Talking Drupal

Today we are talking about EvolveDigital, What it is, and how it started in Drupal with guest Maya Schaeffer. We'll also cover Drupal CMS 2.0 as our module of the week.

For show notes visit: https://www.talkingDrupal.com/539

• Comparing Drupal and WordPress
• Evolve Digital Summit Insights
• Marketing and Drupal Integration
• Evolve Digital and CMS Comparisons
• Summit Structure and Networking
• Speaker Selection and Outreach
• Balancing Content and Community
• Lessons from Different Cities
• Future Plans and New Formats

• EvolveDigital
• Drupal CMS documentation
• Decoupling Content & Frontend Nika Karliuchenko, John Picozzi, Pete Navarra
• Drupal Canvas Webinar

Maya Schaeffer - evolvedigital.com mayalena

Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi Catherine Tsiboukas - mindcraftgroup.com bletch

Martin Anderson-Clutz - mandclu.com mandclu

• Brief description:
  • Do you want to start your next Drupal site using a variety of best practices, including Canvas for page layouts, or site templates for an opinionated architecture out of the box? Then the recently released Drupal CMS 2.0 could be just what you need.
• Module name/project name:
  • Drupal CMS
• Brief history
  • 2.0 release was created by phenaproxima less than a week ago, and requires Drupal 11.3
• Maintainership
  • Actively maintained
  • Security coverage
  • Test coverage
  • Documentation guide linked in the show notes
  • 145 issues on the development project, 24 of which are bugs
• Usage stats:
  • No direct way to track, but drupal_cms_helper was added as a dependency late in the Drupal CMS 1.x cycle, so the fact that it has been installed 3,780 times likely indicates that Drupal CMS has been installed several thousand times at a minimum
• Module features and usage
  • The biggest change in Drupal CMS 2 is the addition of Canvas for creating and managing layouts. We talked about Drupal Canvas in depth back in episode #518 so I won't go into too much detail here, but having it set up for you as an out-of-the-box feature is a big benefit
  • Drupal CMS 1.0 included a carefully curated content architecture, including some optional recipes for additional capabilities. With version 2, the intent is for site templates to be the source of the content architecture. I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot more about site templates, including a marketplace where people can find them, in the coming and in particular with DrupalCon Chicago fast approaching
  • Drupal CMS 2.0 also ships with much more sophisticated AI capabilities. There's a dedicated Canvas AI that can be used to generate and populate entire layouts, as well as generating code components, based on a user's prompt. And listeners may remember the demo in the Vienna Driesnote of using the Context Control Center to automatically create drafts of content updates when marketing information changes
  • And of course, starting with Drupal core 11.3 means you'll get all the performance and other improvements in the latest version

Today we are talking about Development Workflows, Agentic Agents, and how they work together with guests Andy Giles & Matt Glaman. We'll also cover Drupal Canvas CLI as our module of the week.

For show notes visit: https://www.talkingDrupal.com/538

• Understanding Agentic Development Workflows
• Understanding UID Generation in AI Agents
• Exploring Generative AI and Traditional Programming
• Building Canvas Pages with AI Agents
• Using Writing Tools and APIs for Automation
• Introduction to MCP Server and Its Tools
• Agent to Agent Orchestration and External Tools
• Command Line Tools for Agent Coding
• Security and Privacy Concerns with AI Tools
• The Future of AI Tools and Their Sustainability
• Benefits of AI for Site Builders

• Decoupled frontend with Drupal Canvas
• AI workflows will reshape development organizations – mglaman.dev
• Agents.md
• AI is here to stay
• Autocomplete training 38:09 Code completion
• MCP
• Open Code
• Geerlingguy ai voice

Matt Glaman - mglaman.dev mglaman

Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi Andy Giles - dripyard.com andyg5000

