-Clutz - Brief description: Have you ever wanted your Drupal site to have a built-in accessibility tool that could identify things like potential color contrast issues? There’s a module for that Module name/project name: Brief history It’s worth mentioning that the name is a numeronym, so spelled s-a-1-1-y, which plays off of a common way the word “accessibility” is abbreviated How old: created in Jan 2018 by Bryan Sharpe (b_sharpe) but the namespace was taken over in Jun 2024 by Mark Conroy (markconroy) of LocalGov Drupal, so the current 3.0.1 release, which supports Drupal 10 and 11, is a completely different module than the original 8.x-1.x branch. Maintainership Actively maintained, in fact this module came out of the ongoing work being done on the LocalGov distribution and profile Security coverage Test coverage: no, but the module is effectively just a wrapper for the Sa11y library, which is CMS agnostic and used in the Wordpress and Joomla communities as well The Sa11y library has its own website, which includes documentation Number of open issues: 1 open issues, which isn’t a bug Usage stats: 62 sites Module features and usage We did cover the Editoria11y accessibility checker as MOTW all the way back in episode #350, almost 3 years ago, and Sa11y was mentioned at that time. Both modules have had major releases since then, so I thought this week’s episode would be a chance to do an updated comparison Sa11y does include some checks that Editoria11y does not, such as color contrast checking and a readability score The Editoria11y module, on the other hand, includes site-wide reporting that would be helpful for site admins, as well as a wealth of configuration options including one or more DOM elements to use as the container to check within, a list of elements to exclude, and so on. Recent versions of Editoria11y also include an option for live feedback as you edit, which should work with CKEditor 5, Paragraphs 5 or newer, and Gutenberg At the end of the day, however, both projects are intended to provide your content editors with immediate feedback on the accessibility compliance of what they create. So, it’s worth looking at the feedback each tool provides and deciding which one is more useful for your team in particular /episode/index/show/sacstudio/id/36222415

Talking Drupal #497 - Drupal Forge 04/14/2025

Talking Drupal #497 - Drupal Forge Today we are talking about Drupal Forge, how it works, and why it’s changing Drupal with guest Darren Oh. We’ll also cover ECA VBO as our module of the week. For show notes visit: Topics Elevator pitch for Drupal forge What is Drupal Forge built on What is the pricing model Does Drupal Forge only allow you to install Drupal CMS Drupal Forge and templates, was there an influence on Site Templates Why offer templates for Drupal Forge Camps Is Drupal Forge open source What is on the Roadmap How can people get involved Resources Guests Darren Oh - Hosts Nic Laflin - John Picozzi - Kathy Beck - MOTW Correspondent Martin Anderson-Clutz - Brief description: Have you ever wanted a powerful and flexible way to create views bulk operations without writing code? There’s a module for that. Module name/project name: Brief history How old: created in May 2022 by mxh, a prolific maintainer in his own right, and an active member of the group that has made the ECA ecosystem so far-reaching Versions available: 1.1.1 and 2.1.1, the latter of which supports ^10.3 || ^11 Maintainership Actively maintained Security coverage Documentation: sort of. The README has step-by-step instructions, and the project page has links to both an example model and a tutorial video Number of open issues: 7 open issues, 1 of which are bugs against the current branch Usage stats: 320 sites Module features and usage With the module installed, your site will have a number of Events available within ECA, specifically for defining models that can perform bulk actions on the selected items in a view. In my own experience the most useful event is VBO: Execute Views bulk operation (one by one) From there, you can define the logic of what needs to happen to the selected items. I’ve used it for fairly simple operations like changing content to a specific moderation state, but you could define complex logic that is conditional on field values, site configuration, or even global factors like the time of day With one or more models defined, you can now add a field to your view for ECA bulk operations and then select which eligible models you want available in that specific view It’s worth adding that the ECA model can also include logic to define who should have access to perform a particular operation, which could be as simple as checking the role of the current user, but can be as complex as you need I came across ECA VBO during some recent work on the Drupal Event Platform, which is already available to try out on Drupal Forge, but there should be a more formal announcement on that front soon /episode/index/show/sacstudio/id/36126715

