Talking Drupal

Today we are talking about AI Marketing,Marketing Trends, and The caber toss with guest Hayden Baillio. We'll also cover Drupal core 11.3 as our module of the week. For show notes visit: https://www.talkingDrupal.com/532 Topics AI in Marketing: Hayden's Insights The Role of AI in Content Creation Challenges and Ethical Considerations of AI AI Training Data and Bias AI in Security Testing AI Replacing Jobs The Future of Marketing with AI Highland Games and Personal Hobbies Resources Drupal core 11.3 release highlights Carsinisation Guests Hayden Baillio - hounder.co hgbaillio Hosts Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi Fei Lauren - feilauren MOTW Correspondent Martin Anderson-Clutz - mandclu.com mandclu Brief description: Have you been wanting a version of Drupal core that moves away from the hooks system, has PHP 8.5 support, or has better support for asynchronous queries? The newly released Drupal core 11.3 has all these and more. Module name/project name: Drupal core 11.3 Brief history Created in the last few days (hopefully) by the time this episode is released Changes Performance improvements New MYSQLi database driver. In combination with the PHP Fibers support added in Drupal 10.2, this should allow Drupal sites to run much faster. Not all hosting environments will have PHP configured to work with the new driver, so for now the new driver is in an experimental core module you will need to install to try the new driver Drupal can now lazy load multiple entities at a time using Fibers PHP 8.5 support should also improve performance, as will a number of caching improvements Some early testing in the community indicates some significant improvements for pages loaded from cold cache, anywhere from 30 to 40% fewer queries One of the significant changes in Drupal core 11.2 was the addition of HTMX as the intended successor to Drupal's older AJAX system. Drupal core 11.3 includes some significant steps on the path to replacing all the places that AJAX system in core There's a new HTMX factory object with methods to abstract the specifics of the attributes and headers needed to implement HTMX HTMX is now used for the Form Builder and ConfigSingleExportForm BigPipe no longer uses the older AJAX API, which itself uses jQuery New Workspace Provider concept, will be interesting to see what new possibilities this creates New administer node published status permission, previously required the much broader "administer nodes" permission Drupal core 11.3 also includes some capabilities that previously required contrib modules Links created within CKEditor5 now dynamically link to the entity and when rendered will automatically point to the most recent alias. Previously Drupal sites needed the Linkit module, which has been part of Drupal CMS since its release at the start of the year Drupal CMS is also heavily based on Drupal's recipe system, which includes the ability to automatically import content included within a recipe. Until now you still needed the default_content module to export content as YAML for inclusion in a recipe. With Drupal 11.3 you can export all entities of a particular type, optionally filtered by bundle, and optionally including all dependencies Many of Drupal's remaining hooks, particularly those for themes, now have OOP class replacements, so we're now very close to being able to deprecate .module and .theme files Listeners may remember that the Navigation module was added as an experimental module in Drupal core 10.3. In 11.3, the module is now officially stable, so the rethought admin menu that originally debuted as part of the Gin admin theme is now fully realized in Drupal core SDCs can now be marked to be excluded from the UI, for example if they are meant to only be nested within other components Drupal core 11.3 also introduces some new deprecations: Migrate Drupal and Migrate Drupal UI officially deprecated now that Drupal 7 is EOL Also field_layout, which was ultimately superseded by Layout Builder Promoted and Sticky fields are now hidden by default (an issue created more than 20 years ago! A five digit issue ID) - the user who created it had a drop.org username lol Another issue that sets the "Promoted" default value to FALSE for new content types was also resolved, but only 15 years old. It had a six-digit issue ID - barely! Theme engines have been deprecated! This may be the last feature release of Drupal core before version 12, which could drop as early as June 2026 We'll include a link to the release highlights, but by the time you hear this there should also be an official announcement from Gabor and the DA with additional details

