drupal

Drupal AI Initiative: Introducing a free Drupal AI Webinar Series in Partnership with the European Commission

Drupal is entering a new era, transforming into an AI-first CMS. Powered by open, ethical, and human-centred AI.

We’re proud to launch the free webinar training series offered in partnership with the European Commission. These free, public webinars are designed to equip the global Drupal community with practical skills, architectural understanding, and the ethical frameworks needed to work with AI inside Drupal. Whether you’re a developer, site builder, content strategist, or part of a digital agency team, there’s something here for you.

The series brings together contributors from across the open source AI ecosystem, featuring maintainers of the AI module, members of the Drupal AI Strategic Initiative, and the wider Drupal CMS innovation team.

We really believe that the process of contributing—of trying things out, experimenting on difficult problems—helps bring AI knowledge into both individuals and their organisations.
 Jamie Abrahams

Watch the first session recording today

“Bringing Drupal AI into your  DNA - How to Learn, Use and Contribute to the Drupal AI Ecosystem”, aired live on 10 June and is available to watch on YouTube. Hosted by Jamie Abrahams (FreelyGive) with a guest appearance from Drupal founder Dries Buytaert (Acquia), this session outlined the architecture, vision, and community momentum behind Drupal’s approach to AI.

It introduced viewers to:

  • The AI module and its plugin-based approach to LLM providers
  • Use cases like content automation, accessibility improvements, and semantic search
  • The ethical principles guiding Drupal’s AI efforts: Trust, Transparency, and Choice
  • Drupal AI Agents and Swarms: modular, no-code AI orchestration already in use today
  • A strategic roadmap that includes tight integration with upcoming Experience Builder features and MCP (Model Context Protocol)

We imagine a future where site builders define the goal—like 300 event signups—and AI agents get to work alongside humans to make it happen.
Dries Buytaert

Upcoming Sessions

In the coming months, the webinar series continues with targeted training sessions that build upon each other. All sessions are free, recorded, and open to the public.

  • 1 July: Installing the AI Module & Basic Features
  • 2 September: AI Search
  • 23 September: AI Agents (No-Code Creation)
  • 7 October: Advanced: Build AI Agents with Code

Each webinar will include demonstrations, practical walk-throughs, and guidance on how to get started, contribute back, and explore AI ethically in your Drupal projects.

AI is not a substitute for human intelligence—it’s a tool to amplify human creativity and ingenuity.
Jamie Abrahams

Do You Want to Get Involved?

You can sign up for upcoming sessions and explore the series details. This is your opportunity to learn from the team building the future of Drupal and to participate in shaping it. Are you interested in content automation, smarter search, accessibility tooling, or advanced AI orchestration? Then this series is for you.

We can’t skip the human-in-the-loop. It’s essential that humans stay in control, and that AI in Drupal remains transparent, auditable, and ethical.
Dries Buytaert

If you believe in the power of open source, ethical tech, and community-led innovation, this is where to begin.
 

Salsa Digital: What Drupal AI means for Government

Image removed.Raising the bar: Why government should care about Drupal AI Governments everywhere are still navigating what AI means for them. And rightly so. Questions around ethics, security, privacy, bias, and public trust can’t be brushed aside, they must be answered thoughtfully, and within robust regulatory frameworks, policies, and guidelines. At the same time, public sector digital teams are facing pressure to move faster and deliver better services. Embracing AI represents the opportunity for public sector to achieve this. But most AI solutions on the market are black boxes, vendor-locked, opaque, and near-impossible to audit. Drupal’s new AI Initiative is different. It's open-source, transparent by design, and built to be shaped by, not just sold to, government.

Drupal AI Initiative: Welcome to the Drupal AI Initiative: Webinar with the AI Initiative leadership team

You have probably heard about the new strategic Drupal AI Initiative announced by Dries and the DA a couple of weeks ago. Let’s get together to learn more about it!

We’ll discuss:

  • Initiative history and overview
  • How we are organized
  • Who’s involved, and how can you join
  • Where to find the latest information
  • Bring your questions for an AMA

Looking forward to seeing you. If the time doesn’t work for you, don’t worry, the webinar will be recorded and made available within a few days. And, you can ask follow-up questions in the #ai-initiative Slack channel.

Time: 26 June Thursday 1600 UK / 1700 CEST / 0800 Pacific / 1100 Eastern / 2030 India

To join the session, please, use this link to register.

