Welcome back to “Skills Upgrade” a Talking Drupal mini-series following the journey of a D7 developer learning D10. This is episode 6.
TopicsReview Chad's goals for the previous week
Review Chad's questions
Tasks for the upcoming week
Understand Drupal - Migrations Chad's Drupal 10 Learning Curriclum & Journal Chad's Drupal 10 Learning Notes
The Linux Foundation is offering a discount of 30% off e-learning courses, certifications and bundles with the code, all uppercase DRUPAL24 and that is good until June 5th https://training.linuxfoundation.org/certification-catalog/
HostsAmyJune Hineline - @volkswagenchick
GuestsChad Hester - chadkhester.com @chadkhest Mike Anello - DrupalEasy.com @ultimike
This blog post was written by DrupalCon Portland Higher Education Summit Committee members Megan Bygness Bradley and Michael Miles.
As a part of the landscape of higher education web technology, many of us are navigating the digital realm somewhat disconnected from one another. We’re solving similar problems, but do not often have the opportunity to talk to others about the whys, hows, and the gotchas of implementing within the sphere of higher ed. DrupalCon Portland's Higher Education Summit is tailor-made for you! It's not just another conference; it's an amazing opportunity to connect, collaborate, and elevate your expertise in Drupal with your peers in the higher education sector.
The Higher Education Summit at DrupalCon isn't just about listening to speakers; it's about engaging in meaningful discussions, sharing experiences, and building valuable connections within the higher education community.
Whether you're a seasoned Drupal user or just getting started, this summit offers a wealth of knowledge and expertise tailored to the higher education sector. Learn about the latest Drupal developments, strategies for site management, effective documentation and training techniques, and more.
Connect with fellow web developers, content creators, designers, strategists, and managers from universities and colleges around the world. Share insights, learn from each other's experiences, and build a network of like-minded professionals who understand the unique challenges and opportunities within higher education.
From lightning talks to sponsor presentations, the summit features a lineup of industry experts sharing their insights and experiences. Learn from speakers who have successfully navigated the intersection of Drupal and higher education. See the Summit schedule here.
The summit format is designed to be relaxed and informal, fostering open discussions and collaboration. Engage in small group discussions after every talk and Birds of a Feather sessions focused on topics such as site management, documentation and training, design and UX, AI, and more.
In a rapidly evolving digital landscape, staying ahead of the curve is essential. Discover how Drupal can empower your institution by collaborating and networking with people just like you from across the world.
Don't miss out on this unique opportunity to expand your knowledge, network with peers, and gain insights from industry experts at DrupalCon's Higher Education Summit. Whether you're looking to optimize your Drupal workflow, enhance the user experience, or navigate the challenges of higher education, this summit has something for you. Register now and elevate your expertise in Drupal within the higher education sector!
Content Management Systems (CMS) have revolutionized the way we build and manage websites. Drupal and WordPress are two of the most popular CMS platforms worldwide.
In Ramsalt we have many employees with experience from both CMSes and in this article we have gathered some reasons why Drupal could be a better choice for your needs:
Performance
Flexibility and Complexity
Security
Multilingual Support
Developer Experience
Other
While WordPress is a great platform for beginners and bloggers, Drupal’s flexibility, robust security, superior user access control, multilingual support, scalability, and development opportunities make it a powerful solution for most websites.
Remember, the choice between Drupal and WordPress depends on your specific needs for website you intend to build. Both have their strengths and cater to different types of projects.
Contact us for a free talk about your requirements so we can find the best solution for you.
DrupalCamp New Jersey unites hundreds of attendees with varying professional backgrounds to share their knowledge, ideas, and passion for the Drupal project. My first DrupalCamp NJ was in 2023 and it was also my first experience of presenting at a conference! It was a nerve-wracking but fun experience—and since then I’ve delivered 9 conference presentations across Canada, the U.S., and France on topics like accessibility, caching, migrations, and discovery.
Fast forward to March 2024: I returned to DrupalCamp NJ to present another session and deliver training. Eight of our team members piled into a minivan to make the 700 km road trip from Montreal to New Jersey. The event was held in Princeton University’s Robertson Hall—a stunning piece of architecture set in a beautiful plaza. We joined more than 150 participants for the three-day event, which featured 23 incredible talks and three days of training.
Read on for our highlights! Plus, learn what to expect from your first DrupalCamp.
Princeton University hosted DrupalCamp New Jersey, so we got to revisit our client’s stunning campus.
