News Roundup

Morpht has joined the Drupal AI Initiative as a Gold AI Maker, bringing funding and dev talent. They’re contributing to AI tooling in Drupal, including a new “AI Views Agent” for natural language view creation. Jibran Ijaz joins Morpht to lead these efforts, marking a major step in Drupal’s AI evolution.

The Network of European Drupal Associations has released a draft business model for an international Drupal federation. The proposal describes how local associations could collaborate under a shared structure with joint programs, shared revenue, and voting rights. Community members are invited to review the draft and submit feedback before the Aug. 29 meeting.

Cheppers has released a free e-book titled AI & Drupal for Mission-Driven Organizations. The guide offers scarce but valuable insights into governance, workflows, and the adoption of ethical AI, reflecting the company’s extensive involvement in the Drupal community. Written for English-speaking readers, the e-book is available as a free PDF download by filling out a form on cheppers.com.

The Drupal Community Working Group is seeking new volunteers, reports Donna Bungard on the CWG blog. Roles include joining the Community Health Team, which builds well-being initiatives, or the Conflict Resolution Team, which helps mediate disputes. Interested community members can apply by email, join the #community-health Slack channel, or attend office hours on September 3rd.

George Bonnici highlights five essential Drupal contrib modules for SEO in 2025. These include Pathauto, Metatag with SEO AI, Simple XML Sitemap, Schema.org Metatag, and Redirect. Together, they streamline metadata, sitemaps, and redirects to boost visibility and trust.

NEDA is hosting an open meeting on August 29 to discuss a new international Drupal federation. The proposed model outlines shared governance, events, branding, and funding across local associations. Drupal community input is key—feedback will shape the future of global collaboration.

DrupalCamp Pune 2025 opens early-bird registration on August 27, with a chance to win a DrupalCon Nara ticket. The event runs September 13–14 at Yashada, Pune, bringing together India’s Drupal community. It’s a great opportunity to learn, share, and connect—especially with discounted tickets and giveaways.

DrupalCamp Spain 2025 is heading to Santiago de Compostela from September 18 to 20. The main program runs September 19–20 with three session tracks, workshops, and a Business Day kickoff. It’s a chance for Drupal pros across Spain to connect, learn, and collaborate in person.

The University of Edinburgh is piloting an AI assistant for content publishers inside its Drupal-based EdWeb system. Intern Mostafa Ebid developed the tool using modular agents and the University’s ELM language models. It helps editors improve structure, style, and clarity—right from the Drupal sidebar.

The Drupal community has announced the first-ever DrupalCamp Italy, happening November 14 in Rome. Hosted at Sapienza University, it’ll feature talks on Drupal AI, performance, tools, and security. The Call for Papers is now open, inviting contributions from across the Italian Drupal scene.

The 2025 Drupal Developer Survey, conducted by Ironstar, gathered insights from 753 developers across 58 countries. This year’s results show a sharp rise in AI tool usage—up to 78%, with ChatGPT leading the pack. While DDEV dominates local dev environments and Laravel earns top CMS praise beyond Drupal, the community is facing a demographic shift: only one respondent was under 21.

SparkFabrik reviewed Drupal’s 2025 roadmap, following Dries Buytaert and the Drupal Association’s State of Drupal updates. Key innovations include the Experience Builder, Site Templates, an AI Framework, and enterprise-ready features for low-code adoption. These changes position Drupal CMS 2.0, expected in October 2025, as a decisive step for enterprise digital experiences.

Lullabot’s Lindsey Markel highlights six common accessibility gaps on government websites. She outlines fixes like replacing inaccessible PDFs, improving alt text, and testing color contrast. The message: accessibility must go beyond compliance to truly serve all citizens.

SparkFabrik explores how Design Systems integrate with Drupal CMS to bridge design and development. The article highlights Twig components, Layout Builder, and design tokens, plus real case studies from Zambon, Caleffi, and Bocconi University. For organizations, this approach cuts costs, speeds delivery, and ensures brand consistency at scale.

