06 Apr 2026

feedDrupal.org aggregator

Talking Drupal: Talking Drupal #547 - Why Developers Don't Choose Drupal

In episode #547, guest JD Flynn joins us to discuss why developers don't choose Drupal, focusing on Drupal adoption, discoverability, and outdated perceptions from Drupal 6/7. JD cites survey data showing low interest among non-Drupal developers, arguing Drupal's biggest problem is invisibility and that developers often pre-filter it due to PHP stigma and friction getting started.

For show notes visit: https://www.talkingDrupal.com/547

Topics

Resources

Why Developers Don't Choose Drupal (And What We Can Do About It) - https://www.fldrupal.camp/session/why-developers-dont-choose-drupal-and-what-we-can-do-about-it JD's stream - http://twitch.tv/jddoesdev Drupal is Great! Its Perception Might Not be. -https://picozzi.com/notebook/2025/jan/drupal-great-its-perception-might-not-be Drupal Forge - https://www.drupalforge.org/

Guests

JD Flynn - Crepdrop dorficus

Hosts

Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi Rod Martin - DrupalHelps.com imrodmartin

Module of the Week Correspondent

Martin Anderson-Clutz - mandclu.com mandclu

Native Observability brings real observability into Drupal. Trace requests, inspect execution, analyze performance, and explore runtime behavior - directly inside your application.

No core patches. No external dependencies required to get started. Just install, enable, and start seeing what actually happens inside your system.

06 Apr 2026 6:00pm GMT

The Drop Times: What’s Next for Drupal

DrupalCon Chicago 2026 outlined concrete developments already moving through the current cycle toward DrupalCon Rotterdam. The keynote highlighted progress in Drupal CMS, expanded site templates and marketplace functionality, and ongoing work on artificial intelligence features that are now transitioning from demonstration to implementation.

Drupal CMS 2.1 builds on Drupal Core 11.3 and introduces support for preconfigured site templates. The keynote demonstrated eleven templates available through a basic marketplace, all installable directly from the Drupal CMS installer. This signals that both template distribution and marketplace functionality have moved beyond concept into early rollout.

The Context Control Center now appears close to production readiness. The keynote positioned it as a central source of truth for brand voice, target audiences, key messages, product details, and editorial guidelines used by AI agents. In one demonstration, the system generated an on-brand page from a marketing brief, while a second example used Google Analytics data in a proof-of-concept workflow to improve content performance after publication.

Not all demonstrated capabilities are fully mature. Several features remain in alpha or beta stages as development continues toward DrupalCon Rotterdam. At the same time, increased AI-assisted contribution is placing pressure on maintainers, alongside a direct reminder that contributors remain responsible for the code they submit.

With that introduction, let us move to the major stories from last week.

CASE STUDY

EVENT

DISCOVER DRUPAL

ORGANIZATION NEWS

PHP

Additional developments from across the Drupal ecosystem were published during the week. Readers may follow The DropTimes on LinkedIn, Twitter, Bluesky, and Facebook for continuing updates. The publication also maintains a presence on Drupal Slack in the #thedroptimes channel.

Thank you.

KAZIMA ABBAS
Sub-editor
The DropTimes

06 Apr 2026 4:42pm GMT

Matthew Tift: Using AI Without Compromising Our Values

Using AI Without Compromising Our Values mtift

A wide-angle shot of a crowd of participants gathered in a Chicago conference hall for DrupalCon 2026, with a large, blue inflatable Druplicon mascot centered in the room.
Photo by Curt Rochon, DrupalCon Chicago 2026. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
I went into DrupalCon Chicago suspicious of AI. I almost didn't go. What changed my mind wasn't a demo or a keynote. It was realizing the Drupal community already has what it needs: our Values and Principles. We just did not center them in the AI conversation.

06 Apr 2026 11:56am GMT

02 Apr 2026

feedDrupal.org aggregator

Drupal AI Initiative: Drupal AI Summit NYC

Where AI Moves from Experiment to Operation

The Drupal AI Summit NYC, taking place on May 14, 2026

Exterior of Convene 360 Madison Avenue

Photo by Gryffindor , CC BY-SA 3.0 Wikimedia

The conversation around AI is changing.

Not long ago, most discussions focused on what AI could do. That phase is largely behind us. Organisations are now dealing with a more difficult and more important question: how do you operate AI systems in a way that holds up over time, under real conditions, and with real consequences?

