Blocked from Contributing, Helped by a Veteran: How a Small Drupal Module Exposed a Bigger Problem

In a quiet but meaningful shift within the Drupal open-source community, a minor module with fewer than 200 reported installs became a symbol of something much larger — how leadership and support can bridge the gap for new contributors.

Kevin Reynen, Lead Web Developer at the University of Denver, logged into his Drupal dashboard recently and found an unexpected spark of joy.

He wrote in a post on LinkedIn:

“When I logged into my Drupal dashboard this morning, I saw some green on an issue for a module with less than 200 reported installed that made me happier than most of what I've been doing with Drupal in the last ~8 months."

That “green” was progress on the Edit UUID module — a tool used to modify UUIDs (universally unique identifiers) in configuration files, which can be a sticking point for site builders. But Kevin wasn’t taking credit.

“I want to be clear. I did almost nothing to make this happen,I did take over the Edit UUID module project on Drupal.org, but only to unblock Mustafa Akbay, M, from contributing.”

The story, as Kevin shared it, is not uncommon in open-source. A useful module becomes abandoned. New contributors offer to help but hit roadblocks. In this case, Mustafa’s offer to take over maintenance of the module was rejected because he lacked the “opt into security coverage” certification—a requirement that isn’t easy for new contributors to obtain. Often, it involves creating a sandbox module that mimics a real project but isn’t meant for production use.

Kevin wrote,

“I completely understand and support the Drupal project's process of handling ownership changes of abandoned projects, but we need to do a better job of onboarding potential contributors. We should only tell someone their contributions aren't welcome if we have reason to be concerned they are a bad actor or bot.”

Mustafa’s attempt to contribute might have quietly ended there. But Kevin noticed the roadblock and decided to act. With his credentials — likely grandfathered in “from the CVS days” — he took over the project, making way for Akbay to help from the inside.

“I would love to see more developers working with new contributors inside existing projects to get their opt for security coverage certification instead of using Hello World projects to vet them,” 

Kevin added, pointing readers to other stuck requests for project handovers.

In a reply to Kevin's LinkedIn post, Mustafa shared how much that support meant to him—and how close he was to walking away from the process entirely.

"None of this would’ve happened without your support and initiative—I genuinely mean that. I’ve mostly been working on custom modules and themes tailored to specific client needs over the years, which is why I never had the chance to publish a contributed module on Drupal.org before.

When my offer to maintain Edit UUID was rejected, I felt my motivation to contribute fading fast. But your message—and your action—reignited that spark. I truly appreciate you using your voice and position to help someone like me take a small but meaningful step into the contrib space.

Unfortunately, Edit UUID is just one of many modules stuck in this kind of limbo. There are likely dozens of useful modules that are no longer maintained, and willing contributors are being held back by policy barriers. I hope this experience can help trigger a broader conversation—and hopefully some action—to make contribution pathways more welcoming and sustainable."

He ended by noting that open source is about more than code: 

“It’s about people who lift each other up.”

Kevin encouraged other experienced contributors to consider whether their status could be used to remove similar roadblocks for new voices in the community.