Talking Drupal #497 - Drupal Forge

Today we are talking about Drupal Forge, how it works, and why it’s changing Drupal with guest Darren Oh. We’ll also cover ECA VBO as our module of the week. For show notes visit: https://www.talkingDrupal.com/497 Topics Elevator pitch for Drupal forge What is Drupal Forge built on What is the pricing model Does Drupal Forge only allow you to install Drupal CMS Drupal Forge and templates, was there an influence on Site Templates Why offer templates for Drupal Forge Camps Is Drupal Forge open source What is on the Roadmap How can people get involved Resources Drupal Forge on Drupal.org Drupal Forge DevPanel Guests Darren Oh - drupalforge.org Darren Oh Hosts Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi Kathy Beck - kbeck303 MOTW Correspondent Martin Anderson-Clutz - mandclu.com mandclu Brief description: Have you ever wanted a powerful and flexible way to create views bulk operations without writing code? There’s a module for that. Module name/project name: ECA VBO Brief history How old: created in May 2022 by mxh, a prolific maintainer in his own right, and an active member of the group that has made the ECA ecosystem so far-reaching Versions available: 1.1.1 and 2.1.1, the latter of which supports ^10.3 || ^11 Maintainership Actively maintained Security coverage Documentation: sort of. The README has step-by-step instructions, and the project page has links to both an example model and a tutorial video Number of open issues: 7 open issues, 1 of which are bugs against the current branch Usage stats: 320 sites Module features and usage With the module installed, your site will have a number of Events available within ECA, specifically for defining models that can perform bulk actions on the selected items in a view. In my own experience the most useful event is VBO: Execute Views bulk operation (one by one) From there, you can define the logic of what needs to happen to the selected items. I’ve used it for fairly simple operations like changing content to a specific moderation state, but you could define complex logic that is conditional on field values, site configuration, or even global factors like the time of day With one or more models defined, you can now add a field to your view for ECA bulk operations and then select which eligible models you want available in that specific view It’s worth adding that the ECA model can also include logic to define who should have access to perform a particular operation, which could be as simple as checking the role of the current user, but can be as complex as you need I came across ECA VBO during some recent work on the Drupal Event Platform, which is already available to try out on Drupal Forge, but there should be a more formal announcement on that front soon

Today we are talking about Drupal Basics, Why we got away from them, and what we do to bring them back with guest Mike Anello. We’ll also cover Entity Reference Override as our module of the week. For show notes visit: https://www.talkingDrupal.com/496 Topics Where did this idea come from Why do you feel more basic content is necessary How did Drupal get away from the basics How can we get more basic talks into Drupal events How do we balance basic content with new topics like recipes or Drupal CMS How do we entice speakers to take these talks Could this adversely affect attendance Question from Stephen: How do we address virtual events and that they are preferred by a younger crowd Will Florida Drupal Camp have a track Guests Mike Anello - drupaleasy.com ultimike Hosts Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi Kathy Beck - kbeck303 MOTW Correspondent Martin Anderson-Clutz - mandclu.com mandclu Brief description: Have you ever wanted to replace a text field on entities you reference in your Drupal site? There’s a module for that. Module name/project name: Entity Reference Override Brief history How old: created in Sep 2016 by Jeff Eaton, though recent releases are by Benjamin Melançon (mlncn) of Agaric Versions available: 2.0.0-beta3 which works with Drupal 10.1 or 11 Maintainership Actively maintained Security coverage, yes but needs a stable release Test coverage Documentation - user guide Number of open issues: 13 open issues, 2 of which are bugs against the 2.0.x branch Usage stats: 2,004 sites Module features and usage The module defines a new field type, with associated widgets and formatters. Your site editors will see a normal entity reference field (autocomplete or select) with an additional text field. Text provided in that additional field can be used to override a specific field in the referenced entity’s display, or add a class to its rendered markup. This could be handy in use cases like showing people with project-specific roles, or showing related articles with the summary tweaked to be more relevant to the main content being viewed. It’s not a super-common need, but if you need this capability, it can save having to set up a more complicated content architecture with some kind of intermediary entity I thought this module would be interesting because today’s guest, Mike Anello, is listed as one of the maintainers. Mike, what can you tell us about your history with the module and how you’ve used it?

