News Roundup

Key Drupal events from September 23–29, 2024, include DrupalCon Europe 2024 in Barcelona, featuring discussions on the latest Drupal innovations, and the Drupal Business Dinner, focusing on networking and business insights. LagoonCon Barcelona will explore the Lagoon platform for managing Drupal sites, while a webinar on Drupal 7 End of Life provides guidance for site owners. Other highlights include the Drupal Lightning Talks meetup in Somerville, MA.

Lenny Moskalyk's mid-September 2024 Drupal CMS report highlights significant progress across various initiatives. Key updates include advancements in documentation by the Drupal Association and Drupalize.me, a new interactive installer for Drupal CMS by Matt Glaman, and enhancements to SEO, content workflows, and media management. Exciting developments, including AI features, are set to be unveiled at DrupalCon Barcelona 2024.

LagoonCon Barcelona 2024, scheduled for September 23, offers a free event for developers, product managers, and tech leaders to explore the open-source platform Lagoon ahead of DrupalCon Europe. The conference will focus on streamlining Drupal website management, with sessions on enterprise challenges, decoupled Drupal, and open-source strategies. Key speakers include Toby Bellwood, John Faber, and Lauren Morris, who will share insights on transparency, ROI in decoupling, and team collaboration.

Hounder will host the "Hounder Luncheon" at DrupalCon Barcelona 2024 on September 25th, offering attendees a chance to network with Drupal professionals over lunch. They will also present two sessions: "AI Meets Accessibility" on September 24, focusing on AI-driven image descriptions, and "Single Directory Components" on September 25, discussing new web development practices in Drupal. These events highlight Hounder's commitment to advancing the Drupal community.

Fifteen European local associations will collaborate on the first-ever Drupal Local Association Stand at DrupalCon Barcelona 2024. This stand aims to provide a welcoming space for discussions on regional opportunities and challenges, fostering connections between local event organizers and associations. Key sessions include topics on getting started with local association sites, organizing events, and the future of DrupalCamps in the post-COVID era.

DrupalCamp Pune 2024 opens volunteer registration for various roles like marketing, registration, and session monitoring. Volunteers receive a 30% ticket discount and a certificate of contribution. The deadline to apply is September 27th, with selections announced by October 2nd; attend the Pune meetup on September 21st or join the #pune channel on Drupal Slack for more details.

The Drupalisms Working Group has launched a quiz to refine and open Drupal’s terminology, inviting community participation before October 31st, 2024. The 20-question quiz covers key aspects of the platform, allowing users and developers to contribute to evolving Drupal's language. Participants can earn credit by including their Drupal username, highlighting the platform’s focus on community-driven innovation and inclusivity.

Ticket sales are now open for DrupalDay Portugal 2024, happening on October 11th in Aveiro as part of the Free Software Festival. Organized by the Drupal Portugal Association, the event will feature sessions, workshops, and networking for Drupal enthusiasts. Don't miss out on this key gathering for developers, designers, and digital strategists—register now!

DrupalCon Barcelona 2024 will feature a joint round table bringing together the Network of European Drupal Associations (NEDA), the Local Associations Initiatives Project, and the Drupal Association. The event, led by Joi Garrett and Esmeralda Tijhoff, will include interactive sessions focusing on key community challenges like marketing, event organization, and multilingual resources. The goal is to create actionable strategies to support local Drupal associations globally.

EvolveDrupal NYC is happening tomorrow, September 20, 2024, at Candid in the Financial District. Hosted by Evolving Web, the summit features over 30 talks across Higher Education & Digital Communications, Tech & AI, and UX/UI Design & Strategy, with pre and post-summit networking opportunities. Attendees can expect insights from over 15 expert speakers, EvolveUX sessions for hands-on feedback, and an exclusive 2-day in-person Drupal training before the event.

Mark Conroy has developed a live preview module for LocalGov Drupal Microsites, enhancing the platform by allowing real-time previews of design changes. LocalGov Drupal Microsites aims to streamline the management of microsites for UK councils, providing an intuitive way to implement updates without extensive testing. Part of the broader LocalGov Drupal initiative, this open-source project fosters collaboration and code-sharing among councils for more efficient digital services.

A weekly update on the progress of My Meetup initiative. We give you an update on the new meetups added this week to the list.

