Drupalcon Portland 2024, Monday Highlights

Drupalcon isn't just a conference—it's a convergence of minds, a gathering of community spirit, and a beacon for knowledge-seekers within the realms of modern and powerful open source web technology. Drupal enthusiasts from all corners of the globe take part in Drupalcon, each bringing their unique perspectives, challenges, and solutions to the forefront of digital innovation.

Some session highlights on Day 1 of Drupalcon Portland 2024 have been:

Accessibility audits: The many shapes and sizes. What’s the right fit for you? 
Embark on a journey towards digital accessibility excellence with our session. It's designed to empower participants to conduct accessibility audits, effectively prioritize issues, and take actionable steps toward achieving compliance. Join us to transform your website into an inclusive platform.

Relatedly you can grab your Monsido Quick Scan to get up-to-the-minutes data on SEO, accessibility, and quality analysis for your sites. The report will quickly return a summary report on the three data points within about an hour to get you started. This report will give you an affective high-level overview and also will help you decide where to put resources in improving your sites. Run the report now, it takes less than a minute to get started.

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Image: Use the QR code to get a report on site health using the Monsido Quick Scan.

5 new free things you get from CKEditor 5 Plugin Pack. 
CKEditor 5 Plugin Pack Module is full of free things to help Drupal developers build great applications. Templates are back as a free feature exclusively for Drupal. Leverage the newly released free plugins in the Drupal CK5 Plugin Pack.

Higher Ed Rebrand or Revamp: Pushing the Envelope Within Your Design System. 
While redesigning a website from scratch offers a lot of advantages and flexibility, it isn’t always an option. We often have to work within the constraints of an existing website and an existing brand. Let’s discuss some valuable solutions.

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Photo: Matt Glaman getting everyone excited about more tools for D7 upgrades.

Modernizing Oregon Metro's Digital Landscape: A Drupal Journey of Integration, Inclusivity, & Impact. 
Review a case study from Forum One and Oregon Metro as we unveil the Drupal-driven transformation of Oregon Metro's digital presence.

The Driesnote. 
As is a long-standing tradition, Drupal founder and project lead, Dries Buytaert, gave his keynote that was packed full of new ideas and valuable insights around where the Drupal project stands and where it's headed. The biggest announcement of the session was Drupal Starshot. You can read all about it on drupal.org. You can also join the Drupal Starshot initiative.

Some additional very special announcements were made so be sure to get the full details in the recording if you missed the live session. The full talk is available to view now: Check out the Drupal Association’s YouTube channel to view the talk.

From Many to One: Migrating 70+ Disparate Local Government Websites onto a Cohesive Drupal Platform. 
This session deep dives into the challenges inherent in the migration process: dealing with large amounts of content, various hosting environments, and multiple data formats.

Successful Migrations: A Strategic Framework for Planning and Estimating Drupal Migrations.
We all ask some of the same questions: How much will my migration cost? How long will it take? Planning & estimating a migration from Drupal 7 to D10, or transitioning from other CMSs, present challenges and opportunities that stem from the technical intricacies of each organization's unique needs.

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Photo: Drupal Starshot stickers created by Ash Sullivan. (Reminder to check out the Driesnote to understand the significance fully!!)

Designing AI Prompts for Content Creation: Balancing User Needs with UX. 
90% of VC-backed companies are planning to bring generative AI into their apps, with 67% aiming to do so this year. Yet according to Jakob Nielsen, only 20% of the population can effectively use it. Let’s look at solutions to bridge this divide.

Collaborative Editing in Drupal Core. 
The team that developed content moderation in Drupal 7 is back with collaborative editing for Drupal 10. Using open-source tools, the Edit Together module provides secure, real-time collaboration inside the Drupal editorial interface.

KineticGPT: Creating an AI assistant for the Kinetic Drupal theme. 
What if you could have your own personal AI assistant to quickly answer theme questions, or break down theme structure into easy to understand concepts, or ingest wireframes/designs to kickstart your theme scaffolding?

Drupal's next leap: configuration validation — it's here! 
Hidden in plain sight but unknown to most: Drupal 8.4 added the foundations for validating configuration! Then it took until Drupal 9.4 for actual adoption: the CKEditor 5 module. Since Drupal 10.1, those foundations have been steadily growing. Let’s take a closer look.

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Photo: On the keynote stage for announcements, opening remarks, and the 2024 Aaron Winborn award.

Lightning Talk: Is the Redesign Dead? 
This session looks at how both clients and agencies can take an iterative approach to redesigns that leads to better work, faster time to market and less frustration for all involved.

Intermediate Drupal Front End Development (Render Arrays, Debugging Caching, Modern Theming & more!). 
Empower yourself by learning the less obvious, but directly applicable, aspects of Theming with modern Drupal. We'll cover topics including render arrays, caching, debugging your theme, and advanced Twig usage.

Composable: Discovering Drupal’s next-gen way to structure content. 
Introducing Composable, a new module in the Drupal ecosystem that brings the power of creating modular components that can be reused multiple times, in multiple ways, even in different channels.

Mike “Ultimike” Anello was awarded the 2024 Aaron Winborn award. The Aaron Winborn award is presented annually to an individual who demonstrates personal integrity, kindness, and above-and-beyond commitment to the Drupal community.

And so much more excellent experience, knowledge, and value it’s difficult to sum up on one blog post. So check out the Acquia Dev Portal tomorrow for another recap of Drupalcon Portland 2024.