Planet Drupal

Join us THURSDAY, April 18 at 1pm ET / 10am PT, for our regularly scheduled call to chat about all things Drupal and nonprofits. (Convert to your local time zone.)

This month we'll be preparing for DrupalCon Portland, which features the return of the Nonprofit Summit!

And we'll of course also have time to discuss anything else that's on our minds at the intersection of Drupal and nonprofits.  Got something specific you want to talk about? Feel free to share ahead of time in our collaborative Google doc: https://nten.org/drupal/notes!

All nonprofit Drupal devs and users, regardless of experience level, are always welcome on this call.

This free call is sponsored by NTEN.org and open to everyone. 

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View notes of previous months' calls.

Experience the ultimate Drupal getaway at DrupalCamping 2024 in Wolfsburg! Tickets are now on sale for four days of camping, chilling, swimming, barbecue, and Drupal excitement. Don't miss out – secure your spot today.

Drupal Developer Days announces featured speakers Gábor Hojtsy and Cristina Chumillas for their upcoming event in Burgas, Bulgaria. Get ready to dive deep into Drupal 11 updates and Admin UI changes. Don't miss out on this opportunity to learn from industry experts and connect with the Drupal community!

Welcome back to “Skills Upgrade” a Talking Drupal mini-series following the journey of a D7 developer learning D10. This is episode 7.

Topics

• Review Chad's goals for the previous week

  • Test Example
  • Set up phpunit.xml
  • Start with FrontPageLinkTest.php

• Review Chad's questions

  • In the testing_example module, the file "src/Controller/TestingExampleController.php" has a function for simpletestDescription(). Is this an outdated artifact that should have been removed at some point? The module itself doesn't appear to use Simpletest elsewhere and appears to only rely on PHPUnit.
  • What do you recommend for the minimal code structure to include for any given test type? Is the Testing Example module an ideal model or are there other resources I should review? The testing reference from Selwyn was helpful.
  • In the "FrontPageLinkDependenciesTest.php" setUp() function, the createContentType() function is called without specifying the type. Is that set somewhere else? I may have overlooked it. Nevermind—it's set using randomMachineName() in the createContentType() function. Is there anything extra or standard to write in tests for drupal.org?

• Tasks for the upcoming week

  • Smart Date - Martin (maintainer) to review promptly, I've already chatted with him about it. Create a new functional test: "submit a range with an end time before the start and validate that an error is returned"
    • Create an issue in the Smart Date queue and assign to yourself.
    • Create an issue fork.
    • Check out the issue fork locally.
    • Write (and test) the test locally.
    • Commit and push to the issue fork.
    • Mark issue as "Needs review".
    • Ask someone to review - if all looks good, the reviewer will mark as RBTC.

Resources

Chad's Drupal 10 Learning Curriclum & Journal Chad's Drupal 10 Learning Notes

The Linux Foundation is offering a discount of 30% off e-learning courses, certifications and bundles with the code, all uppercase DRUPAL24 and that is good until June 5th https://training.linuxfoundation.org/certification-catalog/

Hosts

AmyJune Hineline - @volkswagenchick

Guests

Chad Hester - chadkhester.com @chadkhest Mike Anello - DrupalEasy.com @ultimike

Gai Technologies Pvt Ltd has carved a niche in the Drupal community by focusing exclusively on this versatile platform since 2011. Founded with the mission to cultivate high-caliber software teams in lesser-known regions, Gai has demonstrated remarkable growth and proficiency in delivering sophisticated Drupal solutions. Read the full article for an in-depth look at how Gai Technologies leverages its expertise to foster growth and innovation in the open-source landscape.

At Chapter Three we do more than build websites from the ground up. We also support existing websites that require new or additional resources. The type of work we do is flexible and depends on the client’s needs. It ranges from basic maintenance and security updates to more substantial overhauls, cleanup, and feature enhancements.  One major website we support is National Nurses United (NNU). With nearly 225,000 members, NNU is the largest union and professional association for registered nurses in the United States. It is the country’s leading advocate for collective bargaining for RNs, regulatory protections for patients and nurses, and for guaranteed health care and expanded medicare.

Discover Why DrupalCon Portland 2024 Is the Must-Attend Event of the Year

If you're part of the Drupal community or interested in Drupal, you won't want to miss DrupalCon Portland 2024! The conference is set to be the most exciting and informative event of the year, catering to developers, marketers, content editors, content publishers, and anyone else who interacts with their website. In this blog post, I'll outline the top five reasons why attending DrupalCon Portland in 2024 is a must.

