Drupal Layout Builder vs Gutenberg: which of these 2 next-generation site-building tools to use to create your page layouts?
Or, better said, to empower your content editors to design great-looking pages on their own.
In order to help you make an informed decision, I've made an honest “Layout Builder modules vs Gutenberg editor module” comparison.
Therefore, in this post you'll find your answers to the following questions:
What issues with the editing experience in Drupal do these 2 new page layout builders come to address?
What is the Gutenberg Editor?
What are Drupal Gutenberg's main strengths?
What are its limitations? What is the Layout Builder for Drupal?
What are the Drupal Layout Builder's main strengths?
What are its weaknesses?
When would you use one Drupal page builder over the other?
1. Drupal Layout Builder vs Gutenberg: What Limitations Do They Address?
Or, to put it this way: what makes a good content editing experience?
Here are some of the editors' main requirements:
to be easy to use (with an intuitive drag and drop interface)
to enable them to create custom page layouts on the fly, with zero CSS or HTML knowledge
to be ideally flexible, enabling them to adjust the pages to their needs
Now, if we put editors' requirements against the "reality" of the editing experience in Drupal, here are the limitations we can identify:
it doesn't provide a decent level of visual design
it compromises branding for flexibility or the other way around
it requires some HTML experience
it doesn't go beyond the level of a basic WYSIWYG editor
it doesn't allow them to design fully customed page layouts
it doesn't provide a 100% intuitive user interface
it still makes editors dependant on the site builders/Drupal developers in their teams
And these are precisely the problems that these 2 Drupal page builders "promise" to solve.
2. Introducing: The Gutenberg Drupal 8 Module
The Gutenberg Editor module is no more than WordPress's layout system integrated with Drupal.
What sets it apart from the other tools for creating page layouts in Drupal?
Its block-based approach.
Creating content in Drupal becomes a matter of selecting and assembling multiple blocks.
Each block stands for an individual piece of content: a separate block for a button, another separate block for an image, another one for a column, for a heading...
Furthermore, you get to create content inline. To edit the media content, text, and blocks on the page that you're building.
In short, you can take the Drupal Gutenberg module as a convenient "block editor".
You (or your editors) can put together and visualize your page layout in one large form field. That, instead of editing every single form field that makes up a page.
3. 4 Reasons to Choose Drupal Gutenberg
Let's say that you're looking for a site building tool to build a... landing page (or one that would empower your content editors to create it).
Why would you go with the Gutenberg content editor for Drupal 8?
Here are 4 good reasons to choose it:
it provides you with lots of predesigned elements out of the box
you can see what you're building on the editor side
it doesn't require you to be experienced in working with CSS or HTML
you can design your own blocks or use blocks created by other open-source developers
4. 6 Reasons Why You Might Hesitate to Choose Gutenberg
Any honest Drupal Layout Builder vs Gutenberg comparison must include the 2 tools' main weaknesses, as well, right?
So, here's why you may want to think twice before choosing the Gutenberg content editor in Drupal 8:
the way it stores data could be... better
it doesn't excel when it comes to layout flexibility: you can align your blocks left, right, center, but you can't add custom margins, for instance
the style options that it provides are quite limited, one of the main drawbacks highlighted in any Gutenberg vs page builder comparison
updating a page created with Gutenberg is particularly overwhelming
the visual editing experience is not one of the best ones: visualizing your layout is a bit more difficult
you cannot reuse your Gutenberg blocks and the page layouts that you create with this editor
Tip: when it comes to the poor visual experience that you get with the Gutenberg Editor, you can always improve it with page builder plugins. There are some pretty good ones out there that guarantee you a 100% visual design.
5. Introducing: The Drupal Layout Builder Module (Core)
"Drupal 8's Layout Builder allows content editors and site builders to easily and quickly create visual layouts for displaying content. Users can customize how content is arranged on a single page, or across types of content, or even create custom landing pages with an easy to use drag-and-drop interface." (source: Drupal.org)
The Layout Builder for Drupal enables you to create layouts by putting together separate form fields and block entities. No coding know-how needed.
No need to tweak the templates in the theme's source code.
In short, it "spoils" you with a drag-and-drop type of visual editing experience. You can put together structured content quick and easy.
Source: Drupal.org
"But how exactly does it work?"
Here's how you create a custom layout with this Drupal page builder in 5 quick steps:
enable the module
go over to the "Manage Display" tab of your target content type
click the "Use Layout Builder" checkbox
click the "Manage Layout" button
then, you're free to use your Layouts and Blocks (after you've created them), dropping them in the defined regions of the page that you're building
6. 7 Reasons to Choose the Layout Builder in Drupal 8
Here's a legitimate question that this Gutenberg Editor vs Layout Builder in Drupal 8 comparison should respond to:
“Why would I want to use Drupal Layout Builder?”
