fidzu : web

Maintainers, Association leaders, developers, and community organisers faced versions of the same question this week: how should Drupal fund, govern, and sustain the work its users rely on? Reporting from 20-27 July 2026 followed that question across Association finances, security response, artificial intelligence, technical maintenance, and community participation. Read together, the stories show that shared infrastructure remains dependable only when responsibility for maintaining it is made visible.

The funding question became explicit in The DropTimes' written exchange with Tiffany Farriss, interim CEO of the Drupal Association. Farriss proposed programme-level cost accounting and the possible use of usage-based contributions for enterprise-facing utility and infrastructure services, while separating that work from digital-public-good programmes and ecosystem advocacy. The proposals are not approved policy, but they move the discussion beyond general appeals for support towards clearer questions about cost, value, and who benefits from Drupal's shared systems.

The same issue appeared in The DropTimes' 22 July coverage of Dries Buytaert's earlier distinction between "License-only Open Source" and "Stewarded Open Source", first published on 9 July, and in the week's contributed-project security advisories. A licence can grant access to code, but it cannot by itself guarantee maintenance, vulnerability response, governance, or long-term support. Reporting on AI governance, developer tooling, community events, and the July TDT Open Town Hall extended that principle into newer and more operational parts of the ecosystem. The major stories from the week follow.

Follow The DropTimes on LinkedIn, X, Bluesky, and Facebook, or join #thedroptimes on Drupal Slack.

This issue of Editor's Pick was written and curated by Allen Jason.

27 Jul 2026 4:30pm GMT

Our 37th monthly UI Suite meeting (July 23, 2026) opened with a small piece of housekeeping: our sessions had quietly drifted from 30 minutes to a full hour, so Pierre asked the group to bring them back to half an hour - with anyone who wants to keep chatting free to stay on after the slide deck. It worked. Thirty minutes, three updates, two demos, and we still had time for questions.

27 Jul 2026 12:00pm GMT

Are DDEV and Shopware a good fit? If you ask me, yes. Let me tell you why.

I first got to know DDEV a few years ago as a freelancer working on an agency Shopware project. Up until then, every time I switched to a different agency, it was a painful process: Would the development environment on my PC (Linux back then, macOS today) even work? What new ports and commands would I have to memorize? Would the environments for my previous projects break?

So I braced myself for the onboarding meeting. But the preparation turned out to be minimal-I already had Docker, and installing DDEV beforehand was just a script. And then it was a git clone (okay, I knew that one well) and a ddev start-that was new. And it was amazing: after what felt like five minutes (okay, let's say 20, including the database download and so on), I had the shop up and running on my machine. Wow!

I quickly switched to DDEV for all of my client projects. It was a game-changer. No more "port 8000 already in use" errors. A Shopware update needs a newer PHP version? A mismatched Node.js version? Easy-just edit .ddev/config.yaml and run ddev restart. Done.

From time to time I also work on WordPress, Shopware 5, or MediaWiki projects, and DDEV is a great fit for all of them: for me, it's one and the same setup, with the same look and feel. Even to write this blog post, I ran a ddev start to bring up the Astro-based backend.

Why I use DDEV for Shopware

Which features do I reach for again and again?

Project isolation

DDEV projects are isolated from each other, so you can work on several at once without any conflicts. While working on one project, another client calls in. Two clicks and the other project is up and running-and the first one stays up, ready to be picked up again whenever you are.

Xdebug

Xdebug used to be a pain to set up with "traditional" Docker environments. With DDEV, it's a breeze. Just run ddev xdebug on and don't forget to tell your IDE to listen on the relevant port.

Redis, RabbitMQ, and Elasticsearch at your fingertips

But back to Shopware-Shopware 6, to be precise. Since it's built on Symfony, it doesn't really need much for a local setup: Apache or nginx with PHP-FPM and a database (MySQL or MariaDB). Once you get to real-world use, though, things get more complex quickly. Two Redis servers (for cache and sessions), a RabbitMQ instance for the message queue, Elasticsearch. This is where the DDEV add-ons come in. Just run ddev add-on get ddev/ddev-redis-and you're set. In my experience, there's basically no system component that doesn't have an add-on.

