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Experience the highlights of DrupalCamp Ouagadougou! Dive into captivating pictures and relive the vibrant atmosphere of this successful event.

Today we are talking about design to development hand off, common complications, and ways to optimize your process with guest Crispin Bailey. We’ll also cover Office Hours as our module of the week.

For show notes visit: www.talkingDrupal.com/444

Topics

• Primary activities of the team
• Where does handoff start
• Handoff artifact
• Tools for collaboration
• Figma
• Evaluating new tools
• Challenges of developers and designers working together
• How can we optimize handoff
• What steps can the dev team take to facilitate smooth handoff
• Framework recommendation
• Final quality
• AI

Guests

Crispin Bailey - kalamuna.com crispinbailey

Hosts

Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi Anna Mykhailova - kalamuna.com amykhailova

MOTW Correspondent

Martin Anderson-Clutz - mandclu

• Brief description:
  • Have you ever wanted to manage and display the hours of operation for a business on your Drupal site? There’s a module for that
• Module name/project name:
  • Office Hours
• Brief history
  • How old: created in Jan 2008 by Ozeuss, though recent releases are by John Voskuilen of the Netherlands
  • Versions available: 7.x-1.11 and 8.x-1.17
• Maintainership
  • Actively maintained, latest release was 3 weeks ago
  • Security coverage
  • Test coverage
  • Documentation: no user guide, but a pretty extensive README
  • Number of open issues: 15 open issues, only 1 of which are bugs against the current branch, though it’s postponed for more info
• Usage stats:
  • Almost 20,000 sites
• Module features and usage
  • Previously covered in episode 113, more than 8 years ago, in the “Drupal 6 end of life” episode
  • The module provides a specialized widget to set the hours for each weekday, with the option to have more than one time slot per day
  • You can define exceptions, for example on stat holidays
  • You can also define seasons, with a start and end date, during which the hours are different
  • The module also offers a variety of options for formatting the output:
  • You can show days as ranges, for example Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, 12-hour or 24-hour clocks, and so on
  • Obviously it will show any exceptions or upcoming seasonal hours too
  • It can also show an “open now” or “closed now” indicator
  • It can create schema.org-compliant markup for openingHours, and has integration with the Schema.org Metatag module
  • Office Hours does all this with a new field type, so you could add it to Stores in a Drupal Commerce site, a Locations content type in a site for a bricks-and-mortar chain, or if you just need a single set of hours for the site, you should be able to use it with something like the Config Pages module
  • The README file also includes some suggestions on how to use Office Hours with Views, which can give you a lot of flexibility on where and how to show the information

   

“The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.” – Molière

Dear Readers,

Stepping out of our comfort zones is undoubtedly a daunting task. Yet, it's precisely this leap into the unknown that often leads to remarkable growth and self-discovery. Embracing new challenges and learning from scratch can feel overwhelming at first, but through these experiences, we truly push our limits and uncover our hidden capabilities.

In our journey of embracing the unfamiliar, we expand our skill sets and gain a deeper understanding of ourselves and the paths we never thought possible. Each new challenge becomes an opportunity to stretch beyond what we thought we were capable of, illuminating uncharted territories of potential and opportunity.

Embrace the technological diversity surrounding us, as it serves as a rich tapestry of tools and methodologies that can enhance our creativity, efficiency, and impact in ways we've only begun to explore. Like the inspiring journey of Tanay Sai, a seasoned builder, engineering leader, and AI/ML practitioner who recently embarked on a transformative adventure beyond the familiar horizons of Drupal. Tanay's story is a testament to the idea that stepping out of one's comfort zone can lead to groundbreaking achievements and a deeper understanding of the multifaceted digital ecosystem.

The importance of continuous learning and the willingness to embrace new challenges is profound. It encourages us to look beyond the familiar, to experiment with emerging technologies, and to remain adaptable in our pursuit of delivering exceptional digital experiences.

Now, Let's take a moment to revisit the highlights from last week's coverage at The Drop Times.

Last month, we celebrated the Women in Drupal community and released the second part of "Inspiring Inclusion: Celebrating the Women in Drupal | #2" penned by Alka Elizabeth. Part 3 of this series will be coming soon.

Explore the dynamic evolution of Drupal's page-building features in Part 2 of André Angelantoni's latest series on The Drop Times. Each module discussed extends Layout Builder and can be integrated individually. Part 3 might already be released by the time this newsletter comes your way. Access the second part here.