The best answers would be:
you can create your content blocks and just drop them on the regions of your page layout
you get to (re)arrange otherwise static fields the way you want to
you're free to add views, blocks, widgets, to any section of your page
the content that you create is specific to that page type, so all the pages of that type will have the same layout
you get to override the default layout to create fully customed pages
your layout is rendered on the web page in real-time
you're free to incorporate blocks in the main content region
7. 5 Reasons Why You Might Hesitate to Choose the Layout Builder
When comparing Drupal Layout Builder vs Gutenberg, you inevitably get to the point where you ask yourself:
"What are the Layout Builder's main weaknesses?"
Now, here's why you wouldn't want to jump on it right away:
you can use it only on the main content area of your page
unlike the Gutenberg Drupal 8 module, the Layout Builder doesn't ship with prebuilt elements for you to just choose from and assemble
with Drupal Layout Builder, you need to create your blocks and page type first; you can't "get away with" choosing user-contributed blocks
it's not always easy to see what precisely gets overridden
you can't rely on a granular permissions system for overriding individual pages
8. When to Use Drupal Gutenberg: 4 Typical Use Cases
You'd want to use the Gutenberg Drupal 8 module if:
your Drupal website's a content-packed one
you need to build a landing page
you need to create a simple layout: Gutenberg doesn't really shine when it comes to style options
you need to create content that fits perfectly into your theme's looks: Drupal Gutenberg pulls right from your theme's styles
To sum up, designing landing pages are Gutenberg's most typical use case.
Use it to add just some extra design (nothing too "extravagant") to an "About Me" page, for instance.
9. When to Use the Drupal Layout Builder: 2 Typical Use Cases
You'd want to use the Layout Builder for Drupal if:
it's a field-intensive page that you're building: a product page, a case study, etc.
you have synced content on that page (from Salesforce, for instance)
The END!
Your turn now: have you tried any of these Drupal page builders?
Which one best serves your content goals?
What other pros and cons would you have added to this Drupal Layout Builder vs Gutenberg comparison?
Let us know in the comments below.
Photo by Jason Dent on Unsplash
Silviu Serdaru / Mar 25'2020
Drupal voice search has gone from trend to standard these days.
So, you can't help ask yourself:
"How do I enable search based on voice recognition on my Drupal website?"
And that's precisely the question that I'm about to answer in this blog post.
That, along with all the other ones that must be "haunting" you:
How does voice search impact my revenues?
How do I optimize my website content for voice search queries?
How do I set up a custom voice search engine on my Drupal site?
Can I even build a voice-powered app with Drupal? How?
1. How Does Voice Search Impact Your Traffic, Conversions, Revenues?
“Voice Shopping Set to Jump to $40 Billion By 2022, Rising From $2 Billion Today“ (source: prnewswire.com)
How does making your Drupal website voice search-friendly translate into higher conversion rates?
The logic is simple:
it's more convenient for users to speak to the search bar than to type in their queries in order to find the needed products or services
by allowing them this convenience, you improve their experience on your website and that'll bubble up to your web traffic, conversions... revenues
"Becoming voice-first is going to be the new mobile first" (DrupalCon Nashville 2018)
In other words:
understanding how search engines provide accurate answers to users' vocal queries
optimizing your content to the patterns that you will have identified
… will have a huge impact on the user experience on your Drupal site.
Source: Gartner.com
And great user experience is what sets high ranking websites apart from... the rest.
2. Here's How You Make Your Content Cater to Voice Search Queries
Spoiler alert: I'll be pinpointing just the main techniques to apply for optimizing your content for voice search.
If you feel like delving deeper into this topic, we have a full post focused solely on actionable tips for optimizing your website for voice search.
That being said, here's the list of essential voice search SEO techniques to implement:
2.1. Incorporate Short, Simple, Clear Answers Into Your Content
30 words at most, according to Backlinko's research.
2.2. Fine-Tune the FAQ Page on Your Drupal Site
This page alone plays a key role in your voice search optimization strategy. It's there that search engines often “extract” their answers from.
2.3. Use Natural Language When Writing Your Content
A user would speak to a search bar as he/she would ask a question to a person. Which is significantly different from him/her interacting with a text search box via a robotic keyword search entry.
2.4. Configuring Drupal for Voice Search: Optimize Your Content for Google's Featured Snippets
I'm not going to get into details here, but there are lots of highly valuable MOZ blog posts on this topic that I recommend you have a look at.
2.5. Center Your Drupal Voice Search Strategy Around Question Keywords
“How to...”, “What to...”, “Why use...”
2.6. Make Sure to Include (Really) Long-Tail Keywords Into Your Content
5+ word keywords, I mean.
3. Set Up a Drupal Voice Search Engine in Just a Few Steps
How do you create a search system based on voice on your Drupal website?