Talking Drupal #496 - Getting Back to Drupal Basics 04/07/2025

Talking Drupal #496 - Getting Back to Drupal Basics Today we are talking about Drupal Basics, Why we got away from them, and what we do to bring them back with guest Mike Anello. We’ll also cover Entity Reference Override as our module of the week. For show notes visit: Topics Where did this idea come from Why do you feel more basic content is necessary How did Drupal get away from the basics How can we get more basic talks into Drupal events How do we balance basic content with new topics like recipes or Drupal CMS How do we entice speakers to take these talks Could this adversely affect attendance Question from Stephen: How do we address virtual events and that they are preferred by a younger crowd Will Florida Drupal Camp have a track Guests Mike Anello - Hosts Nic Laflin - John Picozzi - Kathy Beck - MOTW Correspondent Martin Anderson-Clutz - Brief description: Have you ever wanted to replace a text field on entities you reference in your Drupal site? There’s a module for that. Module name/project name: Brief history How old: created in Sep 2016 by Jeff Eaton, though recent releases are by Benjamin Melançon (mlncn) of Agaric Versions available: 2.0.0-beta3 which works with Drupal 10.1 or 11 Maintainership Actively maintained Security coverage, yes but needs a stable release Test coverage Documentation - user guide Number of open issues: 13 open issues, 2 of which are bugs against the 2.0.x branch Usage stats: 2,004 sites Module features and usage The module defines a new field type, with associated widgets and formatters. Your site editors will see a normal entity reference field (autocomplete or select) with an additional text field. Text provided in that additional field can be used to override a specific field in the referenced entity’s display, or add a class to its rendered markup. This could be handy in use cases like showing people with project-specific roles, or showing related articles with the summary tweaked to be more relevant to the main content being viewed. It’s not a super-common need, but if you need this capability, it can save having to set up a more complicated content architecture with some kind of intermediary entity I thought this module would be interesting because today’s guest, Mike Anello, is listed as one of the maintainers. Mike, what can you tell us about your history with the module and how you’ve used it? /episode/index/show/sacstudio/id/36035485

Talking Drupal #495 - Live From DrupalCon! 03/31/2025

Talking Drupal #494 - AI in EDU 03/24/2025

Talking Drupal #494 - AI in EDU Today we are talking about AI in EDU, how it can provide efficiencies, and how you might start using it today with guests Brian Piper & Mike Miles . We’ll also cover External Entities as our module of the week. For show notes visit: Topics How are you using AI with your team at Rochester How are you using AI with your team at MIT What are the AI policies at your institutions On the ingestion side how do you manage consumption Tips and tricks to incorporate AI into your work Can you talk more about using AI to distribute content outside the web Do you have tips for managers How have you seen EDUs using AI other than as assistive technology What are your favorite tools Have you done adversarial testing How does AI in Drupal impact EDU Where do you see AI in EDU in the future Resources Tools Text to video Guests Brian Piper - Mike Miles - Hosts Nic Laflin - John Picozzi - Andrew Berry - MOTW Correspondent Martin Anderson-Clutz - Brief description: Have you ever wanted to connect your Drupal website to an external data source, to include their datasets into the presentation of your Drupal-managed content? There’s a module for that Module name/project name: Brief history How old: created in May 2015 by attiks, though the most recent release is by Colan Schwartz (colan), a fellow Canadian Versions available: 8.x-2.0-beta1 and 3.0.0-beta4, the latter of which supports Drupal 10 and 11 Maintainership Actively maintained, latest release was less than a month ago Security coverage (though technically needs a stable release Test coverage Documentation: user guide Number of open issues: 77 open issues, 3 of which are bugs against the 3.x branch, though one is marked fixed now Usage stats: 679 sites Module features and usage The External Entities module lets you map fields from external data sources to fields on a “virtual” entity in Drupal. This allows for external data to be used with Drupal’s powerful features like Views, Entity Queries, or Search API as well as use your local Drupal site’s theme to theme data from an external source The module does provide a time-based caching layer for external entities, but you can also implement a more custom cache expiration logic through custom code External entities can also have annotations, essentially Drupal-managed information that will be associated with the external entity, and accessed as a normal field through all Drupal field operations. This could allow you to have Drupal-based comments on information from a different website, for example There is a sizeable ecosystem of companion modules, to help you connect to different kinds of external storage, as to help you aggregate data from multiple sources In my Drupal career I’ve worked on a number of higher ed websites, and the ability to display externally-managed data is a pretty common requirement, either from an HRIS system to show staff and faculty data, or a courseware solution like Banner. I thought this would be an interesting tangent to today’s topic /episode/index/show/sacstudio/id/35836805