Martin Anderson-Clutz - mandclu.com mandclu

• Brief description:
  • Have you ever wanted to sync components from a site using Drupal Canvas out to another project like a headless front end, or conversely, from an outside repo into Drupal Canvas? There's an NPM library for that
• Module name/project name:
  • Drupal Canvas CLI
• Brief history
  • How old: created in July 2025 (as xb-cli originally) by Bálint Kléri (balintbrews) of Acquia
  • Versions available: 0.6.2, and really only useful with Drupal Canvas, which works with Drupal core 11.2
• Maintainership
  • Actively maintained
  • Number of open issues: 8 open issues, 2 of which are bugs, but one of which was marked fixed in the past week
• Usage stats:
  • 128 weekly downloads according to npmjs.com
• Module features and usage
  • With the Drupal Canvas CLI installed, you'll have a command line tool that allows you to download (export) components from Canvas into your local filesystem. There are options to download just the components, just the global css, or everything, and more. If no flags are provided, the tool will interactively prompt you for which options you want to use.
  • There is also an upload command with a similar set of options. It's worth noting that the upload will also automatically run the build and validate commands, ensuring that the uploaded components will work smoothly with Drupal Canvas
  • I thought this would be relevant to our topic today because with this tool you can create a React component with the aid of the AI integration available for Canvas and then sync that, either to a headless front end built in something like Next.js or Astro or a tool like Storybook; or you could use an AI-enhanced tool like Cursor IDE to build a component locally and then sync that into a Drupal site using Canvas
  • There is a blog post Balint published that includes a demo, if you want to see this tool in action

Today we are talking about Integrations into Drupal, Automation, and Drupal with Orchestration with guest Jürgen Haas. We'll also cover CRM as our module of the week.

For show notes visit: https://www.talkingDrupal.com/537

• Understanding Orchestration
• Orchestration in Drupal
• Introduction to Orchestration Services
• Drupal's Role in Orchestration
• Flexibility in Integration
• Orchestration Module in Drupal
• Active Pieces and Open Source Integration
• Security Considerations in Orchestration
• Future of Orchestration in Drupal
• Getting Involved with Orchestration

• Orchestration
• N8N
  • https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-21877
  • https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-21858
• Drupal as an application
• Tools
  • Orchestration
  • ECA
  • Maestro
  • AI
  • Flowdrop

Jürgen Haas - lakedrops.com jurgenhaas

Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi

Martin Anderson-Clutz - mandclu.com mandclu

• Brief description:
  • Have you ever wanted a Drupal-native way to store, manage, and interact with people who might not all be registered users? There's a module for that.
• Module name/project name:
  • CRM - Contact Relationship Management
• Brief history
  • How old: created in Apr 2007 by Allie Micka, but the Steve Ayers aka bluegeek9 took over the namespace
  • Versions available: 1.0.0-beta2, which works with Drupal 11.1 or newer
• Maintainership
  • Actively maintained, latest release just a day ago
  • Security coverage: opted in, but needs a stable release
  • Test coverage
  • Number of open issues: 73 open issues, but all bugs have been marked as fixed
• Usage stats:
  • 10 sites
• Module features and usage
  • Listeners may remember some mention of the CRM module in the conversation about the Member Platform initiative back in episode 512
  • As a reminder, something other than standard Drupal user accounts is useful for working with contact information for people where you may not have all the criteria necessary for a Drupal user account, for example an email address. Also, a dedicated system can make it easier to model relationships between contacts, and provide additional capabilities.
  • It's worth noting that this module defines CRM as Contact Relationship Management, not assuming that the data is associated with "customers" or "constituents" as some other solutions do
  • At its heart, CRM defines three new entity types: contacts, contact methods, and relationships. Each of these can have fieldable bundles, and provides some default examples: Person, Household, and Organization for contacts; Address, Email, and Telephone for contact methods; and Head of household, Spouse, Employee, and Member for relationships
  • Out of the box CRM includes integrations with other popular modules like Group and Context, in addition to a variety of Drupal core systems like views and search
  • As previously mentioned CRM is intended to be the foundational data layer of the Member Platform, but is also a key element of the Open Knowledge distribution, meant to allow using Drupal as a collaborative knowledge base and learning platform