Today we are talking about Our Favorite things and The Future of Drupal with guest Jared Ponchot & Dave Hansen-Lange. For show notes visit: https://www.talkingDrupal.com/495 Topics What has piqued your interest AI creating components Any other new features or demos What haven't you seen that you hope to How do you feel about the future of Drupal Resources Driesnote Guests Dave Hansen-Lange - linkedin.com dalin Jared Ponchot - lullabot.com jponch Hosts Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi Martin Anderson-Clutz - mandclu.com mandclu Andrew Berry - lullabot.com deviantintegral

Today we are talking about AI in EDU, how it can provide efficiencies, and how you might start using it today with guests Brian Piper & Mike Miles . We’ll also cover External Entities as our module of the week. For show notes visit: https://www.talkingDrupal.com/494 Topics How are you using AI with your team at Rochester How are you using AI with your team at MIT What are the AI policies at your institutions On the ingestion side how do you manage consumption Tips and tricks to incorporate AI into your work Can you talk more about using AI to distribute content outside the web Do you have tips for managers How have you seen EDUs using AI other than as assistive technology What are your favorite tools Have you done adversarial testing How does AI in Drupal impact EDU Where do you see AI in EDU in the future Resources Crawler rate limit Externalizing costs AI for U MidCamp 2024 session about YaleSites Tools Element 451 Builder io Deque Axe Devtools Descript Opus clips Kapwing HeyGen Synthesia Text to video Sora Veo Guests Brian Piper - brianwpiper.com Mike Miles - Mike-miles.com mikemiles86 Hosts Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi Andrew Berry - lullabot.com deviantintegral MOTW Correspondent Martin Anderson-Clutz - mandclu.com mandclu Brief description: Have you ever wanted to connect your Drupal website to an external data source, to include their datasets into the presentation of your Drupal-managed content? There’s a module for that Module name/project name: External Entities Brief history How old: created in May 2015 by attiks, though the most recent release is by Colan Schwartz (colan), a fellow Canadian Versions available: 8.x-2.0-beta1 and 3.0.0-beta4, the latter of which supports Drupal 10 and 11 Maintainership Actively maintained, latest release was less than a month ago Security coverage (though technically needs a stable release Test coverage Documentation: user guide Number of open issues: 77 open issues, 3 of which are bugs against the 3.x branch, though one is marked fixed now Usage stats: 679 sites Module features and usage The External Entities module lets you map fields from external data sources to fields on a “virtual” entity in Drupal. This allows for external data to be used with Drupal’s powerful features like Views, Entity Queries, or Search API as well as use your local Drupal site’s theme to theme data from an external source The module does provide a time-based caching layer for external entities, but you can also implement a more custom cache expiration logic through custom code External entities can also have annotations, essentially Drupal-managed information that will be associated with the external entity, and accessed as a normal field through all Drupal field operations. This could allow you to have Drupal-based comments on information from a different website, for example There is a sizeable ecosystem of companion modules, to help you connect to different kinds of external storage, as to help you aggregate data from multiple sources In my Drupal career I’ve worked on a number of higher ed websites, and the ability to display externally-managed data is a pretty common requirement, either from an HRIS system to show staff and faculty data, or a courseware solution like Banner. I thought this would be an interesting tangent to today’s topic

Today we are talking about The Drupal Developer Survey, Last year's results, and How it helps Drupal with guest Mike Richardson. We’ll also cover HTMX as our module of the week. For show notes visit: https://www.talkingDrupal.com/493 Topics What is the Drupal Developer Survey How often does it come out How did it come to be What type of information does it collect Do you look at other surveys What were some of the most interesting stats last year Core contributors How do you expect last year to compare to this year Do you think the outlook will be more positive with Drupal CMS Drop off in Drupal 7 Home users DDEV usage AI questions Security questions Resources Drupal Developer Survey 2024 Results 2025 Drupal Developer Survey HTMX Sucks Guests Mike Richardson - Ironstar Dev Survey richo_au Hosts Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi Andrew Berry - lullabot.com deviantintegral MOTW Correspondent Martin Anderson-Clutz - mandclu.com mandclu Brief description: Have you ever wanted to replace Drupal’s AJAX capabilities with a lightweight library that has no additional dependencies? There’s a module for that. Module name/project name: HTMX Brief history How old: created in May 2023 by wouters_f though recent releases are by fathershawn of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Versions available: 1.3.5 and 1.4.0, both of which support Drupal 10.3 and 11 Maintainership Actively maintained, latest release less than a month ago Security coverage Test coverage Documentation included in the repo as well as online Number of open issues: 3 open issues, 1 of which is a bug Usage stats: 92 sites Module features and usage To use HTMX, you need to attach the library to the render array of one or more elements where you want to use it, and then add data attributes to your render array that indicate how you want HTMX to react to user behaviour HTMX can help make your Drupal sites more interactive by dynamically loading or reloading parts of a page, giving it a more “application-like” user experience There is a planning issue to discuss gradually replace Drupal’s current AJAX system with HTMX, and a related Proof Of Concept showing how that could work with an existing Drupal admin form A number of elements in the current AJAX system also rely on jQuery, so adopting HTMX would also help to phase out jQuery in core. HTMX is also significantly more lightweight than JS frameworks like React HTMX is really a developer-oriented project, which is why I thought it would be appropriate for this week’s episode