Talking Drupal #493 - Drupal Developer Survey 03/17/2025

Talking Drupal #493 - Drupal Developer Survey Today we are talking about The Drupal Developer Survey, Last year's results, and How it helps Drupal with guest Mike Richardson. We’ll also cover HTMX as our module of the week. For show notes visit: Topics What is the Drupal Developer Survey How often does it come out How did it come to be What type of information does it collect Do you look at other surveys What were some of the most interesting stats last year Core contributors How do you expect last year to compare to this year Do you think the outlook will be more positive with Drupal CMS Drop off in Drupal 7 Home users DDEV usage AI questions Security questions Resources Guests Mike Richardson - Hosts Nic Laflin - John Picozzi - Andrew Berry - MOTW Correspondent Martin Anderson-Clutz - Brief description: Have you ever wanted to replace Drupal’s AJAX capabilities with a lightweight library that has no additional dependencies? There’s a module for that. Module name/project name: Brief history How old: created in May 2023 by wouters_f though recent releases are by fathershawn of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Versions available: 1.3.5 and 1.4.0, both of which support Drupal 10.3 and 11 Maintainership Actively maintained, latest release less than a month ago Security coverage Test coverage Documentation included in the repo as well as online Number of open issues: 3 open issues, 1 of which is a bug Usage stats: 92 sites Module features and usage To use HTMX, you need to attach the library to the render array of one or more elements where you want to use it, and then add data attributes to your render array that indicate how you want HTMX to react to user behaviour HTMX can help make your Drupal sites more interactive by dynamically loading or reloading parts of a page, giving it a more “application-like” user experience There is a planning issue to discuss gradually replace Drupal’s current AJAX system with HTMX, and a related Proof Of Concept showing how that could work with an existing Drupal admin form A number of elements in the current AJAX system also rely on jQuery, so adopting HTMX would also help to phase out jQuery in core. HTMX is also significantly more lightweight than JS frameworks like React HTMX is really a developer-oriented project, which is why I thought it would be appropriate for this week’s episode /episode/index/show/sacstudio/id/35724015