In this episode, we discuss the 'Drupal in a Day' initiative, aimed at introducing computer science students to Drupal and invigorating the community with new energy. Martin Anderson-Clutz and Hilmar Hallbjörnsson talk about its origins, development, and the specifics of condensing a comprehensive university course into a single-day curriculum. They also cover the enthusiasm and logistics behind the events, insights from past sessions in Vienna and Drupal Jam, and future plans for expanding the scope of this program. Tune in to hear the vision for bringing more students into the Drupal community and the benefits for universities and organizations alike.

For show notes visit: https://www.talkingDrupal.com/cafe013

• What is Drupal in a Day?
• Origins and Development of Drupal in a Day
• Target Audience and Curriculum
• Teaching Methodology and Community Impact
• Student Engagement and Event Comparisons
• Momentum and Future Plans for Drupal in a Day
• Logistics and Volunteer Involvement
• Open Source and Community Contributions
• Personal Stories and Final Thoughts

Hilmar Kári Hallbjörnsson is a senior Drupal developer, educator, and open-source advocate based in Iceland. He works as a Senior Drupal Developer at the University of Iceland and is the CEO/CTO of the Drupal consultancy Um að gera. Hilmar is also an adjunct professor at Reykjavík University, where he teaches "Designing open-sourced web software with Drupal and PHP."

Deeply involved in the Drupal ecosystem, Hilmar is an active contributor and community organizer, with a particular focus on Drupal 11, modern configuration management, and the emerging Recipes initiative. He is a co-founder of the Drupal Open University Initiative and Drupal-in-a-Day, and has served on the organizing committee for DrupalCon Europe.

His work bridges real-world engineering, teaching, and community leadership, with a strong interest in both the technical evolution and philosophical direction of Drupal as an open-source platform.

Martin is a highly respected figure in the Drupal community, known for his extensive contributions as a developer, speaker, and advocate for open-source innovation. Based in London, Ontario, Canada, Martin began his career as a graphic designer before transitioning into web development. His journey with Drupal started in late 2005 when he was seeking a robust multilingual CMS solution, leading him to embrace Drupal's capabilities.

Martin holds the distinction of being the world's first Triple Drupal Grand Master, certified across Drupal 7, 8, and 9 as a Developer, Front-End Specialist, and Back-End Specialist. (TheDropTimes) He also possesses certifications in various Acquia products and is UX certified by the Nielsen Norman Group.

Currently serving as a Senior Solutions Engineer at Acquia, Martin has been instrumental in advancing Drupal's ecosystem. He has developed and maintains several contributed modules, including Smart Date and Search Overrides, and has been actively involved in the Drupal Recipes initiative, particularly focusing on event management solutions. His current work on the Event Platform aims to streamline the creation and management of event-based websites within Drupal.

Beyond development, Martin is a prominent speaker and educator, having presented at numerous Drupal events such as DrupalCon Barcelona and EvolveDrupal. He is also a co-host of the "Talking Drupal" podcast, where he leads the "Module of the Week" segment, sharing insights on various Drupal modules. Martin's dedication to the Drupal community is evident through his continuous efforts to mentor, innovate, and promote best practices within the open-source landscape.

Hilmar Hallbjörnsson - drupalviking Martin Anderson-Clutz - mandclu

Today we are talking about Patching Drupal, Composer, and Composer Patches 2.0 with guest Cameron Eagans. We'll also cover Configuration Development as our module of the week.

