A run-down of the Drupal 8 initiatives for Drupal 8.2 and beyond: Migrate, Content Workflow, API-first, Media, Blocks and Layouts, Data Modelling, Theme Component Library, Cross-Channel Orchestration

1. An update on Drupal 8 initiatives (8.2.x edition)
Angela “webchick” Byron
DrupalCorn Camp 2016

2. About me Blah blah blah

4. Agenda
• Brief history of Drupal 8 & initiatives
• New Drupal 8 initiatives (+ tools to get there)
• foreach ($initiative):
• What’s it about, and where’s it at?
• Q&A

5. A brief history of Drupal
8 & initiatives
Wherein I copy/paste a bunch of
Dries’s slides. ;)

6. What is an initiative? A culmination of spicy ingredients

7. Drupal 8.0.0 “official”
strategic initiatives
• Defined in 2011-2012
by Dries Buytaert,
project lead
• Mix of “top-down”
(idea first, then team)
and “bottom-up”
(blessing existing
effort)
Configuration
Mangement Mobile
Multilingual Views
Web Services
Authoring
Experience
HTML5 Blocks & Layout

8. Drupal 8.0.0
“community”
initiatives
• Motivated mainly by
“itch scratching” of
individual contributors
• Examples: Twig,
Accessibility, Entity
API, PHPUnit, Migrate

9. Drupal 8.0.0 shipped! Hundreds of parties last November

10. New release cycle adopted
Dec
2015
Jan
2016
Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct
2016
8.0.x supported release
beta8.1.x development rc 8.1.x supported release
beta8.2.x development rc
https://www.drupal.org/core/release-cycle-overview
8.3.x dev

11. New release cycle adopted
Dec
2015
Jan
2016
Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct
2016
8.0.x supported release
beta8.1.x development rc 8.1.x supported release
beta8.2.x development rc
https://www.drupal.org/core/release-cycle-overview
8.3.x dev
New, backwards-
compatible
features!
We are here.

12. New innovation tool:
Experimental
modules
• New module package for
bleeding-edge users
• Allows putting things into core
that are known not to be
perfect yet, but that are of
strategic significance
• Rapid iteration based on real
user feedback; gradually move
to stable
• Allows core to benefit from
“agile” best practices usually
only seen in contrib
development
https://www.drupal.org/core/experimental

13. What should we put in
those minor releases?
We asked! Over 3,000
answered!

14. Meet the new Drupal 8
strategic initiatives!
Including a couple of old
ones. ;)
Customer
Experience
Developer
Experience
Editorial
Experience

15. Time for a run-down!
• What does each initiative
entail?
• What’s the current status?
• How and where can you help?

16. #1: Migrate To Drupal 8… and beyond!

17. What is it?
• As of Drupal 8, no longer upgrade path. Now, migration
path.
• Keep existing site running until new site is ready.
• Both D6 => D8 and D7 => D8 migrations provided
• D6 => D8 prioritized; Drupal 6 EOL as of February

18. Migrate UI 8.1
https://www.drupal.org/upgrade/migrate
(There’s also
https://www.drupal.org/project/mi
grate_upgrade for Drush)

19. Current status
• Major improvements in Drupal 8.2:
• Support for translated content in Drupal 6
• Architecture finalization
• Variety of bug fixes
• Focus on getting module out of experimental, further
fleshing out 7 => 8 migrations

20. How to help?
• Main jumping-off point: Spreadsheet of Doom :)
• Issue queue: migration system component
• High-priority issues: Migrate critical issue tag
• Twitter: @MigrateDrupal
• Chat: #drupal-migrate on IRC
• Weekly meetings on Thursdays (alternate North
America/Europe friendly times)

21. But I’m still on Drupal
7! :(
Or, heaven forbird, Drupal 6. ;)

22. Upgrade Status
• https://www.drupal.org/project/upgrade_status

23. Drupal 8 Contrib Porting Tracker
• https://www.drupal.org/project/issues/contrib_tracker

24. Drupal Module Upgrader
• https://www.drupal.org/project/drupalmoduleupgrader

25. #2: Content Workflow Anyone else notice a draft in here?