Talking Drupal #492 - Pantheon Content Publisher 03/10/2025

Talking Drupal #492 - Pantheon Content Publisher Today we are talking about Pantheon Content Publisher, How it brings Google Docs to Drupal, and why you might want to use it with guests Chris Reynolds & John Money. We’ll also cover QR Code Fields as our module of the week. For show notes visit: Topics What is Pantheon Content Publisher Why was Pantheon Content Publisher created How does it work with Google docs How do you handle revisions How do you target environments Can you do structured content How do reference existing content How does this use GraphQL What are some of the use cases you are seeing Who should not use Pantheon Content Publisher Can I develop the SDCs locally with Pantheon Content Publisher What is the ingestion layer like AI layer Talking Drupal workflow Do you have a process for bulk publishing How does startup look Is it PCC or PCP Can Pantheon Content Publisher customers push their own non google content Is Pantheon Content Publisher open source Is there a cost Can you translate content Resources Guests Chris Reynolds - John Money - Hosts Nic Laflin - John Picozzi - Andrew Berry - MOTW Correspondent Martin Anderson-Clutz - Brief description: Have you ever wanted your Drupal site to generate various kinds of QR codes? There’s a module for that. Module name/project name: Brief history How old: created in Nov 2023 by Sujan Shrestha of Nepal Versions available: 1.1.1 and 2.1.3, the latter of which works with Drupal 10 and 11 Maintainership Actively maintained Number of open issues: 4 open issues, none of which are bugs Usage stats: 134 sites Module features and usage This module defines not just one but 9 new fields for generating QR codes, including for URLs, vCards, MeCards, Events, and more Each field QR accepts inputs based on the associated information that should be exposed. So a URL QR Code field only accepts an input for the URL destination, while an Event QR Code has inputs for a summary, description, location, start, and end. The module also provides a custom block plugin for each type of QR code, to make it easier to display your QR codes wherever you need for your specific use case The QR Code Fields module also defines a service for generating QR code images, which could also be useful for more custom implementations. /episode/index/show/sacstudio/id/35577730

Talking Drupal #491 - OpenY 03/03/2025

Talking Drupal #491 - OpenY Today we are talking about OpenY, a distribution for YMCAs, why it was created, and how it’s used today with guests Avi Schwab and Brent Wilker. We’ll also cover AI Media Image as our module of the week. For show notes visit: Topics What is OpenY Why is it important to the YMCA How many Y's use it Is each Y independent technologically Why doesn't the Y create a platform as a service How do you get the message out about OpenY What does a Y pay for and how do they pay What is the governance layer like Any thoughts on recipes How does theming work New features to come How does ImageX support OpenY Resources MOTW YMCA Sandboxes Get in touch with ImageX about Open Y Avi’s sourdough recipe base and flour Guests Brent Wilker - Hosts Nic Laflin - John Picozzi - Avi Schwab - MOTW Correspondent Martin Anderson-Clutz - Brief description: Have you ever wanted to use AI to generate images, and save them directly into the Drupal media library once you have the result you want? There’s a module for that. Module name/project name: Brief history How old: created in Feb 2025 by coffeymachine Versions available: 1.0.0-alpha2 Maintainership Actively maintained Security coverage: technically, but needs a stable release Number of open issues: 2 open issues, neither of which are bugs Usage stats: 9 sites Module features and usage We have talked before on the podcast about a couple of ways you could use AI to generate images directly within a Drupal website. One used all the latest OpenAI APIs and the other had media library integration, though it only worked through its own admin form. Both were built to specifically DALL•E, OpenAI’s image generation service. This new module is a big leap forward because it’s based on Drupal’s powerful and rapidly innovating AI module, so it can work with multiple AI image generation services. What’s more, AI Media Image plugs into the Drupal core media system, so you can use the tool to generate images directly within the media library, including when you open it up in a modal to populate an entity reference field. This makes it significantly more intuitive to use this capability as part of a normal content creation flow. There are a couple of things that may not be intuitive when you first start using AI Media Image. For example, by default it uses the prompt you used to create the image as the alt text that will be saved to the media library. That seems unexpected to me, but if the prompt exceeds the max alt text length of 255 characters then it will throw an error and then you can overwrite the value of the prompt field to contain proper alt text before saving the image to the media library. This is one of the open issues mentioned earlier and resolving it would really improving the experience of using this module I got to play around with this module while preparing a demo for a session about AI I delivered with Mike Anello at Florida Drupalcamp on the weekend, so we’ll try to include a link in the notes so you can also watch for that recording and see this module in action /episode/index/show/sacstudio/id/35487310

