Agenda

Start the day with FLDC updates, thank you's, and announcements!

Integration of artificial intelligence functionality with Drupal has been on a blistering pace over the past year. From countless individual contributed modules taking initial tentative steps to the rapidly-becoming-a-best-practice AI module ecosystem, the Drupal community has largely embraced the possibilities of leveraging AI on user, site-builder, and developer levels.

This presentation will provide an overview of where we are, where we've been, and where we're heading with a focus on the AI module ecosystem as well as AI integration with Drupal CMS. Several live demos will showcase existing functionality that you can add to your Drupal sites today.

What happens when the flexibility of Drupal meets the interactivity of Godot? In this session, we’ll dive into how you can harness the power of these two platforms to create dynamic, content-driven games. Whether it's trivia games, virtual worlds, or gamified experiences, the combination of Godot and Drupal opens new doors for interactive storytelling and user engagement.

Together, we'll walk through practical ways to connect Drupal and Godot using various APIs and authentication, while showcasing how content managed in Drupal can power in-game features like levels, quests, leaderboards, or dynamic puzzles. If you’ve ever wondered how to expand your Drupal skills into game development or bring game-like features to a Drupal project, this session will offer you inspiration and practical advice.

In today’s fast-paced development environment, swiftly transforming ideas into functional prototypes is crucial. Vercel’s v0, an AI-powered generative UI tool, enables developers to create user interfaces from simple text prompts, producing React components styled with Tailwind CSS and shadcn UI. 

This session will cover:

• Introduction to Vercel’s v0: Understanding its capabilities and how it integrates with modern web technologies.
• Live Demonstration: Building a UI component from a text prompt, showcasing the tool’s efficiency in rapid prototyping.
• Best Practices: Tips for effectively utilizing v0 in development workflows, including prompt engineering and integrating generated components into existing projects.
• Case Studies: Examples of successful applications built using v0, highlighting its impact on development speed and collaboration.

Attendees will gain hands-on knowledge of leveraging AI in UI development, enabling them to accelerate their prototyping processes and enhance collaboration between design and development teams.

Users and Admins and Developers, OH MY!  Have Drupal's increasing number of third party dependencies become too complicated for new users?  Are those dependencies breaking Drupal's more advanced features?

In this discussion, Drupal is going to be held up to a microscope, dissected, and analyzed from a historical user perspective.  Who builds, administers, and ultimately uses Drupal sites, and how has that changed over time?  Are all of these changes and added dependencies on outside technology actually for the better, or has Drupal jumped the proverbial shark and alienated its audience?  Are we now gatekeeping Drupal from new users?

Drupal is far more powerful than other CMS solutions.  That is its greatest strength.  But it is also its greatest weakness.  We will talk about the Drupal learning curves and how they're being steepened by the addition of technologies like Drush, Composer, etc. how it has been exacerbated even further by competitor website solutions such as WIX and Squarespace, that flatten their user experience learning curve.  Can we maintain the power of Drupal with a simpler, flatter learning curve?  Are those additional dependencies giving us enough benefit to justify the additional complications they bring?

Furthermore, we will discuss how some of these dependencies break some of Drupal's more advanced, but lesser known core functionalities.

Have we strayed from the yellow brick road by making the Drupal too complicated for anyone but hardcore developers to build and administer?

With the introduction of Single Directory Components and the ability to have CSS bound to a component, it is not as necessary to have your design system “built”. One can use native CSS (and JS) in each component and not need to compile into a single stylesheet. Additionally, the ecosystems of Webpack, Vite, and whatever 12 other systems have popped up since you started reading this paragraph, are constantly changing or deprecating. In this talk we will go over the killer features of SASS and how you can use native CSS to replace them. Also may go over moving off of an old design system into Single Directory Components. If time permits we can go over PostCSS and the how it assists.

For the past few years, an internal revolution has been brewing in Drupal. The more I see of how our initiatives are evolving the more I'm convince that the way we build Drupal sites are about to fundamentally change.  Let's me make the case for:

• How new solutions emerging in Drupal invite you to rethink how to build sites
• What you are your team can do to get the most out of these new tools
• The benefits for clients if you do

In my day job, I provide long term support for Drupal sites built many different ways.  I support sites built with Acquia Site Studio, Layout Builder, Paragraphs and a couple of unique builds.  I'm seeing a convergence of ideas on how best to build these sites.  Let me share with you a strategy for getting your sites ready for the future.

Sunday lunch is typically pizzas, salads, and soft drinks from a local pizza restaurant. We'll be sure to accommodate any vegetarian and vegan needs.

Why contribute?

The more that people contribute, the stronger Drupal becomes. The more polished and refined the project is, the more job security we all have.

Why sprint?

It’s an excellent opportunity to connect with other contributors, help collaborate and brainstorm, and move the Drupal project forward. Contributing is a fantastic way to receive feedback and build skills while learning from those more experienced.

Not a coder or new to tech?

That’s great! It’s your turn to shine.

Not everyone who works on Drupal is a developer: Project Managers, Customer Service, and those who hold non-technical roles can all give back to the community. Code is important, but so are all the other parts.

We got you covered!

There will be mentors available for those who need a little help to get started.

We will make sure you stay caffeinated, fed, and hydrated.