Immerse Yourself in the Ultimate Drupal Experience

DrupalCon Portland 2024 promises an entire week dedicated to Drupal and the vibrant Drupal Community. It's your chance to connect with some of the most brilliant minds in the industry, engage in discussions, build lasting friendships, and simply have a fantastic time. Key highlights of the event include:

1. Foster Community Through In-Person Connections: Experience the warmth and synergy of the Drupal community by connecting face-to-face with fellow Drupal enthusiasts. This is a unique chance to share your passion for Drupal with like-minded individuals in a vibrant, engaging setting.

2. Driesnote & Eminent Speakers: Gain insights from the Drupal founder during the much-anticipated Driesnote and learn from a lineup of distinguished speakers. These sessions promise to be thought-provoking, offering deep dives into various aspects of Drupal, its ecosystem, and future directions.

3. Contribution Opportunities: Participate in contribution sprints where you can tackle real-world problems, contribute to the project, and interact with key project contributors and maintainers. This is your chance to make a tangible impact and glean insights from the guardians of the Drupal codebase.

4. Social Gatherings and Welcome Party: DrupalCon isn't just about learning; it's also about having a great time. The Welcome Party and other social events provide perfect settings to unwind, celebrate, and build friendships in a more relaxed atmosphere. View the social events or submit yours now.

5. Birds of a Feather Sessions: Engage in "Birds of a Feather" (BoF) sessions, where small groups gather to discuss hot topics and share knowledge on specific areas of interest within Drupal and technology. These small gatherings encourage open dialogue and are a great way to dive deep into subjects you care about with peers.

Rediscover the Thriving Drupal Community

After years of remote work and lockdowns, DrupalCon Portland 2024 provides a refreshing opportunity to step out of your home office and connect with passionate Drupal enthusiasts. Meet the faces behind your favorite modules and engage with like-minded individuals who share your love for Drupal.

Unparalleled Learning Opportunities

DrupalCon offers unparalleled opportunities for learning and growth. From inspiring keynotes and informative sessions to hands-on training and contribution sprints, this event is the ultimate platform to expand your knowledge and expertise. Break out of your routine and explore the full potential of Drupal.

This year will be filled with broader topics to help you drive your digital experiences forward. Some of the new highlights this year include:

1. A new marketing track dedicated to driving your business goals forward.
2. Artificial Intelligence (AI) - Learning how AI is being incorporated into Drupal and how it can help you improve your day to day and achieve your goals.
3. Birds of a Feather - More structure and planning going into our BOF sessions to drive higher levels of engagement and inform stronger conversations.

Be Inspired by Innovations

Witness the transformative power of Drupal and be inspired by the innovative and talented Drupal community. Attendees at DrupalCon Portland are focused on:

1. Crafting cutting-edge content management systems.
2. Delivering groundbreaking customer experiences.
3. Mastering their craft and pushing boundaries.

Forge Valuable Connections

DrupalCon Portland is the perfect environment to connect with individuals who share your passion for Drupal, open-source technology, and delivering top-notch digital experiences. Building relationships here can significantly impact your career, opening doors to exciting opportunities.

There are countless reasons to join us at DrupalCon Portland 2024, and we can't wait to welcome you! It's a unique opportunity to connect with the Drupal community, discover the incredible work happening within Drupal, and spend quality time with friends and colleagues from around the world who share your common passion. We look forward to seeing you there!

Register now for DrupalCon Portland 2024.

Authored by: Nadiia Nykolaichuk.

The TalkingDrupal podcast had Alexey Korepov on to talk about Test Driven Development. Alexey has written the Test Helpers module, a development package that provides many useful utility tools for writing unit tests for your Drupal code.

When it comes to Drupal development, GitHub Actions offers invaluable assistance in automating repetitive tasks, standardizing your processes, and enhancing code quality. By defining workflows as code in YAML files that can react to various events, it provides flexible customization and scalability. Pre-built actions can handle common tasks like building and testing code, while custom actions can be tailored to project-specific requirements. Let's explore some of the best practices along with examples of actions you could use in your next Drupal project.

As of April 5, Drupal 7 will have nine months before it’s entirely unsupported and becomes a liability. Migrating out of Drupal 7 can be complicated, and this is one reason many organizations have put it off for so long. While it’s true that Drupal 8 and beyond represent a radical change from Drupal 7, in everything from architecture (the introduction of Symfony components) to theming (Twig versus PHP), the path from Drupal 7 to now Drupal 10 is well trodden, and we’re very familiar with it at Chapter Three. Because Drupal 7 has been around for well over a decade, many websites built on it have accumulated vast amounts of content, resulting in complex data structures with custom content types, fields, taxonomies, and entity relationships. Inconsistencies or irregularities in legacy data complicate the migration process.