Backdrop CMS has released version 1.29.0, featuring an improved multilingual setup, new layout options for content types, and enhanced developer flexibility with HTTP response conditions. The update also includes admin interface refinements and file views with type icons for a better user experience. This release underscores Backdrop CMS's commitment to regular, community-driven updates.

OpenSense Labs is set to unveil a new product at DrupalCon Barcelona, aimed at enhancing the Drupal experience by saving time and money for agencies and developers. At Booth #20, they will participate in discussions on scaling and optimizing Drupal sites and host a session on "Progressive Migration Magic" led by CEO Mohd Danish Usmani. Attendees can meet the team and learn about their Agency++ program and other Drupal services.

The "Drupal for Nonprofits" chat is scheduled for Thursday, September 19, at 1 pm ET. This monthly call offers an open forum for nonprofit Drupal developers of all experience levels to discuss Drupal's role in the nonprofit sector. Sponsored by NTEN.org, the free event encourages participants to bring topics for discussion and aims to foster a supportive, knowledge-sharing community.

Jay Callicott unveils a major update to DrupalX, transforming it into an AI-powered platform. The update includes a new "drupalx_ai" module and Drush command, streamlining the integration of AI features into Drupal websites. This marks the start of DrupalX's evolution, aiming to be the most advanced AI-enhanced Drupal starter on the market.

Octahedroid announces major enhancements to the Drupal Decoupled Project, including Webform-to-React code generation, Lagoon deployment, and AI-powered scaffolding. These updates aim to streamline workflows and integrate Drupal with modern front-end technologies. The team is seeking community feedback for further improvements and collaboration.

Octahedroid introduces Drupal Decoupled, aiming to simplify decoupled architecture with a user-friendly, one-click CMS solution. Announced by Jesus Manuel Olivas, the platform combines Drupal’s content management with modern front-end frameworks like Next.js, addressing setup complexity and providing real-time demos. With customizable starter kits and a GraphQL API, Drupal Decoupled offers developers flexibility and speed, positioning Octahedroid at the forefront of the growing decoupled systems trend.

George DeMet, founder of Palantir.net, will present "Reinventing the Digital Agency Business Model" at DrupalCon Barcelona 2024 on September 25. The session will cover key challenges like rising costs and burnout, offering solutions from Palantir.net's six-year transformation through self-organization and agile methods. Attendees will explore alternative billing models, growth mindset techniques, and strategies for creating a sustainable, autonomous work environment.

DrupalCamp Pune 2024, scheduled for October 19-20, offers discounted tickets for students. The event includes a "Drupal in a Day" workshop tailored for students, with more details to be announced soon. Students are urged to secure their tickets now for this hands-on learning experience.

Anoop Singh, Tech Lead at Valuebound, announced the upcoming FlexiStyle Digital Experience theme for Drupal projects. The fully customizable and scalable theme will support the latest Bootstrap and FontAwesome and be compatible with Drupal 10 and 11. While the release date is pending, Singh promises a modern, high-performance design for diverse digital needs.

This week in the Drupal community, from September 16 to 22, 2024, events include meetups, webinars, and release parties. Highlights are the Drupal 11 Brisbane Release Party on September 17, focusing on contributions and discussions about Drupal 11, and the Paris Meetup on September 18, featuring insights into the Drupal Starshot initiative. Other notable events include the "Drupal Does That?!" London Meetup, the EvolveDrupal NYC summit, and the Drupal Pune Pre-Camp Meetup, offering learning and networking opportunities for Drupal enthusiasts worldwide.

Darren Oh introduces the business model behind Drupal Forge, aiming to sustain Drupal through vendor contributions. Vendors can offer product trials on their hosting platforms, sharing subscription revenue or paying referral fees to product owners like the Drupal Association. Drupal Forge also supports vendors without hosting platforms, offering pre-configured packages and Stripe integration for seamless setup, fostering long-term sustainability for Drupal products.

The FOSSEPS and OSOR projects are surveying EU public administration IT professionals to gauge interest in forming a European Open Source User Group. The initiative aims to address common FOSS-related challenges and enhance collaboration across public sector bodies. Survey results will inform discussions at a workshop in October 2024 on improving FOSS management and fostering resource-sharing in the EU.