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Think you know JavaScript? Find out how native features can handle Objects and Arrays that simplify coding. No libraries necessary!

Today we are talking about Workspaces, What They are, and How They Work with guest Scott Weston. We’ll also cover Workspaces Extra as our module of the week.

For show notes visit: https://www.talkingDrupal.com/475

Topics

• What are Workspaces in Drupal
• What's a common use cases for Workspaces
• Are Workspaces stable
• Do Workspaces help with content versioning
• What does the module ecosystem look like for Workspaces
• Inspiration
• Workspaces best practices
• Any interesting ways it is being used
• Is there a way to access workspace content in twig
• Navigation integration
• Workspaces and workflows
• What aspects of a Workspace are limited to live
• If someone wants to get involved or get started

Resources

• Drupal Workspaces
• Core issue: Media library form can only be submitted in the default workspace
• Integrate Navigation with Workspaces

Guests

Scott Weston - scott-weston

Hosts

Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi Joshua "Josh" Mitchell - joshuami.com joshuami

MOTW Correspondent

Martin Anderson-Clutz - mandclu.com mandclu

• Brief description:
  • Do you want to extend the capabilities of the Workspaces system in Drupal core? There’s a module for that.
• Module name/project name:
  • Workspaces Extra
• Brief history
  • How old: created in Apr 2021 by Andrei Mateescu (amateescu) of tag1, who has also contributed to Workspaces in core, among other many things
  • Versions available: 2.0.0-alpha3 which works with Drupal 10.3 or 11
• Maintainership
  • Actively maintained, latest release is less than a week old
  • Security coverage: technically yes, but not really until it has a stable release
  • Test coverage
  • Number of open issues: 20 open issues, 3 of which are bugs against the current branch, though one has already been fixed
• Usage stats:
  • 89 sites
• Module features and usage
  • One of the big features in Drupal 10.3 was that Workspaces is now officially stable. That said, not everything works the way some site builders will want it to. That’s where a contrib solution like Workspace Extra can help to fill in the gaps
  • It provides new options like letting you roll back changes from a published workspace, move content between workspaces, discard changes in a workspace, squashing content revisions when a workspace is published, and more
  • Workspaces Extra, or WSE also includes a number of submodules to add even more capabilities. For example, they can allow your workspace to stage an allowlist of configuration changes, deploy workspace content using an import/export system, stage menu changes, and more. For workflow, there’s an option to generate a shareable workspace preview link for external users, and a scheduler to publish your workspace at a specific day and time
  • I will add that the first time I played with workspaces I ran into an issue where I couldn’t create media entities within a workspace. I don’t know for sure that this hasn’t been fixed in core, but the core issue about it is still listed as “Needs work”. That said, the last comment on that issue (link in the show notes) lists WSE as something that helps, so if you encounter the same issue with Workspaces, WSE is worth a try

Drupal 7 End Of Life: Top Reasons You Should Migrate To Drupal 10 Esha.B Mon, 11/11/2024 - 10:24

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Drupal 10 was released in December 2022 and ever since, the community has been pushing its users to do Drupal 7 to 10 migration. As per w3techs.com, as many as 41.2% of all Drupal sites are running on Drupal 7.  

Using an outdated version has downsides. Businesses miss out on technological advancements and new features that can speed up and safeguard their digital properties. 

With the release of Drupal 10 and the fact that Drupal 7 end of life is in January 2025, it is crucial to do Drupal 7 to 10 migration soon. 

So, if your existing content management system is running on the Drupal 7 version, we suggest looking into OpenSense Labs' Drupal 7 to 10 migration services for guidance and upgrading to Drupal 10 today. 

Migrate To Drupal 10 

And if you’re still not convinced, let’s look into why enterprises should plan their Drupal 7 to 10 migration now, and not wait until the last moment.  

Why Should You Do Drupal 7 To 10 Migration?  

Drupal 10 brings automated updates, and improved user experience, along with several other feature additions. These components are more secure, user-friendly, and powerful. Let’s dive deep into why enterprises must plan their Drupal 7 to 10 migration right away.  