Talking Drupal #490 - Drupal Contrib First 02/24/2025

Talking Drupal #490 - Drupal Contrib First Today we are talking about Drupal Contribution, how you can approach it within your company, and why a Contrib First approach is important with guest Steve Wirt. We’ll also cover Config Importer & Tools as our module of the week. For show notes visit: Topics What is contrib first How does this help the Drupal community Why is it a good idea for companies How do you explain this to non dev folks like CEOs or Presidents What do you say if a client does not buy in How do you monitor and build confidence in other developers How can someone get started Any tools or tips for someone trying to bootstrap this Resources MOTW Link shortners or link shorteners for d.o Guests Steve Wirt - Hosts Nic Laflin - John Picozzi - Avi Schwab - MOTW Correspondent Avi Schwab - Brief description: Have you ever wanted to streamline the management of config changes during your Drupal project deployment - importing individual configuration changes from contrib or custom modules and synchronizing settings across different environments? There’s a module for that. Module name/project name: Brief history How old: created in April 2016 by Andrii Podanenko(podarok) Versions available: 3.2.0 version which works with Drupal 9 and 10, D11 fixes are in the queue. Maintainership Actively maintained - although it’s a developer module that’s been mostly stable, so there have not been many recent changes. Security coverage Test coverage - unit tests Documentation - video documenting the process on the module page and instructions in the project overview Number of open issues: 8 open issues, 3 of which are bugs against the current branch Usage stats: 300 sites Maintainer(s): 7 maintainers across a few different agencies in Ukraine Module features and usage This module has no UI, and all of its work is done using it’s config_import services, either importer or param_updater The importer service imports full config files The param_updater service pulls in single parameters from a config file. Both can be used in .install files of contrib modules or on your own site to pull in configuration during database updates, which can be helpful for adding a new feature, modifying existing features, or pushing changes to many sites. There is also a “spiritual successor” to the Confi module called “Upgrade Tool” which has similar functionality with some extra functionality too. /episode/index/show/sacstudio/id/35378760

Talking Drupal #489 - IXP Community Initiative 02/17/2025

Talking Drupal #489 - IXP Community Initiative Today we are talking about The IXP Fellowship Initiative, Workplace Developer Training, and making Drupal better for the little guy with guests Carlos Ospina & Mike Anello. We’ll also cover Cloudflare Turnstile as our module of the week. For show notes visit: Topics What is the IXP initiative Why does the community think this is important What is the current status What changed in the last 10 years How do we encourage businesses to do this How can people get involved Resources Alternatives - privacy-focused alternative, still image-based - open, self-hosted option. Seems more basic. Posts referencing Irvine study #ixp-fellowship on the Drupal Slack Workspace Guests Carlos Ospina - Mike Anello - Hosts Nic Laflin - John Picozzi - Avi Schwab - MOTW Correspondent Martin Anderson-Clutz - Brief description: Have you ever wanted to use Cloudflare’s Turnstile web service to secure Drupal web forms, as an alternative to more intrusive CAPTCHA widgets that force users to select squares that contain traffic lights, cars, or bicycles? There’s a module for that. Module name/project name: Brief history How old: created in Sep 2022 by Adam Weiss (greatmatter) Versions available: 1.1.13 which works with Drupal 9.4, 10, and 11 Maintainership Actively maintained Security coverage Number of open issues: 6 open issues, 3 of which are bugs, with 2 of them postponed Usage stats: 3,981 sites Module features and usage Anyone who maintains a Drupal site is well acquainted with the need to mitigate form spam submissions. Best practices around which tool to use are an ever-changing conversation. Recently Google announced that reCAPTCHA implementations will need to be associated with a Google Cloud account, and will need to enable payment for anything that exceeds the free allowance of 10,000 assessments per month reCAPTCHA v2 widgets are notorious for the challenges they can present to actual users, particularly image challenges. In addition, a 2023 UC Irvine study concluded that “the true purpose of reCAPTCHAv2 is as a tracking cookie farm for profit masquerading as a security service”, so it’s definitely worth considering other solutions Cloudflare developed turnstile as a CAPTCHA alternative, designed to provide security while minimizing the friction for actual users. More importantly, Turnstile never harvests data for ad retargeting. A free Turnstile account can create up to 10 widgets, with unlimited usage. The turnstile module plugs into the existing Drupal CAPTCHA ecosystem, so it can be an easy swap out for anywhere you’re currently using CAPTCHA widgets. /episode/index/show/sacstudio/id/35286510