26. What is it?
• Maintainers of the Deploy and Workbench suite of
modules combining forces to get their work into core for
Drupal 8.
• Goals:
• Revisions on (almost) everything
• Configurable workflow states/transitions
• Trash bin functionality
• Full-site preview with Workspaces

27. Content Moderation 8.2?
https://www.drupal.org/node/2755073

28. Full-site preview 8.4+

29. Current status
• Major improvements in Drupal 8.2:
• Very close on Content Moderation!
• Lots of underlying revision support improvements
• Blocks are now revisionable
• Next up: Enable CRAP (create/read/archive/purge)
storage, Trash Bin/undo functionality

30. How to help?
• Main jumping-off point: #2721129: Workflow Initiative
• Issue tag: Workflow Initiative
• Additional background: http://buytaert.net/improving-
drupal-content-workflow
• Kanban board:
https://contribkanban.com/sprint/WorkflowInitiative

31. #3: API-First Integrate ALL the things!

32. What is it?
• Drupal 8.0.0’s Web Services initiative added a REST API to
Drupal core to enable integration with external systems
• However:
• Some rough edges have been exposed through “real
world” usage, esp. in decoupled JS apps
• Since 2012-2013 when core’s HAL-based REST API was
developed, new standards have emerged
• Not optimized for front-end developers; lack of SDKs
make getting started difficult

33. JSON API 8.3?
https://www.drupal.org/project/jsonapi

34. Waterwheel (JavaScript SDK) 8.4+
https://github.com/acquia/waterwheel-js

35. Current status
• Lots of REST improvements made it into 8.2: (more to
come)
• Config entity GET support (e.g. taxonomy vocabularies,
menus)
• Simplified configuration
• Improvements to Views, Comment REST support
• Developer experience improvements
• Waterwheel, JSON API, GraphQL evolving in contrib (8.3+)

36. How to help?
• Main tracking issue: #2757967: API-first initiative
• REST top priorities:
https://www.drupal.org/node/2721489
• Monthly coordination meetings on Google Hangouts
(next one Aug 15 at 10am Central)
• A roadmap for making Drupal more API-first:
http://buytaert.net/a-roadmap-for-making-drupal-more-
api-first

37. #4: Media Smile! You’re on candid camera!

38. What is it?
• Media initiative dates back to 2007; group of long-time
contributors
• Lots of modules, extremely powerful, difficult to
configure
• Without media functionality out of the box, Drupal looks
weak compared to its competitors
• Goal is a “just works,” out-of-the-box configuration of
media functionality built on powerful, flexible
architecture to handle more advanced cases

39. Re-usable images 8.3+
https://www.drupal.org/project/file_browser

40. Embedded media 8.3+
https://www.drupal.org/project/entity_embed

41. Current status
• Media team currently in process of drafting core plan for
community review
• Work ongoing to port all the various modules in contrib:
Entity Embed, Entity Browser, etc.
• Fairly far along; D8 versions of nearly everything:
http://janezurevc.name/releases-of-various-drupal-8-
media-modules
• Starting to focus more on “solution” modules (Media,
Content Browser, etc.)

42. How to help?
• Drupal 8 Media Guide: https://www.gitbook.com/book/drupal-
media/drupal8-guide/details
• Issue tag: D8Media / Twitter: @drupalmedia
• Chat: #drupal-media on IRC
• Weekly meetings on Wednesdays
• Kanban board:
https://contribkanban.com/sprint/mediaInitiative
• Help wanted: Testers for various contributed modules;
Developers to help with contrib porting efforts

43. #5: Blocks and Layouts

44. What is it?
• Blocks gained massive improvements in Drupal 8:
fieldable, multiple placements per theme, UI
improvements
• Layouts… not so much. ;)
• But! Layout plugin creates central architecture shared
by both page manager and display suite
• End goal is to provide customized layout functionality in
core itself.

45. Place Blocks from front-end (experimental)
https://www.drupal.org/node/2739075
8.2

46. Per-content type layouts 8.3+

47. Swappable layouts 8.4+

48. Current status
• Core plan discussed at DrupalCon New Orleans being
drafted for community review
• Start with Display Suite-like functionality in core, then
move to Panels
• Work ongoing to port all the various modules in contrib:
Panels, Page Manager, etc.
• Fairly far along; beta versions of nearly everything.

49. How to help?
• Issue tag: D8panels
• Chat: #drupal-scotch on IRC
• Weekly meetings on Tuesdays
• Work on porting various contrib modules

50. #6: Data Modeling May I join you?

