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The CKEditor AI Writing Agent is a transformative tool that seamlessly integrates into the Drupal ecosystem, enhancing the content creation experience with cutting-edge artificial intelligence. This innovative module empowers users by providing intelligent assistance during the writing process, from generating content ideas to refining text structures for improved clarity and engagement.

Note: To show exactly how this module works in real-time I created a YouTube video of the creation of this blog post: https://youtu.be/tF7hN8hlzfQ

By directly integrating AI commands into the text editor, this module enhances user experience, offering seamless interaction without the disruption of modals, popups, and sidebars. This AI-first approach ensures intuitive functionality, setting it apart from competitors and empowering content creators with efficiency and immediacy.

With the state-of-the-art models supported by our plugin you have the combined knowledge at the tip of your finers, right inside your Drupal editor

Integration with Drupal is straightforward ( Setup tutorial: https://youtu.be/B9gzOk4vztU ), allowing content creators to easily implement the AI Writing Agent alongside existing workflows. This compatibility ensures that content creators can harness the full power of AI without needing to overhaul their current systems. By combining CKEditor's robust editing capabilities with AI-driven insights, the Writing Agent transforms the content creation process, allowing creators to focus on what they excel at: developing content ideas and fine-tuning text for their audience. Meanwhile, the AI manages the repetitive tasks, making the entire process more efficient and streamlined.

This tool represents a significant leap forward for content creators within Drupal, providing a unique advantage in crafting high-quality content with greater efficiency. Its adaptability to diverse writing styles and contexts makes it an invaluable asset for anyone looking to streamline their workflow and enhance the quality of their output.

By integrating the CKEditor AI Writing Agent into their workflows, Drupal users can unlock new possibilities in content management, setting a new standard for innovation and productivity in the digital landscape.

Enhancing Content Creation: A New Era for Drupal Users

The CKEditor AI Writing Agent ushers in a new era of content creation for Drupal users, combining the robust capabilities of AI with the flexibility of CKEditor to transform writing processes. At the heart of this transformation is the agent’s advanced contextual understanding, allowing it to generate relevant content suggestions that enrich the creative process. This contextual insight enables content creators to produce high-quality material that resonates with their target audience, effortlessly aligning with style guides and thematic requirements.

• Boosted Speed and Efficiency: Streamline content development by automating tasks such as brainstorming and draft refinement.
• Intelligent Automation: Receive immediate feedback and suggestions to enhance your editing process.
• Multi-Channel Adaptability: Generate multiple text versions to tailor content for different audiences and channels.
• Collaborative Creation: Enable simultaneous contributions from multiple users for a dynamic creative process.
• Strategic Focus: Save time on repetitive tasks, allowing for concentration on high-level content strategies.

One of the significant advantages of integrating the AI Writing Agent is the enhanced speed and efficiency in content development. Tasks that once consumed considerable time, such as brainstorming ideas or refining drafts, are now expedited through intelligent automation. The module provides immediate feedback and suggestions, streamlining the editing process and freeing up valuable time for more strategic tasks. For instance, content teams can swiftly generate multiple versions of a text, adapting it for different channels and audiences with ease.

Specific use-cases highlight the AI Writing Agent's practicality and effectiveness. In marketing, teams use the module to quickly draft compelling copy for campaigns, benefiting from the AI’s ability to suggest emotionally engaging language that drives action. Educational institutions leverage the tool to create diverse learning materials, accommodating various learning styles and languages, thanks to the AI's adaptive capabilities.

Through these sophisticated functionalities, the CKEditor AI Writing Agent not only boosts productivity but also elevates the standard of content creation across the open source community, marking a revolutionary shift in how content is crafted and consumed. Last but not least: using it can be a lot of fun!

Standout Features of the CKEditor AI Writing Agent

The key to a successful AI user experience is streaming. When you send off a prompt and immediately, hundreds of carefully chosen, on-brand words start flowing into your editor... that's magic

At the forefront is the agent's real-time streaming and context-aware writing, which provides users with on-the-fly suggestions and edits based on the context of the document or specific paragraphs. This feature ensures content cohesiveness and relevance, facilitating seamless integration of new ideas without compromising the overall narrative.

Multilingual support is at the heart of our offering, enabling users to create and refine content in various languages with ease. This ensures a uniform voice and style, making it essential for global organizations that want to engage effectively with audiences around the world.