Talking Drupal #488 - Drupal Open University 02/10/2025

Talking Drupal #488 - Drupal Open University Today we are talking about The open university initiative, Drupal in academia, and Fostering Drupal Education with guest Jean-Paul Vosmeer. We’ll also cover Artisan as our module of the week. For show notes visit: Topics What is the Drupal Open University Initiative How did this initiative start Why is it important to get Drupal into Universities and Classrooms What stage is the initiative at Is Drupal currently in any universities Is it better to approach schools or professors directly How is the curriculum being developed What are the main differences between this initiative and resources like , Drupal at your fingertips, or Drupal TB What is next on the roadmap Where does Drupal CMS fit in Where does the initiative need help How can someone get involved Resources OSPO Guests Jean-Paul Vosmeer - Hosts Nic Laflin - John Picozzi - Avi Schwab - MOTW Correspondent Martin Anderson-Clutz - Brief description: Have you ever wanted to use the Drupal UI to configure numerous aspects of your Drupal site’s look and feel? There’s a theme for that. Module name/project name: Brief history How old: created in Sep 2024 by alejandro cabarcos though recent releases are by crzdev, both of metadrop Versions available: 1.3.8, which support Drupal 10 and 11 Maintainership Actively maintained, release in the last week Security coverage Documentation: no, but a lengthy README that includes developer notes Number of open issues: 7 open issues, 5 of which are bugs, but 3 are postponed Usage stats: 170 sites Module features and usage After installing the theme, there is a drush command to generate a subtheme, or you can manually duplicate an included starterkit. You also need to run a couple of npm commands to pull in all the front end libraries, and build the CSS files Once you set the subtheme as your site default, you can customize a variety of ways the site looks, including the fonts and weights to use for heading and default text, the colour and padding of various elements, border weights, border radius, and more. The customizations are grouped into tabs. The base tab includes a colour palette, base font, and link styling. Additional tabs include page layout, header, responsive, and footer, also breadcrumb, headings, display headings, buttons, forms, and components Artisan also provides a toggle to expose extra customization options for dark mode, so if you want your site to give users the option to switch back and forth between normal and dark, this is extremely powerful, but does make for some very long configuration pages You can create and save presets, for easy creation of reusable palettes There is also a companion Artisan Styleguide module that provides a page that previews the theme style applied to an extensive list of elements Last year I was considering making a more configurable subtheme of Olivero for the Event Platform initiative, so I was excited to read about Artisan in a metadrop blog post we’ll include in the show notes /episode/index/show/sacstudio/id/35222215