The Drupal AI Summit NYC is designed to address that shift directly. This is not a standalone Drupal event. It is co-located with apidays New York and Generation AI, placing Drupal into a broader ecosystem of technology leaders, platform owners, and organisations actively working through the realities of AI adoption at scale.

This is a different kind of conversation

This Summit is not structured as a traditional developer track, and it is not focused on early-stage experimentation. The intent is to create space for people who are already responsible for delivery and are dealing with the complexity that comes with it.

The audience includes CTOs, digital leaders, and platform owners who are navigating challenges such as governance, compliance, data ownership, and long-term operational stability. These are not theoretical concerns. They emerge quickly once AI is integrated into production systems and begin to affect real users, real data, and real outcomes.

We're In the Storm, This is the Way Through

AI is already embedded in how organisations operate, whether they realise it or not. It is present in content workflows, search systems, personalisation engines, and automation pipelines. In many cases, it has been introduced incrementally, often without a clear understanding of how data is being handled or where control ultimately resides.

This creates a gap between perceived responsibility and actual control.

The Drupal AI Initiative has been working to close that gap by focusing on approaches that are open, inspectable, and governable. This is not an abstract position. It is a practical requirement for organisations that need to understand how their systems behave, where their data is processed, and how decisions can be audited over time.

What the Summit will focus on

The programme is centred on real implementation work. The goal is to surface the decisions, trade-offs, and operational realities that teams encounter when AI moves beyond pilot projects and into production environments.

Sessions will focus on areas such as:

  • AI implementations currently running in production within Drupal
  • Architectural decisions and integration patterns that support long-term use
  • Governance and compliance considerations in regulated environments
  • Operational lessons learned from scaling AI systems
  • Practical insights from projects that required course correction

The emphasis is on experience rather than theory. Attendees should expect to hear what actually happens when systems are deployed, maintained, and evolved over time.

This builds on the foundation established by the first Drupal AI Summit in Paris, which brought together global contributors to focus on practical architecture, governance, and real-world application of open source AI systems.

Why is Drupal part of this conversation?

Drupal is not approaching AI as an external add-on. The work being done through the Drupal AI Initiative is focused on integrating AI directly into the platform in a way that preserves control, flexibility, and transparency.

That includes the ability to choose where models run, how data is processed, and how AI capabilities are embedded into content and workflow systems. It also reflects Drupal's long-standing strengths as an open source platform built around extensibility, governance, and long-term ownership.

For organisations that need to operate AI responsibly, those characteristics are not optional. They are foundational.

Who should attend?

This Summit is intended for organisations and individuals who are already engaged in applying AI in meaningful ways and are now working through the implications of doing so at scale. In short, YOU SHOULD ATTEND.

It is particularly relevant for those who are responsible for platform decisions, architectural direction, or operational oversight, and who need to ensure that AI systems remain reliable, governable, and aligned with organisational requirements.

Join us in New York City

Early bird tickets are currently available for $150 until April 13. For an event of this scale, and with access to a much larger federated conference environment, that price is difficult to justify passing up.

The Drupal AI Summit NYC is an opportunity to engage directly with practitioners who are doing this work today, in environments where the stakes are real and the outcomes matter.

File attachments:
360-Madison-exterior_landscape-640x360.jpg

02 Apr 2026 7:37pm GMT

Pivale: Does your mechanic talk about their tools, or your problems?

Digital success starts with understanding the problem, not selling tech. A discovery-led approach builds tailored, effective, long-lasting solutions.

02 Apr 2026 1:23pm GMT

Dripyard Premium Drupal Themes: Dripyard's Drupal Contributions for March 2026

Inspired by Mark Conroy's blog series, I'm starting a series of blog posts detailing Dripyard's contributions. My hope is that it brings a bit of visibility to 1) inspire y'all to buy our themes, and 2) inspire folks to contribute on their own.

March 2026 was especially busy for us, as 1) we made a bunch of contributions to the Drupal CMS installer, 2) created a badass new module (see below), and 3) did a bunch of work at DrupalCon Chicago.

02 Apr 2026 12:00pm GMT

01 Apr 2026

feedDrupal.org aggregator

Electric Citizen: Why Manage Cookie Compliance?

cropped image of a website with a "Manage Cookies" button visible

We're all familiar with cookie consent banners - the popups asking us to agree to "cookies" that track data from our visits. They're everywhere. And honestly, they're a bit annoying.