The agent's content moderation tools automatically flag and edit content that doesn't comply with set standards, ensuring adherence to ethical guidelines and maintaining a professional tone throughout all communications.

Customization capabilities further elevate the CKEditor AI Writing Agent, allowing organizations to tailor the AI's behavior to their brand-specific requirements. This includes adjustable settings for tone, style, and complexity, ensuring content that accurately reflects the brand's voice.

Through these standout features, the CKEditor AI Writing Agent positions itself as an indispensable tool for modern content strategies, offering flexibility and intelligence that transcend conventional writing tools.

Community and Developer Benefits

The CKEditor AI Writing Agent offers extensive advantages for both Drupal developers and content creators, enabling them to streamline their workflows and achieve superior content quality and engagement.

Developer Customization and Flexibility

For developers, the module's versatile API provides robust customization capabilities, allowing them to tailor AI behavior to specific project needs. This flexibility enables developers to adjust the AI's functionalities, such as tone and style settings, ensuring alignment with unique brand requirements or specific user scenarios. The API also facilitates seamless integration into existing Drupal infrastructures, making the AI Writing Agent adaptable to many different contexts and use cases.

Enhanced Efficiency for Content Creators

Content creators benefit substantially from the module through improved efficiency and higher levels of engagement. With AI-driven suggestions and real-time edits, creators can produce compelling content swiftly, reducing the typical workload associated with drafting and editing processes. This efficiency allows creators to focus on strategic activities, like crafting engaging narratives and developing rich multi-channel content experiences.

Real-World Use Cases

While the CKEditor AI Writing Agent is an upcoming module, there's strong anticipation about its potential impact across various sectors. Here's what organizations can potentially achieve:

The open source community plays a pivotal role in offering strong AI tools, driving innovation across the globe. It allows a diverse group of developers and organizations to collaborate and contribute to the development of AI technologies, ensuring that these tools are robust, secure, and scalable. Open source tools foster an environment of transparency and trust in AI, as users can scrutinize and improve upon the code, leading to more reliable and efficient applications in various contexts.

• Non-Profit Impact: Non-profit organizations may leverage the AI agent to streamline content production for fundraising campaigns, potentially increasing donor engagement significantly.
• Enterprise Efficiency: Multinational corporations could integrate the AI tool to automate internal communications, possibly boosting productivity by minimizing content creation time substantially.
• Educational Excellence: Educational institutions might adopt the AI Writing Agent to develop multilingual course materials, potentially enhancing accessibility and learner engagement.

In a world increasingly driven by technological advances, there is a pressing need for transparent, open-source AI tools. Such resources are crucial in bridging the gap for those who cannot afford expensive proprietary AI software, ensuring that the transformative power of generative AI is accessible to all. By democratizing access to AI tools, we can mitigate potential negative consequences of technological disparities, fostering a more equitable environment where innovation thrives without the constraints of financial barriers. 

Open-source solutions empower individuals and communities to harness AI's capabilities, driving meaningful change across diverse sectors and promoting societal well-being.

Reflecting on our journey with the CKEditor AI Writing Agent, it's evident that this tool is poised to transform content creation and management within Drupal. By integrating cutting-edge AI capabilities seamlessly, it empowers both developers and creators. We eagerly anticipate its impact on digital communication across the world!

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The penultimate installment of our Drupal 7 to 10 migration series is here! This guide dives into node migrations for venue, session, and event content types. Discover expert tips on troubleshooting missing field values, streamlining QA workflows, and mastering entity validation to ensure a smooth migration process. The finish line is just ahead!

Keeping your website up to date is crucial for security, performance, and functionality. For content management systems (CMS) like Drupal this means regularly updating core software, contributed modules, and themes. To simplify this process, many hosting providers and third-party services offer online automatic subscription services that promise to handle these updates for you.

While the convenience might sound tempting, there are compelling reasons to think twice before opting for this approach. Here’s why manual updates—or at least a more hands-on strategy—are often the smarter choice.

1. Lack of Control Over Timing and Testing

Automatic updates sound great until they happen at the wrong time. When you rely on an online subscription to push updates, you often lose control over when those updates occur. An update might roll out right before a major site event, during peak traffic, or without prior testing. Even minor updates to core or contrib modules can introduce compatibility issues, break custom code, or disrupt functionality. Without a staging environment to test changes first, you’re essentially gambling with your live site’s stability. Manual updates, on the other hand, let you schedule maintenance windows and verify everything works as expected before going live.