Drupal's identity is very nuanced, from its rich history to its future potential. We discuss why at least one member of the community says just saying "Drupal" is important when discussing current versions of Drupal and the community that drives it.

Is specifically calling out "Drupal 10.2" or or "Drupal 11" useful, or just confusing to outsiders?

Universities and colleges are faced with unique goals, challenges, and opportunities around digital transformation. We often hear from folks who want to reorient their higher education websites around attracting and nurturing potential new students. I recently shared insights on how to accomplish this at the 2023 HighEdWeb Conference in Buffalo, New York, where I co-presented with Winna Tse and Vibeke Silverthorne from OCAD University.

We showcased our collaboration on OCAD U’s Admissions sites—two visually bold, accessible, interactive microsites that we designed to captivate a creative audience and streamline the application process. OCAD U saw a 21% increase in website visits and a 15% increase in applicants within a few weeks of the launch.

In this article, I’ve shared some of our best lessons and findings from the project. Read on to explore six proven ways to reach, engage, and win over prospective students.

 

1. Consider Building a Separate Microsite

According to usability research, students often select a program first before they choose which school to attend. That means it’s really important to show prospective students what programs are available and make program pages easily accessible. Many websites successfully use a program finder on their main website to funnel prospective students to their program of choice. 

But because OCAD U had information architecture issues on its main site, we recommended replacing the old admissions section with two stand-alone microsites targeted at prospective students (one for graduates, one for undergraduates). This solution brought several advantages for OCAD U’s admissions team and the wider university, which we’ll explore below.  

Targeted user experience

By capturing prospective undergraduates on a self-contained microsite, OCAD U can deliver a highly tailored digital experience. Everything from the menu navigation to the visuals are geared towards users who’re considering studying at the university. OCAD U was so happy with this approach that they commissioned a second microsite aimed at prospective postgraduates.

Streamlined updates process

Originally, the admissions team had to ask the marketing team to make content changes. Every department did this, meaning it could take 2-3 weeks for requests to reach the top of the queue. This wasn’t practical for the fast-paced nature of admissions and recruitment.

A stand-alone microsite gives the admissions team greater ownership over their content. They can make changes in a single day, enabling them to publish time-sensitive content such as deadlines reminders.

Because the microsites are built using Drupal, the admissions team has access to a powerful user roles feature for managing editing permissions. This is one of many reasons to use Drupal for higher education websites.

Possibilities for experimentation

OCAD U’s admissions website created an opportunity to experiment with the visual brand and user experience. It offers more freedom and breathing room than the main website due to its size and age. What’s more, the university can learn from the admissions website and apply lessons from its successes to the main website. 

Alternative: Program Finder

A separate microsite was the right choice for OCAD U, but another strategy is using a program finder on both the main and recruitment site to funnel users towards detailed program pages. This approach is particularly effective for institutions with multiple campus websites, as it offers a versatile starting point for program exploration. For OCAD U, the decision to go with a microsite stemmed from a lack of flexibility with the information architecture on their main site, making a microsite the obvious choice. For other institutions, the program finder funnel solution might make more sense.

2. Create Straightforward User Journeys

Because you’re competing for the time and attention of prospective students, it’s all the more important that your website serves up the information they’re looking for quickly and effortlessly. The best way to achieve this is by mapping user journeys and working out how to streamline your site architecture, search experience, and calls to action.

User Journey Mapping

We ran a user journey mapping exercise with OCAD U where we developed user personas and explored the types of interactions they had with the university. This included everything from Googling the institution, to attending an open day, to completing an application form. The process helped us uncover new opportunities to improve their journey, and allowed us to start developing wireframes and mockups.

User Mindsets

Using a less traditional approach, we also explored user mindsets. Our team identified three mindsets that any prospective student might have—whether they’re a high schooler, undergraduate, mature student, or coming from abroad: 

1. “I don’t know what I want to study.”
2. “I want to study art and design, but I don’t know where yet.”
3. “I already know that I want to attend OCAD University.”

Looking into these mindsets with OCAD U helped us shape their site navigation and provide relevant, consistent CTAs. Their Discover section is aimed at the first mindset, the Afford and Visit sections at the second mindset, and the Apply section at the third mindset.

 

We helped OCAD U refine its program selectors and calls to action for a simpler user experience.