But here's the thing most organizations get wrong: they treat the banner as the entire conversation. Find a tool, install a popup, check the box. Done.

That's backwards. The banner is just the visible output of a much more important process - understanding what your website actually collects, why it collects it, and whether anyone made a deliberate decision about any of it.

01 Apr 2026 3:04pm GMT

ImageX: Catching the Drupal Breeze: Insights from Driesnote Chicago 2026

Drupal is evolving so quickly that it's hard to guess what's coming next, until the DrupalCon keynote by Drupal Founder, Dries Buytaert, warmly known as the 'Driesnote' pulls back the curtain. That's the moment when the community leans in, ready to see the newest ideas take shape.

01 Apr 2026 2:46pm GMT

DrupalCon News & Updates: DrupalCon Rotterdam: Why Digital Sovereignty is Now Front and Center

The Call for Papers for DrupalCon Rotterdam is officially open. We have an important update regarding one of our most vital tracks.
This year, we officially expanded the scope of our discussions. What was previously the Open Web track has evolved into the Digital Sovereignty and Open Web track.

Why the Change?`
Today, many large companies control our data and our platforms. The Open Web is about more than just code. It is about who has control. Digital Sovereignty means that people, organizations, and countries have the right to control their own digital lives.
By adding this to the name, we show that DrupalCon is the place for these big talks. We want to build a web that is fair, open, and not controlled by just a few large companies.

Who Should Submit?
We are looking for more than just technical sessions. To solve the challenges of the modern web, we need a broad range of perspectives. We want to hear from the following groups.

  • Policymakers navigating the GDPR and the AI Act.
  • Advocates fighting for digital equity and accessibility.
  • Site Builders and Developers implementing privacy first architectures.
  • Community Leaders fostering sustainable open source ecosystems.

Photo by PD Johnson

Potential Topics
If you are wondering whether your idea fits, here are a few topics we would love to see on the stage.

  • Accessibility as Sovereignty: Why the web is not truly open if it is not accessible to everyone. We want to hear how universal design gives people the power to use the web independently.
  • Local First Apps: How to build tools that work without the internet and keep data with the user. We want to hear about tools that put the user in charge of their own information.
  • Public Code: How Drupal helps everyone, from sole traders to national governments, keep their independence. We want to hear how you use open source tools to stay in control of your digital future.
  • Privacy by Design: How to make Drupal sites that protect user data from the start. We want to hear how you build Drupal sites that prioritize security and privacy.
  • Digital Identity: New ways for users to prove who they are without giving away their privacy. We want to hear about new identity systems that respect the individual.
  • Green Coding: How saving energy helps keep the web free and open. We want to hear how digital efficiency supports a sovereign web.
  • AI and Ownership: How to use AI without losing control of your work. We want to hear about how Drupal can use AI while keeping data private and models ethical.
  • Regulatory and economical control: The European Union is building sovereignty through laws like GDPR, cloud infrastructure, and cybersecurity. We want to hear how these regulations and investments affect the way we build and host the web.

Submit Today
The Open Web does not stay open by accident. It stays open because people share their knowledge and vision. Whether you are seasoned or a first time speaker with a unique perspective, we want to hear from you.


Link to CFP Submission Portal Deadline: https://events.drupal.org/rotterdam2026/submit-your-session-proposal

01 Apr 2026 12:48pm GMT

DXPR: 💬 Talk to Your Drupal Page Builder 🚀 DXPR Builder 2.8 AI Release!

💬 Talk to Your Drupal Page Builder 🚀 DXPR Builder 2.8 AI Release! Jurriaan

This is the biggest DXPR Builder release we have ever shipped.

In a 2023 interview with The DropTimes, I described our ultimate goal: "You will be able to put your granny in front of a computer and let her create a mobile-friendly webpage about her hobby." I talked about the day someone could just describe what they want and get a webpage instantly. Back then, I said the AI was too buggy for production. I said "I don't see this happening in 2023."

DXPR AI Page Builder Creating a Responsive Landing Page in 30 secdonds

It is happening now.

With DXPR Builder 2.8, you can describe what you want and watch AI build it for you: complete pages with sections, columns, images, and cards. All styled by your theme. All ready to publish. DXPR Builder is the first Drupal page builder you can talk to, and it will create and edit complex webpages. If you have never heard of Drupal: it is the open-source CMS behind sites like Tesla.com, the European Commission, and thousands of universities. DXPR Builder is the most popular way to build pages in Drupal without writing code. Thousands of sites rely on it, from Fortune 500 companies to government agencies to solo creators. Now every one of them gets AI superpowers.