Today we are talking about Drupal for Applications, Types of Applications Drupal can build, and How we change our thinking of Drupal with guests Alexander Varwijk (far-vag) & Jürgen Haas. We'll also cover Drupal Remote Dashboard as our module of the week. For show notes visit: https://www.talkingDrupal.com/531 Topics Drupal as an Application Framework Challenges with Drupal for Real-Time Applications Exciting Prospects with AI and Drupal Showcasing Successful Drupal Implementations Batch Processing and Worker Improvements Orchestration and Integration with External Platforms Future of Drupal as an Application Framework Resources Drupal Advent Calendar Proposal: Restructuring Drupal Internals by Alexander Varwijk Introducing Symfony/Runtime in Drupal Maestro Guests Alexander Varwijk - alexandervarwijk.com/ Kingdutch Jürgen Haas - lakedrops.com jurgenhaas Hosts Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi Fei Lauren - feilauren MOTW Correspondent Martin Anderson-Clutz - mandclu.com mandclu Brief description: Have you ever wanted to manage and monitor a portfolio of Drupal sites from a single interface? There's a module for that. Module name/project name: Drupal Remote Dashboard (DRD) Brief history How old: created in Jan 2010 by Jürgen Haas (jurgenhaas) of LakeDrops Versions available: 4.1.7 which works with Drupal 10 and 11 Maintainership Actively maintained Security coverage Full Documentation Guide Number of open issues: 22 open issues, 3 of which are bugs against the current branch Usage stats: 126 sites Module features and usage With the module enabled, for each monitored site you'll be able to review information like the version of core, modules, and themes, as well as the status report. Note that the dashboard and monitored sites do NOT need to be on the same major version of core. You can also collect any block from a remote site to include on your dashboard, or access the error logs to review them in the dashboard You can execute maintenance tasks like taking sites in or out of maintenance mode, running cron or update.php, as well as flushing cache The dashboard will also allow you to rebuild job schedulers, update translations from drupal.org, change user credentials, or execute arbitrary PHP code, so you'll definitely want to be selective about who will have access From the collected status information you can show a status widget for each domain to display grouped traffic light status levels for security, health, tuning, seo and others. You can also create aggregate status widgets, for example to show the composite health of all sites in a multisite installation. Internally DRD is built around a number of entities, and the documentation includes an architecture page with an Entity Relationship Diagram, while the glossary page includes a description for each of the entities and what Drupal site information they map to. Obviously security for this kind of setup is paramount, and there's a documentation page that details the encryption and authentication methods that are supported Sites that you want to monitor will need to have the DRD Agent module installed, which provides a simple wrapper to receive, route, handle and respond to requests from authorised Drupal Remote Dashboards. It's worth pointing out that the RDR Agent module is in use by 3,152 sites according to drupal.org, so there may be a small number of sites acting as dashboards, but on average each of them is monitoring 25 sites.

AmyJune Hineline, a community architect at the Linux Foundation, Mark Casias, a veteran Drupal contributor, and Matthew Saunders, an AI ambassador, dive deep into the Community Working Group's vital role. They discuss community health, conflict resolution, and the importance of cultural sensitivity. Matthew shares his journey into the group, emphasizing neurodiversity. The trio highlights qualities sought in CWG members, the need for patience in conflict scenarios, and ways to support community efforts without formal membership. Valuable insights on fostering inclusivity abound!

Marcus Johansson, tech lead of the AI initiative at Freely Give, dives into the world of AI in Drupal. He unveils the Model Context Protocol (MCP) and its implications for integrating AI tools. Listeners learn about automators that streamline editorial workflows, from summarizing content to generating alt text. Marcus discusses the challenges of building AI agents and how these innovations reshape Drupal development. With insights into real-world applications and future tools, this conversation is a must for anyone curious about AI's role in content management.

Adam Boros, a seasoned Drupal systems architect, shares his journey from architecture to web development. He discusses the automation revolution for small teams and reflects on Drupal's evolution, particularly from version 6 to 10. Adam unveils his personal calendar builder for DrupalCon Vienna, explaining its features and the enthusiastic community feedback it garnered. He also dives into the impact of AI on Drupal and expresses excitement about its future, highlighting how automation has reignited his passion for development.

