Today we are talking about The Contact Form Initiative, What it is, and how it helped Drupal with guest J. Hogue. We’ll also cover Local Tasks More as our module of the week.

For show notes visit: https://www.talkingDrupal.com/499

• What is the Contact Form initiative
• What makes up the contact form recipe
• Why did you want to run this initiative
• What are the responsibilities of an initiative lead
• Were there any unexpected speed bumps
• Who was involved
• As a non-backend developer, any hesitation to lead this effort
• What was onboarding like
• What was the timeline
• Any tips for others thinking of leading an initiative

J. Hogue - oomphinc.com artinruins

Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi Kathy Beck - kbeck303

Jacob Rockowitz - jrockowitz.com jrockowitz

• Brief description:
  • Nodes can have too many local tasks. Only the first few, like View, Edit, Layout, Revisions, and Translate, are used daily. Would you like to hide or reorder less commonly used local tasks, which include Usage, Clone, Devel, and Convert. There is a module for that
• Local Tasks More (local_tasks_more)
• Brief history
  • How old: created on November 6th, 2024
  • Versions available: 1.0.0-beta2 r
• Maintainership
  • Actively maintained
  • No security coverage
  • Has test coverage
  • Does not require much documentation
  • No issues
• Usage stats:
  • 22 sites
• Maintainer(s):
  • jrockowitz (me)
  • Module features and usage
  • Enter the base routes that support the show more/less task link and alterations.
  • Enter the local task id and the altered title and weight. Set the local tasks to FALSE to remove it.
  • Enter the number of links to trigger show more/less tasks link/icon from primary and secondary tasks (aka tabs).

Last week I attended the Drupal Dev Days in Leuven and many of the sessions and also conversations in the hallway and the contribution room were about Drupal CMS and AI.

The foundational engine behind Drupal CMS is the recipe system, which allows a bunch of configuration changes to be bundled and applied to your site. This is really cool, but it may do things you are not completely aware of. Unfortunately there is no way to “undo” a recipe. The same problem occurs if one is letting AI change configuration.

DDEV snapshots and git commits

The proper solution of course is to export the configuration and version it in git before starting to play with recipes, as well as periodically in between applying recipes to have more save points to go back to. Since recipes can also add default content and some configuration can not be deleted when there is content for it, it means that sometimes a previous git checkout of the configuration can not be imported. Therefore, the best solution is to create database backups and roll them back when needed. DDEV makes this very easy to do, and so that would be the first recommendation to address the problem and it will always work.

However, the ddev snapshots do not really give one a lot of information of what changed. The configuration in git is a lot better, but it requires an extra manual step to create the export and commit it to git. That may not be instinctive to most drupal users, especially not the target audience of Drupal CMS.

What if Drupal could help us with that?

It turns out that Drupal core introduced the concept of configuration checkpoints when recipes were added. The idea is that before a recipe is applied a checkpoint is set, then when the recipe application fails the configuration is rolled back to the checkpoint.

There is an issue for adding a command to revert to checkpoints but no work has even started.

I had the idea already at Drupalcon Barcelona 2024, but after discussions in Leuven I decided to implement a UI for the configuration checkpoints.

How does Config Checkpoint UI work?

So far the first version is very simple: It exposed some of the basic API to the UI. One can create new checkpoints, delete checkpoints and revert the site configuration to an older checkpoint. The reverting is done essentially the same way as the core command does: importing from the checkpoint storage. This is very similar to what Config Split does and the reason for which I thought it was a good idea to try.

Future and Limitations

There are a few bugs in other projects to watch out for: Project browser does not set a checkpoint, and core has a bug when deleting checkpoints. Of course there may be lots of bugs in the new module itself. In particular one of the things I have ran into is that the uninstall validation is a bit broken, so some of the recipes can not be rolled back when they add fields that depend on a module added at the same time. I will have to check where exactly this bug is hiding. More advanced things could also be explored, for example merging checkpoints or deleting checkpoints without deleting everything that came before.

