Let's define the scope and goals of our project to upgrade this very website to Drupal 10.

Essentially, that's it: we want to upgrade this website to Drupal 10 so that we can benefit from security releases etc. At the moment we want to do so with the minimum of effort, so I don't want to have to be writing lots and lots of code or changing fundamentally how the site works, but I am up for simplifying things if it gets us to a point where we have to maintain less code.

Since Drupal 9, major version upgrades now take this basic form:

• Update your code to be fully compatible with the last version of Drupal, removing all deprecations: hard.
• Upgrade to the new version of Drupal: easy!

I'm going to install and use the fantastic Upgrade Status module to get a detailed handle on what we need to change, upgrade and rewrite to get the site working in Drupal 9, but ready for Drupal 10. We'll use that as a basis to see what we need to upgrade, the best plan for each component and go from there.

Upgrade status - First pass

We previously have composer require'd the upgrade status module into our codebase, so after enabling and running the report, here are the major findings that concern us for this series:

Environment

• We'll need to upgrade to PHP 8.x, the site is currently running on PHP 7.4.
• We're using deprecated or obsolete modules that come with core and will be removed in Drupal 10. This is a rather scarily long list for us:
  • CKEditor
  • Color
  • RDF
  • Seven
  • Stable

But other than that, we're good to go from an environment point of view.

Contrib projects

Upgrade status breaks the list of contributed projects down into a few sections, those are:

• Projects that need an upgrade that might make them Drupal 10 compatible:
  • Better exposed filters
  • Components
  • Disqus
  • Advanced link
  • Entity browser
  • jQuery UI Slider
  • Scheduler
  • Simple XML Sitemap
  • Twig Tweak
  • Webform
• Projects that don't have Drupal 10 releases yet, so either require patches or work to get them to Drupal 10:
  • Entity Embed
  • jQuery UI Sortable
  • Kraken
  • Markdown
  • Social media share
  • Term Reference Change
  • Unified Twig Extensions
  • Video Embed HTML5
  • Weight
• Projects that are compatible with Drupal 10 already, I'll not list those, but there are plenty already, it's great to see community support for Drupal 10.

Custom code

Upgrade status will scan your code and tell you if there are problems that can be spotted that will stop the code working with Drupal 10. This is static analysis, so isn't perfect, but is a really good start. We have a few custom modules doing very specific things on our site, but we have a custom theme, doing quite a lot of custom things, and that's where the main bulk of the issues the scanner found are, so we're going to need to set aside some time for that.

Simplifications

This site was built in the early Drupal 8 days, and we've not actually made too many changes since, specifically when we upgraded to Drupal 9 we basically did the smallest amount of work to get it there. How you'd typically handle media on a Drupal site has fundamentally changed since we built this site, in that you'd likely use the core Media module and add entity reference fields to your entities rather than adding image/file fields directly. However, we never had that luxury and never got around to changing our approach to use the core Media framework.

So, we're going to allow ourselves a bit of scope creep to do this 'sub project' given that the benefits are that we're going to be able to remove a bunch of modules: entity browser, file browser, etc. that will then mean that we don't need to upgrade those modules and our dependencies will be better supported: since they'll be in Drupal core. It's no slight against those modules, it's just that we don't need the functionality they bring, for our site today.

The scope/plan

So roughly the scope/plan is shaping up to be:

1. Convert our file/image fields to core media, and remove entity browser, file browser, etc.
2. Update our custom code
3. Evaluate the remaining upgradeable contrib projects to see if we can remove them, and if not, upgrade them.
4. Evaluate the remaining non-upgradeable contrib projects to see if we can remove them, and if not, work with maintainers to get them upgraded.
5. Handle the core modules that have been marked as deprecated or obsolete.
6. Upgrade the PHP version we use to run the site
7. Get the site running in tip-top condition with the latest Drupal 9 etc.
8. Do the Drupal 10 upgrade.

Then we'll have a shiny Drupal 10 install, ready for the next few years of security patching.

Internships and Fellowships

In this fourth part of a four-part series, Yang talks about her background, the projects she's worked on, and the vision for her professional future

There is no one way to change a career path. Palantir.net’s four most recent fellows - Paak, Tessa, Travis, and Yang - all joined us through the DrupalEasy program. With their different professional backgrounds and experiences, each offers a unique perspective into what interested them in Drupal and their journey to becoming integral members of Palantir.net.

In each of their written entries they share, among other insights, how they have each adjusted to a fully-remote workplace, how their own skills supported their success as a Fellow, and the importance of Palantir.net’s culture which encourages asking questions, remaining curious, and reaching out for help.

Here's Yang's story.
 

Where I Started

I was looking for a career change.