This is not a chatbot bolted onto a CMS. This is AI that understands your page and what you want it do do, knows where to place content, and lets you refine anything with plain language. DXPR AI is powered by the same models behind ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Claude. We integrate directly with OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, XAI, and Mistral, giving you access to the best AI models in the world from inside your page builder. If one provider is down, DXPR automatically switches to the next. No single point of failure, no vendor lock-in.

Want to skip the reading and just try it?

Jump into the free demo on try.dxpr.com

Everything AI Can Do in DXPR Builder 2.8.0

Ship Landing Pages in Minutes, Not Hours

Building a landing page used to mean hours of dragging, dropping, writing, and tweaking. Now you tell it "create a landing page for an enterprise Drupal hosting service" and watch it go. AI generates a full layout: hero, features, testimonials, pricing, call to action. It builds section by section so you can guide it, or let it finish the whole page at once. Every element is a real DXPR Builder component you can drag, edit, and restyle.

DXPR Builder AI Creating Hero Section

Clone Competitor Layouts Instantly

Found a competitor page you love? Type "clone https://example.com/about-us" and AI grabs the page, analyzes its structure, and rebuilds it using real DXPR Builder components styled by your theme. Not a copy-paste of their code. A proper, editable recreation you can make your own in minutes. For agencies, this changes how you pitch: walk into a prospect meeting with a working first draft built from their competitor's site.

AI Clone with DXPR Builder 2.8

Rewrite Any Content Without Touching the Layout

Every element on your page now has an "Edit with AI" option. Click a section and tell it "add a customer success story" or "make this sound more urgent." The AI rewrites the content in place without touching your layout. You can also select specific text inside any rich text editor and transform just that selection.

AI Editing with DXPR Builder 2.8

Unmatched Precision in AI-Editing

Other AI based site builders let you edit content with AI but won't let you edit with AI! With DXPR Builder, whether your content is decades old or freshly generated, AI will edit it with precision. Our highly optimized platform is calibrated for editing web content with incredible speed and precision.

AI Editing with Precision in DXPR Builder 2.8

Generate and Edit Images Without Leaving the Editor

Describe the image you need and AI creates it. "A modern office team collaborating on a laptop." "An abstract illustration of connected data points." No more hunting through stock photo libraries. Already have an image that is close but not quite right? Tell AI what to change and it edits the image in place.

AI Image Editing with DXPR Builder 2.8

Generate Long-Form Content with Real Depth

Most AI tools top out at a few paragraphs. DXPR Builder 2.8 generates structured content with 1,000+ words, proper headings, and multiple sections. Whether it is a product page, a case study, a knowledge base article, or a blog post, AI researches your topic first, plans the structure, then writes.

AI Researches Your Topic Before It Writes

Mention your company, a competitor, or any topic in your prompt and AI searches the web for current information before writing. It finds facts, figures, and context so you do not have to provide them. Just prompt and go.

Set Your Brand Voice Once, Use It Everywhere

Define your writing style ("Professional and clear" or "Bold and playful") and every AI interaction follows it. Use our Tone of Voice Generator to find the right voice. Set it once in the admin settings and forget about it.

Free AI Credits: How It Works

How much do I get?

Every DXPR account gets 10,000 free AI credits per month. 1 generated word = 1 credit. 1 generaed image = 1,000 credits. Only readable words count, not code or markup. Here is what 10,000 credits looks like in practice:

  • One landing page from scratch: prompt, generate, refine two sections (~3,000 credits)
  • One product or campaign page: generate, edit a few sections, add images (~3,500 credits)
  • Translate a page to another language (~1,500 credits)
  • Generate two custom images (~2,000 credits)

That is a solid day of content production. Enough to experience everything DXPR AI can do and ship real work.

What can a team do with more credits?

Marketing teams that use AI daily typically produce 5-10x more content than before. A team with 50,000 credits per month can build new landing pages every week, produce campaign and product pages on demand, translate everything into three languages, and generate custom images for all of it. Top up AI credits anytime from your account dashboard. Credits are separate from your DXPR Builder subscription, so you only pay for what you use.

Our credits are competitively priced at just 50 cents per 1,000 credits! See our pricing page for more information.

