fidzu : web

From volunteer photography to security policy, Bram Driesen has spent years shaping the Drupal ecosystem from the inside. In this profile, he reflects on overlooked responsibilities, hidden work, and the standards that keep open-source projects stable, collaborative, and worth contributing to.

31 Jul 2025 9:00am GMT

Drupal 7 was released in 2011 and has been the foundation of many websites for years. However, in the world of technology, 14 years is almost an eternity - during this time, Drupal has undergone a huge evolution. Today, the latest version, Drupal 11, is a modern system based on current coding standards and offering features that were once only a dream. In this article, we will look at the key differences between Drupal 7 and Drupal 11. If you last worked with Drupal years ago (e.g., with version 6 or 7), prepare yourself for the "wow" effect - Drupal 11 is a whole new experience.

31 Jul 2025 7:01am GMT

In this blog post about the newly published W3C Statement "Vision for W3C", W3C CEO Seth Dobbs emphasizes the importance of principle-driven leadership and how vision gives clarity to move towards meaningful goals.

31 Jul 2025 6:59am GMT

In my previous post, [The great digital agency unbundling](https://dri.es/ai-and-the-great-digital-agency-unbundling), I explored how AI is transforming the work of digital agencies. As AI automates more technical tasks, agencies will be shifting their focus toward orchestration, strategic thinking, and accountability. This shift also changes what they need from their tools. Content management systems like [Drupal](https://new.drupal.org/home) must evolve with them. This is not just about adding AI features. It is about becoming a platform that strengthens the new agency model. Because as agencies take on new roles, they will adopt the tools that help them succeed. As I wrote then: > "As the Project Lead of Drupal, I think about how Drupal, the product, and its ecosystem of digital agencies can evolve _together_. They need to move in step to navigate change and help shape what comes next" The good news is that the Drupal community is embracing AI in a coordinated and purposeful way. Today, Drupal CMS already ships with 22 AI agents, and through the [Drupal AI Initiative](https://dri.es/accelerating-ai-innovation-in-drupal), we are building additional infrastructure and tooling to bring more AI capabilities to Drupal. In this post, I want to share why I believe Drupal is not just ready to evolve, but uniquely positioned to thrive in the AI era. ### Drupal is built for AI Imagine an AI agent that plans, executes, and measures complex marketing campaigns across your CMS, CRM, email platform, and analytics tools without requiring manual handoff at every step. To support that level of orchestration, a platform must expose its content models, configuration data, state, user roles and permissions, and business logic in a structured, machine-readable way. That means making things like entity types, field definitions, relationships, and workflows available through APIs that AI systems can discover, inspect, and act on safely. Most platforms were not designed with this kind of structured access in mind. Drupal has been moving in that direction for more than a decade. Since Drupal 7, the community has invested deeply in modernizing the platform. We introduced a unified Entity API, adopted a service container with dependency injection, and expanded support for REST, JSON:API, and GraphQL. We also built a robust configuration management system, improved testability, and added more powerful workflows with granular revisioning and strong rollback support. Drupal also has excellent API documentation. These changes made Drupal not only more programmable but also more introspectable. AI agents can query Drupal's structure, understand relationships between entities, and make informed decisions based on both content and configuration. This enables AI to take meaningful action inside the system rather than just operating at the surface. And because Drupal's APIs are open and well-documented, these capabilities are easier for developers and AI systems to discover and build on. Making these architectural improvements was not easy. Upgrading from Drupal 7 was painful for many, and at the time, the benefits of Drupal 8's redesign were not obvious. We were not thinking about AI at the time, but in hindsight, we built exactly the kind of modern, flexible foundation that makes deep AI integration possible today. As is often the case, there is [pain before the payoff](https://dri.es/the-pain-before-the-payoff). ### AI makes Drupal's power more accessible I think this is exciting because AI can help make Drupal's flexibility more accessible. Drupal is one of the most flexible content management systems available. It powers everything from small websites to large, complex digital platforms. That flexibility is a strength, but it also introduces complexity. For newcomers, Drupal's flexibility can be overwhelming. Building a Drupal site requires understanding how to select and configure contributed modules, creating content types and relationships, defining roles and permissions, building Views, developing a custom theme, and more. The learning curve is steep and often prevents people from experiencing Drupal's power and flexibility. AI has the potential to change that. In the future, you might describe your needs by saying something like, "I need a multi-language news site with editorial workflows and social media integration". An AI assistant could ask a few follow-up questions, then generate a working starting point. I've demonstrated early prototypes of this vision in recent [DriesNotes](https://dri.es/tag/state-of-drupal), including [DrupalCon Barcelona 2024](https://dri.es/state-of-drupal-presentation-september-2024) and [DrupalCon Atlanta 2025](https://dri.es/state-of-drupal-presentation-march-2025). Much of that code has been productized in the [Drupal AI modules](https://www.drupal.org/project/ai). In my Barcelona keynote, I said that "AI is the new UI". AI helps lower the barrier to entry by turning complex setup tasks into simple prompts and conversations. With the right design, it can guide new users while still giving experts full control. In my last post, [The great digital agency unbundling](https://dri.es/ai-and-the-great-digital-agency-unbundling), I shared a similar perspective: > "Some of the hardest challenges the Drupal community has faced, such as improving usability or maintaining documentation, may finally become more manageable. I see ways AI can support Drupal's mission, lower barriers to online publishing, make Drupal more accessible, and help build a stronger, more inclusive Open Web. The future is both exciting and uncertain." Of course, AI comes with both promise and risk. It raises ethical questions and often fails to meet expectations. But ignoring AI is _not_ a strategy. AI is already changing how digital work gets done. If we want Drupal to stay relevant, we need to explore its potential. That means experimenting thoughtfully, sharing what we learn, and helping shape how these tools are built and used. ### Drupal's AI roadmap helps agencies AI is changing how digital work gets done. Some platforms can now generate full websites, marketing campaigns, or content strategies in minutes. For simple use cases, that may be enough. But many client needs are more complex. As requirements grow and automations become more sophisticated, agencies continue to play a critical role. They bring context, strategy, and accountability to challenges that off-the-shelf tools cannot solve. That is the future we want Drupal to support. We are _not_ building AI to replace digital agencies, but to strengthen them. Through the [Drupal AI Initiative](https://dri.es/accelerating-ai-innovation-in-drupal), Drupal agencies are actively helping shape the tools they want to use in an AI-driven world. As agencies evolve in response to AI, they will need tools that evolve with them. Drupal is not only keeping pace but helping lead the way. By investing in AI in collaboration with the agencies who rely on it, we are making Drupal stronger, more capable, and more relevant. ### Now is the moment to move The shift toward AI-powered digital work is inevitable. Platforms will succeed or fail based on how well they adapt to this reality. Drupal's investments in modern architecture, open development, and community collaboration has created something unique: a platform that doesn't just add AI features but fundamentally supports AI-driven workflows. While other systems scramble to retrofit AI capabilities, Drupal's foundation makes deep integration possible. The question isn't whether AI will change digital agencies and content management. It already has. The question is which platforms will help agencies and developers thrive in that new reality. Drupal is positioning itself to be one of them.