For show notes visit: https://www.talkingDrupal.com/536

• What is Composer Patches 2.0
• Exploring Community Dynamics in Composer Patches
• The Genesis of Composer Patches
• The Decision to Use GitHub
• Broadening Composer Patches Beyond Drupal
• The Evolution to Composer Patches 2.0
• Understanding Workflow Complexities
• Refining User Experience in 2.0
• New Features and Enhancements in 2.0
• Navigating Controversial Changes in 2.0
• The Role of Dependency Patches
• Introducing patches.lock.json
• Best Practices for Patch Management
• Transitioning to Git Patching
• Exploring New APIs in Composer Patches 2.0
• Understanding Capabilities and Events
• Transitioning to Composer Patches 2.0
• Future of Composer Patches and Community Contributions

• Announcing Composer Patches 2.0
• Recipe issue for config devel
• Docs
• Patch man page

Cameron Eagans - cweagans.net cweagans

Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi Andy Giles - dripyard.com andyg5000

Martin Anderson-Clutz - mandclu.com mandclu

• Brief description:
  • Do you maintain modules that provide configuration files? There's a module that can help manage them.
• Module name/project name:
  • Configuration Development
• Brief history
  • How old: created in Apr 2014 by chx, though recent releases are by Joachim Noreiko (joachim)
  • Versions available: 8.x-1.11, which works with Drupal 9.3, 10, and 11
• Maintainership
  • Actively maintained
  • Security coverage
  • Test coverage
  • Number of open issues: 36 open issues, 7 of which are bugs
• Usage stats:
  • 2,391 sites
• Module features and usage
  • The module really provides three useful features. First, it can ensure specific configuration files are automatically imported on every request, as though the contents were pasted into the core "single import" form
  • Second, it can automatically export specific configuration objects into files whenever the object is updated. You provide a list of filenames and the module will derive the objects that need to be exported.
  • Finally, it provides a drush command that can be used to generate all the necessary configuration files for a specific project. You put a list of the files into the project's info.yml file, and then with a single command a fresh copy of all the specified files will be generated and placed directly into the project's configuration folder.
  • For obvious reasons this is not something you should ever have enabled in production, so definitely a best practice to pull this in using the require-dev composer command

Today we are talking about Recording Podcasts, The tech used, and How Drupal Can help with guest Stephen Cross. We'll also cover Chosen as our module of the week.

For show notes visit: https://www.talkingDrupal.com/535

• Podcasting and Second Signal Media
• Evolution of Podcasting
• Tech Essentials for Podcasting
• The CEO's Video Strategy Transformation
• Overcoming the Fear of Speaking on Camera
• The Importance of Consistency in Content Creation
• Editing vs. Authenticity in Video Content
• Choosing the Right Environment and Equipment
• Setting Realistic Goals for Your Podcast
• Recording Workflow Recommendations
• Tools and Tips for Improving Audio Quality

• Basic Editing with Kdenlive
• Audio clean-up tools
• Izotope
• Secret sounds

Stephen Cross - stephencross

Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi Andy Giles - dripyard.com andyg5000

Martin Anderson-Clutz - mandclu.com mandclu

• Brief description:
  • Have you ever wanted to give users on your Drupal site a more intuitive alternative to native HTML multiselect widgets? There's a module for that.
• Module name/project name:
  • Chosen
• Brief history
  • How old: created in Jul 2011 by shadcn but recent releases are by Bálint Nagy (nagy.balint) of Hungary
  • Versions available: 3.0.6, 4.0.3, and 5.0.3, the last of which works with Drupal 10.2 or 11
• Maintainership
  • Actively maintained
  • Security coverage
  • Test coverage
  • Number of open issues: 221 open issues, 4 of which are bugs against the 5.x branch
• Usage stats:
  • Almost 38,000 sites
• Module features and usage
  • With the module installed, your Drupal site will selectively replace select elements with a more intuitive widget, leveraging the Chosen library. In the module's configuration you can specify how many options should trigger Chosen, and also specify form field selectors to explicitly include or exclude.
  • The three active branches of the module reflect usage of different forks of the Chosen library. Notably, the 5.x versions use a fork that no longer requires jQuery, and allows Chosen to be enabled for mobile devices.
  • In addition to the module configuration, you can also force a custom form's select element to use the Chosen library simply by adding the "chosen-select" class to the form array.
  • Back in episode #409 we talked about Tagify, which in some ways is similar, but is designed specifically to work with entity reference fields. That makes it less "general purpose", though Tagify does also include some additional capabilities, such as being able to include labels or icons on results based on a property of the result.
  • Years ago I used another popular project called Select2 for turning multiselects into listboxes that included a search filter, but that project relied on a library that required jQuery but is incompatible with jQuery 4. So, Select2 has been officially replaced by Tagify, but Chosen could also be useful if your field is not an entity reference.
  • There are a variety similar modules you can also look at, including Choices.js, Selectize, and Selectify, but Chosen is by far the most widely used, even if you're only looking at numbers for the 5.x branch