1. Drupal 7 Support From The Community 

As an open-source CMS Drupal 7 support that comes from the Drupal community is what keeps Drupal's continuous innovation ongoing. With the Drupal community prioritizing and actively focusing on the security of newer versions, when the Drupal 7 end of life comes, the Drupal 7 support from the community will also seize.  

This primarily jeopardizes the security of your Drupal 7 website. This also means that contributed modules and themes that are currently used in your Drupal 7 website, will also lose maintenance support. This would bring challenges in website maintenance. 

Also Check Out: 

1. What to do with your Drupal 7 website? 

2. After Drupal 7 reaches the end-of-life, what’s your plan? 

3. Leading you towards the right upgrade from Drupal 7 

4. Exploring Drupal's Single Directory Components: A Game-Changer for Developers 

2. New Features And Upgrades 

Another consequence of not upgrading to Drupal 10 is that certain functionalities may cease to perform as intended. Or there may be better alternatives available. Not only can this cause extra annoyance among website maintainers, but resolving these issues may incur additional expenditures for your company owing to the time and resources required to do so.  

In Drupal 7, while developers had to manually upgrade/update or search for modules from drupal.org, Drupal 10 has simplified this with Automated updates and a Project browser, respectively. A lot of Drupal 7 features are either incorporated out-of-the-box in Drupal 10 or simply removed to maintain ease of use.  

Also, the Drupal 7 ‘Seven’ theme from 2009 gave off an out-of-date system impression. Seven was replaced by the new ‘Claro’ theme, which was created by the most recent requirements.  

And the front-end theme, ‘Olivero,’ was created to fit with features that are well-liked by users, such as the Layout Builder. The Olivero theme will meet WCAG AA accessibility standards. 

The simple finding and installation of modules should empower Drupal newcomers as well as ‘ambitious site builders’. – Dries Buytaert 

3. Technical Dependencies 

Drupal works on currently supported PHP versions. Choosing the recommended PHP versions is ideal for developing a Drupal site, as they offer extended support over time. Drupal 10 is built on PHP version 8.0 while the Drupal 7 CMS is built on PHP 7 which has also reached its end of life.  

This creates technical dependencies in supporting the platform better. 

• jQuery, jQuery UI, jQuery Forms: Drupal 7 CMS includes old and unsupported versions of these libraries. jQuery's current version is 3.7.1. Drupal 7 CMS includes 1.4.2. Other libraries have comparable challenges. You may minimize this little with the jQuery Update module, although the most recent version is 3.5.2.  
  
  Drupal 8 and later (as well as many other content management systems) make it simple to provide API access to your content. In the age of ‘publish everywhere’, this is a critical feature. Drupal 7 CMS has some basic API support, but if you want a full-fledged API with write support, you'll have to create it yourself, which adds technical debt and possible vulnerabilities. 
• CKEditor 5 Update From CKEditor 4: With a thorough rebuild and an exciting new feature set, CKEditor 5 gives Drupal 10 a modern, collaborative editor experience. Users of programs like Microsoft Word or Google Docs will be used to the new CKEditor's interface. 
  It also provides standard collaboration tools such as comments, suggestions for changes, version histories, and other widely accepted editing methods. Additionally, it has outputs to .docx and .pdf files for straightforward conversion to print formats.  
• Composer 2 And PHP 8 Support: Although the backporting of Composer 2 to Drupal 8 was successful, PHP 8 compatibility was not. PHP 8 will be required for Drupal 10 because PHP 7 was discontinued in November 2022. 

OpenSense Labs, as a Drupal organization, is committed to providing active support. Check out our Drupal 7 to Drupal 10 Migration services today for a long-term and fruitful collaboration. 

Migrate To Drupal 10 Today!

4. Modules That Have Gone Out Of Support 

The Drupal 10 core was updated to eliminate a few modules that are redundant or are not frequently used. For uniformity, these modules were transferred to the Contributed Module area. Gathers and presents syndicated material from outside sources (RSS, RDF, and Atom feeds). 