 

Want to learn more about the discovery and UX design in higher education projects? Read about our collaboration with York University’s School of the Arts, Media, Performance and Design in 5 Surprising Findings That’ll Change How You See Discovery.

3. Integrate Storytelling Throughout Your Content

Storytelling creates an emotional connection between users and your brand. The most powerful stories are authentic and value-based, showing target audiences that you care about what they care about. Storytelling isn’t just for your homepage either. Program pages are a common entry point for prospective students, so they need to promote your brand as well as the course details.

As an art, design, and media institution, OCAD U has incredible opportunities to use visual storytelling. We infused a range of student-created art throughout the university’s website. Not only does this elevate the design, it also showcases talent that reflects OCAD U’s reputation, and invites prospective students to imagine their own creative possibilities.

 

“We felt that [Evolving Web’s] aesthetic was very strong, that they could really adapt to our brand. Also, most importantly, was their thoughtful approach to storytelling.”

- Winna Tse, Communications & Projects Specialist, OCAD University 

 

Having worked with dozens of higher education institutions, our team has interviewed many prospective students about what matters to them. We’ve heard repeatedly about the importance of connecting with current students and alumni. Prospective students value hearing about real-life experiences at your university—in fact, it’s often a tipping point in their decision making process. So, don’t isolate student stories and testimonials in a corner of your website. Integrate them on every page to ensure exposure to your most persuasive content. 

 

We reimagined the application of OCAD U’s visual brand to create a striking website design. 
4. Fine-Tune Your Visual Brand

An eye-catching, memorable visual identity sets your university apart from competitors. Above all, it needs to resonate with your target audience. Building a new website is often a good opportunity to refresh your brand—but it’s possible to refine what you already have in a way that targets prospective students. 

Identify where your brand allows for flexibility, and experiment with different flavours of existing design elements. OCAD U wanted a bolder look and feel that reflects their reputation and meets the expectations of discerning young creatives. So we found ways to use their visual identity in new ways, bringing out more daring and fun aspects of the brand.

Our design team developed ‘Windows into OCAD U’, a concept that invites students to explore creative possibilities, escape the boring, and reimagine a more fantastical reality. We also used the distinctive architecture of OCAD U’s buildings as inspiration for textures and shapes, including tiled patterns, concentric squares, and boldly coloured buttons.

We communicated our vision to the client using stylescapes, a valuable tool for enhancing collaboration on art direction.

 

Stylescapes helped us communicate design ideas and get early alignment on the visual direction of the project. 
5. Help Prospective Students Apply with Confidence

If you want to increase applications from prospective students, it’s essential to make the admissions process as straightforward and welcoming as possible. A useful exercise is to identify major touchpoints in the user’s journey and find ways to provide better support and value around it. 

For OCAD U, this touchpoint was when prospective students prepared and submitted their portfolio. For other universities, it might be something like attending an open day or having an interview with faculty.

We helped OCAD U develop a dedicated page for portfolio preparation. It offers step-by-step guidance, information about requirements, creative prompts and tips, answers to common questions, and access to portfolio clinics. By providing these valuable resources, OCAD U saw an increase not only in the number of applications but also in their quality.

 

Portfolio submission is a unique aspect of OCAD U’s admissions process that required special attention.
6. Prioritize Accessibility and Inclusion 

Prospective students come from a wide range of cultures and backgrounds, and include people with disabilities and support needs. Higher education institutions need to prioritize accessibility and inclusion when building a website, ensuring that everyone has equal access to content and feels welcomed and represented.

Everything our team builds complies with WCAG 2.0 AA and relevant federal, provincial, state, or local requirements. But we encourage and guide clients to go beyond these standards with a human-centric, personalized approach to web accessibility. This can empower your organization to reach even more people and offer ever-better experiences.

It’s also important to represent your institution’s diversity into your site’s content strategy. Select website imagery that represents people of various cultures, races, ethnicities, religions, and so on that represent that diversity you would find on campus. Diversity can also mean highlighting different paths to success, such as showcasing someone who is a mature student that went to OCAD to start a second career. Prioritize plain language to help non-native speakers and users with cognitive disabilities to find the right information. Consider whether you need a multilingual website to cater to audiences such as international students.

Finally, explore ways to support prospective students from historically underserved communities. As a North American university, OCAD U has a dedicated section for indigenous applicants that provides tailored information about relevant resources, contacts, programs, scholarships and bursaries.