Talking Drupal #487 - Single Directory Components Workflow 02/03/2025

Talking Drupal #487 - Single Directory Components Workflow Today we are talking about Single Directory Components, How best to work with them, and their future with Drupal with guest Brian Perry. We’ll also cover Embedded Content as our module of the week. For show notes visit: Topics What are Single Directory Components (SDC) Why the switch to SDCs What is there in common between decoupled and SDCs Can you give us an overview of your workflow Common pitfalls How should someone get started working with SDCs Does it work with Paragraphs and Blocks? Does it need to be all at once How do you think SDCs will evolve Do you see this leading to more Decoupled front ends What contrib modules make working with SDCs easier Resources Guests Brian Perry - Hosts Nic Laflin - John Picozzi - Scott Weston - MOTW Correspondent Jacob Rockowitz - Brief description: The Embedded Content module allows site builders to select, create, and update content embedded within HTML inside CKEditor. For developers, the EmbeddedContent plugin is like a Block plugin without context. There is a demo on YouTube There is support embedding of single directory component in progress. Conceptually, this is already possible, the same way one would render a single directory component in Block plugin. Brief history The concept and code started as the CKEditor5 Embedded Content module, created in August 2022. In October 2023, CKEditor5 Embedded Content was renamed to Embedded Content. Versions available: 2.0.3 - January 22nd, 2025 Works with Drupal: ^9 ^10 ^11 Maintainership Actively maintained? yes Security coverage? Yes Test coverage? Yes Documentation? Video and an example module Number of open issues: All issues: 6 open, 17 total Bug report: 6 open, 15 total Usage stats: 509 sites report using this module 1,263 sites report using this module (using old version) Maintainer(s): Teun van Veggel (nuez) Module features and usage Insert themed content in Ckeditor5 using Drupal plugins without having to write rich HTML and CSS Render these results directly in the CKEditor Create 'inline' embedded content that sits inline with the text, like footnotes. Provides Embedded Content plugin CKeditor 5 plugin. Ecosystem Embedded Content: Examples for examples of how to build your own plugins. Embedded Content: Entity for embedding content entities Embedded Content: SDC for single directory components (under development) Potential Challenges Example of the embedded content tag. <embedded-content data-plugin-config="{"text":"Some quote","spoken_by_character":"Some one","align":"center"}" data-plugin-id="schemadotorg_quotation" data-button-id="default"> </embedded-content> Translations via TMS (data is serialized via an attribute) /episode/index/show/sacstudio/id/35102900

Talking Drupal #486 - GraphQL & Drupal Decoupled 01/27/2025

Talking Drupal #486 - GraphQL & Drupal Decoupled Today we are talking about GraphQL, Drupal Decoupled, and What to do with them with guest Jesus Manuel Olivas. We’ll also cover CORS UI as our module of the week. For show notes visit: Topics What is GraphQL How do you use GraphQL with Drupal Would you use GraphQL without a headless theme Do you need additional server requirements What are some of your favorite GraphQL modules What caused the change from v3 to v4 What is meant by Drupal Decoupled What are the best use cases How do you handle caching and performance How do you handle roles and permissions Do you think AI has made decoupled more interesting Resources Guests Jesus Manuel Olivas - Hosts Nic Laflin - John Picozzi - Scott Weston - MOTW Correspondent Martin Anderson-Clutz - Brief description: Have you ever wanted to control your site’s Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (aka CORS) configuration, directly within the Drupal admin UI? There’s a module for that. Module name/project name: Brief history How old: created in Sep 2016 by Sam Becker (sam152), a prolific module maintainer in his own right, though the most recent release is by Matt Glaman, who has been on this show and will need no introduction for many of our listeners Versions available: 8.x-1.2 which supports Drupal 9, 10, and 11 Maintainership Actively maintained Security coverage Number of open issues: 2 open issues, 1 of which is a bug, and also has a patch available Usage stats: 274 sites according to Module features and usage By default cross-origin requests to Drupal applications will be denied. Since Drupal 8.2 you can add a section to your site’s services.yml file to enable responses, and specify what headers, methods, and origins should be supported This module provides a form within Drupal to control these values. This could be helpful if, for example, these values need to change on a frequent basis, or for less technical users who are experimenting with a headless architecture. I should note that the bug mentioned earlier throws a fatal error in PHP 8, but is a simple fix. So if you want to try out this module, make sure you apply the patch. /episode/index/show/sacstudio/id/34999215