• QuickEdit: In-place content editing 

• HAL: Serializes entities using the Hypertext Application Language 

• Activity Tracker: Users may keep track of recent content with the activity tracker feature 

• RDF: Enhances websites with metadata so that other systems may comprehend their characteristics 

You will have to leave Drupal 7 CMS behind. Eventually, the opportunity cost of continuing to use software that is more than 10 years old is substantial, and once Drupal 7 end of life comes, the risk and expense of an uncovered vulnerability increases rapidly. 

There are several possibilities available to you, and now is the time for you to choose and make plans for one of them. The ideal option will rely on the expertise level of your team, the amount of business logic you have included in Drupal 7 CMS and your projected budget. 

Also Check Out: 

1. DrupalCon Barcelona: 2024 Wrap-Up From Europe 

2. Drupal 11: Nine Must-Know Features 

3. 7 Quick Steps to Create API Documentation Using Postman 

4. What is Product Engineering Life Cycle? 

CMS Drupal 7 v/s Drupal 10 

As this article aims to highlight the difficulties associated with the ongoing use of Drupal 7 CMS and to present the most effective solution, below is a comparison of CMS Drupal 7 v/s Drupal 10 to help you understand the benefits of Drupal 10 better.  

Our primary objective is to provide you with a comprehensive understanding of how various popular website features, tasks, and workflows are represented in both Drupal 7 CMS and Drupal 10. 

1. Mobile Design 

Drupal 7 CMS lacks the essential responsive design capabilities needed to develop web pages that adjust their structures to different screen sizes of devices. One can develop websites that are mobile-friendly with Drupal 7 CMS by manually adjusting settings and incorporating extra modules or themes that have been contributed by others. 

In Drupal 10, developers can construct responsive pages with greatly streamlined workflows, minimal manual configuration, and without the necessity for additional modules. The contemporary Drupal core features a powerful framework for managing responsive images and breakpoints, which are essential components of responsive design. 

Recent advancements include innovative features like Views Responsive Grids, which provide intuitive responsiveness options for grids within Drupal Views. The core themes for both the administration and front end in Drupal 10, known as Claro and Olivero, are inherently responsive. 

2. Administrative Interfaces 

Drupal 7 CMS features a conventional administrative dashboard organized with tabs and subtabs. The overlay-contributed module enables extensive menu sections to be displayed in modal windows. The user interface of Drupal 7 CMS seems to be antiquated regarding its design and overall user experience. 

Accessibility challenges also exist, including problems with colour contrast and the absence of keyboard navigation options. Accessing the administrative dashboard on mobile devices proves to be challenging due to the lack of optimization for smaller screens. 

Upon accessing the administrative dashboard in Drupal 10, one is greeted by a contemporary and elegant design offered by the core admin theme, Claro. The design features a tidy and organized appearance. The admin interface has become more intuitive and user-friendly due to a more logical arrangement of settings and actions, accompanied by clearer labels throughout. 

Claro has been developed with a focus on responsiveness, enabling your team to perform administrative tasks using mobile devices when necessary. Significant enhancements in accessibility are readily apparent through the noticeable colour contrasts and the use of more legible fonts. 

A consistent approach to focus states and styles facilitates the interaction with forms, buttons, form fields, and other interactive components, ensuring accessibility for users who navigate solely via keyboard. 

3. Content Authoring 

When Drupal 8 was released in 2015, it included a comprehensive text editor by default — CKEditor. Over the years, CKEditor has continually evolved following the latest trends.  

CKEditor 5 has emerged as a significant asset for Drupal 10, introducing contemporary and user-friendly balloon panels for ALT text and links, a specialized toolbar for inline media formatting, straightforward table creation, code blocks, special characters, and a variety of additional features. 

The range of functionalities offered by CKEditor 5 for Drupal 10 is continually expanding, accompanied by supplementary contributed modules for CKEditor 5. We conducted a comparative analysis of CKEditor 4 and CKEditor 5, examining each feature for the benefit of our readers. 