30 Jul 2025 6:09pm GMT

Today, W3C is pleased to announce the publication as a W3C Statement of Vision for W3C. W3C Statements provide a stable reference for documents not intended to be formal standards but that have been formally reviewed and are endorsed by W3C.

29 Jul 2025 10:27am GMT

W3C recently published specifications will build foundations for new ways to represent identity on the web. Verifiable Credentials 2.0 and the first draft of Digital Credentials API enable the secure, seamless exchange of digital credentials on the web, emphasizing flexibility, emerging cryptography, compliance with regulation, and W3C principles related to privacy and security. All of these topics will be on the agenda of the Global Digital Collaboration, co-organized by W3C.

01 Jul 2025 6:29am GMT

Last February, we released the first beta of jQuery 4.0.0. We're now ready to release a second, and we expect a release candidate to come soon™. This release comes with a major rewrite to jQuery's testing infrastructure, which removed all deprecated or under-supported dependencies. But the main change that warranted a second beta was a … Continue reading →

17 Jul 2024 2:03pm GMT

jQuery's influence on the web will always be evident. When it was first introduced in 2006, jQuery became a fundamental tool for web developers almost immediately. It simplified JavaScript programming, making it easier to manipulate HTML documents, handle events, perform animations, and much more. Since then, it has played and continues to play a major … Continue reading →

17 Apr 2024 5:00pm GMT

jQuery 4.0.0 has been in the works for a long time, but it is now ready for a beta release! There's a lot to cover, and the team is excited to see it released. We've got bug fixes, performance improvements, and some breaking changes. We removed support for IE<11 after all! Still, we expect disruption … Continue reading →

06 Feb 2024 4:43pm GMT

When it comes to crafting an article, the headline is crucial for grabbing the reader's attention and enticing them to read further. In this post, I'll explore the 7 types of article headlines and provide examples for each using the subjects of product management, user experience design, and search engine optimization. 1. The Know-it-All The […]

The post 7 Types of Article Headlines: Craft the Perfect Title Every Time first appeared on Smiley Cat.

29 May 2023 10:20pm GMT

Product management is one of the most exciting and rewarding careers in the tech world. But it's also one of the most misunderstood and misrepresented. There are many myths and misconceptions that cloud the reality of what product managers do, how they do it, and what skills they need to succeed. In this blog post, […]

The post 5 Product Management Myths You Need to Stop Believing first appeared on Smiley Cat.

09 Apr 2023 5:28pm GMT

The role of a product manager is crucial to the success of any product. They are responsible for managing the entire product life cycle, from conceptualization to launch and beyond. A product manager must possess a unique blend of skills and qualities to be effective in their role. Strong strategic thinking A product manager must […]

The post The Key Strengths of the Best Product Managers first appeared on Smiley Cat.

11 Dec 2022 4:43pm GMT