What happens when I run out?

AI features pause until your credits reset next month. We are adding usage alerts so you always know where you stand.

How is DXPR Builder different from Drupal Canvas?

DXPR Builder has been rebuilt as an AI-first experience, greatly enhancing editor productivity while prioritizing our product-design for content marketers more than site builders, a refreshing switch from Drupal Canvas, where those roles often feel reversed in the UX. Moreover, by storing all layouts as standard Bootstrap HTML, it ensures your content investment remains portable and vendor-agnostic, empowering you to create well-documented marketing assets that thrive beyond the Drupal ecosystem.

DXPR Builder has commercial support, enterprise-grade security, hundreds of advanced elements and features, all designed for Drupal-bound content teams!

Get Started in Five Minutes

  1. Update: composer require 'drupal/dxpr_builder:^2.8'
  2. Grab a free product key. No credit card needed, free forever for small sites.
  3. Pick your AI provider, set your brand voice, and start prompting

Tell Us What You Think

This is the most ambitious release we have ever done. The granny with the bird photography hobby? She can build her website now. And so can your marketing team, your content editors, and anyone else who has something to say but no time to learn a page builder.

Try it, push it, break it, and tell us what you find. Drop feedback on the Drupal.org issue queue or through our support desk.

Try the Live Demo

AI prompt box reading The Future of Drupal Is Now!

Category

Drupal Layout Builder
DXPR Marketing Team

01 Apr 2026 10:12am GMT

Joachim's blog: Speed up your PHPUnit Browser tests with this one trick

Speed up your PHPUnit Browser tests with this one trick

It's true, no April fools. You can make your Browser tests run much quicker. How? By deleting them!

You will of course need to add a corresponding Kernel test - and that's the trick. Kernel tests run much faster than Browser tests.

But Browser tests make requests to the test site using an internal web browser, I hear you say, whereas Kernel tests make API calls directly. Kernel tests have their uses for testing APIs, but Browser tests are needed to test actual HTML output.

Aha! Kernel tests can now make HTTP requests.

This is subject to a number of caveats and limitations: there is no session, and forms can't be submitted. And functionality such as a current user, blocks on the page, and page caching will need additional setup.

And more generally, with Kernel tests, modules are enabled but not installed: you need to handle things like entity schemas, database tables, and install config yourself in the test. The benefit though is that you only set up the parts of the module that you need for your test.

So not all Browser tests are suitable for conversion. But a lot of them are. We're already working on converting tests in core, and as this feature has been backported to Drupal core 11.x, contrib modules can make use of it too.

The benefits to conversion are tests that run faster, so less time developing and less time waiting for CI pipelines to run, and a lower energy footprint and lower costs for drupal.org. And they're easier to debug too.

And if you haven't yet written any tests for your module, now is an excellent time to start!

Do you need help with writing PHPUnit tests, or getting started with test-driven development? I'm available for hire - contact me!

joachim

Tags

01 Apr 2026 8:14am GMT

Capellic: DrupalCon Lightening Talk: Our Evolving Strategy for Taming Performance Nightmares on Drupal Faceted Search Pages

A lightening talk overview of what Capellic has learned about AI bots creating performance problems when aggressively traversing facets.

01 Apr 2026 4:00am GMT

31 Mar 2026

feedDrupal.org aggregator

The Drop Times: Drupal’s Global Shift Continues

Across the global web ecosystem, Drupal continues to hold a steady position as a platform shaped by long-term reliability and structured flexibility. Its presence in government systems, higher education platforms, and enterprise environments reflects a consistent preference for stability over rapid change. This pattern has allowed Drupal to remain relevant across regions where durability, governance, and scalability are essential.

A recent reflection shared by Josh Koenig on LinkedIn, drawing on Drupal.org usage statistics, argues that Drupal adoption has declined across successive major releases since 2016. He frames this as a broader economic challenge for the ecosystem, pointing to reduced growth and a shift toward maintenance-driven work. While such data includes development environments and does not directly represent deployment scale, it continues to inform discussion about how Drupal's role is evolving.

Within this context, Drupal's role appears increasingly aligned with long-term systems rather than rapid expansion cycles. Much of the work around Drupal today centres on sustained platforms, incremental improvements, and continuity for existing implementations. This reflects how organisations engage with Drupal not as a short-term solution, but as infrastructure that supports complex digital operations over extended periods.