Hooks

Hooks exist for all kinds of things-for example, a post-import hook for the ddev import-db command. I use it to make the necessary database adjustments, such as rewriting the sales channel domains or switching the mailer to Mailpit (which is, of course, integrated into DDEV).

Inter-project communication

Did I say DDEV projects are isolated? Well, only if you want them to be. Otherwise, your app in one DDEV project can communicate with other projects-DDEV supports direct HTTP/S calls between projects. It's a great feature for developing and testing a Shopware app server, for example. I've also used it to build and test the migration from Shopware 5 to Shopware 6 across two projects.

Mirroring the production or staging environment

A shop's media files can run to tens of gigabytes-so why copy them over at all? Most of my projects use nginx-fpm, which makes an nginx reverse proxy the easy answer. Add a .ddev/nginx/media.conf file with the following contents:

location @mediaserver {
    resolver 1.1.1.1;
    proxy_pass https://www.example.com$request_uri;
    # Uncomment if the remote environment is behind HTTP basic auth:
    # proxy_set_header Authorization "Basic <base64-of-user:password>";
}

location ^~ /media/ {
    access_log off;
    expires max;
    try_files $uri @mediaserver;
}

location ^~ /thumbnail/ {
    access_log off;
    expires max;
    try_files $uri @mediaserver;
}

Then run ddev restart. This not only mirrors (and caches) the media files from the production or staging environment, but also lets you upload new media files to your local environment for testing.

Shopware tooling

shopware-cli is increasingly being developed into a one-stop tool for development, and of course I want to use it in my projects too. No problem-there's an add-on for that: ddev add-on get vanwittlaer/ddev-shopware-cli. The add-on also lets you reach the storefront and admin watcher URLs directly and, more importantly, over HTTPS.

Project lifecycle support

DDEV has the concept of "providers" that you can use to load any remote resource into your local environment. Many projects have a provider that lets you download and import a sanitized production database, with a command like ddev pull sanitized (this would be a customized command, so its actual name may vary). In theory, this also works in the push direction, although I have never come across a use case for it so far.

AI tooling

At the time of writing, I use Claude Code for my debugging and development work. To keep it isolated from my local environment, I run it inside the DDEV container-yes, there's an add-on for that: ddev add-on get vanwittlaer/ddev-claude-code. Pair it with Playwright (also in the DDEV container, via ddev add-on get codingsasi/ddev-playwright) and watch Claude do interactive frontend development.

How to get started

If you haven't worked with DDEV or Docker before, start with the DDEV installation guide.

For your first project, you may want to follow DDEV's quickstart guide for Shopware.

I prefer to keep the Shopware part of my projects in a subfolder, e.g. shopware/, separate from the infrastructure around it, such as the .ddev and .github folders. That way any developer, even one who has never used DDEV, can tell at a glance which parts are Shopware and which are not.

My Less than 5 Minutes Install guide includes a script that sets this up with a shopware/ subfolder.

If you prefer to do it manually, there are just four steps:

cd <your project directory>
ddev config --project-type=shopware6 --docroot=shopware/public --web-environment="APP_ENV=dev" \
        --web-working-dir=/var/www/html/shopware --composer-root=shopware
ddev start
ddev composer create-project shopware/production
# When it asks whether to include Docker configuration from recipes, answer `x`-
# DDEV takes care of that part.
ddev exec bin/console system:install --basic-setup --shop-locale=en-GB

You will end up with a working Shopware 6 installation; the admin credentials are admin / shopware.

Conclusions-how good a fit is DDEV for Shopware?

Whether DDEV is a good fit for you depends less on Shopware itself than on the kind of Shopware work you do.

What I take from discussions with others in the Shopware community is that we bring in (at least) three perspectives:

• Shopware core development
• Store plugin development
• Client project development

Naturally, the requirements for a development environment and tooling differ for each. For a core developer, what matters most might be running the latest versions of every dependency. For a store plugin developer, it might be testing a plugin efficiently against every Shopware version and configuration out there. There are focused solutions for these requirements, such as devenv, Dockware, the Shopware-provided Docker setup, or the new shopware-cli features.