Join Johanna and Jess as they dive deep into their experiences and insights working with Drupal in the nonprofit sector. Learn about their early careers, the evolution of Drupal's development, the significance of community in nonprofit tech, and the origins and importance of the Nonprofit Summit at DrupalCon. Discover how their community initiatives foster collaboration and support among nonprofit technologists, and get a glimpse into the upcoming summit details. Perfect for anyone interested in Drupal, open-source technology, and nonprofit organizational challenges.

For show notes visit: https://www.talkingDrupal.com/cafe012

Johanna Bates (they/them, hanpersand on drupal.org) is co-founder and co-principal of DevCollaborative, a company that builds accessible and sustainable Drupal and WordPress sites exclusively for nonprofit organizations.

Johanna began their formal tech career at WGBH in Boston in 2000 as a front-end developer. They have been building Drupal sites since 2004, and have been co-moderating NTEN's Nonprofit Drupal Community and its monthly chats for over a decade.

Johanna was involved in early Nonprofit Summits at NYCcamp starting back in 20-teens 2015, and helped bring the Nonprofit Summit to DrupalCon North America in 2017.

Jess Snyder (jesss on drupal.org and Drupal Slack) is Director of Web Systems for WETA, the flagship public media station for Washington, DC, and has over 20 years of experience in website development.

Jess is an organizer for NTEN's Drupal Community of Practice as well as Drupal GovCon. She also co-chaired the triumphant return of the Nonprofit Summit to DrupalCon Portland 2024 and its sequel at DrupalCon Atlanta 2025.

When not Drupaling, Jess sits on the Board of Directors for the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

• Meet the Speakers: Johanna and Jess
• Johanna's Journey in Nonprofit Tech
• Jess's Path in Public Broadcasting
• The Importance of Community in Nonprofit Tech
• Organizing Nonprofit Summits
• Challenges and Changes in Drupal
• The Value of Open Source for Nonprofits
• Comparing Drupal and WordPress
• Concerns About JavaScript in Content Editing
• Importance of Accessibility in Content Management
• Guardrails for Content Editors
• The Nonprofit Summit: Origins and Evolution
• Summit Format and Community Building
• Sponsorship and Event Details
• Getting Involved in the Nonprofit Drupal Community
• Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Johanna Bates - hanpersand Jess Snyder - jesss

Today we are talking about Webhaven.io, What it is, and How it helps build Drupal faster with guest Fons Vandamme. We'll also cover Metatag Simple Widget as our module of the week.

