Posts

The next installment in my ongoing set of posts to create a public record for things I couldn’t learn in one Google search is a process for using composer to track a Drupal 8 module in a private repository. It’s pretty common for Drupal agencies to have a small collection of modules they have built in-house and use on nearly all client sites, or to build a module for one client that has many sites. We are all becoming adept at managing our projects with Composer, but the vast majority of resources are focused on managing publicly available code via packagist. There are times these kinds of internally shared modules cannot be made fully public (for example they may contain IP belonging to the client). We have one such client that needs a module deployed to dozens of sites, and so I sat down a few weeks ago to figure out a solution. ...

My wife and I are fans of M*A*S*H. When B.J. first arrives in Korea Hawkeye takes him to Rosie’s Bar and tells him: “I can’t think of a single reason why we’re here, except that we’re needed.” Oddly I’ve found this to be true of a great many service opportunities in my life; often the most useful ways to serve my community seems to require doing a things that should be utterly unneeded. ...

One of the best practices for Drupal 8 that is still emerging is how to create modules with complex deployable configuration. In the past we often abused the features module to do this, and while that continues to be an option, with Drupal 8’s vastly improved configuration management options and the ability to install configuration easily I have been looking for something better. I particularly want to build modules that don’t have unnecessary dependencies but I can still reliably include all the needed configuration in my project. And after a few tries I think I’ve struck on an effective process. ...

Can your plan handle the bizarre? Last winter Dries, the Drupal Association, and the whole Drupal community, stumbled when concerns about a leading contributor’s potentially exploitive relationship got caught up in discussions of Gorean subculture and related sexual behaviors (warning researching this topic will quickly lead you to NSFW information). The intriguing details drew in an ever-expanding audience but were actually irrelevant the main concerns and the secondary ones that followed. The DA lost control of the message and the story and the entire community suffered as a consequence. Last spring and summer I was asked to step in to help them regain control of the message and start to resolve the crisis. It wasn’t the first time I was part of a crisis response with unusual details, and likely won’t be the last. ...

I recently completed a Drupal 8 project that required pulling data from a remote database. The actual data is not terribly complicated, so Drupal’s role in this case is mostly to provide an abstraction layer that converts the database into a (cacheable) JSON response. Pulling all the pieces together took a little more research and guessing than I expected so I figured I might save a few people time by writing it up. This is more of an intermediate than a beginner project and so I’m going to skip over lots of detail that important to making it all really work. To really understand what’s happening here you’ll want a basic understanding of Drupal 8’s controllers and database services. ...

This week, for the second time in a year, the unacceptable behavior of a high profile man in the Drupal community has been the topic of public discussion and debate. This time the organizations involved acted more clearly and rapidly, if imperfectly. The issue came to the forefront during #metoo campaign, and again showed that the Drupal community reflects the world around us. I listened to friends and colleagues respond in various ways to the events and to the recognition of several men that they had been allowing this behavior to go on right in front of them for years without intervention. It is clear that in Drupal, like in all parts of our society we can – and must – do better. ...

Last weekend was the 2017 edition of Augusta, GA’s Art in the Heart of Augusta festival. It’s a great chance for good food, fun acts, local art, and to take pictures. Art in the Heart: Parade Organizers Art in the Heart: Parade participant ...

One of the challenges that organizations of all shapes and sizes frequently face is getting good pictures to go with their web site design. Good images can draw in your audience but a missing or poorly displayed image risks damaging your credibility. Frequently organizations fall in love with a site design that includes excellent pictures on every page. Each story in the design has a wonderful supporting image to highlight a person, place, or topic. Landing pages may have main images with carefully placed text and overlays to help draw the eye and keep people’s attention. Those designs and images may be great, but only if you provide new images as fast as you create new pages (often faster). ...

Last week’s Eclipse passed right over us here in South Carolina. I live about 20 minutes outside the line of totality, so of my family came to visit and we went up to Camp Gravatt to watch the main event. I took a few hundred pictures of the course of the day, and figured there might be people interested in seeing a few. ...

With the turmoil in the Drupal community this spring and summer I have seen a wave of calls for open source projects to judge their community members, and other contributors, by the code contributions alone. It’s an idea that sounds great and has been popular among developers for at least forty years. Eric Raymond, while writing about Drupal, described it this spring as a right developers deserve. In some circles it gets treated almost as religious doctrine: “Thou shalt judge by code alone.” ...