Client project development, however, is where I spend most of my working time, and there the Shopware version and the environment that mirrors the production setup are predefined and stable within a project. The day-to-day work is:

1. debugging (core, third-party plugins, custom code);
2. developing and testing new features (ERP integration, custom plugins, custom theme);
3. installing and testing third-party plugins;
4. implementing and testing Shopware and third-party plugin upgrades.

So what matters to me is an efficient setup for a given set of dependencies and versions, ease of use, integration with testing and dev tools (Xdebug, Claude Code, Playwright, the storefront and admin watchers), reliability, support (DDEV has a great Discord community), and-last but not least-not losing time when switching between client projects.

tl;dr: my answer to the question-how good a fit is DDEV for Shopware?-is a resounding yes.

27 Jul 2026 12:00am GMT

This blog post is about incremental improvements by W3C's IT/Systems Operations Team that puts task force participation management directly in the hands of participants and chairs.

24 Jul 2026 10:35am GMT

At the European Identity and Cloud Conference (EIC 2026) in Berlin, we explored how Threat Modeling with LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® can help uncover security, privacy, and human-rights threats in age-based content restriction systems. Starting from an Issuer-Holder-Verifier model, participants built harms such as exclusion, surveillance, profiling, and correlation, then mapped them back to flows, actors, and assumptions. The exercise showed how compliance choices can become Web architecture.

20 Jul 2026 9:23am GMT

On 2 July 2026 , the W3C Advisory Board organised a meetup around the web and web standards. It featured three talks and had time to mingle.

15 Jul 2026 3:29pm GMT

On January 14, 2006, John Resig introduced a JavaScript library called jQuery at BarCamp in New York City. Now, 20 years later, the jQuery team is happy to announce the final release of jQuery 4.0.0. After a long development cycle and several pre-releases, jQuery 4.0.0 brings many improvements and modernizations. It is the first major … Continue reading →

18 Jan 2026 12:29am GMT

It's here! Almost. jQuery 4.0.0-rc.1 is now available. It's our way of saying, "we think this is ready; now poke it with many sticks". If nothing is found that requires a second release candidate, jQuery 4.0.0 final will follow. Please try out this release and let us know if you encounter any issues. A 4.0 … Continue reading →

11 Aug 2025 5:35pm 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

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

Last week I helped the folks at ezSystems debug some APC problems they were having. The problems ended up being a 64bit architecture problem (they have uber-fast Opterons) and the bug is now fixed in 2.0.3.

Today I received Python & XML from them (off my Amazon wishlist). Thanks guys!

On a side note, my wishlist seems borked. The list I get when I search on my email address or name is not the same one I can edit when I log into the site.

01 Apr 2004 6:53pm GMT

1st of April 2004 get's to it's end and I guess it's time, to summarize the recent April fools a bit. Not that I think anyone in the world believes in them, but some were quite funny:

1. Changes to case sensitivity in PHP.
Alan Knowles announced that PHP will change to the studlyCase API and therefor will get everything broken by changing established functions.

2. IBM takes over Zend.
Myself hacked a little article about IBM taking over Zend to make PHP a compete of Java.

3. The first PHP virus has been seen.
Wasn't there one last year, too?

4. PHP has been overtaken by Micro$oft.
Mhhh... a little bit unreliable, if they had been taken over by IBM this morning... Maybe one should first look, what others wrote...

5. And finally, PHP4 and 5 showed their real faces...
Take a look at a phpinfo() output!

I guess I missed some, so feel free to comment on this entry, if you found another!

01 Apr 2004 5:49pm GMT

Symantec have a report of the virus here. I've yet to see any of the PHP news sites picking up on it but, using a virtual host account, managed to deliberately expose some PHP scripts to it. From examining the infected scripts, what's disturbing is once infected, every tim...

01 Apr 2004 12:19pm GMT