An update on Drupal 8 initiatives (8.2.x edition)Angela webchick ByronDrupalCorn Camp 2016

About meBlah blah blah

AgendaBrief history of Drupal 8 & initiativesNew Drupal 8 initiatives (+ tools to get there)foreach ($initiative):Whats it about, and wheres it at?Q&A

A brief history of Drupal 8 & initiativesWherein I copy/paste a bunch of Driess slides. ;)

What is an initiative?A culmination of spicy ingredients

Drupal 8.0.0 official strategic initiativesDefined in 2011-2012 by Dries Buytaert, project leadMix of top-down (idea first, then team) and bottom-up (blessing existing effort)

ConfigurationMangementMobileMultilingualViews

Web Services

AuthoringExperience

HTML5

Blocks & Layout

Drupal 8.0.0 community initiativesMotivated mainly by itch scratching of individual contributorsExamples: Twig, Accessibility, Entity API, PHPUnit, Migrate

Drupal 8.0.0 shipped!Hundreds of parties last November

New release cycle adopted

Dec2015Jan2016FebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOct2016

8.0.x supported releasebeta8.1.x developmentrc8.1.x supported releasebeta8.2.x developmentrc8.2.x supported releasehttps://www.drupal.org/core/release-cycle-overview 8.3.x dev

New release cycle adopted

Dec2015Jan2016FebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOct2016

8.0.x supported releasebeta8.1.x developmentrc8.1.x supported releasebeta8.2.x developmentrc8.2.x supported releasehttps://www.drupal.org/core/release-cycle-overview 8.3.x devNew, backwards-compatible features!

We are here.

New innovation tool: Experimental modulesNew module package for bleeding-edge usersAllows putting things into core that are known not to be perfect yet, but that are of strategic significanceRapid iteration based on real user feedback; gradually move to stableAllows core to benefit from agile best practices usually only seen in contrib developmenthttps://www.drupal.org/core/experimental

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

Meet the new Drupal 8 strategic initiatives!Including a couple of old ones. ;)CustomerExperienceDeveloperExperienceEditorialExperience

Time for a run-down!What does each initiative entail?Whats the current status?How and where can you help?

#1: MigrateTo Drupal 8 and beyond!Active

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 providedD6 => D8 prioritized; Drupal 6 EOL as of February

Migrate UI

8.1

https://www.drupal.org/upgrade/migrate (Theres also https://www.drupal.org/project/migrate_upgrade for Drush)

Current statusMajor improvements in Drupal 8.2:Support for translated content in Drupal 6Architecture finalizationVariety of bug fixesFocus on getting module out of experimental, further fleshing out 7 => 8 migrations

How to help?Main jumping-off point: Spreadsheet of Doom :)Issue queue: migration system componentHigh-priority issues: Migrate critical issue tagTwitter: @MigrateDrupalChat: #drupal-migrate on IRCWeekly meetings on Thursdays (alternate North America/Europe friendly times)

But Im still on Drupal 7! :(Or, heaven forbird, Drupal 6. ;)

Upgrade Status

https://www.drupal.org/project/upgrade_status

Drupal 8 Contrib Porting Trackerhttps://www.drupal.org/project/issues/contrib_tracker

Drupal Module Upgraderhttps://www.drupal.org/project/drupalmoduleupgrader

#2: Content WorkflowAnyone else notice a draft in here?Active

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) everythingConfigurable workflow states/transitionsTrash bin functionalityFull-site preview with Workspaces

Content Moderation

8.2?

https://www.drupal.org/node/2755073

Full-site preview

8.4+

Current statusMajor improvements in Drupal 8.2:Very close on Content Moderation!Lots of underlying revision support improvementsBlocks are now revisionableNext up: Enable CRAP (create/read/archive/purge) storage, Trash Bin/undo functionality

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

#3: API-FirstIntegrate ALL the things!Planning

What is it?Drupal 8.0.0s Web Services initiative added a REST API to Drupal core to enable integration with external systemsHowever:Some rough edges have been exposed through real world usage, esp. in decoupled JS appsSince 2012-2013 when cores HAL-based REST API was developed, new standards have emergedNot optimized for front-end developers; lack of SDKs make getting started difficult

JSON API

8.3?

https://www.drupal.org/project/jsonapi

Waterwheel (JavaScript SDK)