Talking Drupal #485 - AI Autonomy 01/20/2025

Talking Drupal #485 - AI Autonomy Today we are talking about AI Autonomy, How it could help Drupal Development, and AI in the future with guest Jay Callicott. We’ll also cover AI Agents as our module of the week. For show notes visit: Topics What got you interested in this topic What is meant by AI Autonomy You suggested in your blog post in the Drop Times that developers will manage AI can you elaborate AI coming for our jobs Drupal X Do decoupled sites have an advantage Is the future going to be all prompts Skill decay What would you say to a CEO thinking about replacing developers with AI Resources Guests Jay Callicott - Hosts Nic Laflin - John Picozzi - Scott Weston - MOTW Correspondent Martin Anderson-Clutz - Brief description: Have you ever wanted to leverage AI-powered tools to get information about or change the configuration of your website? There’s a module for that Module name/project name: Brief history How old: created in Aug 2024 by Marcus Johansson (marcus_johansson) of FreelyGive Versions available: 1.0.1 which supports Drupal 10.3 and 11 Maintainership Actively maintained: that release was in the past week, and was part of the significant effort to get stable releases of the AI modules that are included in Drupal CMS Security coverage Documentation included within the module’s codebase Number of open issues: 30 open issues, 7 of which are bugs against the current branch Usage stats: 119 sites but I suspect that number will increase rapidly once people start using Drupal CMS Module features and usage In AI terminology, an agent is a system able to interact with its environment, collect data, and use the data to perform self-determined tasks The AI Agents module is a framework to provide agents that can perform a variety of functions in your Drupal website It depends on the AI module that we had Jamie Abrahams on the podcast to talk about back in episode The module includes plugins that provide three agents, namely: A Field Type Agent that can create or edit fields using the Field API, or answer questions about the fields your site has defined A Content Type agent that can create, edit, or answer questions about node types Taxonomy Agent that can do the same for your site’s vocabularies Anyone who saw the Driesnote AI demos from DrupalCon Barcelona or Singapore will have seen agents in action, in that example through interaction in a chatbot Technically, the plugins are UI agnostic, however. So theoretically you could trigger an agent in other ways. But today, AI Agents power the AI chatbot that you can use in the AI recipe that is included in the recently released Drupal CMS 1.0 The AI Agents module also includes some submodules. An experimental form integration submodule adds UI elements to the interfaces for managing fields, content types, and vocabularies, an explorer submodule provides debugging tools, and an experimental Extra submodule provides agents for working with webforms and views. I have also seen a demo of some work underway to provide an ECA agent, so you may soon be able to get your Drupal site to build out ECA models based on the business logic you describe to it /episode/index/show/sacstudio/id/34896870

Talking Drupal #484 - Drupal CMS 01/13/2025

Talking Drupal #484 - Drupal CMS Topics What is Drupal CMS Are we ready for the release Drupal 7 What can people expect Will there be a launch button If someone uses the one click install how will they know what to do next What new features are there If someone tries the trial how do they get that site on a host When will Experience builder be out Are any vendors going to provide Drupal CMS as a service What is on the roadmap How can people get involved Resources Guests Matthew Grasmick - Hosts Nic Laflin - John Picozzi - Scott Weston - MOTW Correspondent Martin Anderson-Clutz - Brief description: Have you ever wanted to have one or more fallbacks within your Drupal tokens? There’s a module for that. Module name/project name: Brief history How old: created in May 2018 by Daniel Beeke (danielbeeke) of the Netherlands Versions available: 2.3.0 Maintainership Actively maintained, current release appx 2 mo old Security coverage Test coverage Number of open issues: 8 open issues, 3 of which are bugs against the current branch Usage stats: 2,369 sites Module features and usage After installing this module, your tokens can contain pipe-separated values, including a quote-enclosed literal string, and the token will return the first token or string that is not empty. This allows your tokens to have fallback values. For example you could have a token grab an event’s start date, or show “TBD” if the field is empty. The project page doesn’t explicitly say that a single token can have more than two token reference or string values, but it seems implied. If true, that would mean you could define a token that would grab from one field, look in a different field if the first one is empty, and return a string if neither field has a value. Because Token OR uses pipe characters to delineate between values, the module currently doesn’t support pipe characters within string values. This is one of the open issues, but there is a patch available. Previous guest host Josh Mitchell mentioned that he had never heard of this module until he noticed it is in the codebase for Drupal CMS, so I thought it would be ideal to talk about on this show, as an example of some lesser-known best practices that you’ll get out of the box when you start building sites on Drupal CMS. /episode/index/show/sacstudio/id/34806140

Talking Drupal #483 - Meet your host: Nic Laflin 01/06/2025

Talking Drupal

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