The Drop Times: Embracing Technology with Drupal

In 2024, technology has reached new heights, impacting our lives like never before. With AI becoming more common and exciting updates on the horizon, technology is shaping our world significantly.

Technology continues to redefine the way we live, work, and connect. New features, updates, and innovations emerge daily, shaping our world remarkably. At the heart of this transformation lies Drupal, the dynamic content management system that empowers individuals and businesses to navigate the digital realm easily and confidently. Drupal opens limitless possibilities in website development, offering a platform where creativity knows no bounds.

Drupal streamlines the process of creating and managing websites, putting the power of customization and control at our fingertips. With its intuitive interface and robust features, Drupal allows users to craft online experiences that are not just functional but truly exceptional.

Technology is advancing rapidly, and Drupal is here to make it accessible and beneficial for everyone. With its user-friendly features and adaptability, Drupal simplifies website creation and opens doors to endless possibilities.

Let’s review the latest news covered by The Drop Times (TDT) last week.

In an Interview with Alka Elizabeth, sub-editor, TDT, Irina Zaks, Co-Founder and CTO at Fibonacci Web Studio, discusses her transition from a background in physics to web development, emphasizing the importance of clear, simple solutions in complex projects. She highlights the Fibonacci sequence’s role in her design philosophy, advocating for harmony and simplicity in web development. Zaks also reflects on the unique challenges of academic websites and her efforts to promote open-source software within academia, particularly through her work at the Stanford Open Source Lab. The interview is a precursor to Stanford Web Camp. 

Head to the concluding part of our series, “Drupal Page Builders—Part 4: Distributions,” crafted by André Angelantoni, Senior Drupal Architect, HeroDevs. The article discusses the practicalities and considerations of using Drupal distributions for page building. It emphasizes that while distributions can simplify the setup process, especially for non-technical users, they often involve complex maintenance and may slow down upgrades due to dependency on the distribution maintainers. The piece advises conducting a proof-of-concept for the most complex page layouts to ensure the chosen solution can handle the requirements, highlighting that many teams opt for minimal module use to maintain flexibility and control.

Explore the articles curated by Kazima Abbas regarding the featured speakers who presented their sessions at EvolveDrupal Atlanta. The first part features Michael Herchel, Mary Blabaum, Allison Vorthmann, Andy Waldrop, and Jesse Dyck.  Topics range from an Inclusive Design Approach to Drupal 7’s End of Life on website security and from leveraging Drupal for scalable software products to insights on migrating to Drupal 10. The second part shifts to topics including The Fourth Decade of Website Deployments, the Crossroads of Website Evolution, and the updates from WCAG 2.1 to 2.2. John Cloys, Penny Kronz, and Steve Persch are featured in this segment. 

The upcoming Drupal Developer Days in Burgas, Bulgaria, from June 26-28, 2024, at Burgas Free University, has announced Suzanne Dergacheva and Frederik W. as keynote speakers. DrupalCamp Iberia 2024 has officially announced its schedule for the upcoming gathering on May 10 and 11 at PACT in Évora, marking a significant event in the Drupal community’s annual calendar. The Network of European Drupal Associations (NEDA) has scheduled a meeting on April 24, 2024, led by Esmeralda Tijhoff. This meeting aims to foster connections among Drupal Associations globally, sharing experiences and discussing support strategies.

DrupalCon Portland 2024 extends a special offer to students, recent graduates, and individuals with Drupal Training Certification obtained since 2022, providing an opportunity to purchase tickets for the event at a discounted rate of $50. The DropTimes has been announced as the official media partner for The LagoonCon Portland 2024. DrupalSouth has made their talks from DrupalSouth 2024 accessible online via their YouTube channel! Now, you can catch up on all the insightful discussions and presentations from the comfort of your home. A particularly engaging story narrated at the event is the talk by Dallas Ramsden, a story of human resilience. The Eclipse Foundation has initiated a collaborative effort to establish common cybersecurity standards in response to the upcoming European Union’s Cyber Resilience Act. This initiative involves multiple open-source organizations and aims to harmonize secure software development practices across the industry, addressing both regulatory requirements and the broader challenge of securing open-source software. The Greek Drupal Community celebrated a resurgence with the Greece Spring Sprint 2024, where experienced developers across Athens, Thessaloniki, and Patras collaborated to address numerous issues. We have received pictures via Georgios Andreadis of the event, take a look here.

Jesus Manuel Olivas, Co-Founder and CEO at Octahedroid, announced the initial release of two significant Drupal modules—Visual Editor and Decoupled Preview Iframe. A recent update from Drupal.org saw Gábor Hojtsy outlining the forthcoming release plans for Drupal 11, noting significant dependency updates and two potential release windows later this year. Obviously, this has created discussions in the community. Paul Johnson, a long-time participant and photographer at Drupal events, has announced an initiative by the Promote Drupal team to create the first official Promote Drupal Image Library. The team calls for submissions from photographers within the Drupal community who are willing to contribute their work under a Creative Commons license. 

While there are undoubtedly more stories to share, our current constraints may necessitate a temporary pause in our coverage.

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

Thank you,
Sincerely
Kazima Abbas
Sub-editor, The Drop Times