8.4+https://github.com/acquia/waterwheel-js

Current statusLots of REST improvements made it into 8.2: (more to come)Config entity GET support (e.g. taxonomy vocabularies, menus)Simplified configurationImprovements to Views, Comment REST supportDeveloper experience improvementsWaterwheel, JSON API, GraphQL evolving in contrib (8.3+)

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

#4: MediaSmile! Youre on candid camera!Planning

What is it?Media initiative dates back to 2007; group of long-time contributorsLots of modules, extremely powerful, difficult to configureWithout media functionality out of the box, Drupal looks weak compared to its competitorsGoal is a just works, out-of-the-box configuration of media functionality built on powerful, flexible architecture to handle more advanced cases

Re-usable images

8.3+

https://www.drupal.org/project/file_browser

Embedded media

8.3+

https://www.drupal.org/project/entity_embed

Current statusMedia team currently in process of drafting core plan for community reviewWork 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.)

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

#5: Blocks and Layouts

Planning

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

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

8.2

Per-content type layouts

8.3+

Swappable layouts

8.4+

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

How to help?Issue tag: D8panelsChat: #drupal-scotch on IRCWeekly meetings on TuesdaysWork on porting various contrib modules

#6: Data ModelingMay I join you?Proposed

What is it?Two of Drupals biggest strengths are its structured data modelling (Entities/Fields) and content visualization (Views) capabilitiesThese are also some of the hardest concepts (and user interfaces) for new Drupal site builders to graspImprove Field UI / Views UI to get new users to their ah-HA! moment with Drupal much sooner

Current Field UIAbstractly choose data type first, what it looks like second (opposite of problem youre trying to solve)Common options such as Text arent visible without scrolling (Boolean = most important?)No preview; Admin UI completely disconnected from actual form youre changing

Interim proposal: Dream FieldsWidget first, field later

8.3?

Or, double-down on data modelling?Possible sci-fi future!

8.4+

Current Views UIAll power of UI exposed at once; lack of clear visual hierarchyNot easy to tell what effect changes are having; preview often below the foldFrightens young children and grizzled veterans alike

Interim proposal:Preview-first Views UINow only scaring small children ;)

8.3?

Current StatusNo formal plan/team yet for coreDream Fields: https://www.drupal.org/project/dream_fields / https://www.drupal.org/node/2539740 Preview-first Views UI: https://www.drupal.org/node/2684509

#7: Theme Component LibraryAtomic Design:Because big glops of HTML are no fun

Proposed

What is it?Drupals 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/matchedProvides a number of benefits: pattern library, style guides, interface previews, client-side re-rendering

How does it work?Atoms > Molecules > Organisms

Current statusGeneral enthusiastic agreement on overall idea, but lots of diverging opinions about the detailsTo work these details out (also, pretty!), folks are in the process of proposing a new user-facing core themeIn contrib, Zen theme actively experimenting with component-based approach

8.4?

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 thathttps://www.drupal.org/project/zen and https://www.drupal.org/project/components to play around with one possible implementation and provide feedback

#8: Cross-Channel OrchestrationYour shoes are spying on you

Proposed

What is it?Expand Drupals use beyond just websites and web applications to experiences on any device at any timeTake into account context such as user preferences, location, time of day to intelligently personalizeNotifications that go beyond the web browser and email: SMS, Internet of Things, etc.

ExampleDrupal + Mobile + Internet of Things

Current statusNo identified team/plan yet for coreSome 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?

Bonus! Usability

Planning

BackgroundNumerous usability tests have been done, both formally and informally (https://www.drupal.org/usability-tests)Central themes:Obscure terminology scares peopleUsers have huge reliance on previewsRussian nesting dolls of abstraction is frustratinghttps://www.drupal.org/node/2497361

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

8.2?

Drag-and-drop image uploads

8.2?

https://www.drupal.org/node/2421427

Redesigned admin status page

8.2?https://www.drupal.org/node/665790

Sample content in install profileDefault Drupal just tells you You have no content.Playing around with Drupal without guidance can lead new users to believe it is limitedWhat if we showcased what Drupal could do in standard installation?Snowman community initiativehttps://www.drupal.org/node/79582

8.3+

How to help?http://drupalux.org/ main jumping-off pointIssue tag: Usability / Twitter: @drupaluxChat: #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!

Questions?Ill do my best. :)