In the case of Drupal 7, it is important to note that it does not come equipped with a WYSIWYG (What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get) editor by default. The content editing form lacks a toolbar that facilitates the addition of links, bold text, italics, headings, bullet points, numbered lists, and other formatting options. 

Acquiring a toolbar necessitates the installation of contributed modules that provide different iterations of the WYSIWYG editor. For many years, one of the most effective solutions has been the installation of the CKEditor 4 contributed module.  

The module is currently no longer supported, which means that its presence on your website will necessitate additional paid CMS Drupal 7 support to guarantee its proper functionality. There is more to consider than merely the loss of CMS Drupal 7 support for all Drupal 7 modules. The issue is rooted even more profoundly in this situation. 

CKEditor 4, a third-party application, officially reached its end-of-life for the open-source version earlier this year. 

4. Creating Page Layouts 

The process of creating layouts in Drupal 7 CMS is mainly facilitated by contributed modules, particularly Panels, in conjunction with several other dependent modules, including Page Manager and Ctools.  

To modify a Drupal 7 CMS layout, it is frequently necessary to possess a certain level of understanding of PHP as well as the ability to configure settings via the administrative interface. In Drupal 10, the Layout Builder feature is integrated into the core, enhancing the intuitiveness and flexibility of layout creation. 

It boasts an intuitive interface that includes drag-and-drop functionality. Customizations can be achieved without the necessity of coding, thereby creating new opportunities for individuals who are not developers. The Layout Builder in Drupal 10 is designed to inherently accommodate responsive web design. 

The development of visually appealing and consistent responsive layouts in Drupal 10 is becoming increasingly engaging due to innovative methods such as Single Directory Components, as well as contributed modules like Bootstrap UI Kit, among others.  

The integration of the Bootstrap framework into Drupal websites enhances their capabilities, streamlines workflows, and increases overall project efficiency. 

5. AI Tool Integration 

Generative AI can be seamlessly incorporated into a Drupal website, transforming it into a centralized hub where users can enhance their workflows utilizing artificial intelligence.  

AI tools are capable of providing responses directly within the Drupal administration interface, producing content, translating text, proposing titles, modifying the tone and voice of written material, creating taxonomy terms, and generating placeholder content complete with images for quality assurance and development teams to evaluate new features, among various other functionalities. 

The variety of AI-related modules and their functionalities is continually expanding. All modules developed for AI integration are specifically designed for Drupal 10, and there are none created for Drupal 7. The sole method to obtain it for Drupal 7 CMS is by developing a custom module. 

This solution will require payment, which poses a challenge for development due to the limitations of Drupal 7 CMS in integrating with specific APIs or functionalities.  

6. Decoupling Opportunities 

Today, there will be extensive discussions regarding decoupled architecture. Separating the front end and back end enables developers to use modern JavaScript frameworks designed for creating user interfaces that enhance performance, improve user experience, and boost developer productivity. 

Examining the decoupled setup possibilities of Drupal 7 CMS resembles a journey through time. Drupal 7 CMS is a monolithic content management system in which the front end is closely integrated with the backend. The built-in support for REST APIs is limited, and the development of APIs for content sharing necessitates the use of additional modules. 

Drupal 10, in contrast, adopts an API-first methodology. The system incorporates integrated RESTful Web Services and JSON:API, facilitating the development of APIs and the distribution of Drupal content to external applications. While these features were introduced before Drupal 10, efforts continue to enhance Drupal with additional exciting functionalities. 

One of the recent advancements in Drupal is the development of Decoupled Menus, which is designed to facilitate the consumption of Drupal menus by JavaScript frontends. With the introduction of Drupal 10.1, it is now possible to activate a menu Linkset API endpoint with minimal effort, and additional improvements are on the horizon.  

