Dear Readers,
The DropTimes [TDT], as you know, is a news website with the vision of contributing to the growth of a vibrant community of users and contributors around Drupal through the process of covering and promoting everything happening around Drupal. To borrow our founder, Anoop John's words,
"What we are doing as TDT is not just running a news website but we are trying to mobilize a whole community of users toward revitalizing the community."
We are working towards improving the technology, driving the contributions back to the Drupal community, and ultimately contributing back to society at large. We are driving towards something bigger than all of us.
The growth of such a venture certainly will be slow, like a writer adding a few words to their novel each day, a runner slightly extending their distance each week, or a business steadily enhancing its customer service. These small steps may seem insignificant in isolation, but they compound into significant advancements over months and years. These seemingly minor improvements compound over time, accumulating smaller strides and preparing for the dramatic leaps. The DropTimes has, day by day, accumulated the strength to make bigger leaps.
In digital innovation, embracing new directions and challenging conventional norms often leads to remarkable discoveries. Just as the Drupal community continuously strives to push boundaries and advocate for the principles of openness and community-driven development, we are likewise urged to delve into diverse domains with immense potential for creativity and impact. The DropTimes model is one based on resilience, fosters a culture of continuous learning, and ultimately transforms modest efforts into significant accomplishments. This method underscores the importance of the journey, teaching patience and discipline and proving that steady progress can lead to remarkable success.
While grateful to all the readers and loyal supporters of TDT, we seek your continued support in building something impactful and helping contribute to Drupal and open-source. With that, let's revisit the highlights from last week's coverage.
The DropTimes Community Strategist, Tarun Udayaraj, had an opportunity to converse with Tim Doyle, the first-ever Chief Executive Officer and the appointed leader of the Drupal Association. In this exclusive interview, the CEO of the Drupal Association shares his perspectives on the future of Drupal and the open-source community at large. Read the full interview here.
Preston So is a dynamic figure in software development. He showcases a rich career spanning diverse roles within the tech industry and emphasizes a leadership philosophy rooted in empathy and adaptability. Beyond his professional endeavors, Preston's commitment to the Drupal community is notable, having been a significant part of it since 2007. Learn more about this multifaceted individual and his contributions to open-source with an interview by Elma John, a sub-editor at TDT, "Navigating the Currents of Change: The Multidimensional Journey of Preston So."
In an interview with Kazima Abbas, sub-editor of The DropTimes, Adrian Ababei, the Senior Drupal Architect and CEO at OPTASY, shares his extensive experience in web development and Drupal architecture. He discusses overseeing full-cycle project management, conducting technology research, and leading a team of developers at OPTASY.
The third part of the hit Page Builder series by André Angelantoni, Senior Drupal Architect at HeroDevs, came out last week. "Drupal Page Builders—Part 3: Other Alternative Solutions" discusses alternatives to Paragraphs and Layout Builder. This segment navigates through a variety of server-side rendered page generation solutions, offering a closer look at innovative modules that provide a broader range of page-building capabilities beyond Drupal's native tools.
March has ended, and TDT has successfully concluded its "Women in Drupal" campaign. As the series ends with the third part of Inspiring Inclusion: Celebrating Women in Drupal, The DropTimes reflects on the powerful narratives and insightful messages shared by women Drupalers from around the globe.
In exciting news, TDT has been announced as the Media Partner for DrupalCon Barcelona 2024 and Drupal Iberia 2024 as a testament to the platform's growth and resilience. We are also seeking volunteers from the members of the Drupal Community to help us cover the upcoming DrupalCon Portland 2024.
The Regular Registration window for DrupalCon Portland is now open. Registration for DrupalCon Portland will unlock an additional $100 discount on your ticket for DrupalCon North America 2025, in addition to the Early Bird discount during the Early Bird registration window.
Every week, we will have some events somewhere around the world. A complete list of events for the week is available here.
In other news, Drupal 10.2.5 is now available, featuring a collection of bug fixes. This patch release addresses various issues to ensure stability for production sites. Janez Urevc has reported a 10% improvement in Drupal core test suite runtime, attributed to Gander, a performance testing framework part of Drupal since version 10.2. The latest WebAIM Million report reveals insights into web accessibility, with Drupal holding strong in the CMS rankings. Discover the subtle shifts in WCAG 2 compliance and the strategic decision to exclude subdomains for improved analysis.
In another interesting update, Mufeed VH, a 21-year-old from Kerala, India, and founder of Lyminal and Stition.AI, has created Devika, an open-source AI software similar to Devin. Devika, conceived initially as a joke, can understand instructions, conduct research, and write code autonomously.
We acknowledge that there are more stories to share. However, due to selection constraints, we must pause further exploration for now.
To get timely updates, follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Also, join us on Drupal Slack at #thedroptimes.
Thank you,
Sincerely
Alka Elizabeth
Sub-editor, The DropTimes.