Chip Joyce warns that companies are pouring trillions into prediction-based AI without recognizing its limits. He argues these systems optimize patterns but collapse in disruption, urging a shift toward explanatory AI. Leaders who embrace adaptable, knowledge-generating AI could secure long-term business advantage.

QED42’s Akhil Babu introduces Drupal’s upcoming Experience Builder, launching at DrupalCon Vienna in October 2025. It lets teams design pages visually with drag-and-drop components, patterns, and even AI-generated elements. For site builders, this means faster page creation and flexible, modern workflows in Drupal.

Ryan Szrama of Centarro explains what makes an effective Drupal Commerce developer. He outlines skills from Drupal core patterns to eCommerce workflows, with beginner-to-advanced expertise levels. For agencies and merchants, the key takeaway is hiring developers who balance business and technical needs.

DrupalCamp Pune just launched an 8-hour flash sale for its 2025 edition. Use code DAP4U2025 to get 21% off tickets until 6 PM IST today, August 26. The event draws Drupal pros from across India and beyond—this deal won’t be extended.

GovCMS has modernized its hosting by moving to a fully open-source platform with amazee.io and Salsa Digital. The new system, built on Lagoon and Kubernetes in a secure AWS tenancy, supports over 310 government sites. It improves scalability, developer workflows, and security, aligning with Australia’s federal open technology standards.

Jay Callicott has published a manifesto calling for a cloud-native future for Drupal. He proposes “Drupal Cloud,” a managed, API-first platform designed to rival headless CMS providers. It’s framed as a community-driven movement to keep Drupal competitive in the composable web era.

SmartBees’ Denis Peszka shares a tutorial on building custom image galleries in Drupal 10+. Using Media, Media Library, Views, and Image modules, site builders can create responsive, reusable galleries. It’s a practical guide for Drupal developers wanting visually rich layouts without custom code.

Vardot’s Mohammad Fayoumi explains why Content Security Policy is key for PCI DSS compliance in Drupal Commerce. CSP headers restrict scripts and protect checkout pages from injection attacks. For Drupal site owners, the Security Kit module makes these protections easier to implement.

Pawel Ginalski shows how to detect meaningful entity changes in Drupal 10 and beyond. The Diff module avoids false positives from metadata or CKEditor quirks, offering both UI and service integration. For developers, this ensures cleaner revision control and more reliable workflows.

Michael Anello announced Markdown Easy 2.0.0 on DrupalEasy. This stable release adds a new “Smörgåsbord” flavor, better table support, and smarter config feedback. Site builders get a simpler setup, plus a power-user toggle with full documentation.

Jeff G. has relaunched The Accidental Coder, drawing on over 20 years in web development. With a strong Drupal background, TAC offers flexible, brand-driven, and performance-focused services. Its approach emphasizes long-term sustainability over rigid proposals or platform lock-in.

Kanhan helped Hong Kong’s Social Welfare Department cut intranet licensing costs by 80 percent. They replaced SharePoint with a Drupal-based system, while keeping Microsoft Office for backend tasks. The hybrid approach improves access, lowers costs, and supports sustainable digital transformation in government.

Kanopi has shared their perspective on why most websites last just over two years. They argue longevity comes from research, skilled teams, and redefining “support” as ongoing improvement. For Drupal agencies, it’s a reminder that strong processes can keep sites relevant for a decade or more.

The Drupal community’s week ahead is full of learning and networking. On August 27–28, webinars on Drupal AI and accessibility offer insights from amazee.ai and A11yTalks. Plus, the Atlanta Drupal Users Group is hosting an in-person coworking happy hour on Wednesday.

The Drupal Association announced that the Drupal AI Initiative has raised $175,000 with ten new supporting organisations. Funding will support AI module development, orchestration infrastructure, and tools like retrieval-augmented generation. This milestone expands dedicated staff to at least 15, strengthening Drupal’s role in open-source AI innovation

Grzegorz Bartman, co-CEO at Droptica, has released a walkthrough on using Drupal’s Views module to build content listings without writing SQL. The 28-minute session covers choosing data sources, working with relationships and filters, and avoiding common pitfalls. It also introduces companion modules like Views Bulk Operations, Better Exposed Filters, and Views Slideshow.