CMS Drupal 7 To 10 Migration Checklist 

So, let us now look into the requirements necessary to successfully execute CMS Drupal 7 to Drupal 10 migration. Although every Drupal 7 to Drupal 10 migration project possesses its distinct characteristics, it can typically be divided into the following steps:  

Step 1: Examine Your Drupal 7 Website 

CMS Drupal 7 to Drupal 10 migration represents a significant advancement. Consider this an opportunity to strategize for the future of your site by evaluating its structure, content, functionality, and design.  

Here are a few questions to help you initiate your exploration: 

1. What are your expectations regarding Drupal 10? 

2. Is the existing structure functioning effectively? 

3. What elements require Drupal 7 to Drupal 10 migration? 

4. Is there a necessity for a redesign? 

5. Does your code require a comprehensive revision? 

6. What is the scale of the task? 

Step 2: Verify The Availability Of Modules 

Are you utilizing contributed modules to enhance the capabilities of your Drupal 7 site? 

If so, you will need to verify their compatibility with Drupal 10 or seek an alternative before proceeding with the CMS Drupal 7 to Drupal 10 migration. You may accomplish this by individually reviewing the page of each module on drupal.org, or by utilizing a tool like the Upgrade Status module.  

It is advisable to explore alternative options, even if your current modules are compatible with Drupal 10, as the Drupal community may have developed superior solutions. 

Step 3: Develop Your Drupal 10 Website 

You are required to develop a completely new website utilizing the most recent version available, which is Drupal 10.3.7 as of the current date. Now, proceed to install the modules that you have chosen in the preceding step. It is important to note that the installation procedure in Drupal 10 differs from that of Drupal 7. 

Establish your content frameworks by incorporating blocks, content types, media types, web forms, and navigation menus. It is advisable to utilize Layout Builder, a fundamental module introduced in Drupal 8.5, which serves as a replacement for the Panels module. The robust drag-and-drop capabilities of Layout Builder facilitate the creation of visually appealing and adaptable pages with ease. 

Step 4: Revise Your Code 

It is advisable to utilize available contributed modules whenever feasible to minimize the necessity for custom coding. Custom themes must be developed anew from the ground up. Adopt optimal methodologies and contemporary coding standards. It is important to note that Drupal 10 necessitates a minimum of PHP 8.1 and has revised its database requirements. 

Finally, integrate your personalized modules and themes into your Drupal 10 website. 

Step 5: Transfer Your Data 

If the amount of content is limited, it may be feasible to transfer it manually from the previous site to the new one. You may wish to consider automating the process instead. Automated Drupal 7 to Drupal 10 migration can be accomplished by utilizing the Migrate API to transfer content and configurations. 

It is essential to recognize its limitations and to develop a strategy for addressing them effectively. You might need to regenerate views using the views migration module, for instance. Additional useful modules for CMS Drupal 7 to Drupal 10 migration consist of Migrate Plus, Migrate Tools, and Migrate Scanner. 

Step 6: Test Your Newly Developed Website 

Conduct thorough testing and quality assurance on your new website to guarantee its security, performance, and accessibility on a range of devices. Ensure that all content and data have been accurately migrated. Finally, obtain the necessary approvals from the relevant stakeholders. 

Step 7: Launch! 

Inform your audiences about the forthcoming change. This presents an excellent opportunity to demonstrate and articulate the advantages it offers to them. Adjust the DNS settings of your site to direct them to your Drupal 10 website. Re-establish any previous redirects or custom URLs and monitor your logs for any occurrences of 404 errors or other alerts. 

Ensure that your previous Drupal 7 site is secure and inaccessible to the public. It may be advisable to ultimately establish a static version and a backup for future reference. 

Key Takeaways 

1. The impending CMS Drupal 7 end of life in January 2025, underscores the importance of doing Drupal 7 to Drupal 10 migration soon. 

2. Drupal 10 introduces automated updates, enhances user experience, and includes a variety of additional features. 

3. The Drupal community places a strong emphasis on the security of its newer versions, the CMS Drupal 7 support from the community will also come to an end with Drupal 7 end of life in January 2025. 

4. One additional consequence of failing to upgrade to Drupal 10 is that specific functionalities may no longer operate as expected. 