For show notes visit: https://www.talkingDrupal.com/534

• What is Web Haven
• Web Haven's Technical Insights and Future Plans
• Developer's Perspective on Recipe Upgrades
• Documentation vs. Automatic Updates
• Module Management Concerns
• Drupal Canvas
• Challenges with Drupal Canvas Integration
• Web Haven's Future with Drupal Canvas
• Exploring Headless Architecture with Web Haven
• Business Plan and Roadmap for Web Haven
• AI Integration in Web Haven
• Creating and Testing Recipes

• Webhaven.io
• Accelerating AI-Powered Chatbots in Drupal
• Ratatouille

Fons Vandamme - webhaven.io f0ns

Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi Martin Anderson-Clutz - mandclu.com mandclu

Martin Anderson-Clutz - mandclu.com mandclu

• Brief description:
  • Have you ever wanted a simplified widget for managing meta tags in your Drupal content? There's a module for that.
• Module name/project name:
  • Metatag Simple Widget
• Brief history
  • How old: created in Jul 2025 by Jim Vomero (njim) of Four Kitchens
  • Versions available: 1.0.0 and 1.1.0, the latter of which works with Drupal core 10 and 11
• Maintainership
  • Actively maintained
  • Security coverage
  • No open issues
• Usage stats:
  • 1 site
• Module features and usage
  • With this module installed, in the form configuration for your content types, you'll see a new "Simplified meta tags form" widget for metatag fields
  • It's designed to provide a dramatically streamlined input for metatags, focused on only exposing the most commonly used tags, the title and description
  • As a configuration option, you can have the widget hide default values, which for metatag fields often contain tokens, which could be confusing for Drupal neophytes
  • The module was nominated by Dave Hansen-Lange (dalin), also of Four Kitchens, and a co-maintainer, as well as a fellow Canadian

I also wanted to give a shout out to the Drupal.org Infrastructure Working Group. In the lead-up to this recording there was a media server failure that brought down the entire site. They worked as furiously as Santa's elves and were able to quickly get the site back up. It was a reminder for me of how much we all (and this segment in particular) depend on the tireless work they do. In this season of giving please consider supporting the Drupal Association, and if you already do, maybe see if you could give a little more.

Today we are talking about The Drupal At-Large Board Seat, What the job entails, and some common misconceptions with guest Fei Lauren. We'll also cover Token Browser as our module of the week.

For show notes visit: https://www.talkingDrupal.com/533

• Understanding the Drupal Association at Large Board Seat
• Responsibilities and Experiences of a Board Member
• Challenges and Insights from Serving on the Board
• Community Representation and Accountability
• Skills and Qualities for Aspiring Board Members
• Navigating Board Member Responsibilities
• Community Perception and Board Care
• Global Community Engagement
• Challenges and Impact of Board Decisions
• Encouraging Non-Technical Contributions
• Reflections and Future Plans
• Election Process and Imposter Syndrome

• Board of directors working groups
• Board of directors

Fei Lauren - feilauren

Martin Anderson-Clutz - mandclu.com mandclu Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan

Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan

• Brief description:
  • Have you ever wanted an improved token browser that loads quickly and doesn't have a depth limit? There's a module for that.
• Module name/project name:
  • Token Browser
• Brief history
  • How old: created in Nov 2025 by Andy Marquis (apmsooner)
  • https://talkingdrupal.com/505
  • Versions available: 1.0.0 which works with Drupal core 11.3 or newer
• Maintainership
  • Actively maintained
  • Security coverage
  • Test coverage
  • Number of open issues: 2 open issues, 1 of which is a bug
• Usage stats:
  • 3 sites
• Module features and usage
  • The Token Browser module provides a rebuilt version of the standard token browser. Notably, it only renders the first level during the initial request, and then requests deeper levels as needed using all the latest HTMX improvements in Drupal core 11.3
  • It's worth noting that the initial version requires an alternative theme function be attached to form elements where you want to use the new Token Browser, so it doesn't actually replace the standard version
  • Also, there seems to be an issue where the HTMX library doesn't load on cached pages, which is the one open issue. I pinged Andy about it and it sounds like he has a fix in the works.
  • Finally, this module is similar to an older module called Fast Token Browser, but that module was never updated to work with versions of Drupal newer than 7, and relied on jQuery for its AJAX functionality

Today we are talking about AI Marketing,Marketing Trends, and The caber toss with guest Hayden Baillio. We'll also cover Drupal core 11.3 as our module of the week.