Talking Drupal: Talking Drupal #508 - Drupal User Groups & Meetups

In this episode of Talking Drupal, we dive into the world of Drupal user groups and meetups with guests Lee Walker, Bernardo Martinez, and Bo Shipley. Our guests share their experiences in organizing and participating in Drupal communities and the vital role these meetups play in fostering continuous learning and professional development. We also explore the newest features of Drupal Core 11.2 in the Module of the Week.

For show notes visit: https://www.talkingDrupal.com/508

Topics
  • Meet the Guests: Lee, Bo, and Bernardo
  • Module of the Week: Drupal Core 11.2
  • Diving into Drupal User Groups and Meetups
  • Personal Journeys into Drupal User Groups
  • The Role of Meetup.com in Drupal Communities
  • Organizing and Attending Meetups vs. Conferences
  • Challenges and Strategies for Growing Meetups
  • Virtual and Hybrid Meetups: Impact on Attendance
  • Success Tips for Organizing Meetups
  • Keeping Meetups Simple and Engaging
  • Preventing Organizer Burnout
  • Challenges and Changes in Meetup Cadence
  • Finding and Retaining Meetup Members
  • Communication Tools for Meetup Groups
  • The Importance of In-Person Meetups
  • Advice for Starting or Restarting Meetups
  • Conclusion and Contact Information
Resources

Drupal.org Events The Drop Times Events Meetup.com Drupal Chattanooga Drupal Users Group Chattanooga Drupal Camp

Guests

Lee Walker - www.codejourneymen.com mr_scumbag Bo Shipley - simplyshipley Bernardo Martinez - linkedin bernardm28

Hosts

Stephen Cross - stephencross John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi JD Leonard - modernbizconsulting.com jdleonard

Module of the Week

with Martin Anderson-Clutz - mandclu.com mandclu

Drupal Core 11.2

  • Single Directory Components (SDCs) have been a focus of excitement for Drupal’s front end developers since they were added to Drupal 10.1 as an experimental module, and merged into 10.3 as a stable feature. With Drupal 11.2, SDCs now have a concept of variants, to allow for different ways of presenting a component’s information. Some component frameworks like Storybook have a somewhat different concept of variants, which is really a set of property value presets that are useful for testing. Variants with Drupal SDCs strike me as being analogous to view modes for content types, in that you can have separate template files for each variant, or you can have conditional logic within a single template based on the variant in use.
  • Our own nicxvan, chx, and some others put some significant work into allowing preprocess hooks to be defined as OOP classes, which bring us a significant step closer to not needing .module files anymore. Hooks (and .module files) are Drupalisms, so removing the need for them is a big improvement for Developer Experience, and makes it easier for developers to get started with Drupal
  • In Drupal 11.2 the module installer has been updated to only rebuild the container after several modules have been installed, which significantly speeds up installing multiple modules at once.
  • Drupal 11.2 also brings us a Recipe Unpack composer extension, so when you composer require a recipe, the dependencies get automatically added to your site’s composer.json file, so you can apply and then remove the recipe and still have a fully functional site
  • Package Manager is now a hidden module in Drupal core, which is critical for initiative like Automatic Updates and Project Browser, that the community has been working on for years
  • Drupal core now also supports the next-generation AVIF format, with WEBP as a fallback with servers that don’t support generating them
  • Of course there are also a variety of dependency updates as well, for CKEDitor, Symfony, composer and more, as well as too many minor improvements and bugfixes to cover in detail here

The Drop Times: Building What’s Next Together

Drupal CMS 1.0 was released earlier this year, and work is actively underway on the Experience Builder. This visual site-building tool enables users to create layouts directly in the browser, utilising drag-and-drop features. The project is currently in alpha and scheduled for full release by the end of 2025. At the same time, the Drupal AI Initiative has launched with $120,000 in funding to develop tools that help generate layouts, forms, and content based on user input. These tools are built with human oversight in mind: users can review, edit, or reject suggestions. This shift reflects a clear goal: make it faster to build and manage sites without relying entirely on developer resources.