51. What is it?
• Two of Drupal’s biggest strengths are its structured
data modelling (Entities/Fields) and content
visualization (Views) capabilities
• These are also some of the hardest concepts (and user
interfaces) for new Drupal site builders to grasp
• Improve Field UI / Views UI to get new users to their
“ah-HA!” moment with Drupal much sooner

52. Current Field UI
• Abstractly choose data type
first, what it looks like second
(opposite of problem you’re
trying to solve)
• Common options such as
“Text” aren’t visible without
scrolling (“Boolean” = most
important?)
• No preview; Admin UI
completely disconnected from
actual form you’re changing

53. Interim proposal:
Dream Fields
Widget first, field later
8.3?

54. Or, double-down on
data modelling?
Possible sci-fi future!
8.4+

55. Current Views UI
• All power of UI exposed at
once; lack of clear visual
hierarchy
• Not easy to tell what effect
changes are having; preview
often “below the fold”
• Frightens young children and
grizzled veterans alike

56. Interim proposal:
Preview-first Views UI
Now only scaring small children ;)
8.3?

57. Current Status
• No formal plan/team yet for core
• Dream Fields:
https://www.drupal.org/project/dream_fields /
https://www.drupal.org/node/2539740
• Preview-first Views UI:
https://www.drupal.org/node/2684509

58. #7: Theme Component
Library
Atomic Design:
Because big glops of HTML are no
fun

59. What is it?
• Drupal’s current render and theme system is overly complex
and inscrutable: #type vs. #theme, #pre_render vs.
#post_render, etc.
• Templates often get large chunks of pre-rendered HTML
sent to them, courtesy of ginormous render arrays.
Impossible to re-use in e.g. a JavaScript context.
• Instead: Develop individual UI elements as “components,”
independently of Drupal, which can be mixed/matched
• Provides a number of benefits: pattern library, style guides,
interface previews, client-side re-rendering

60. How does it work? Atoms > Molecules > Organisms

61. Current status
• General enthusiastic agreement on overall idea, but lots
of diverging opinions about the details
• To work these details out (also, pretty!), folks are in the
process of proposing a new user-facing core theme
• In contrib, Zen theme actively experimenting with
component-based approach
8.4?

62. How to help?
• Main tracking issue: #2702061: Unify & simplify render
& theme system: component-based rendering
• #2759849: Propose new user-facing core theme to
register interest in helping with that
• https://www.drupal.org/project/zen and
https://www.drupal.org/project/components to play
around with one possible implementation and provide
feedback

63. #8: Cross-Channel
Orchestration
Your shoes are spying on you

64. What is it?
• Expand Drupal’s use beyond just websites and web
applications to experiences on any device at any time
• Take into account context such as user preferences,
location, time of day to intelligently personalize
• Notifications that go beyond the web browser and
email: SMS, Internet of Things, etc.

65. Example Drupal + Mobile + Internet of Things

66. Current status
• No identified team/plan yet for core
• Some plumbing in contrib, however:
• Rules: https://www.drupal.org/project/rules
• Message: https://www.drupal.org/project/message
• Alexa: https://www.drupal.org/project/alexa
8.4?

67. Bonus! Usability

68. Background
• Numerous usability tests have been done, both formally
and informally (https://www.drupal.org/usability-tests)
• Central themes:
• Obscure terminology scares people
• Users have huge reliance on previews
• “Russian nesting dolls” of abstraction is frustrating
https://www.drupal.org/node/2497361

69. Outside-In (experimental)
https://www.drupal.org/node/2762505
8.2?

70. Drag-and-drop image uploads 8.2?
https://www.drupal.org/node/2421427

71. Redesigned admin status page 8.2?
https://www.drupal.org/node/665790

72. Sample content in
install profile
• Default Drupal just tells you
“You have no content.”
• Playing around with Drupal
without guidance can lead new
users to believe it is limited
• What if we showcased what
Drupal could do in standard
installation?
• “Snowman” community
initiative
https://www.drupal.org/node/79582
8.3+

73. How to help?
• http://drupalux.org/ main jumping-off point
• Issue tag: Usability / Twitter: @drupalux
• Chat: #ux on drupal.slack.com
• Attend twice-weekly meetings to share/review ideas
(Tues @ 2pm Central)
• Need not only designers to come up with cool ideas,
but developers to help implement them!

74. Questions? I’ll do my best. :)