Drupal.org aggregatorWe've developed a huge platform for over half a decade to host the official sites of the United Nations' member countries, and we've never really posted about it. It's 170 Microsites, built on top of a single code base and database. Having the word "Micro" before Microsites is really stretching the definition. There's nothing micro about them. Head over to your favorite UN member country to see it in action. Here are a few completely random ones:
This post is a reflection of why we always try to avoid such architecture, and why we almost always still end up going with that level of effort; how much it should cost (less than having 140 independent sites); the common pitfalls we've gathered over the years (many).
Microsites are sites that share the same structure and purpose, usually under one organization, but are meant to serve different branches, offices, or audiences. They can have their own content, languages, and editors, and sometimes even a different look. In a setup like the UN's, each country office site is technically similar, but each is managed by a different local team, with its own priorities and style. They're independent enough to feel separate, yet still connected through a shared foundation.
The term "microsite" is misleading. Once you have hundreds of them, each with custom permissions, content, and translations, there's nothing "micro" left about it. It's a big system pretending to be many small ones.
None of these options are easy. Microsites are the kind of problem where every path feels wrong; you just choose which pain you can live with.
25 Dec 2025 12:00am GMT
Drupal.org aggregatorOn October 5, 2023, the W3C published WCAG 2.2 as an official web standard. While WCAG 2.1 remains valid and widely referenced, WCAG 2.2 introduces nine new success criteria and removes one obsolete requirement. These changes reflect a deeper understanding of mobile accessibility, cognitive disabilities, and focus management.
Adoption of WCAG 2.2 varies by jurisdiction:
24 Dec 2025 4:00pm GMT
It's Christmas Eve, and Phil Norton is controlling his Christmas lights with Drupal. You can visit his site, pick a color, and across the room, a strip of LEDs changes to match. That feels extra magical on Christmas Eve.
I like how straightforward his implementation is. A Drupal form stores the color value using the State API, a REST endpoint exposes that data as JSON, and MicroPython running on a Pimoroni Plasma board polls the endpoint and updates the LEDs.
I've gone down the electronics rabbit hole myself with my solar-powered website and basement temperature monitor, both using Drupal as the backend. I didn't do an electronics project in 2025, but this makes me want to do another one in 2026.
I also didn't realize you could buy light strips where each LED can be controlled individually. That alone makes me want to up my Christmas game next year.
But addressable LEDs are useful for more than holiday decorations. You could show how many people are on your site, light up a build as it moves through your CI/CD pipeline, flash on failed logins, or visualize the number of warnings in your Drupal logs. This quickly stops being a holiday decoration and starts looking like a tax-deductible business expense.
Beyond the fun factor, Phil's tutorial does real teaching. It uses Drupal features many of us barely think about anymore: the State API, REST resources, flood protection, even the built-in HTML color field. It's not just a clever demo, but also a solid tutorial.
The Drupal community gets stronger when people share work this clearly and generously. If you've been curious about IoT, this is a great entry point.
Merry Christmas to those celebrating. Go build something that blinks. May your deployments be smooth and your Drupal-powered Christmas lights shine bright.
24 Dec 2025 12:49pm GMT