Today we are talking about Pantheon Content Publisher, How it brings Google Docs to Drupal, and why you might want to use it with guests Chris Reynolds & John Money. We’ll also cover QR Code Fields as our module of the week. For show notes visit: https://www.talkingDrupal.com/492 Topics What is Pantheon Content Publisher Why was Pantheon Content Publisher created How does it work with Google docs How do you handle revisions How do you target environments Can you do structured content How do reference existing content How does this use GraphQL What are some of the use cases you are seeing Who should not use Pantheon Content Publisher Can I develop the SDCs locally with Pantheon Content Publisher What is the ingestion layer like AI layer Talking Drupal workflow Do you have a process for bulk publishing How does startup look Is it PCC or PCP Can Pantheon Content Publisher customers push their own non google content Is Pantheon Content Publisher open source Is there a cost Can you translate content Resources Pantheon Content Publisher docs Pantheon Content Publisher module Pantheon Content Publisher Roadmap Guests Chris Reynolds - jazzsequence.com jazzsequence John Money - john.money Hosts Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi Andrew Berry - lullabot.com deviantintegral MOTW Correspondent Martin Anderson-Clutz - mandclu.com mandclu Brief description: Have you ever wanted your Drupal site to generate various kinds of QR codes? There’s a module for that. Module name/project name: QR Code Fields Brief history How old: created in Nov 2023 by Sujan Shrestha of Nepal Versions available: 1.1.1 and 2.1.3, the latter of which works with Drupal 10 and 11 Maintainership Actively maintained Number of open issues: 4 open issues, none of which are bugs Usage stats: 134 sites Module features and usage This module defines not just one but 9 new fields for generating QR codes, including for URLs, vCards, MeCards, Events, and more Each field QR accepts inputs based on the associated information that should be exposed. So a URL QR Code field only accepts an input for the URL destination, while an Event QR Code has inputs for a summary, description, location, start, and end. The module also provides a custom block plugin for each type of QR code, to make it easier to display your QR codes wherever you need for your specific use case The QR Code Fields module also defines a service for generating QR code images, which could also be useful for more custom implementations.

Today we are talking about OpenY, a distribution for YMCAs, why it was created, and how it’s used today with guests Avi Schwab and Brent Wilker. We’ll also cover AI Media Image as our module of the week. For show notes visit: https://www.talkingDrupal.com/491 Topics What is OpenY Why is it important to the YMCA How many Y's use it Is each Y independent technologically Why doesn't the Y create a platform as a service How do you get the message out about OpenY What does a Y pay for and how do they pay What is the governance layer like Any thoughts on recipes How does theming work New features to come How does ImageX support OpenY Resources MOTW FLDC session: From Chatbots to Content Magic: The AI-Driven Future of Drupal YMCA Website Services (OpenY) Glossary YMCA Sandboxes https://sandboxes.y.org/ https://sandbox-carnation-std.y.org/ Get in touch with ImageX about Open Y Avi’s sourdough recipe base and flour https://tartinebakery.com/stories/country-bread https://www.janiesmill.com/ Guests Brent Wilker - ImageX.co brent.wilker Hosts Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi Avi Schwab - froboy.org froboy MOTW Correspondent Martin Anderson-Clutz - mandclu.com mandclu Brief description: Have you ever wanted to use AI to generate images, and save them directly into the Drupal media library once you have the result you want? There’s a module for that. Module name/project name: AI Media Image Brief history How old: created in Feb 2025 by coffeymachine Versions available: 1.0.0-alpha2 Maintainership Actively maintained Security coverage: technically, but needs a stable release Number of open issues: 2 open issues, neither of which are bugs Usage stats: 9 sites Module features and usage We have talked before on the podcast about a couple of ways you could use AI to generate images directly within a Drupal website. One used all the latest OpenAI APIs and the other had media library integration, though it only worked through its own admin form. Both were built to specifically DALL•E, OpenAI’s image generation service. This new module is a big leap forward because it’s based on Drupal’s powerful and rapidly innovating AI module, so it can work with multiple AI image generation services. What’s more, AI Media Image plugs into the Drupal core media system, so you can use the tool to generate images directly within the media library, including when you open it up in a modal to populate an entity reference field. This makes it significantly more intuitive to use this capability as part of a normal content creation flow. There are a couple of things that may not be intuitive when you first start using AI Media Image. For example, by default it uses the prompt you used to create the image as the alt text that will be saved to the media library. That seems unexpected to me, but if the prompt exceeds the max alt text length of 255 characters then it will throw an error and then you can overwrite the value of the prompt field to contain proper alt text before saving the image to the media library. This is one of the open issues mentioned earlier and resolving it would really improving the experience of using this module I got to play around with this module while preparing a demo for a session about AI I delivered with Mike Anello at Florida Drupalcamp on the weekend, so we’ll try to include a link in the notes so you can also watch for that recording and see this module in action