Today we are talking about The United Nations Open Source Week, Digital Public Infrastructure, and Digital sovereignty with guest Tiffany Farriss & Mike Gifford. We'll also cover Local Association (EU Sites Project) as our module of the week. For show notes visit: https://www.talkingDrupal.com/528 Topics Drupal at the United Nations Open Source Week The Role of Open Source in Digital Governance Global Collaboration and Open Source Initiatives Challenges and Opportunities in Open Source Adoption The Role of Open Source Program Offices Understanding Digital Public Infrastructure The Importance of Digital Sovereignty Challenges and Opportunities in Digital Public Goods Balancing Innovation and Standardization The Impact of Market Capture on Innovation Funding Open Source as Public Infrastructure Future of Drupal in Global Digital Infrastructure Resources Funding Open Source like public infrastructure chaos gone global UN digital NEDCamp 2023 Keynote Enshittification Recording https://govstack.global/ https://www.sovereign.tech/ https://www.drupal.be/en/drupal-eu-government-day-2026 https://govstack.global/ https://sdgs.un.org/goals https://chaoss.community/ https://www.un.org/digital-emerging-technologies/content/open-source-week-2025 Tiffany's talk about Drupal at UN EvolveDigital NYC summit on Nov 20-21 Guests Tiffany Farriss - www.palantir.net farriss Mike Gifford - accessibility.civicactions.com mgifford Hosts Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi Maya Schaeffer - evolvingweb.com mayalena MOTW Correspondent Martin Anderson-Clutz - mandclu.com mandclu Brief description: Are you looking to create a website for a local Drupal association? There's a project on drupal.org to help you get started. Module name/project name: Local Association (EU Sites Project) Brief history How old: created in Oct 2023 by Jeremy Chinquist (jjchinquist) of drunomics and Drupal Austria Versions available: dev version only Maintainership Security coverage - opted in, no coverage until stable Documentation guide available to help with setup Number of open issues: 49 open issues, 4 of which are bugs No usage stats available Module features and usage This is an unusual project because it's designed to help you quickly create a Drupal website but it doesn't follow any of the usual patterns I've seen: a distribution, composer project template, or Drupal site template Instead, the recommended path is to clone the repo local, and run a setup script. That creates your DDEV project, runs a composer install and then drush site install, and even runs a drush uli so you can log into your built site with a single click once it's done Along the way it will install a couple of custom modules. One populates a multitude of default content, so you have a populated site including navigation as your starting point. It will look like a clone of the 2022 Drupal Netherlands site, though there have been ongoing tweaks to the overall setup, with the most recent in June of 2025. The other custom module provides some additional layouts for use with layout builder, and the project also includes a theme meant to be customized. As you may have guessed by now, this project started when the Dutch Drupal Association rebuilt their website in 2022, and wanted to share their work with other local associations. Drupal France was the first to adopt it, and there was a BoF at DrupalCon Lille in 2023 to discuss sharing it more widely. Following that, an international workgroup began collaborating to establish this project and it was adopted by Drupal associations in Belgium, Germany, Norway, Finland, and London, England. Since today's topic is about positioning Drupal on the international stage, I thought it would also be interesting to talk about how local Drupal associations have also formed their own federation to reduce effort

In this discussion, Jamie Abrahams, founder of a Drupal agency and a co-maintainer of the Drupal AI module, dives deep into the transformative role of AI in Drupal. He outlines the exciting Drupal AI Initiative aimed at innovation and community collaboration. Topics include the integration of AI-Powered features, the challenges of migration, and the ethical implications of AI tools. Jamie also reveals plans for modernizing Drupal's core and emphasizes the importance of transparency and human oversight in AI applications within the platform.