Meet Evolving Web, Your Digital Agency Partner

Evolving Web works with higher education organizations across North America—including Princeton University, McGill University, Georgia Tech, the University of Washington, OCAD University, Queen’s University, York University, and the University of California Berkeley.

Our experience has allowed us to develop best practices and tried-and-tested solutions that help us deliver exceptional value to our higher education clients. We create dynamic, user-centric websites to help you connect with target audiences and cultivate valuable relationships. Our team prioritizes your digital independence, giving you the tools you need to grow and evolve your digital presence.

Learn about our work with higher education clients and see what we can do for you. 

+ more awesome articles by Evolving Web

The presentation   Below is our summary of Dries' presentation. Drupal’s past Dries started Drupal when he was about 20 years old and studying at university. He built the system for himself and then open sourced it.  One key turning point early on was in 2002, when Dries reached out to Jeremy Andrews, the person behind KernelTrap, a kernel development blog. At the time, many websites fell victim to something called the Slashdot effect. Slashdot was so popular at the time that if your site was mentioned on Slashdot you’d get a massive spike of traffic and websites would often crash. Dries wrote to Jeremy and said that if he migrated his site Drupal it would never crash. He even offered Jeremy root access via email.

Efficient Token Usage in Drupal: Practical Tips and Examples Editor Thu, 03/28/2024 - 12:54

If you want hassle-free and efficient content generation and management, Drupal is the right choice. With several modules and tokens, it will help you create a dynamic and versatile data environment to cater to your audience’s needs and search engine guidelines. Lamborghini, Doctors Without Borders, and Nokia illustrate how applicable and productive this system is.
You must discover the solution’s features in more detail to get started and advance your content generation strategy. It will come in handy to lead your Drupal scenario from scratch to scratch without difficulty. Stay tuned to find out more about token implementation scenarios at your disposal. Mind the gap!

And That’s a Wrap

MidCamp has been and gone for 2024, and we couldn't have done it without our volunteers, organizers, contributors, venue hosts, sponsors, speakers, and of course, attendees for making this year's camp a success.

Replay the Fun

Find all of the sessions you missed, share your session around, and spread the word. Videos can be watched on the MidCamp YouTube channel (???? jump to the playlist) or on Drupal.tv.  Captions will follow within a couple of weeks.

Share Your Feedback

For those who joined us this year, please fill out our quick survey. We really value your feedback on any part of your camp experience, and our organizer team works hard to take as much of it as possible into account for next year.

Also, don’t forget to rate any sessions you attended (these can be found on each session node).

????…announcing... MidCamp 2025!

Mark your calendars now! We’ll be back at DePaul University for MidCamp 2025, March 20-21.

Explore other Upcoming Drupal Events

Need more Drupal Events to tide you over to next year? Head over to the Drupal Community Events page to check out what’s coming up in 2024.

One Last Thanks

MidCamp really wouldn't be possible without our amazing sponsors.

Consider adding your organization to the list next year. (2025 prospectus coming soon!)

Keep the madness going all year by joining in the MidCamp Slack We look forward to seeing you at MidCamp 2025. We’re also on Twitter and Mastodon.

Thanks!

The MidCamp Team

In celebration of International Women's Day, The DropTimes dedicates March to highlighting the influential women of the Drupal community. The second part of the "Women in Drupal" series, featuring insights from April Sides of Red Hat, Stephanie Bridges of Digital Polygon, Laura Johnson of Four Kitchens, Mary Blabaum of Acquia, Tiffany Farriss of Palantir, Jill Moraca of Princeton University, and Surabhi Gokte of Axelerant, emphasizes the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion within technology and specifically within Drupal. Their stories cover overcoming imposter syndrome, the significance of representation, mentoring junior developers, and advocating for women's visibility and leadership roles. These leaders share their commitment to fostering a welcoming, supportive, and inclusive environment, reflecting Drupal's ongoing initiatives to inspire inclusion and celebrate the diverse contributions that women make to the community and the tech industry at large.

Authored by: Nadiia Nykolaichuk 

The administrative navigation toolbar is an essential piece in the puzzle of your website’s overall capability to boost website management tasks. It serves as the guiding compass for your team, leading them across the administrative sections quickly and confidently. To achieve this, the toolbar needs to be intuitive, visually clear, straightforward, logically organized, and well-positioned.

I recently wrote a blog post about the best university websites on Drupal, which come from different corners of the world. In this article, I focus on web pages from Poland, similarly presenting their functionalities. For this compilation, I’ve selected seven examples of - in my opinion - the most interesting and inspiring websites.

Create subsites with a different look and feel to the rest of your LocalGov Drupal website.