The current board election connects directly to these developments. The Drupal Association is holding its 2025 at-large board member vote from June 18 to July 11. Seven candidates, Alexander Varwijk, Carlos Ospina, Matthew Saunders, Matt Glaman, Maya Schaeffer, Vladimir Roudakov, and Will Huggins, are running to fill the seat held by Fei Lauren. Each candidate has published a platform addressing key areas like onboarding, contributor experience, community inclusion, and responsible use of automation. These issues align with Drupal’s current work, including its focus on non-technical users and expanded access to site-building tools.

The Drupal Association board plays a direct role in supporting new features and community programs. Its decisions affect funding, contributor support, and how major initiatives, such as the Experience Builder and Drupal AI, are maintained over time. The individual elected to the at-large seat will help guide these efforts, ensuring they are aligned with both user needs and available resources. Voting is open to all eligible members through July 11, and participation ensures these decisions reflect the priorities of the wider Drupal community.

INTERVIEW

DISCOVER DRUPAL

DRUPAL COMMUNITY

EVENT

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 
KAZIMA ABBAS
Sub-editor, The DropTimes.

Drupal Association blog: Security Matters: Keeping your Drupal 7 site safe under Extended Support

Still have Drupal 7 (D7) website? That’s okay for now. But let’s be honest: in today’s threat landscape, security is not optional. With D7 reaching its official end-of-life, staying protected means relying on more than just luck or legacy systems. That’s where Extended Support comes in, and why it matters now more than ever.

Why security should be your #1 Priority

Cyber threats have evolved. So have regulations. Older platforms like D7 are prime targets if not properly maintained. Without official support, vulnerabilities go unpatched, and your organization could face:

  • Data breaches or theft
  • Damage to your brand reputation 
  • Compliance issues (GDPR, PCI, HIPAA, etc.)
  • Unexpected downtime and recovery costs
  • Technical problems (e.g. unsupported modules affecting your website’s SEO)
  • Complete lack of updates

In short: no security = high risk.

Extended Support: your digital safety net

With Extended Support (ES), you're not left in the dark. At Dropsolid, we’re one of only three official D7 ES partners worldwide and the only one based in Europe. 

From day one, we have focused primarily on Drupal. Many of our senior developers have worked with D7 for years. Unlike many young developers, they do have the deep knowledge to keep your website secure and performing. This makes us part of a highly specialized group with the tools, access, and knowledge to keep your site secure long after official support has ended.

Here’s how we protect your D7 site:

  • Proactive security patches
    We receive enterprise-grade patches before release, backed by a bug bounty program and ethical hackers 
     
  • Continuous vulnerability monitoring
    We proactively scan for threats and respond before damage can occur
     
  • Infrastructure hardening
    Whether you stay on your current hosting or migrate to our Experience Platform, we secure your environment at every level
     
  • Expert D7 knowledge
    Our ISO 27001-certified team, with thousands of Drupal contributions,  ensures that patches are applied correctly and modules remain compatible
     
  • Custom code support & compliance auditing
    We help maintain your custom functionality and monitor GDPR/accessibility compliance

Sticking with D7 doesn’t mean compromising on safety. With ES, your platform stays stable and protected, buying you valuable time to plan a thoughtful migration without rushing under pressure. And let’s face it: nothing beats peace of mind when your digital presence is at stake.

What’s next? From security to innovation

Extended Support is not forever, but it is your strongest shield in right now. At Dropsolid, we help you stay secure today while preparing you for what’s next. We can help you with:

  • Drupal 7 Extend Support to stay secure today
  • Seamlessly migrate to a newer Drupal version
  • Unlock future innovation through Drupal AI, helping you automate content, personalize user experiences and streamline workflows 

As a founding partner of the Drupal AI Initiative, Dropsolid is helping shape the future of AI in Drupal. From training to implementation, we bring the tools and expertise to turn AI into real value for your organization. 

Get in touch 

Get in touch with us and have a call with our Drupal experts. We’ll assess your current setup, explore your goals, and help you choose the smartest path forward.

Contact us: https://dropsolid.com/en/contact

The Drop is Always Moving: Drupal core will adopt Gin admin theme to replace Claro -- how does this affect you and how to get involved? https://www.drupal.org/about/core/blog/drupal-core-will-adopt-gin-admin-theme-to-replace-claro

Drupal core will adopt Gin admin theme to replace Claro -- how does this affect you and how to get involved? https://www.drupal.org/about/core/blog/drupal-core-will-adopt-gin-admin-theme-to-replace-claro