At the same time, Drupal continues to operate within a broader and changing technological landscape. Modern web development increasingly involves multiple layers, including frontend frameworks, composable architectures, and emerging AI-driven tools. In this environment, Drupal often functions as part of a larger system, contributing its strengths in content structuring, security, and extensibility.

The ongoing conversation signals a shift in how Drupal is positioned rather than a change in its foundational value. Its global adoption remains rooted in principles of openness, community-driven development, and support for complex digital experiences. As the web continues to evolve, Drupal remains part of that broader ecosystem.

EVENT

DISCOVER DRUPAL

DRUPAL COMMUNITY

BOOKS

FREE SOFTWARE

Additional developments from across the Drupal ecosystem were published during the week. Readers may follow The DropTimes on LinkedIn, Twitter, Bluesky, and Facebook for continuing updates. The publication also maintains a presence on Drupal Slack in the #thedroptimes channel.

Thank you.

KAZIMA ABBAS
Sub-editor
The DropTimes

31 Mar 2026 4:55pm GMT

A Drupal Couple: My DrupalCon Chicago Retrospective

My DrupalCon Chicago Retrospective

Image
Construction cranes building glass skyscrapers from multiple directions against a colorful sky.
Article body

DrupalCon Chicago 2026 was one of the most exciting DrupalCons I've attended. Not because everything was perfect, but because the conversations were real. I came in pushing two conversations: the International Federation and what I call "the little guy". I left with more energy than I arrived with, and a clearer picture of what needs to happen next.

The Driesnote Energy

Dries opened with the story of Chicago literally lifting its buildings to rebuild its foundations. Perfect metaphor for where Drupal is right now. He talked about the stable triangle that has held Drupal together for 25 years: the product, the agencies, and the open source community. And he was honest about all three legs being under pressure from AI at the same time.

The demo was impressive. Using Lovable to generate a beautiful website in 15 minutes. Then migrating it to Drupal using Canvas CLI and OpenAI Codex in about two to three hours. The new pitch Dries proposed: "We use AI to prototype fast, then we use Drupal to build systems that last." I think that's a strong message.

Jurgen Haas showed what one Drupal expert can do with AI as a tool. 90,000 lines of code, over 300 commits, full test coverage for the new ECA experience. In six weeks. AI didn't replace his expertise. It removed friction. That's the model.

Aiden Foster from Foster Interactive named the dread AI created for him as a 17-year agency owner. And then he named what he learned: "The bottleneck isn't production anymore. It's creativity, strategy, and judgment. All innately human." He's right. And I think that realization is where the real opportunity lives for agencies in our community.

25 Years of Drupal

I've only been in Drupal for about half of those 25 years, but the gala was something special. Seeing friends and colleagues celebrating together, people who have built careers, companies, and communities around this project. It was a reminder of what makes Drupal different. The technology matters, but the people are why we stay.

The Little Guy Needs a Voice

Here's where I want to add to the conversation. When you watch the Driesnote demo carefully, a marketing director receives brand guidelines from a team, legal is involved, a landing page is created for a product launch. That's enterprise. And if you're a small company without a marketer or a team for brand guidelines, that demo doesn't speak to you. It might even scare you away.

The site templates and marketplace are great progress, eleven templates up from one six months ago. But the framing is still enterprise and mid-market.

Microsoft did not become the default by being the best. They became the default by being on every computer, which made people think about them when they needed a server. The same applies to WordPress. Forgetting the base of the pyramid is a mistake.

I made this point at the Marketing Initiative BoF. As long as we keep talking enterprise, we might solve today's problem, but we will be right back here again. This is not either/or. We need enterprise marketing AND the little guy.

We already have companies building for the down market. Dripyard, FlexSite, Drupito, Drupal Forge, Palcera, the IXP Initiative. At Josh Koenig's "Real Talk on Drupal's Economic Prospects" BoF, Ashraf from Drupito showed their marketplace approach, where agencies personalize templates to serve specific verticals like barbershops. Concrete proof that the tools and the willingness exist.

The problem is fragmentation. We're all pulling in our own directions, and we can't expect an already spread-too-thin DA to coordinate this for us. What we need is a strategy. Let us create the content. We just need help from the DA identifying the difference in tone, and we can help create and publish it. Then the DA helps with distribution through their larger channels. I shared this with Paul McKibben and Chris O'Donnell, and they agreed. But we need more people to join this effort.