Today we are talking about AI News,Drupal Hooks, and Drupal 11. We'll also cover Webform Scheduled Tasks as our module of the week. For show notes visit: https://www.talkingDrupal.com/526 Topics AI in News Anchoring Drupal Hooks and Themes Adoption of Object-Oriented Modules Challenges with Theme Hook Orders Understanding Hook Ordering in Modules Simplifying Hook Ordering with Drupal 11.2 Updating to Drupal 11: Considerations and Plans Exciting Features in Drupal 11 Drupal Orchestration and Integration New England Drupal Camp Announcement State of Drupal Work and Future Prospects Resources AI News Cast Drupal Hooks Driesnote DrupalCon Vienna 2025 Orchestration Activepieces Hosts Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi MOTW Correspondent Avi Schwab - froboy.org froboy Brief description: Have you (or your client) ever wanted to get fewer webform submission emails? Do you like getting emails on a predictable schedule and not any time a user decides to fill out your form? If so, you might want to check out Webform Scheduled Tasks Module name/project names Webform Scheduled Tasks Brief history Created by mattgill on 22 November 2017 It has a 3.0-rc1 release available with Drupal 10 compatibility and is awaiting review of it's automated D11 fixes. Maintainership Its last release was in November 2023, but just a month ago I helped get Sean Dietrich approved as a new maintainer, so I'm hoping for a new release in the near future. It has security coverage. Tests exist to test the full functionality of the module and they are passing. There is no standalone documentation, although a README is RTBC'ed. That said, the module page has a straightforward description of what the module does and how to use it, and getting it up and running is very straightforward. Number of open issues: 24 open issues, only 1 of which is a bug against the current branch. I'll also note there are 8 issues that are RTBC, so we should be seeing some fixes forthcoming. Usage stats: 817 sites Module features and usage Once you enable the module, Webforms will have an additional "Scheduled tasks" configuration screen. You can create a task to email all results or just the results since the last export. Once you enable a scheduled task, you can set a number of options: its next scheduled run and the run interval (in hours, days, weeks, etc) where to email the results, in what format (JSON or CSV), whether to delete submissions after they're sent There's also a RTBC patch to allow you to configure file names to include date-time of export, which can help the recipients keep track of the exports. After that, you just sit and wait for cron to do its thing.

Join Dave Pickett, a tech and design expert at CivicActions, and Kelly Smith, a seasoned design and content strategist, as they dive into the world of Drupal for Designers. They explore the challenges designers face, the benefits of Site Builder certification, and effective alert design using the Sitewide Alert module. Hear about practical collaboration tips for designers and developers, and discover how certification boosted their confidence in managing Drupal projects. Gain insights on the importance of bridging design and technical skills in the Drupal community.

Today we are talking about Single Directory Components, Leveling up your skills, and How DrupalEasy can help with our guest Mike Anello. We'll also cover Markdown Easy as our module of the week. For show notes visit: https://www.talkingDrupal.com/524 Topics Discussion on Single Directory Components Drupal Easy's Training Programs Light Bulb Moments in Learning Choosing Post CSS for Front-End Development Course Materials and Updates Course Structure and Student Engagement Introducing the Show and Tell Series Resources DrupalEasy's Professional Single Directory Components course Dries blogs about Markdown Easy: https://dri.es/installing-and-cbonfiguring-markdown-easy-for-drupal https://dri.es/switching-to-markdown-after-20-years-of-html DrupalEasy Show & Tell https://www.drupaleasy.com/blogs/ultimike/2025/10/introducing-drupaleasy-show-tell-our-new-youtube-video-series https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUf-wKGJjCXEXH03Mw44hJ84YG-ZwmVKp Drupal dojo Ignore missing {% include 'test:button' ignore missing with { Guests Mike Anello - drupaleasy.com ultimike Hosts Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan Stephen Cross - stephencross.com stephencross Hayden Baillio - hgbaillio MOTW Correspondent Martin Anderson-Clutz - mandclu.com mandclu Brief description: Have you ever wanted an easy way to use Markdown to write content in your Drupal site? There's a module for that. Module name/project name: Markdown Easy Brief history How old: created in July 2023 by Michael Anello (ultimike) of Drupal Easy Versions available: 1.0.1 and 2.0.0, both of which work with Drupal 9 or later Maintainership Actively maintained Security coverage Test coverage Documentation guide available Number of open issues: 9 open issues, none of which are bugs against the 2.x branch Usage stats: 556 sites Module features and usage For anyone who doesn't know, Markdown is a popular, lightweight markup language for creating formatted text using a plain-text editor. Initially defined in 2004, Markdown grew out of existing conventions for formatting text in emails and usenet posts People like writing in Markdown because it allows them to focus on what's being said without the distraction of concerns about how it will look With the Markdown Easy module installed, your Drupal site will now have a Markdown Easy text format available. Within the settings for that format, you can choose "Standard Markdown", "GitHub-flavored Markdown", or "Markdown Smörgåsbord" as the variant of Markdown syntax you want to use. Standard Markdown is the most restrictive, and the other two allow more elements to be included. You can also configure which HTML tags you want to allow, as part of the normal text format configuration. It's worth noting that Dries has posted a couple of blogs about using this module, the more recent about working with Mike to better handle HTML tags. So Mike, what inspired you to write this module, and what can you tell us about the experience of collaborating with Dries?