LocalGov Drupal technical governance group member Tony Barker highlights four main focus areas for the platform, and gives us a taste of what we can look forward to in the next few months.

MidCamp Needs You!

We need you!

If you've been looking for non-code opportunities to give back to the Drupal community, we have the perfect solution! Volunteer to help out at MidCamp 2025.  

We’re looking for amazing people to help with all kinds of tasks throughout the event including: 

Setup/Teardown

• For setup, we need help making sure registration is ready to roll, getting hats ready to move, and getting the rooms and walkways prepped for our amazing sessions.

• For teardown, we need to undo all the setup including packing up all the rooms, the registration desk, cleaning signage, and making it look like we were never there.

Registration and Ticketing

• We need ticket scanners, program dispersers, and people to answer questions.

Session Monitors

• Help us to count heads, introduce the speakers and make sure they have what they need to thrive, and help with the in-room A/V (by calling our Fearless Leader / A/V Genius)

Choose Your Own Adventure

• We won't turn away any help, so if there's something you'd like to do to help, just let us know!

Every volunteer will receive credit on Drupal.org, so be sure to include your profile name when you sign up to volunteer.

If you’re interested in volunteering or would like to find out more, please reach out to the #volunteers channel on the MidCamp Slack.

There will be a brief, online orientation leading up to the event to go over the volunteer opportunities in more detail. 

Sign up to Volunteer!

Questions?

Don’t miss a beat!

• Join us on MidCamp Slack to chat and get updates.
• Follow us on socials, including Bluesky and Mastodon, for announcements and news.

Keep an eye on our news page and subscribe to our newsletter for updates on the venue, travel options, social events, and speaker announcements.

MidCamp 2025 is your chance to learn, grow, and connect—don’t miss out!

Do volunteers still need a ticket?

Yes. While we appreciate your help, we still ask volunteers to purchase a ticket. We have flexible ticket options for you to choose from. As a volunteer you'll also get dibs on the MidCamp Archives... our seemingly endless box of vintage swag.

View and Download

Organizations can now be rewarded with Drupal contribution credits (among other enticements) for hiring new, inexperienced (IXP) Drupal developers.

After many months (years?) of planning, the Drupal IXP program is open and accepting applications for hiring organizations. From now forward, any participating organization that hires a new Drupal developer (with less than 3 months of paid experience) can earn 250 contribution credits upon successful program completion.

I'm super proud to have been working with Carlos and Anilu (A Drupal couple) and a number of other volunteers on this effort and am really happy to see it launched.

Why?

The Drupal developer community is getting older. With modern Drupal being more challenging to learn for new developers (especially compared with Drupal 7), fewer and fewer new Drupal developers have been joining our ranks. In order to survive, we need to build up the pipeline of new, fresh-minded, Drupal talent.

How does the program work?

Interested organizations can apply to participate at Drupal-IXP.site. After a quick manual review, accepted organizations will be provided with a coupon code to post an IXP position on jobs.drupal.org for free.

We have worked with the Drupal Association on creating a dedicated area for IXP positions on jobs.drupal.org.

Interested IXP developers apply for positions, and upon an offer from one of the participating organizations, both parties notify the Drupal-IXP site that the engagement has begun.

Both the IXP developer and hiring organization are required to submit periodic reports to Drupal-IXP to ensure all program requirements are being met (including a minimum number of mentoring hours.)

Once the minimum program length has been met (160 hours of paid work,) the hiring organization is eligible to receive 250 contribution credits upon a final review by IXP program volunteers. 

What types of tasks are IXP developers suited for?

Keeping in mind that individual IXP’s will have diverse backgrounds, and, based on research we've done, IXP developers may be well-suited for tasks like:

• Drupal core and module updates
• Drupal site-building
• Quality assurance

Depending on the non-Drupal background, IXPs might also be well-positioned to take on more complex or specific tasks.