Today we are talking about Drupal Contribution, how you can approach it within your company, and why a Contrib First approach is important with guest Steve Wirt. We’ll also cover Config Importer & Tools as our module of the week. For show notes visit: https://www.talkingDrupal.com/490 Topics What is contrib first How does this help the Drupal community Why is it a good idea for companies How do you explain this to non dev folks like CEOs or Presidents What do you say if a client does not buy in How do you monitor and build confidence in other developers How can someone get started Any tools or tips for someone trying to bootstrap this Resources MOTW https://www.drupal.org/project/confi https://www.drupal.org/project/upgrade_tool Civic Actions Practice Tools - Contrib First Civic Actions Engineering Practice Area - Drupal Contrib First Module Development Codit menu tools Alt text validation - currently being built as Contrib First Bill requiring US agencies to share custom source code with each other becomes law Link shortners http://dgo.re/ or https://dgo.to/ link shorteners for d.o Drupal Contrib Development Contribution to a module Guests Steve Wirt - civicactions.com swirt Hosts Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi Avi Schwab - froboy.org froboy MOTW Correspondent Avi Schwab - froboy.org froboy Brief description: Have you ever wanted to streamline the management of config changes during your Drupal project deployment - importing individual configuration changes from contrib or custom modules and synchronizing settings across different environments? There’s a module for that. Module name/project name: Config Importer and Tools Brief history How old: created in April 2016 by Andrii Podanenko(podarok) Versions available: 3.2.0 version which works with Drupal 9 and 10, D11 fixes are in the queue. Maintainership Actively maintained - although it’s a developer module that’s been mostly stable, so there have not been many recent changes. Security coverage Test coverage - unit tests Documentation - video documenting the process on the module page and instructions in the project overview Number of open issues: 8 open issues, 3 of which are bugs against the current branch Usage stats: 300 sites Maintainer(s): 7 maintainers across a few different agencies in Ukraine Module features and usage This module has no UI, and all of its work is done using it’s config_import services, either importer or param_updater The importer service imports full config files The param_updater service pulls in single parameters from a config file. Both can be used in .install files of contrib modules or on your own site to pull in configuration during database updates, which can be helpful for adding a new feature, modifying existing features, or pushing changes to many sites. There is also a “spiritual successor” to the Confi module called “Upgrade Tool” which has similar functionality with some extra functionality too. https://www.drupal.org/project/upgrade_tool

