Talking Drupal

Today we are talking about te show itself. We’ll also cover Autosave Form as our module of the week. For show notes visit: www.talkingDrupal.com/434 Topics Update on the show Guest hosts MOTW Correspondent Newsletter Sponsorship Open Collective Content New content in 2024 Expanding team Resources Open Collective Hosts Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi Stephen Cross - stephencross.com stephencross MOTW Correspondent Martin Anderson-Clutz - mandclu Brief description: Have you ever wanted an autosave feature on your Drupal site’s forms, so content creators won’t lose their work if they accidentally close the window or lose power? There’s a module for that. Module name/project name: Autosave Form Brief history How old: created in Nov 2016 by Hristo Chonov of 1x Internet, who is also one of the organizers of Drupal Dev Days 2024 in Burgas Versions available: 8.x-1.4 which works with Drupal 9 and 10 Maintainership Actively maintained, most recent comment less than 3 months ago Test coverage 38 open issues, 20 of which are bugs Usage stats: 6,414 sites Module features and usage Works by automatically saving the content of the current form every 60 seconds, though the time period is configurable When a user opens a form, if an autosaved state exists for that form a dialog will be shown asking if they want to resume editing or discard any autosaved states Once a form is submitted, any saved states will be automatically deleted Notionally it should work with both content entity forms and config forms, but the majority of development and testing has been with entity forms in mind The project page also mentions an issue with nested entity reference inline forms, and has links to relevant Drupal core issues Worth noting that this module uses AJAX to save the states to the Drupal database, separate from entity revisions If you want a solution that save form states into the browser’s localStorage instead, you can check out the Save Form State module, using the jQuery Sisyphus plugin

In this podcast, the hosts discuss The Drupal 10 Masterclass book and its benefits, including its unique approach compared to other Drupal books. They also cover the Dashboards module, which allows users to add customizable dashboards to their Drupal sites. The speakers explore the advantages of this module and the different features it offers. Additionally, they talk about Hero Devs' partnership with the Drupal 7 core team and provide insights into the process of writing a book. They discuss their writing experience, collaboration methods, and potential future book editions. The podcast ends with updates on the release of the book and plans for the Simply Test Me platform.

Ron Northcutt, a Drupal expert specializing in portals and community websites, discusses the passion behind community sites, different types of portals, and common features. They explore why Drupal is a great fit and unique aspects of each community. The importance of UX, common content models, and the choice between Drupal and Saas/PaaS are also discussed. The episode concludes with valuable tips for building community websites.

Talking Drupal #431 - Live at NEDCamp On today’s show we share interviews we conducted with sponsors, speakers and attendees at New England Drupal Camp in November. Seventeen in all. For show notes visit: www.talkingDrupal.com/431 Topics Interviews with: Michael Miles Nick Silverman Matt O’Bryant Ethan Aho Mike Anello Patrick Anderson Brian Perry Aubrey Sambor Brigitte Ayerves Valderas Chris Wells Richard Hood Chris Amato Ivan Stegic Philip Frilling Rod Martin Jacob Rockowitz Whitney Hess Hosts Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi Martin Anderson-Clutz - mandclu Stephen Cross - StephenCross.com

Discussion on the future of Drupal in 2024, including Drupal 11 and the introduction of recipes. They explore the use of Symphony Mailer in Drupal 10 and the upcoming deprecation of Drupal 7. The speakers share their experience creating a Drupal Advent Calendar and their expectations for the future of Drupal. They also discuss the challenges of module dependencies and look forward to Drupal 11 with the combination of project browser and recipes.

Today we are talking about the Drupal Association Board, Its Strategic Initiatives, and The Future of Drupal with guest Baddý Sonja Breidert. We’ll also cover Advent Calendar as our module of the week. For show notes visit: www.talkingDrupal.com/429 Topics Former member of Board of Drupal Association What does the board do How does the board operate Are there term limits How does someone get on the board Strategic Initiatives Innovation Marketing Fundraising Now that you are no longer on the board what’s next CEO of 1xInternet How did you get started with Drupal Resources Try Drupal Guests Baddý Sonja Breidert - 1xinternet.de/en baddysonja Hosts Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi Ron Northcutt - community.appsmith.com rlnorthcutt MOTW Correspondent Martin Anderson-Clutz - @mandclu Advent Calendar Brief description: Have you ever wanted to reveal content a day-at-a-time, in an interactive advent calendar? There’s a module for that. Brief history How old: created less than month ago in Nov 2023 by listener James Shields, whose drupal.org username is lostcarpark Versions available: 1.0.0-beta3 release, which works with Drupal 10.1 and newer Maintainership Actively maintained, latest release made earlier today Test coverage Number of open issues: 5, 3 of which are bugs, but all but one are now marked as fixed Usage stats: 6 sites Module features and usage James actually created a Drupal advent calendar a year ago, on his website lostcarpark.com. The idea was to showcase a new module every day, similar to advent calendars that provide a chocolate or a toy each day, hidden behind a cardboard door James’ initial version displayed the content in a traditional calendar format, using the Calendar View module. What he really wanted, however, was a way to present the content using clickable doors to reveal new entries The new Advent Calendar module provides a new view display, so you can configure what content type or other filters to apply, and use fields to specify what information to show The module uses a Single Directory Component for display, hence the 10.1 requirement There is also an “Advent Calendar Quickstart” submodule that sets up everything for you, including a content type, view, and 24 nodes to populate it for you Each site visitor gets to “open” the door to new content as it is published each day. For authenticated users, which doors have been opened is stored as user data, and for anonymous users it’s kept in local storage via Javascript In addition to this being an interesting module in its own right, the advent calendar James has created this year is also a community effort. He’s managed to enlist a wide variety of contributors to write about modules or aspects of the Drupal community that they’re passionate about, so it’s a great way to up your Drupal game. You can open a new door yourself every day at https://lostcarpark.com/advent-calendar-2023