DrupalCon Portland 2024, scheduled from May 6 to 9, will feature an empowering Women in Drupal Lunch event. This gathering aims to uplift female attendees and inspire and support women within the Drupal community. Learn more here.

Save the dates for DrupalCamp Spain 2024 in Benidorm! The event is scheduled for October 25 and 26, with the venue to be announced soon. Additionally, mark your calendars for October 24, designated as Business Day.

DrupalCamp Belgium has unveiled the keynote speakers for its highly anticipated 2024 edition in Ghent. For more information and to discover the lineup of keynote speakers, be sure to check out the details here. A complete list of events for the week is available here. Additionally, Gander Documentation is now available on Drupal.org, as announced by Janez Urevc, Tag1 Consulting's Strategic Growth and Innovation Manager, on March 25, 2024.

Also, read about Tanay Sai, an accomplished builder, engineering leader, and AI/ML practitioner who shares insights into his transformative journey beyond Drupal. After a decade immersed in the Drupal realm, Tanay candidly expresses his pivotal decision to venture beyond its confines. Learn more here.

Monika Branicka of Droptica conducts a comprehensive analysis of content management systems (CMS) employed by 314 higher education institutions in Poland. This study aims to unveil the prevalent CMS preferences among both public and non-public universities, providing insights into the educational sector's technological landscape. The report comes amidst a growing call for resources to track Drupal usage across industry sectors, coinciding with similar studies conducted by The DropTimes and Grzegorz Pietrzak.

DevBranch has announced the launch of a Drupal BootCamp tailored for aspiring web developers. This initiative aims to equip individuals with the necessary skills and knowledge to excel in web development using Drupal. For further details, click here.

The development of Drupal 11 has reached a critical phase, marked by ongoing updates to its system requirements within the development branch. Gábor Hojtsy has provided valuable insights on preparing core developers and informing the community about these changes. Stay updated on the latest developments as Drupal 11 evolves to meet the needs of its users and developers.

We acknowledge that there are more stories to share. However, due to selection constraints, we must pause further exploration for now.

To get timely updates, follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Also, join us on Drupal Slack at #thedroptimes.

Thank you,
Sincerely
Elma John
Sub-editor, TheDropTimes.

Welcome to DrupalCon Portland 2024, where innovation, collaboration, and excellence converge! As the premier event for Drupal enthusiasts, developers, and businesses, it's the perfect occasion to explore why Drupal stands tall as the preferred choice for web development. In this article, we'll delve into the compelling reasons that make Drupal the ultimate solution for your web development needs.

Open Source Excellence

Drupal is renowned for being an open-source content management system (CMS), fostering a vibrant community of developers and contributors. The power of collaboration within the Drupal community results in continuous improvements, security updates, and a wealth of modules that cater to a wide range of functionalities. Choosing Drupal means embracing a platform that is constantly evolving and adapting to the ever-changing landscape of the digital world.

Flexibility and Scalability

Drupal's flexibility is one of its key strengths. Whether you're building a personal blog, a corporate website, or a complex e-commerce platform, Drupal adapts to your needs. Its modular architecture allows developers to create custom functionalities and integrate third-party tools seamlessly. As your business grows, Drupal scales with you, ensuring that your website remains robust, high-performing, and capable of handling increased traffic and data.

Exceptional Content Management

Content is at the heart of any successful website, and Drupal excels in providing an intuitive and powerful content management experience. The platform offers a sophisticated taxonomy system, making it easy to organize and categorize content. With a user-friendly interface, content creators can effortlessly publish, edit, and manage content, empowering organizations to maintain a dynamic and engaging online presence.

Security First

In the digital age, security is non-negotiable. Drupal takes a proactive approach to security, with a dedicated security team that monitors, identifies, and addresses vulnerabilities promptly. The platform's robust security features, frequent updates, and a vigilant community ensure that your website is well-protected against potential threats. By choosing Drupal, you're investing in a platform that prioritizes the security of your digital assets.

Mobile Responsiveness

With the increasing prevalence of mobile devices, it's crucial for websites to be responsive and accessible across various screen sizes. Drupal is designed with mobile responsiveness in mind, offering a seamless experience for users on smartphones, tablets, and other devices. This ensures that your website not only looks great but also performs optimally, regardless of the device your audience is using.