5. Drupal 10 is developed using PHP version 8.0, whereas Drupal 7 CMS is based on PHP 7, which has also approached its end of life. 

Off You must have JavaScript enabled to use this form. Email Leave this field blank 14 Blog category Drupal

In this week's Beyond Blocks podcast episode, I spoke to Jess Archer - Engineering Team Lead at Laravel.

We discuss Laravel Prompts which was released at Laracon US last year and added to Drush 13, but also about PHP, Laravel, Neovim, working in the terminal and bullet journaling.

Listen to the episode now.

I created a dashboard for testing multiple URLs at the same time using Axe.

DrupalCamp Berlin 2024 has officially started! More than 200 Drupal enthusiasts are gathering at the atmospheric Alte Münze in the heart of Berlin to explore the latest trends and share insights. Our CEO, Grzegorz Bartman, is representing Droptica there. To mark the occasion, we've teamed up with our developers to curate a handpicked list of seven sessions from the event program that are well worth attending during this two-day gathering.

Exposing External and Custom Data to Views with hook_views_data() admin Fri, 11/08/2024 - 11:12

Configuring a Custom Permission Provider Service in Drupal 9/10 Modules admin Thu, 11/07/2024 - 17:05

I've used Drush - the Drupal shell - to interact with my Drupal applications on the command line since I started around 2008.

It's always been part of my Drush experience.

From installing Drupal and performing routine actions such as enabling modules and clearing caches to, in newer Drupal versions, performing migrations and generating Storybook stories.

Many projects I work on have custom Drush commands to perform tasks from the command line.

This week, I created a new Drupal 11 project for a client using the drupal/core-recommended package and initially forgot to install Drush so I could install Drupal.

I'm surprised Drush isn't in Drupal core or a dependency of the recommended package.

There is a basic Drupal CLI at core/scripts/drupal, but I wonder if we'll see a fully-featured CLI tool like Drush included with Drupal core, similar to Symfony's console or Laravel's artisan commands.

For me, including Drush would be an obvious choice.

If you are paying close attention to the Drupal CMS roadmap, you may have noticed that our focus has mostly been on CMS features and the administrative user interface. Many people have asked: What about themes?

Drupal CMS will initially ship with Olivero, which is the default theme for Drupal core in the Standard profile. Of course, Experience Builder will completely change the way we build sites, and that includes support for design systems and single-directory components. In order to support this initially, the Starshot Demo Design System was developed (very quickly!) to show how design systems can be integrated with XB. We will also develop some components for Olivero so that Drupal CMS and eventually core have something to demo with XB.

Now, we are planning for what comes next. So we are seeking a strategic partner to collaborate on designing and implementing a comprehensive design system for our post-v1 integration with Experience Builder for Drupal CMS. 

The goal for this initiative is to create a modern and versatile design system that provides designers and front-end developers tools to accelerate their adoption of Drupal as their digital platform, by enabling them to easily adapt it to their own brand. This design system will enable content marketers to efficiently build landing pages and campaigns, allowing them to execute cohesive marketing strategies while maintaining the brand integrity.

Since it’s a big commitment for anyone, we are dividing the scope of work between design and implementation. We welcome applicants with expertise in one area who wish to specialize, as well as those who are equipped to handle the complete lifecycle of the design system, from initial design to full technical implementation and integration.

For more details, including information on how to apply, check out the full brief.

Interested partners should submit the following by 6 December, and we will announce the selected proposal(s) the week of 16 December. If you have questions before that, we’ll host a webinar the week of 19 November. You can also find us on Slack in #starshot or #experience-builder in the meantime.

We are looking forward to seeing your proposals!

Authored by Nadiia Nykolaichuk.

AI is shifting our perception of the impossible. It does things that past generations would have never imagined. Indeed, it has long since become a routine to ask AI assistants to play music, turn on the lights, or even order groceries. With the advance of generative AI, boosting content management through various AI-driven tasks has also become increasingly common.

