The Drop Times: Getting Started with Dresktop: Managing Local Drupal Environments
The Drop Times: Simplifying Complexity with Guidance
Dear Readers, With Drupal 11 now in full swing, users have had time to explore the new features and improvements this release brings. As the platform continues to mature, one aspect remains critically important: comprehensive and up-to-date documentation. Whether you're a newcomer or a seasoned Drupal developer, having reliable documentation is key to fully leveraging the capabilities of Drupal 11 and adapting to the changes it introduces.
A major focus of Drupal 11 has been improving user experience, such as simplifying the process for adding fields to entity types. While these changes make Drupal easier to use, they also require clear documentation to guide users through the new workflows. The Documentation and Help Initiative is vital here, ensuring that Drupal's power is accessible to everyone. Led by a dedicated team, this initiative aims to improve Drupal.org's resources and introduce a help system that provides assistance tailored to users' needs.
However, the documentation does more than explain the latest changes-it strategically makes Drupal more accessible to a broader audience. This is particularly true as we look toward the future with the upcoming "Drupal CMS," a product of the Drupal Starshot initiative. Drupal CMS aims to offer a more user-friendly, out-of-the-box experience, making it easier for those who might find Drupal Core's technical depth overwhelming. The documentation will be crucial in helping users understand the differences between Drupal CMS and Drupal Core, empowering them to choose the right tool for their needs and get started quickly.
As Drupal 11 continues to evolve, so too must its documentation. With features like Project Browser and Automatic Updates on the horizon, which promise to simplify Drupal's usability even further, the role of documentation in bridging the gap between technical advancements and user understanding becomes even more vital.
With that, let's move on to the important stories from last week.
DropTimes has put together a comprehensive FAQ to clarify the reasoning and implications behind Drupal Starshot's recent naming decision to be "Drupal CMS" instead of simply "Drupal." This guide is designed to help you understand the differences between Drupal Core and Drupal CMS.
In an interview with Kazima Abbaz, Selwyn Polit delves into the meticulous process behind creating "Drupal at Your Fingertips," offering detailed insights into how he curated and organized the content to serve as a comprehensive reference for Drupal developers. This guide aims to serve as a streamlined resource that cuts through the clutter, providing precisely what developers need when they need it.
In a world where tech startups often chase rapid growth at the expense of culture and sustainability, Iztok Smolic offers a refreshing alternative. As the CEO and Managing Director of Agiledrop, he has cultivated a unique company culture that blends traditional values with modern technological practices. In this interview, Iztok sits down with Elma John, a former sub-editor of The DropTimes, to discuss the inspirations and challenges that shaped his career and company.
Drupal GovCon 2024 recently concluded, marking a significant event for the Drupal community. Kazima Abbas has compiled key lessons from Rod Martin and Bree Benesh on Site building and leadership, from a session presented at the event. Mike Gifford, has presented the results from analyzing Drupal's dominance and accessibility in government websites which he had generously shared with The DropTimes.
Lenny Moskalyk has released a progress report on the Starshot initiative for August 2024. The initiative, announced by Dries Buytaert, is advancing through various focused tracks, each dedicated to different components of the platform.
Twin Cities Drupal Camp 2024 is just around the corner, taking place from September 12 to 13 in Minneapolis/St. Paul. With the event fast approaching, Drupal enthusiasts and web technology professionals are gearing up for two days of intensive learning and networking.
DrupalCon Singapore 2024 has announced a range of financial support options to make the event more accessible to the global Drupal community. DrupalSouth Melbourne 2025 is calling for volunteers to join its Event Committee, playing a crucial role in ensuring the successful execution of the conference.
In the news about DrupalCon Barcelona 2024, the event is set to feature keynotes by Dries Buytaert, Mónica Rikić, Theódór Ragnar Gíslason, and the Drupal Core Initiative Leads. DrupalCon also has a series of dynamic Contribution Events to bring together the global Drupal community to shape the platform's future. These events will run throughout the conference, culminating in a dedicated Contribution Day on Friday. DrupalCon Barcelona is also taking a stand against electronic waste by partnering with Trinijove, an organization dedicated to recycling and refurbishing old electronic devices.
Centarro has announced the release of Drupal Commerce 2.40 introducing a range of enhancements and new features. GitLab CI templates will soon make Drupal 11 the default version for automated testing, marking a significant transition within the Drupal ecosystem. Fran Garcia-Linares outlined this plan on Drupal.org, noting that GitLab CI currently supports simultaneous testing for both versions, which has allowed module maintainers to prepare for Drupal 11 compatibility.
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. You can also, join us on Drupal Slack at #thedroptimes.