Community Support and Knowledge Sharing

Drupal's strength lies not only in its codebase but also in its vast and supportive community. DrupalCon is a testament to the spirit of collaboration and knowledge sharing within the community. Whether you're a seasoned developer or a newcomer, Drupal's community is there to offer support, guidance, and a wealth of resources to help you succeed. By choosing Drupal, you're not just adopting a technology but becoming part of a global network of passionate individuals.

As we gather at DrupalCon Portland 2024, the choice is clear – Drupal is the unparalleled solution for web development. Its open-source nature, flexibility, security features, exceptional content management capabilities, mobile responsiveness, and thriving community make it the go-to platform for building robust and scalable websites. Join the Drupal revolution and unlock the full potential of your digital presence!

Register now for DrupalCon Portland 2024!

A very special episode of the DrupalEasy Podcast - an episode two years in the making.

Drupal as a CMS: Your go-to CMS for a seamless digital experience In today's digital age, a robust and efficient content management system (CMS) is key for a seamless user experience. Drupal, known for its flexibility, scalability and customisation options, has emerged as one of the most popular CMS platforms for website development. As a CMS, Drupal allows you to create, organise and manage your website's content effortlessly. It also provides a user-friendly interface and a wide array of features that ensure a smooth and efficient content creation and management process. Read on for tips and tools for your Drupal migration, or reach out to us now for customised help with your migration.  Why choose Drupal CMS?

This is the complementary blog post for my DrupalSouth Sydney 2024 session, and also v2.0 follow up of sorts from the original 2022 version. The full presentation was much longer than this blog post, this blog post is just going to highlight the core statistics and findings.

Have you ever wondered how popular Drupal is in your local state and at the Australian Federal Government level? This blog post will help to answer that question, using open source tooling. The hope is that you gain some insight to the relative popularity of Drupal and appreciate more the impact you and Drupal have in Australia.

As this blog post is a follow up, you can also now start to see trends (data is around 13 months newer than the last time I did this).

Just show me the graphs

Disclaimer:

• This is based on Oct 20, 2023 data
• The scoring is based off PageRank data, so the percentages are not raw counts of websites, but an approximation of how important the respective sites are compared to others (assumes a logarithmic base of 5).
• Wappalyzer detection is not perfect (see the end of this blog post for upstreamed PRs), and there is still a fairly large portion of sites where the CMS cannot be identified
• MoGs make this tricky (PageRank relies on incoming links, which break due to MoGs)
• Only source *.gov.au domains considered (some Government sites use other TLDs)
• Unlikely newly created websites are in the top 10 million just yet (due to how the algorithm of PageRank works)

All sites (*.gov.au)All sites (*.gov.au)Federal sites (not state based domains)

Programmes like GovCMS are having an impact here. Also interesting that if you are not using Drupal, the chances are you have written something entirely custom.

Federal sites (every non-state based domain)Victoria *.vic.gov.au

The Single Digital Presence (SDP) programme makes a mark in Victoria.

Victoria (*.vic.gov.au)New South Wales *.nsw.gov.au

Large Drupal sites like https://www.nsw.gov.au/ and https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/ help to make Drupal dominant in NSW.

New South Wales (*.nsw.gov.au)South Australia *.sa.gov.au

Squiz Matrix increasing in market share ↑5.4% over 2022. There is a clear state led mandate here.

South Australia (*.sa.gov.au)Western Australia *.wa.gov.au

A lot of sites this time around are now identified (decrease of ↓30.8% of unknown sites). Drupal also increased market share by ↑9.9%.

Western Australia (*.wa.gov.au)Tasmania *.tas.gov.au

The lowest usage of Drupal for any Australian state or territory and the highest percentage of Wordpress.

Tasmania (*.tas.gov.au)Queensland *.qld.gov.auQueensland (*.qld.gov.au)Australian Capital Territory *.act.gov.au

The highest percentage of Squiz compared to any other Australia state or territory.

Australian Capital Territory (*.act.gov.au)Northern Territory *.nt.gov.auNorthern Territory (*.nt.gov.au)Open Source Software (OSS) CMS vs Proprietary CMS

For the CMS' that can be identified, splitting them into 2 categories, OSS and Proprietary. OSS is determined on whether the source code is freely available, and there is a licence that allows me to run it without paying someone.

Open Source Software (OSS) CMS vs Proprietary CMSDrupal sites by major version

For sites reporting as Drupal, Drupal 10 is the most popular. Still 5.4% of Drupal sites running Drupal 7 to which will be End-of-Life (EOL) in early 2025.

Drupal by major versionScore by state and territory

This is weighted by total score, broken down by federal/state/territory.