Today we are talking about Being a Digital Nomad, common nomadic hurdles, and realized work/life benefits with guests Chad Hester and Shelley Goetz. We’ll also cover Flag as our module of the week. For show notes visit: www.talkingDrupal.com/428 Topics What does digital nomad mean? When did you first start to think about this What was your physical journey like What do you do for work What is the biggest win How did this affect family dynamics What was the biggest gotcha Tips and tricks Long term plan Why not Europe or South America Question from Stephen: As a Patriots fan what are your thoughts on the 2023 season, is Bill Belichick staying or going Resources The Flag module US-CA Nomads on Instagram US-CA Nomads on Flicker Chad on LinkedIn Chad’s website Chad’s d.o profile Shelley on LinkedIn Shelley on Instagram An off-grid (on Vancouver Island) youtube channel that inspires Chad and Shelley Snowshoe Fondue on Mt. Washington Guests Shelley Goetz - shelleygoetz Chad Hester - chadkhester.com chadhester Hosts Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi Ron Northcutt - community.appsmith.com rlnorthcutt MOTW Correspondent Martin Anderson-Clutz - @mandclu Flag Brief description: Have you ever wanted a simple way to let users bookmark, like, or even flag as inappropriate content on your Drupal site? There’s a module for that. Brief history How old: originally created in 2008 by quicksketch, who listeners may remember as the original author of Webform Versions available: 7.x-3.9 and 8.x-4.0-beta4 Maintainership Actively maintained, but no commits in the last year Has a handbook, but it’s in the old documentation system Number of open issues: 675, 132 of which are bugs against the 8.x branch Usage stats: Over 38,000 sites Maintainer(s): Recent releases by Berdir, who we recently mentioned as the maintainer of TMGMT in episode #426 Module features and usage The Flag module provides a flexible system that can reference any kind of entity, so content, users, comments and so on When you create a flag type, you set the target entity type, and then you can optionally choose specific bundles that can be flagged Flags can be per-user, like bookmarks, or global, meaning that they’re the same for everyone Links to Flag or Unflag content or other entities can be displayed in a variety of ways: in a field, in entity links, as contextual links, and more By default flag links are rendered as AJAX links that flag or unflag content without reloading the page, but you can configure them to display in various ways, including a links to a field entry form, because flag types are also fieldable There is extensive views integration, so it’s easy to list flagged content, for example to show a user content they’ve flagged as their favorites. The ecosystem of modules around Flag includes one called Views Flag Refresh that can trigger a view to automatically update via AJAX as soon as any content in that view is flagged or unflagged Not long ago I used Flag as part of a lightweight task management system within Drupal, and anyone wanting to try that out can install the Tasks module

On today’s show we are turning the tables and Nic and John will be interviewed by our guest host Melissa Bent. We’ll also cover Content Model Documentation as our module of the week. For show notes visit: www.talkingDrupal.com/427 Topics What made you decide to start the podcast Who does what tasks The first episode was on May 30 2013. What do you know now that you wish you knew then When did the guest host start What has been your favorite episode How did you come to this format Where did the tagline come from What technology do you use in production The show is supported by multiple platforms, would you recommend this What advice would you give someone just starting Resources GovCon Session for Content Model Documentation First Episode Three hundred The Night before DrupalCon Wade Wingler Jono Bacon Dries’ First Episode Needs Review Issue Queue Sustainability Guidelines A Website’s Carbon Footprint vdo.ninja kdenlive Audacity Patreon Youtube Libsyn Kid3 Auphonic Midjourney Trello Hackmd.io Guests Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi Hosts Melissa Bent - linkedin.com/in/melissabent merauluka MOTW Correspondent Martin Anderson-Clutz - @mandclu Content Model & Site Documentation Brief description: Have you wanted to make your Drupal site self-documenting directly within the admin UI? There’s a module for that. Brief history How old: created in Jan 2023 Versions available: 1.0.23, compatible with Drupal 9 and 10 Maintainership Actively maintained, latest release was a week ago Test coverage No official guide, but there was a recent talk about the module at GovCon, so you can watch that Number of open issues: 43 open, 9 of which are bugs Usage stats: 82 sites Maintainer(s): Steve Wirt (swirt) who works for Civic Actions Module features and usage Allows your Drupal site to generate its own documentation Has fieldable Content Model Document entities that allow you to customize what data will be stored Can optionally document things like your content types, taxonomies, block types, paragraph types, and more Documentation elements can also be associated with parts of your site configuration, and they become available within the relevant parts of your admin UI. For example, if you add documentation for a specific content type, when a site builder goes into edit that content type they will see a link to the documentation as a tab You can generate entity relationship diagrams using MermaidJS Also includes a field search capability originally developed as a separate module by Matthieu Scarset, who was a guest on this show back in episode #298 Will also generate diagrams to illustrate your content workflows, showing the states defined and the transitions between them