Thank you,
Sincerely
Alka Elizabeth
Sub-editor, The DropTimes.
Talking Drupal: Talking Drupal #465 - Greater Cleveland RTA
Today we are talking about The Greater Cleveland RTA, How they use Drupal, and how they built a Drupal team with guests Mike Cermak & Rithya Lath. We’ll also cover Geofield Directions as our module of the week.
For show notes visit: www.talkingDrupal.com/465
Topics- What does the Greater Cleveland RTA do
- Is the RTA a state agency
- What kind of Digital Service do you provide
- How does the GCRTA use Drupal
- Whay was Drupal selected
- Let's talk about the team
- How long has the team existed and how many people
- What type of skill makeup doest hte team have
- Local development and deployment
- Point and click learning, how do you keep up to speed now
- Day to day responsibilities
- Drupal con and Starshot
Rithya Lath - ral1239 Mike Cermak - riderta.com MikeCermak
HostsNic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi
MOTW CorrespondentMartin Anderson-Clutz - mandclu.com mandclu
- Brief description:
- Have you ever wanted to make it easy for visitors to your Drupal site to get directions to a location via Google Maps? There’s a module for that.
- Module name/project name:
- Brief history
- How old: created in Feb 2021 by Christopher Martin (ccjjmartin), though recent releases are by Allan Chappell (generalredneck)
- Versions available: 1.0.1, compatible with Drupal ^8.8 ^9 || ^10 ^11
- Maintainership
- Minimally maintained, Maintenance fixes only
- Security coverage
- Test coverage
- Documentation? Not even a README
- Number of open issues: 1 open issue, not a bug
- Usage stats:
- 26 sites
- Module features and usage
- The module provides a new field formatter, so you can install it and then update a view mode to use Geofield Directions. Now your content display will include a link to get directions
- You can figure the text of the link, whether the link should open in a new tab, the magnification of the destination map, and more
- The module also includes token support, so you can dynamically include things like the name of the location in the link text
- I think the only downside I can see is that because this is implemented as a formatter, you have to choose the directions link OR a map, where I could foresee sites wanting to show both
Golems GABB: Mobile Apps Powered by Drupal Backend (Android, iOS)
There are new CMSs coming into the market almost every year. Aggregation of ratings and other dull figures are carried out to see how they match with each other. However, there is a solo survivor – Drupal among the rest. While this CMS has competed for the Viewers' Choice Awards for the last 10 years, its ratings have not ceased to soar. It has been used to build sites for UNICEF, Teach for America (website of the US Department of Education), Le Figaro (a well-known French newspaper), and others.
Skynet Technologies USA LLC Blogs: How to maximize WCAG and ADA accessibility for Drupal multi-language sites? – Best Practices!
qtatech.com blog: Drupal et Progressive Web Apps (PWA)
Progressive Web Apps (PWA) provide an enhanced user experience by combining the features of web and mobile applications. For Drupal developers, integrating a PWA can transform a website into a high-performance mobile application. This article offers a technical approach to achieving this integration.
#! code: Drupal 11: Batch Processing Using Drush
This is the second part of a series of articles looking at the Batch API in Drupal. The Batch API is a system in Drupal that allows data to be processed in small chunks in order to prevent timeout errors or memory problems.
In the previous article we looked at how to setup the batch process using a form, with the batch methods being contained within the structure of the form class. When the form was submitted the batch process ran through 1,000 items and then printed out a result at the end.
Whilst there is nothing wrong with running the Batch API with everything in a form class, it is normally better to abstract the batch processing code into a separate class.
Using a separate batch class to contain the process and finish methods is a much better way of setting things up as it allows you to abstract away the batch process from the action that starts it. This means that you can start the batch from anywhere, even a Drush command.
Allowing you batch processes to be run via Drush is a really powerful feature for a module to include. It means that any big process that can be run by a user can be run automatically via a Drush command.
The Batch Class
To create a batch class I normally create a directory called "Batch" inside the module "/src" directory that contains any batch class I need to define. The contents of the class are the two batch methods from the form class used previously, namely the batchProcess() and batchFinished() methods.
The following shows the basic structure of this class.
Darren Oh: From Drupal Forge trial sites to persistent hosting
Due to concerns that the launch button would funnel business to one vendor at the expense of others, Starshot leadership announced that the launch button would use WebAssembly to run site trials in a user’s browser without external hosting. This approach has the advantages of being able to run Drupal off line and not needing anyone to pay for hosting. However, it is technically challenging and will not work for everyone. Sites running in WebAssembly cannot be visited by others and are not persistent.
Darren Oh Fri, 08/30/2024 - 15:40Tags
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