I was in the process of getting a nursing degree, but I wasn’t sure that’s what I wanted to do. A couple of years ago, a friend of mine suggested I learn to code.

When the COVID pandemic started, I had a lot of extra time at home (like many people!), and I started watching coding tutorials on YouTube. I found that I was fascinated by the idea of coding, so I took the initiative to learn HTML and CSS on Codecademy. Slowly - but surely - I went on to complete even more web development courses on Udemy. I had learned a lot but still found I didn’t have the confidence in my skill set to apply for any jobs in the field.

Earlier this year, my friend sent me a link about the Palantir.net Fellowship program to attend DrupalEasy. I wasn’t sure that I was qualified for the opportunity, but she encouraged me to apply. So I did.

And now, here I am!

The adventure of learning Drupal is like riding a roller coaster: I felt great one moment, but the next thing I knew, I was banging my head against the railing. Then, rinse and repeat. 

After 12 weeks of DrupalEasy, I had the opportunity to improve and apply my what I learned during my Fellowship at Palantir.net.

The Fellowship program is run by our talented Palantir.net colleagues, with a professional structure and many great resources that accelerate and support our Drupal learning. I also love Palantir.net’s culture, which is very transparent, collaborative, and co-creative. I have learned and continue to learn new things everyday from my coworkers. 

For me, the most important aspect of working here are the people. Everyone contributes, shares, and helps others develop their current skills and learn new ones. When I don’t know something, I feel free to ask questions. I learn from others and feel confident experimenting and making mistakes, learning and growing as I go. 

I’ll be honest: learning Drupal is harder than I thought, but the end result is incredibly rewarding. My advice to others who might be feeling daunted by learning Drupal or to code would be, don’t give up! Keep going! You can do this. 
 

Where I am Now

I know that every great programmer was once a beginner, and that is exactly where I am now.

In the future, I hope to be a great programmer and to pass my own knowledge to the very same community that helped me get where I am today.

There are a lot of talented, welcoming, and fun people at Palantir.net, and my goal right now is to learn as much as I can from others to become a full-stack developer. I am currently beginning to develop my personal skill set. I’ll be taking another PHP course in the near future to gain additional back-end knowledge. 

I know I still have a long way to go, but I look forward to learning new skills every day and applying them to real projects. In my opinion, consistency is the key to learning anything new and, over time, I am confident I will reach each goal I set for myself. I’m unsure whether my future holds being a full-stack developer, project leader, or something else. But the door to opportunity is wide open, and the only real way to get there is by doing the work. 

Fortunately, I am on the right path with the right people.

Community Culture Drupal People

What is Predictive Marketing? Editor Fri, 02/24/2023 - 16:41

Predictive marketing is a type of marketing that uses a large amount of information to predict customer behavior and needs accurately. It involves the analysis of all data to determine the best and most effective version of the marketing strategy. 
Based on a client's past shopping experience, marketers develop marketing strategies. Therefore, you can create more effective personalized ads in the future that will increase conversions. By forecasting correctly, you can also reduce customer churn and increase demand for your products or services. Stand out from the competition and stay ahead of the game by doing this.
Many famous companies have used predictive modeling in marketing for years because they have seen effective results. When analytics are adequately conducted, websites can increase their customers and orders. A business owner who has mastered predictive marketing can anticipate their target audience's needs and keep up with all current trends.

Introduction

This article enumerates why an organization must invest in leadership training programs for budding and existing leaders.

Introduction

A digital accessibility audit evaluates how well a website or other digital assets follow the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). It also refers to being compliant with each country's related laws or acts, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 508, Section 504, and the European Accessibility Act (EAA).

Introduction

Accessibility aims to improve the web and provide equal opportunities to leverage its benefits for all. Its importance has been recognized globally, with several countries and states developing laws and policies to ensure a similar experience for everyone accessing the web.

Introduction

Accessibility aims to improve the web and provide equal opportunities to leverage its benefits for all. Its importance has been recognized globally, with several countries and states developing laws and policies to ensure a similar experience for everyone accessing the web.

Introduction

A document is considered accessible when it can be read with the same ease by someone with vision, hearing, or cognitive impairment as by someone without any impairments. Ensuring accessibility is easiest during the initial stages of creating a document.

The Popular "Become a Drupal Architect Series" Course Starts Soon

What is the Architect Series?

Debug Academy created the Drupal Architect Series, a set of five 2.5 hour classes, because we know there are many ways to build a functional website, but not all ways are created equal. And making the wrong choice can lead to long-term headaches when faced with performance, security, caching, or data structure issues.

And it's not your fault. The options are many and can be overwhelming.

Stephen Pashby's presentation to the Association Executives of North Carolina members about reaching member’s mailboxesinstead of hitting the SPAM filter.