Today we are talking about The IXP Fellowship Initiative, Workplace Developer Training, and making Drupal better for the little guy with guests Carlos Ospina & Mike Anello. We’ll also cover Cloudflare Turnstile as our module of the week. For show notes visit: https://www.talkingDrupal.com/489 Topics What is the IXP initiative Why does the community think this is important What is the current status What changed in the last 10 years How do we encourage businesses to do this How can people get involved Resources Turnstile Intro blog post from Cloudflare Irvine reCAPTCHA Study Deep dive on Google Scholar Alternatives https://www.drupal.org/project/hcaptcha - privacy-focused alternative, still image-based https://www.drupal.org/project/altcha - open, self-hosted option. Seems more basic. Posts referencing Irvine study https://boingboing.net/2025/02/07/recaptcha-819-million-hours-of-wasted-human-time-and-billions-of-dollars-google-profit.html https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/24/googles_recaptchav2_labor/ https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/a-2023-study-concluded-captchas-are-a-tracking-cookie-farm-for-profit-masquerading-as-a-security-service-that-made-us-spend-819-billion-hours-clicking-on-traffic-lights-to-generate-nearly-usd1-trillion-for-google/ Widgets IXP Fellowship Drupal Couple Talking Drupal 488 - Drupal Open University Get Involved in IXP #ixp-fellowship on the Drupal Slack Workspace Guests Carlos Ospina - adrupalcouple.us camoa Mike Anello - drupaleasy.com ultimike Hosts Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi Avi Schwab - froboy.org froboy MOTW Correspondent Martin Anderson-Clutz - mandclu.com mandclu Brief description: Have you ever wanted to use Cloudflare’s Turnstile web service to secure Drupal web forms, as an alternative to more intrusive CAPTCHA widgets that force users to select squares that contain traffic lights, cars, or bicycles? There’s a module for that. Module name/project name: Cloudflare Turnstile Brief history How old: created in Sep 2022 by Adam Weiss (greatmatter) Versions available: 1.1.13 which works with Drupal 9.4, 10, and 11 Maintainership Actively maintained Security coverage Number of open issues: 6 open issues, 3 of which are bugs, with 2 of them postponed Usage stats: 3,981 sites Module features and usage Anyone who maintains a Drupal site is well acquainted with the need to mitigate form spam submissions. Best practices around which tool to use are an ever-changing conversation. Recently Google announced that reCAPTCHA implementations will need to be associated with a Google Cloud account, and will need to enable payment for anything that exceeds the free allowance of 10,000 assessments per month reCAPTCHA v2 widgets are notorious for the challenges they can present to actual users, particularly image challenges. In addition, a 2023 UC Irvine study concluded that “the true purpose of reCAPTCHAv2 is as a tracking cookie farm for profit masquerading as a security service”, so it’s definitely worth considering other solutions Cloudflare developed turnstile as a CAPTCHA alternative, designed to provide security while minimizing the friction for actual users. More importantly, Turnstile never harvests data for ad retargeting. A free Turnstile account can create up to 10 widgets, with unlimited usage. The turnstile module plugs into the existing Drupal CAPTCHA ecosystem, so it can be an easy swap out for anywhere you’re currently using CAPTCHA widgets.

Today we are talking about The open university initiative, Drupal in academia, and Fostering Drupal Education with guest Jean-Paul Vosmeer. We’ll also cover Artisan as our module of the week. For show notes visit: https://www.talkingDrupal.com/488 Topics What is the Drupal Open University Initiative How did this initiative start Why is it important to get Drupal into Universities and Classrooms What stage is the initiative at Is Drupal currently in any universities Is it better to approach schools or professors directly How is the curriculum being developed What are the main differences between this initiative and resources like Drupalize.me, Drupal at your fingertips, or Drupal TB What is next on the roadmap Where does Drupal CMS fit in Where does the initiative need help How can someone get involved Resources Drupal Open University Initiative Metadrop blog about Artisan Drupal viking Do it with Drupal Drupal at your fingertips Drupal Open University OSPO https://todogroup.org/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Source_Program_Office Content Model & Site Documentation Guests Jean-Paul Vosmeer - reactonline.nl jpvos Hosts Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi Avi Schwab - froboy.org froboy MOTW Correspondent Martin Anderson-Clutz - mandclu.com mandclu Brief description: Have you ever wanted to use the Drupal UI to configure numerous aspects of your Drupal site’s look and feel? There’s a theme for that. Module name/project name: Artisan Brief history How old: created in Sep 2024 by alejandro cabarcos though recent releases are by crzdev, both of metadrop Versions available: 1.3.8, which support Drupal 10 and 11 Maintainership Actively maintained, release in the last week Security coverage Documentation: no, but a lengthy README that includes developer notes Number of open issues: 7 open issues, 5 of which are bugs, but 3 are postponed Usage stats: 170 sites Module features and usage After installing the theme, there is a drush command to generate a subtheme, or you can manually duplicate an included starterkit. You also need to run a couple of npm commands to pull in all the front end libraries, and build the CSS files Once you set the subtheme as your site default, you can customize a variety of ways the site looks, including the fonts and weights to use for heading and default text, the colour and padding of various elements, border weights, border radius, and more. The customizations are grouped into tabs. The base tab includes a colour palette, base font, and link styling. Additional tabs include page layout, header, responsive, and footer, also breadcrumb, headings, display headings, buttons, forms, and components Artisan also provides a toggle to expose extra customization options for dark mode, so if you want your site to give users the option to switch back and forth between normal and dark, this is extremely powerful, but does make for some very long configuration pages You can create and save presets, for easy creation of reusable palettes There is also a companion Artisan Styleguide module that provides a page that previews the theme style applied to an extensive list of elements Last year I was considering making a more configurable subtheme of Olivero for the Event Platform initiative, so I was excited to read about Artisan in a metadrop blog post we’ll include in the show notes