2. Compatibility Risks with Custom Code

Most websites aren’t just a collection of off-the-shelf components—they include custom code, configurations, or integrations tailored to specific needs. Automatic update services don’t know your site’s unique setup. A new version of a module or theme might conflict with your customizations, leading to broken features or a completely inaccessible site. For instance, an update to a core CMS component might deprecate a function your custom module relies on, and an automated system won’t pause to warn you. By managing updates yourself, you can review changelogs, test compatibility, and make adjustments proactively.

3. Security Isn’t Guaranteed

The pitch for automatic subscriptions often leans heavily on security: “Stay protected with the latest patches!” While timely updates are indeed critical for patching vulnerabilities, blindly trusting an automated service isn’t a foolproof security strategy. What if the service itself is compromised or fails to verify the integrity of update packages? Worse, some updates might unintentionally expose new vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit before you even notice. Manual updates give you the chance to vet each release, cross-check with community feedback, and ensure you’re not trading one risk for another.

4. No Rollback Options

When an automatic update goes wrong—and it can go wrong—you’re often left scrambling. Many subscription services don’t offer seamless rollback options, meaning you’re stuck troubleshooting a broken site in real time. If you handle updates yourself, you can (and should) back up your site beforehand, test the update in a development environment, and have a clear path to revert changes if something fails. Automation might save time upfront, but it can cost you dearly when recovery becomes a manual nightmare.

5. Hidden Costs and Dependency

Automatic update subscriptions aren’t free—whether it’s a monthly fee or bundled into a hosting package, you’re paying for convenience. Over time, those costs add up, especially if the service doesn’t deliver as promised. More importantly, you become dependent on a third party to maintain a critical part of your site. If the provider changes their terms, raises prices, or shuts down, you’re left in the lurch. Managing updates in-house keeps you in control and avoids tying your site’s fate to someone else’s business decisions.

6. Missed Opportunities for Optimization

Updates aren’t just about security—they often bring performance improvements, new features, or bug fixes that could enhance your site. An automatic system applies these changes without context, but a manual approach lets you dig into what’s new. Maybe a contrib module now offers a setting that could streamline your workflow, or a theme update improves mobile responsiveness. By taking charge, you can align updates with your site’s goals instead of letting them happen passively.

The Better Alternative

Instead of handing over control to an automatic subscription, consider a hybrid approach. Use tools like Composer to streamline updates while retaining oversight. Set up a staging environment to test changes, automate backups, and establish a regular maintenance schedule that fits your needs. If you’re short on time or expertise, hire a developer or agency for periodic reviews rather than outsourcing to a faceless service. The goal is to stay proactive, not reactive.

Automatic online subscriptions for updating core, contrib modules, and themes might promise a hands-off solution, but they come with trade-offs that can jeopardize your site’s stability, security, and flexibility. 

Websites are living systems—each with unique quirks and requirements—and they deserve more than a one-size-fits-all fix. By opting for a manual or semi-manual update process, you’ll keep your site running smoothly, minimize risks, and maintain the freedom to adapt on your terms. Convenience is nice, but control is invaluable.

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Today we are talking about Drupal Contribution, how you can approach it within your company, and why a Contrib First approach is important with guest Steve Wirt. We’ll also cover Config Importer & Tools as our module of the week.

For show notes visit: https://www.talkingDrupal.com/490

• What is contrib first
• How does this help the Drupal community
• Why is it a good idea for companies
• How do you explain this to non dev folks like CEOs or Presidents
• What do you say if a client does not buy in
• How do you monitor and build confidence in other developers
• How can someone get started
• Any tools or tips for someone trying to bootstrap this

• MOTW
  • https://www.drupal.org/project/confi
  • https://www.drupal.org/project/upgrade_tool
• Civic Actions Practice Tools - Contrib First
• Civic Actions Engineering Practice Area - Drupal Contrib First Module Development
• Codit menu tools
• Alt text validation - currently being built as Contrib First
• Bill requiring US agencies to share custom source code with each other becomes law
• Link shortners
  • http://dgo.re/ or https://dgo.to/ link shorteners for d.o
• Drupal Contrib Development
• Contribution to a module