Klee Group has shared why they actively contribute to the Drupal ecosystem. Beyond building solutions for clients, they’ve released several contrib modules like Media Upload, Svg Maps, Views Exclude Previous, and AddToCalendar—ensuring their work benefits the wider community. Their efforts extend to events like DrupalCamp Rennes, contributions to accessibility standards through the DSFR for Drupal project, and even patches to core. Internally, they mentor new developers with documentation and code reviews, reinforcing a culture where contribution is both a business strategy and a way to strengthen open source for everyone.

DrupalCamp Burkina Faso 2026 will take place in Ouagadougou from April 24 to 25, highlighting Drupal’s role in advancing digital sovereignty, enhancing local developer skills, and creating scalable portals across Africa. The event was announced by Seferiba Salif Soulama, a local advocate and active contributor, signaling strong momentum for Drupal adoption in West Africa.

Dries Buytaert has switched from writing blog posts in raw HTML to Markdown after 20 years. He’s using the Markdown Easy module in Drupal, now improved to support mixed HTML. The change has sped up his workflow while keeping his Drupal-powered publishing intact.

The Drupalers Association Pune has launched a fundraising drive for DrupalCamp Pune 2025. Funds will support events, subsidized access, and compliance costs for this long-standing volunteer group. With fewer sponsors this year, DAP urges community support to keep India’s Drupal scene thriving.

Adaptive has launched Interact Links, a new AI-powered navigation feature for Drupal sites. Instead of loading static pages, these links open conversations with context-aware prompts. Site editors can add them easily, offering users faster answers and a more interactive experience.

Ani Duong of LitExtension has published a step-by-step guide on using the Backup and Migrate module for Drupal 9. The tutorial covers enabling the module, setting up private directories, scheduling backups, and restoring when needed. It’s a practical resource for site owners migrating off Drupal 7 or 8 and ensuring secure, reliable backups.

Shefali Shetty from Specbee has shared nine tips for choosing the right Drupal agency. Her guide stresses trust, transparency, and long-term fit beyond just technical expertise. It’s a practical checklist for organizations to confidently evaluate Drupal partners.

Talking Drupal #516 features Dharizza Espinach and Jacob Rockowitz on Drupal CMS recipes and data audits. Dharizza explains how the Google Analytics recipe simplifies setup using prompt-based config in the UI. Plus: Field Data module adds a tab to audit field-level content—perfect for migrations and content cleanup.

Joe Mari Borinaga at Promet Source explains how hidden bot traffic inflates hosting costs on Acquia and Pantheon. He shares Drupal-specific detection methods—like log analysis, user-agent tracking, and security best practices. This guide helps government and higher-ed sites regain control of budgets and improve infrastructure resilience.

Drupal GovCon 2025 brought government tech and Drupal together at the University of Maryland. Sessions tackled AI, civic tech, SEO, and tools like Single Directory Components and Facet Bot Blocker. John Picozzi’s recap highlights the community spirit and practical insights that defined this year’s event.

DrupalCamp Ruhr 2025 takes place on September 12 and 13 at the Unperfekthaus in Essen. Attendees have until Friday, August 22 to buy tickets that include the camp’s exclusive T-shirt, after which tickets remain available but without the shirt. It’s a great chance to join two days of sessions, collaboration, and community connection.

Longhorn PHP 2025 runs October 23 to 25 in Austin, featuring workshops, 33 talks, four keynotes, and contributions from the Drupal community. Blind Bird pricing ends Sunday, August 24, with ticket prices rising afterward. Now in its sixth year, the event highlights PHP 8.4, 8.5, and best practices across APIs, DevOps, testing, and accessibility.

Sponsorship opportunities are open for DrupalCon Vienna 2025, happening this October in Austria. Booth packages—Diamond through Silver—offer visibility, tickets, speaking slots, and branding perks. It’s a prime chance for companies to engage the Drupal community and support open-source growth.