Authored by Nadiia Nykolaichuk.

AI is shifting our perception of the impossible. It does things that past generations would have never imagined. Indeed, it has long since become a routine to ask AI assistants to play music, turn on the lights, or even order groceries. With the advance of generative AI, boosting content management through various AI-driven tasks has also become increasingly common.

LocalGov Drupal is the epitome of the principles of a Digital Public Good.

MARINA BAY, Singapore, 6 November, 2024—Drupal CMS, the groundbreaking package built on Drupal core with the marketer in mind, will launch on 15 January 2025. Conference attendees at DrupalCon Singapore 2024 will have the exclusive opportunity to be the first to learn more about Drupal CMS directly from Drupal’s founder, Dries Buytaert.

Learn how Drupal CMS will enable site builders without any Drupal experience to easily create a new site using their browser, marking one of the most significant launches in Drupal history.

Alongside the Drupal Association leadership team, Dries will unveil key features of Drupal CMS, making DrupalCon Singapore 2024 a can’t-miss event for anyone in the Open Source community. Occurring one month before the release of Drupal CMS, DrupalCon Singapore 2024 is an exclusive opportunity for attendees to join in the conversation surrounding Drupal CMS directly with its creators.

“The product strategy is for Drupal CMS to be the gold standard for no-code website building,” said Dries. “Our goal is to empower non-technical users like digital marketers, content creators, and site-builders to create exceptional digital experiences without requiring developers.”

DrupalCon Singapore 2024, 9-11 December 2024, is a premier gathering of Drupal and Open Source professionals. Over three days, the conference will showcase the latest Drupal trends, facilitate networking opportunities, and offer a platform for thought leadership in the Open Source landscape.

Key features of DrupalCon Singapore 2024 include:

• Keynotes, sessions, and panels: The Driesnote and Drupal CMS Panel are two highlights amongst a packed schedule of insightful sessions.
• Contribution Day: Contribution Day is where attendees grow and learn by helping to make Drupal even better. Giving back to the project is crucial in an Open Source community, as the Drupal project is developed by a community of people who work together to innovate the software.
• Birds of a Feather (BoFs): BoFs provide the perfect setting for connecting with like-minded attendees who share your interests.
• Splash Awards: Celebrate the work and creativity of the global Drupal community with this awards ceremony, which recognises outstanding projects built with Drupal.
• Networking Opportunities: Network with experts from around the globe who create ambitious digital experiences.

Register for DrupalCon Singapore 2024 at https://events.drupal.org/singapore2024 and join the next chapter in Drupal’s evolution!

The end of life of Drupal 7 is just around the corner and selecting the right migration partner is crucial for a smooth, cost-effective, and future-proof transition. Find out how 1xINTERNET and Pantheon’s unique solution can support your organisation!

The end of life of Drupal 7 is just around the corner and selecting the right migration partner is crucial for a smooth, cost-effective, and future-proof transition. Find out how 1xINTERNET and Pantheon’s unique solution can support your organisation!

Low-code + Decoupled Drupal: The Power of Custom Elements 3.0 no-code.png wolfgang.ziegler Wed, 11/06/2024 - 04:54 Custom Elements UI empowers frontend developers to configure Drupal's data processing for API responses, enabling precise tailoring of output.

Post co-authored with NSW Resources. A critical issue with the management of content currency on our Drupal website, nsw.gov.au/nswresources required an innovative solution to provide us with an automated content audit process. 

by luhur.rizal / 6 November 2024

Due to the complexity and size of our Drupal web presence, ensuring each page was up-to-date and reviewed by the appropriate business unit became increasingly challenging. We needed a tool to track how long it had been since a page was reviewed, set specific periods for future reviews and easily identify the page owners for each section of the website. Furthermore, with the required frequency of daily updates to the site, the solution had to be ‘live’ to accurately reflect these changes.