Scores by federal/state/territory in AustraliaObservations and other unusual findingsDrupal usage“Drupal powers ~29.9% of all digital experiences that you use in the Australian government. This is↑2.7% compared to 2022”Drupal Growth“Relative to the growth of Australian government sites, Drupal adoption is growing faster”Drupal adoption is rising faster that Australian government sites are risingTop contender“Squiz Matrix is the top contender with 15.6%, and has a clear state lead mandate in 5 states/territories. This is↑3.5% compared to 2022”Drupal 7 usage“Drupal 7 usage dropped from 15.8% in 2022 to 5.4% in 2024. This is↓65.8% compared to 2022. Most popular Drupal 7 site is https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/”

Also after my presentation I got to meet the team behind the State Library of NSW, and they advised that they are due to upgrade to Drupal 10 anytime soon.

TLS coverage is still not 100%

83 sites with HTTP only (a drop of ↓46 since 2022)

Domain

CMS

Page Rank

Score

http://www.bom.gov.au/

unknown

5.63

8614

http://ips.gov.au/mailman/listinfo

unknown

4.68

1867

http://www.nntt.gov.au/Pages/Home-Page.aspx

microsoft-sharepoint

4.68

1867

http://ajrp.awm.gov.au/

hcl-notes

4.6

1642

http://services.land.vic.gov.au/

unknown

4.56

1539

If in doubt, add a number

14 sites with ww[0-9] in the domain name (a drop of ↓5 since 2022)

Domain

CMS

Page Rank

Score

https://www2.gbrmpa.gov.au/

drupal

5.3

5065

https://www1.health.gov.au/

unknown

4.99

3075

https://www9.health.gov.au/

unknown

4.59

1615

https://www1.aiatsis.gov.au/

unknown

4.53

1467

https://www2.sl.nsw.gov.au/

unknown

4.51

1420

I think this is often used like a form of poor mans version control, often archiving the previous version of the site. For some reason it is archived publicly.

I want the raw data!

If you want to make your own visualisations of the data, or even just do random queries “how popular is Spark CMS in Western Australia”, you can download a CSV from https://bit.ly/dsau2024csv. Slides are https://bit.ly/dsau2024.

Upstreamed enhancements

I found a lot of software running in certain states, so I upstreamed some changes to better detect these software packages:

• Better SilverStripe detection #120
• Datascape detection #122
• Spark CMS detection #123
• Jadu detection #126
• Engagement HQ detection #124
• Social Pinpoint detection #125
• Citizen Space detection #121

Comments

I am keen to hear feedback on this data, and what can be done to improve the scoring. Also, if you can help fill in some of the 'unknown' data, let me know, I am happy to craft another PR into WebAppAnalyzer.

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.

Das erste DrupalCamp 2024 in Deutschland steht fest!

Das DrupalCamping in Wolfsburg kommt, vom 22. bis 25. August 2024.
Tickets sind ab sofort erhältlich!

Alles Weitere dazu: https://drupalcamping.de

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 (

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.

Every e-commerce platform is different and comes with its own unique and specific needs. Some can use simple ready-made tools, while others need special software made just for them. New trends like smart personalization, easy shopping on phones, and caring for the environment are also important for online shops.

To help businesses achieve personalized website goals, Drupal comes into the scene. It's like a toolbox that lets you build your online store just the way you want. Drupal commerce is great because it's flexible and lets you try out new ideas. But there’s more to it. 

Today, we'll learn more about what makes Drupal Commerce special, like its features and how it's built.

Welcome back to “Skills Upgrade” a Talking Drupal mini-series following the journey of a D7 developer learning D10. This is episode 4.

Topics

• Review Chad's goals for the previous week

  • Install Drush
  • Setup git repo
  • Examples module

• Review Chad's questions

  • .gitignore
  • Core file naming

• Tasks for the upcoming week

  • Reminder of the capstone goal: create MR for new automated test in contrib module.
  • Examples module: field_example. New RGB field type with formatter and widgets. Focus on stuff in field_example/src/Plugin/Field
    • Background info on Plugins: https://www.drupal.org/docs/drupal-apis/plugin-api
    • Focus on the following sections:
      • https://www.drupal.org/docs/drupal-apis/plugin-api/plugin-api-overview
      • https://www.drupal.org/docs/drupal-apis/plugin-api/why-plugins
      • https://www.drupal.org/docs/drupal-apis/plugin-api/annotations-based-plugins

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