For show notes visit: https://www.talkingDrupal.com/532

• AI in Marketing: Hayden's Insights
• The Role of AI in Content Creation
• Challenges and Ethical Considerations of AI
• AI Training Data and Bias
• AI in Security Testing
• AI Replacing Jobs
• The Future of Marketing with AI
• Highland Games and Personal Hobbies

• Drupal core 11.3 release highlights
• Carsinisation

Hayden Baillio - hounder.co hgbaillio

Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi Fei Lauren - feilauren

Martin Anderson-Clutz - mandclu.com mandclu

• Brief description:
  • Have you been wanting a version of Drupal core that moves away from the hooks system, has PHP 8.5 support, or has better support for asynchronous queries? The newly released Drupal core 11.3 has all these and more.
• Module name/project name:
  • Drupal core 11.3
• Brief history
  • Created in the last few days (hopefully) by the time this episode is released
• Changes
  • Performance improvements
  • New MYSQLi database driver. In combination with the PHP Fibers support added in Drupal 10.2, this should allow Drupal sites to run much faster. Not all hosting environments will have PHP configured to work with the new driver, so for now the new driver is in an experimental core module you will need to install to try the new driver
  • Drupal can now lazy load multiple entities at a time using Fibers
  • PHP 8.5 support should also improve performance, as will a number of caching improvements
  • Some early testing in the community indicates some significant improvements for pages loaded from cold cache, anywhere from 30 to 40% fewer queries
  • One of the significant changes in Drupal core 11.2 was the addition of HTMX as the intended successor to Drupal's older AJAX system. Drupal core 11.3 includes some significant steps on the path to replacing all the places that AJAX system in core
  • There's a new HTMX factory object with methods to abstract the specifics of the attributes and headers needed to implement HTMX
  • HTMX is now used for the Form Builder and ConfigSingleExportForm
  • BigPipe no longer uses the older AJAX API, which itself uses jQuery
  • New Workspace Provider concept, will be interesting to see what new possibilities this creates
  • New administer node published status permission, previously required the much broader "administer nodes" permission
  • Drupal core 11.3 also includes some capabilities that previously required contrib modules
  • Links created within CKEditor5 now dynamically link to the entity and when rendered will automatically point to the most recent alias. Previously Drupal sites needed the Linkit module, which has been part of Drupal CMS since its release at the start of the year
  • Drupal CMS is also heavily based on Drupal's recipe system, which includes the ability to automatically import content included within a recipe. Until now you still needed the default_content module to export content as YAML for inclusion in a recipe. With Drupal 11.3 you can export all entities of a particular type, optionally filtered by bundle, and optionally including all dependencies
  • Many of Drupal's remaining hooks, particularly those for themes, now have OOP class replacements, so we're now very close to being able to deprecate .module and .theme files
  • Listeners may remember that the Navigation module was added as an experimental module in Drupal core 10.3. In 11.3, the module is now officially stable, so the rethought admin menu that originally debuted as part of the Gin admin theme is now fully realized in Drupal core
  • SDCs can now be marked to be excluded from the UI, for example if they are meant to only be nested within other components
  • Drupal core 11.3 also introduces some new deprecations:
  • Migrate Drupal and Migrate Drupal UI officially deprecated now that Drupal 7 is EOL
  • Also field_layout, which was ultimately superseded by Layout Builder
  • Promoted and Sticky fields are now hidden by default (an issue created more than 20 years ago! A five digit issue ID) - the user who created it had a drop.org username lol
  • Another issue that sets the "Promoted" default value to FALSE for new content types was also resolved, but only 15 years old. It had a six-digit issue ID - barely!
  • Theme engines have been deprecated!
  • This may be the last feature release of Drupal core before version 12, which could drop as early as June 2026
  • We'll include a link to the release highlights, but by the time you hear this there should also be an official announcement from Gabor and the DA with additional details