What Non-Developers Should Know About Content Migration
I co-presented this session with my colleague Marien Regnault, Drupal Developer. We shared insights that our team has gained from dozens of complex migrations over the years, including Drupal 7 to Drupal 10 migrations. We helped a non-technical audience understand the process at a high level with a focus on planning, preparation, dealing with common challenges, and collaborating with developers.
Harmonizing Creativity and Code: Collaboration in Design Systems
This session was delivered by my colleagues Bryenne Kay, UX/UI Designer and Robert Ngo, Solutions Architect. It looked at building and maintaining a design system from both a developer’s and designer’s perspective. Bryenne and Robert dived into creating libraries of reusable Single Directory Components (SDCs), streamlining workflows, and improving collaboration between teams.
Bryenne at her first ever DrupalCamp, waiting with Robert to begin their presentation on design systems.
Use Drupal as No-Code Content Platform for Your Next(.js) Decoupled Project
Our Director of Technology, Simon Morvan, talked about the core principles of a decoupled Drupal architecture and why it improves performance, user experience, SEO, and security. He demonstrated that this approach doesn’t require back-end development, making Drupal a low-cost alternative to other no-code options like commercial cloud SaaS solutions. Simon used our collaboration with Planned Parenting Direct (PPD) as an example. Interestingly, the co-founder of Pantheon—which hosts the PPD website—was in the audience! This led to some interesting additional questions and answers at the end of the session.
Revamp or Redesign: Navigating the Crossroads of Website Evolution
Evolving Web has a long-standing relationship with Princeton University, so I was delighted to co-present this session with the institution’s Assistant Director of Web & Digital Initiatives, John Cloys, along with Alex Dergachev, Co-Founder and Technical Lead at Evolving Web. We explored the ever-changing nature of the digital landscape, and addressed the challenge of deciding when to update your website, how, and how much.
Drupal Site Building & Tools for Digital Asset Management
It was so much fun to deliver this training session with my colleague Marien and Acquia’s Senior Solutions Architect, Martin Anderson-Clutz. It was my first time providing training in-person since I started at Evolving Web, and I really enjoyed the advantages of being physically present; I was able to see people’s reactions and give more personal support than is possible over Zoom. The course gave participants a run-through of the Drupal site building process—including creating an information architecture in Drupal, and leveraging media management and Acquia DAM on top of Drupal.
“This was my first DrupalCamp. It made me realize that the Drupal community isn’t just a source of modules I can use—it’s a community of people with common goals who collaborate with and support one another.”
– Marien Regnault, Drupal Developer, Evolving Web
Intermediate Drupal Front End Development
Led by Ashraf Abed at DebugAcademy.com, this course shed light on some of the most powerful aspects of Drupal's front-end system, including render arrays, caching, and twig. It was fascinating to discover how powerful render arrays are for piling on properties all the way down the stack. We heard about useful tools like Twig Xdebug, which allows you to use Xdebug breakpoints with Twig templates. And we learned some best practices for security, such as only translating hardcoded strings to avoid exploits from user-generated content.
Led by Mandee Englert and Jill Moraca, this talk provided an impressive example of a highly complex migration and the planning, organization, and post-migration processes that made it a success. We left with plenty of useful ideas to implement and recommend to clients.
Between sessions, our team enjoyed wandering around Princeton University’s beautiful campus in the sunny weather.
Ray Saltini and David Hernandez explored key reasons and considerations for adopting a Digital Asset Management (DAM) solution. We really enjoyed their practical insights into preparing, optimizing, and scaling a DAM solution, as well as an exploration of alternatives. Overall, a DAM good session.
Protecting your site with Automatic Updates
We were excited to hear updates from Acquia’s Ted Bowman on his almost-complete work to bring automatic code updates to Drupal deployment. Ted gave a refresher on the Automatic Updates module, including how to determine if your hosting is compatible and ensure your site is configured to run it securely.
See what you missed at DrupalCamp Florida 2024, too!
“It was my 9th visit to Drupalcamp NJ so one of the best parts is seeing old clients, collaborators, and dozens of other amazing Drupal community members who have become friends.”
– Alex Dergachev, Co-Founder & Technical Lead, Evolving Web
DrupalCamps are regional, community-driven events that foster innovation, collaboration, and skill enhancement within the Drupal ecosystem. Each has its own style and flow, but they all have consistent themes at their core:
Interested in attending? Visit drupal.org to find a DrupalCamp near you.
If you’re looking for an event that covers a wider variety of topics, with fewer simultaneous talks, check out EvolveDrupal! This unique summit fosters open source innovation and digital transformation with sessions on technology, UX design, digital strategy, content, marketing, higher education, and much more. The next EvolveDrupal summit is taking place in Atlanta on April 12. We hope to see you there!
+ more awesome articles by Evolving Web