We realize that the more guidance we can provide hiring organizations, the more successful this program will be; so we’ve started a Best practices for hiring organizations document and plan on collecting data from more organizations to help provide additional information (and case studies) to help with the IXP hiring process.

What are the program requirements?

The complete Drupal IXP requirements for interested parties are available at https://www.drupal.org/ixp

The IXP for new developers page details the minimum recommended skills level (although hiring organizations are welcome to hire at any skill level) as long as the IXP developers being hired have less than 3 months of paid experience.

The IXP for organizations page details mandatory program requirements including, but not limited to, at least 160 hours of paid work and a minimum of 1 hour of mentoring for every 10 hours of work.

Moving forward

This is only the beginning of the Drupal IXP program. We are looking forward to learning valuable lessons along the way, and fully expect the program to evolve as more and more organizations get involved.

Have questions? Fee free to use our Contact page or ping us in #ixp-fellowship channel of the Drupal Slack workspace.   

Protecting your Drupal sites from unexpected dependency issues requires a proactive approach. This article reveals our strategy for continuously monitoring a suite of reference Drupal sites – automatically updated every hour – to detect runtime problems stemming from dependency updates. We’ll demonstrate how to identify PHP errors, styling issues, and even frontend JavaScript errors that often go unnoticed, ensuring a smooth and reliable experience for your Drupal users.

Community First, Business Second, Build Everything with Drupal

The enthusiastic response to our Birds of a Feather (BOF) session on "The Future of Drupal Economy" at DrupalCon Atlanta was nothing short of inspiring. First, I want to express my sincere gratitude to everyone who took the time to attend and contribute to this critical conversation. When we had to move to a larger room to accommodate over 100 participants, it became clear that these discussions about Drupal's economic future resonate deeply with our community.

Beyond Identifying Issues: Time for Solutions

Our community knows well the challenges we face. We all recognize the issues, and now is the time to move beyond merely identifying problems to actively crafting solutions.

The strategic shifts highlighted in the Starshot (now Drupal CMS) initiative represent a pivotal moment for our ecosystem. Now, we have the opportunity to build upon this momentum and address fundamental questions about how we support and grow our economy.

Supporting the Drupal Association's Revenue Goals

I want to acknowledge the Drupal Association's critical need for sustainable revenue streams. The DA faces the challenging task of supporting our infrastructure, organizing events, and guiding initiatives like Drupal CMS - all while balancing the community's needs with financial realities.

We find ourselves in an interesting position: we need large agencies' substantial support now to help the DA reach its goals of expanding the Certified Partner program and increasing revenue. However, the long-term vision should be creating self-sustaining systems where this intense dependency becomes less necessary.

It's encouraging to see the DA taking a more active leadership role in this space. The community's evolving perspective has allowed the DA to expand beyond just maintaining Drupal.org and organizing DrupalCon. This shift represents an important evolution that deserves our support.

Community-Driven Solutions

I'd like to propose several concrete solutions that could transform Drupal's ecosystem while supporting the DA's revenue goals:

1. Regionalized Official DrupalCons

As I mentioned during the Atlanta board meeting, Latin America is ready to support regional DrupalCon events. These events should test more business-oriented approaches alongside their developer focus, without abandoning the heart of the event as a time to work together on the project.

Regional events can serve as powerful business development platforms when structured to connect service providers with potential clients in their economic context.

These events would acknowledge the different economic realities across regions. What constitutes a "small," "medium," or "enterprise" project varies dramatically between markets. Adapting the DrupalCon model to regional needs creates opportunities for businesses of all sizes in their appropriate economic contexts.

2. Drupal.org as the Source of Truth

Drupal's contribution credit system is already unique in the open source world for how it tracks and attributes various forms of contribution. We should build upon this foundation to position Drupal.org as the definitive source of truth for everything Drupal-related. From identifying qualified developers to finding appropriate partner agencies, Drupal.org should be the central hub.