The IXP Program Deserves More Attention

Ana Laura Coto presented on the IXP Initiative and the credits we've already delivered during the Community Summit. A company completes an IXP engagement and gets 250 contribution credits. Bronze certified partner status requires 150. One engagement and you're on the path.

On contribution day, I presented the IXP to newcomers participating in Drupal in a Day. The pitch is straightforward: if a company cares about Drupal contribution credits, someone who completed the IXP can walk into a conversation and say "I'm worth 250 credits, hire me."

Between Drupal Camp Costa Rica and DrupalCon Chicago, over 100 people have registered for these programs. And honestly, I'm frustrated that companies are not jumping on these opportunities. We're feeding new talent into the ecosystem, people who could become the next generation of Drupal professionals. And the industry is barely paying attention.

And in the Driesnote, when Dries talked about driving adoption and the initiatives moving Drupal forward, the IXP was not mentioned. Again.

The AI Conversation Landed in the Right Place

Dries said something on stage that I've been arguing for weeks: "Don't submit code you don't understand." The AI slop conversation has been intense in our community, and it landed in the right place. Not bans. Quality gates. Standards that apply to the output regardless of how it was produced. The community's response during DrupalCon week proved that people who deeply disagree on AI can still work together with respect. James Jackson Abrahams showed real leadership through that process, and I'm glad the community recognized it.

The Federation Needs to Move Forward

The International Federation was a thread through the entire week. During the Community Summit on Monday, Baddy Sonja laid out something important: you can't just say "create a federation" and expect it to happen. It takes time, costs, and expertise. That's fair.

But we also can't wait for a perfect plan. Through conversations with Baddy and Tim, I understand the different concerns around this. Funding. Community governance. Infrastructure ownership. All valid. But I pointed out something concrete: a model where local associations take in RippleMaker memberships and Drupal Certified Partner fees will increase funding directly. Right now, the main source of income besides DrupalCon is the DCP program, overwhelmingly based in the US with minimal commitments from outside.

I see local associations working in two parts. They increase funding by expanding membership and certification programs locally, with local payment methods, tax benefits, and pricing that makes sense. And that same revenue gives them a budget to promote Drupal in their markets the right way.

Others want full clarity on how everything would work before starting. I understand that instinct. But waiting for full clarity means waiting forever. We need to start somewhere and evolve.

There was also a comment during the board meeting about diversity of countries and companies on the board. I want to add something to that. Even if we achieve diversity of origin, that alone doesn't guarantee diversity of perspective. If someone lives in Latin America but their clients are all in the US or EU, their vision will still be shaped by those markets. Real diversity means having people who serve their local markets, who understand what it means to run a business where the economic reality is fundamentally different. That's what the Federation would bring.

DrupalCon Latin America

During the board meeting, I brought up DrupalCon Latin America. We asked for the Drupal Association's help reaching prospective sponsors. Dries told us to find a couple of possible dates and consult with him directly. That's not a confirmation, but it's a door that wasn't open before. We're going to walk through it. If you're interested in sponsoring, speaking, or helping organize, reach out to me.

What I'm Taking Home

DrupalCon Chicago gave me energy and clarity. The product is moving. Drupal CMS 2.1, Canvas, the Context Control Center, the marketplace, site templates. The AI work is real and impressive.

Dries framing it as "AI amplifies expertise, it doesn't replace it" is exactly right.

But the conversations about the base of the pyramid, the markets we're ignoring, and the funding model that could change everything... those are still happening in BoFs and hallways, not on the main stage.

I didn't come to Chicago to wait. Rotterdam is next, and I hope by then the Federation is moving, the little guy has a voice in our marketing, and DrupalCon Latin America is on the calendar.

Subject of
IXP Graduates from Initiative to Program: Companies Can Start Using It Now!
We're Still Too Expensive, and We Should Talk About It
The Blueprint for Affordable Drupal Projects
Why I Do Not Trust Independent AI Agents Without Strict Supervision
Author
Carlos Ospina
Abstract
A retrospective on DrupalCon Chicago 2026 covering the Driesnote AI demos, the push for the International Federation, Drupal for the little guy, the IXP Initiative, the AI community debate, and the path toward DrupalCon Latin America.
Tags
Drupal
Drupal Planet
Drupalcon
DrupalCon Chicago
AI
Drupal Federation
IXP Initiative
Drupal CMS
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