Steve Wirt - civicactions.com swirt

Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi Avi Schwab - froboy.org froboy

Avi Schwab - froboy.org froboy

• Brief description:
  • Have you ever wanted to streamline the management of config changes during your Drupal project deployment - importing individual configuration changes from contrib or custom modules and synchronizing settings across different environments? There’s a module for that.
• Module name/project name:
  • Config Importer and Tools
• Brief history
  • How old: created in April 2016 by Andrii Podanenko(podarok)
  • Versions available: 3.2.0 version which works with Drupal 9 and 10, D11 fixes are in the queue.
• Maintainership
  • Actively maintained - although it’s a developer module that’s been mostly stable, so there have not been many recent changes.
  • Security coverage
  • Test coverage - unit tests
  • Documentation - video documenting the process on the module page and instructions in the project overview
  • Number of open issues: 8 open issues, 3 of which are bugs against the current branch
• Usage stats:
  • 300 sites
• Maintainer(s):
  • 7 maintainers across a few different agencies in Ukraine
• Module features and usage
  • This module has no UI, and all of its work is done using it’s config_import services, either importer or param_updater
  • The importer service imports full config files
  • The param_updater service pulls in single parameters from a config file.
  • Both can be used in .install files of contrib modules or on your own site to pull in configuration during database updates, which can be helpful for adding a new feature, modifying existing features, or pushing changes to many sites.
  • There is also a “spiritual successor” to the Confi module called “Upgrade Tool” which has similar functionality with some extra functionality too. https://www.drupal.org/project/upgrade_tool

Dear Readers,

Over the past year, Drupal’s Certified Partner Program has made significant strides, adding 26 new companies and bringing the total to 101 Certified Partners. These partners played a crucial role in Drupal’s sustainability, sponsoring 87% of all contributions in 2024—a massive 158,387 issue credits out of 203,738 total contributions. But here’s the challenge: only 7% of the 1,440 active organizations on Drupal.org are Certified Partners, and just 15% of companies are responsible for 96% of all contributions. This imbalance threatens the long-term sustainability of Drupal, and we need to do more.  

As Tim Doyle outlines, Drupal's future depends on expanding its network of Makers—agencies and organizations that give back to the project rather than just benefit from it. The Drupal Association has set a bold new goal: tripling the number of Certified Partners and pushing for greater participation from larger companies that profit from Drupal but haven’t yet committed to contributions. At the same time, plans are in motion to reward high-level contributors and drive more business to those actively supporting Drupal’s future.  

This is a pivotal moment. With Drupal CMS creating new opportunities and the open-source landscape rapidly evolving, agencies must decide: Are we investing in the future of Drupal, or just relying on it? If your company builds with Drupal, now is the time to step up, contribute, and help shape the next chapter of the project.

Discover Drupal

• Drupal Trash Module: The Ultimate Solution for Managing Deleted Content
• Google Gemini Provider (beta): A Plugin for Drupal AI Module
• Drupal Sapiens Launches Scoring System and Rewards for Contributors

Security

• Drupal Releases Critical Security Updates to Address XSS, Access Bypass, and Gadget Chain Vulnerabilities

Event

• The Drop Times Joins DrupalCamp England 2025 as Media Partner
• Meet the Trainers Taking the Stage at Florida DrupalCamp 2025
• Meet the Minds Behind Florida DrupalCamp 2025: Conversations with the Speakers
• Support Inclusion at Drupal Mountain Camp 2025 with a Diversity Ticket
• Florida DrupalCamp 2025: Organizers Speak on Highlights, Preparations, and Community Spirit
• MidCamp 2025: Ticket Sales and Training Registration Now Open!

Organization News

• Palantir Preps EditTogether for Secure, Real-Time Drupal Collaboration
• LocalGov Drupal Introduces Certified Suppliers Program to Strengthen Council Collaboration
• Varbase 10.0.4: Incremental Update Rolls Out as Part of Release Cycle
• Morpht Enhances Convivial for GovCMS with Major Update
• Packagist Founder Urges Industry to Prioritize Open Source Funding

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.

DevCollaborative is a certified Drupal Partner, demonstrating our expertise in the space and giving back to the open source community that our business benefits from.