Today we are talking about The Needs Review Queue Initiative, What it is, and How it’s helping to improve Drupal with guest Stephen Mustgrave. We’ll also cover Translation Management Tool as our module of the week.       For show notes visit: www.talkingDrupal.com/426 Topics Can you give an overview of Needs Review Issue Queue Initiative Is the bug smash initiative related to the needs review issue queue Is this the same as the needs review bot How many issues were in the Needs Review status when you started How many issues today How long did it take until it was manageable How long do items stay on average Who else is helping Let’s talk through the pagination heading level issue What help can the community provide How does someone get involved Do you think this helps with burnout for core committers What’s the future of the initiative Resources Needs Review Queue Bot Needs Review Issue Queue Pagination heading level issue Guests Stephen Mustgrave - smustgrave Hosts Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi Melissa Bent - linkedin.com/in/melissabent merauluka MOTW Correspondent Martin Anderson-Clutz - @mandclu Translation Management Tool (TMGMT) Brief description: Have you ever wanted to automate the process of creating content translations on your Drupal site? There’s a module for that. Brief history How old: created in Jan 2012 Versions available: 7.x-1.0-rc3 and 8.x-1.15, the latter of which works with Drupal 9 and 10 Maintainership Actively maintained Test coverage Documentation Number of open issues: 595, 139 of which are bugs against the 8.x branch Usage stats: 8,766 sites Maintainer(s): Berdir, a very prolific maintainer in his own right, who also supports well known projects like Search API, Token, Paragraphs, and many more Module features and usage Provides a tool set for automating the process of creating translations for your site content, as well as strings used within the site like menus, interface text, and so on Works with more than 30 translation service providers, including many that leverage human translators, but also AI-based services like DeepL and OpenAI Also has a plugin system to determine what text needs to be translated, so it can be easily adapted to very custom needs With the module installed that Translate tab on your nodes changes to have buttons to request a translation in each language Once a translation has been requested, it will run through states like unprocessed, active, and finished Also provides an option for Continuous Translation, where new and updated content is automatically submitted for translation Allows for professional translation at scale, using whatever kind of service works best for your site The need for robust translation capabilities is what originally got me started using Drupal, so it’s great to see that there are enterprise-grade options for sites that need to manage translations at scale

Today we are talking about the a new Drupal Book Modernizing Drupal 10 Theme Development, What’s new in Drupal 10 theming, and tools that can help speed up theming with guest Luca Lusso. We’ll also cover Admin Dialogs as our module of the week. For show notes visit: www.talkingDrupal.com/425 Topics Why write a book about Drupal theming How does the book modernize theming Who is the book for Do you have to have a certain level of knowledge to start What are some new aspects of Drupal 10 that are covered in the book Does the book talk about: Javascript frameworks Native Web Components What tools outside of Drupal do you talk about How did you conduct your research Do you have plans to keep the github updated How long did it take to write the book Tech moves quickly, what is the shelf-life of the book Future editions Purchase from Amazon or Packt Translation Plans for another book Resources Admin Dialog Blog Book github Buy the book Guests Hosts Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi Melissa Bent - linkedin.com/in/melissabent merauluka MOTW Correspondent Jacob Rockowitz - @jrockowitz Admin Dialogs Brief description: (from the maintainer) The Admin Dialogs module improves the UI by reducing the number of page loads. For example, instead of opening a delete confirmation page, the module will show the form in a dialog (modal) form. https://www.chapterthree.com/blog/improve-drupal-admin-ui-new-admin-dialogs-module Brief history How old: Created on May 2023 Versions available: 1.0.x stable release Last release: 1.0.17 - July 12, 2023 Maintainership Actively maintained? Yes Number of open issues: 6 Test coverage No test coverage Module is fairly simple and easy to manually test Code quality is very good Usage stats: sites 150+ Maintainer(s): Minnur Yunusov (minnur) https://www.drupal.org/u/minnur https://www.minnur.com/ Sponsor Chapter Three Module features and usage Comes with the ability to add modal or off-canvas dialogs to different links in Drupal. Easy to use. Most features available after installing the module. Adds controls dialog type for operation links like Edit, Delete etc. Adds and controls dialog type for local tasks. Adds and controls dialog types for local actions. Ability to add dialogs via specified A tag paths. Ability to add dialogs via specifying CSS selectors (classes and IDs). Adds option to control delete button dialog. You can add support for your modules by adding configs created in the module. Experimental: Add loading spinner to form submit elements on form submit. Discussion The module does one thing and does it really well Require no initial configuration. Worth reviewing common administration tasks for contributed modules and deciding if a modal dialogs or sidebar can improve the admin UX.