When businesses need Drupal expertise, Drupal.org should be their first destination. Not third-party job boards. Not general search engines. This transition creates natural economic incentives for contribution while connecting clients with service providers who have demonstrated their commitment to the project.

This would also significantly enhance the value of the Certified Drupal Partner program. The DA would now have something valuable to offer partners: qualified leads from businesses looking for Drupal expertise.

3. Community-Driven Certification Framework

Here's where I see tremendous potential: I believe a community-led certification system could be transformative for positioning Drupal.org as the central hub for Drupal expertise. But importantly, this must start as a community initiative rather than immediately becoming a DA responsibility.

This idea comes from my personal experience in education. Before joining the Drupal world, I worked as a certified bilingual elementary teacher in Texas for three years, teaching 5th grade Science. I saw firsthand how the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) framework created clarity around educational standards. For example, a kindergarten math standard might simply state: "The student can count forward from 1 to 20 with and without objects." This clear standard defines exactly what skill the student should demonstrate.

Similarly, we could establish a framework of Drupal knowledge and skills. A site builder certification might include standards like "The developer demonstrates ability to configure content types and fields to model complex data relationships." A security standard might state "The developer applies security best practices when configuring user roles and permissions."

I envision three certification levels (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced) across four areas. We would have Backend Developer standards. Frontend Developer standards. Site Builder standards. And Developer standards focusing on development processes like local development, git workflows, agile, best practices, and contribution knowledge.

From these standards, we could develop community-curated question banks for each knowledge area. We could create assessment methodologies that validate both theoretical understanding and practical application. And we could build clear pathways for skills progression from entry-level to expert.

We've seen many training initiatives struggle in the past. I tried to help Drupaleros before it was dissolved. I've spoken with the maintainer of the previous Open Curriculum initiative that ultimately stagnated. Learning from these experiences, I believe focusing on standards rather than specific training content gives us a stronger foundation. We can reinvigorate the Open Curriculum as a standards framework rather than trying to create and maintain all the training content ourselves.

Similar to how the contribution credit system was developed through community committees, we could establish a committee to maintain the question bank. This committee would ensure the certification's value isn't diminished through widespread distribution of questions.

A Sustainable Path Forward

This approach lets the DA adopt a proven certification system later without carrying the development costs now. The community does the groundwork, the DA gets a working solution.

Once proven effective, this certification system could provide a sustainable revenue source for the DA while delivering genuine value to both the community and clients. It creates a self-reinforcing cycle. Developers gain credible validation of their skills. Companies find qualified talent more efficiently. Clients identify appropriate service providers with greater confidence. The DA receives ongoing certification revenue. The entire ecosystem benefits from higher quality standards.

Join the Discussion

I want to emphasize that these are just ideas that I'm putting forward for community discussion. I don't believe I have all the answers, and the best solutions will come from our collective wisdom and experience.

What's critically important here is that this cannot become a DA responsibility at this stage. The Drupal Association needs to maintain its focus on current revenue strategies and sustainability goals. They have a clear roadmap for growing the Certified Partner program and increasing financial stability. Adding a new, unproven initiative now would risk distracting from these essential priorities.

Instead, this needs to be a true community initiative that develops, tests, and refines a certification framework independently. Only after proving its value and sustainability should we consider how it might integrate with the DA's offerings.

I'm committed to helping build this framework, but it requires a collaborative community effort if you want to contribute to this initiative. Whether through defining knowledge domains, developing assessment methodologies, or testing the framework. Please reach out.

Together, we can create a system that strengthens Drupal's position as a leading CMS while creating sustainable economic opportunities across our entire ecosystem pyramid.

What are your thoughts on this approach? Do you see additional ways we could position Drupal.org as the central hub for Drupal expertise? I'd love to continue this conversation.

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