Choosing the right solution

To tackle these challenges, we collaborated with our Drupal web development partner, PreviousNext, to create a live .csv file of all relevant web pages. This file included custom metadata detailing each page’s review frequency, page owner, date of last page update, date of last content review, publishing status and the next scheduled review date. By using this .csv file as a data source, we built a user-friendly content audit report dashboard in Microsoft Power BI.

The PowerBI dashboard provides executives with a high-level overview of which sections of the website are most in need of review. A complementary dashboard for ‘content champions’ offers a more granular view of the status of each individual page, enabling targeted content management.

Power BI implementation

Implementing this solution involved several steps:

Internal stakeholder consultation

We engaged with the various business units in NSW Resources division to identify page owners and establish appropriate review periods for each section of the website.

Metadata assignment 

Metadata bulk-uploaded to the pages included the custom metadata fields created for the project, such as review periods and page owners.

Data manipulation in PowerBI 

Data from the .csv file was manipulated within PowerBI to ensure that columns were in the correct format. We created a 'Review status' column based on the next date of review to provide clear visibility. We also filtered out any unpublished or archived content to make it more streamlined. 

PowerBI build

Using the dataset from the website's metadata and Google Analytics, we built a comprehensive dashboard in PowerBI Desktop and then uploaded it to PowerBI Service for broader access. Live links to the web pages were integrated into the dashboards for easy navigation.

Executive overview report

We developed a high-level summary report that shows how many pages each business unit is responsible for and includes Google Analytics page views from the past 30 days.

Content audit report

This report provides filtering by review status and sub-areas within each business unit, offering direct links to the listed web pages and conditional formatting utilising a traffic light system for review status indicators.

Overall tracker

Designed to be used exclusively by the NSW Resources website team, this site-wide and document overview provides an overall tracker, including documents, events, and articles that are not part of other reports.

Internal integrations 

PowerBI reports were integrated into Microsoft Teams and the SharePoint intranet, facilitating use across the business.

Internal work request form 

The form was updated to distinguish whether a web update is part of a comprehensive content audit review, therefore requiring a review period reset, or just a minor adjustment that means the review status remains unchanged.

A content audit that works for everyone

The project required extensive consultation to define the scope and needs of each business unit. Following this, identifying the correct page owners, along with setting appropriate review periods, posed significant challenges. 

As business units sometimes want entire website sections to be marked as reviewed with a change in the review period, the Drupal-side dashboard allowed for bulk changes to both owners and review periods by uploading a revised version of the .csv file, saving substantial time.

Understanding the correct licensing requirements for PowerBI was another challenge. After consulting with our internal IT team, a group workspace was set up under an enterprise agreement, and an individual licence was obtained for the team member managing the dashboards.

Testing the PowerBI dashboard

To ensure effectiveness, the solution was initially tested in a development environment that mirrored the production site. This approach allowed us to test the limitations and user experience prior to going live. During this phase, we tested the bulk upload of the .csv file to update page metadata.

A soft launch of the content audit dashboard provided valuable insights, such as the realisation that a three-month review period was too short, given the number of pages each business unit manages. 

As a result of this testing period, we made minor adjustments, such as requiring a defined review period for each page and allowing users to opt-out of updates considered a ‘review’ for reporting purposes. This might include, for example, correcting a typo, which doesn’t constitute a page review in the context of the content audit dashboard.

Transforming content auditing

This solution significantly enhanced reporting capabilities across NSW Resources, reducing the need for manual intervention. Now, page updates are easily reflected in the report dashboard automatically.

The PowerBI dashboards offer real-time updates and clear visibility of page ownership and review status, making it easier for business units to manage their content.

Business units can independently track the currency of their pages without needing data from the digital team, streamlining the process and increasing efficiency.

Future plans for the dashboard

The solution will continue to evolve. We plan to use the work done on the PowerBI integration to inform future website improvements with the potential for further Google Analytics data integration.

A document audit is currently a separate and opt-in process for business units, but future plans may involve greater integration.

Conclusion

Overall, this innovative solution addresses a critical need for NSW Resources by providing a robust, automated and user-friendly content audit process that adapts to the dynamic nature of our Drupal website.

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