Image by Kaufdex from Pixabay
Here are the easy steps to creating a custom voice search engine with Expertrec:
First of all, you need a google tag manager account, a Gmail id, access to your Drupal admin dashboard and a valid sitemap
Set up an account on https://cse.expertrec.com??platform=cse using your Gmail ID
Enter your website's URL login to your Drupal admin panel and install google tag manager: https://www.drupal.org/project/google_tag
Enter your google tag manager ID and save the configuration
Access https://cse.expertrec.com/csedashboard/home/code and copy that code
Add the first part of the code in your control panel, using Google tag manager
Use the custom HTML option and configure the trigger to place it on all the web pages on your Drupal site where you want the voice search enabled
Go to Structure-> Block layout-> Header ->Place block-> Add custom block-> click on source and enter: <ci-search></ci-search> (opt for "full HTML"). It's this code that will display a search box in your website's header
Hit the Save button and finally, navigate to UI customization->features-> enable voice search
And that's it: 9 simple steps to add voice search to your Drupal site.
4. Building Your Own Voice App: Why Would You Want to Use Drupal?
Now, let's say that you've optimized your Drupal website for voice search, improved your search ranking and given your traffic a major boost.
And you've decided to go further and... build your first voice app, as well.
Why would you use Drupal to build it?
Here are some of the most solid reasons:
Drupal provides you with a sophisticated user permissions and access control system
it allows you to restrict access to content
it provides you with fieldable content
it ships with a pre-built front-end Drupal
it enables you to put together complex content workflows
it provides multi-language support out of the box
it provides you with an API module
Note: in the end, it's your use case, along with all the specific feature needs deriving from there, that should influence your final decision.
But how would your Drupal voice app work, more precisely?
Here's the whole "mechanism" in the back-end, summed up to 4 stages:
the user talks to the voice assistant (Alexa, Siri, Cortana...)
the voice assistant talks to Drupal
Drupal provides an answer to the voice assistant
the voice assistant delivers the answer to the user
Chatbot API is the module that makes communication between Drupal and the AI voice assistant possible. It integrates, out of the box, with Dialogue Flow and Alexa.
I won't go into detail on the basics of a voice-powered app and the fundamentals of a VUI design.
Yet, I recommend you watched the DrupalCon session on Powering an Alexa App with Drupal. It includes a handful of useful tips and actionable information on building a Drupal-powered voice search.
In this chapter, my sole intention was to outline those Drupal features and functionalities that make it the best candidate for a voice app.
The END!
I won't hide it: I'm curious whether you've already got your Drupal website voice-search friendly or not just yet.
What strategies have you implemented so far to make your content more findable for vocal queries?
Have you set up your own Drupal voice search engine?
Are there any obstacles that Drupal challenged you with? That made the whole optimization for voice search more complex than expected?
Let us know in the comments below.
Photo by Matt Botsford on Unsplash
Adriana Cacoveanu / Mar 23'2020
In today's post, I'll share with you a selection of 10 European websites powered by Drupal.
From:
the most famous higher education website in Europe running on Drupal
to the most popular newspaper-website in France
to the most visited recipes and cooking website in the UK
... I'll put the spotlight on the top 10 Drupal websites in Europe.
So, without further ado, here are the names listed on Drupal's European hall of fame:
1. BBC Good Food, One of the Top 10 Drupal Websites in Europe
The most popular recipe website in the UK and one of the most visited Drupal websites in Europe.
The BBC Good Food team had very clear objectives when they chose Drupal for their rebuild:
to provide engaging content on their platform
to deliver a seamless experience across all devices
to deliver a unified experience to its international audience
to guarantee their visitors a powerful search and intuitive navigation
And Drupal was the only CMS to check all the goals off their list.
Here are just some of its features that made it the only choice for the BBC Good Food rebuild:
scalability: Drupal's built to scale up and withstand massive amounts of traffic
sophisticated content workflow: from Drupal's robust WYSIWYG editor to the role-based access control system, to the preview feature and the powerful content editing and publishing tools, BBC Good Food's content team can now add, edit, and upload various types of content... on the fly, across all devices
built-in multilingual support: the BBC Good Food website was redesigned with a global audience in mind
“We rebuilt the site in Drupal, which will allow us to spin out versions of the site internationally, for example with the same core content but reflecting different language and market trends, and with some local content on top of it. But we still need to develop plans for this.” (Chris Kerwin, BBC Worldwide’s head of publishing)
Other popular cooking sites built on Drupal: 24 Kitchen, Bosscaffe, Alevri.
2. Joinup, a Collaborative Platform Created by the European Commission
A Drupal-powered collaboration platform that contains a heavy load of content in the form of:
news
discussions
case studies
events
interoperability solutions (guidelines, software, code-lists, vocabularies, taxonomies, licenses, organizational assets)
“Interoperability solutions” that users (public administrations, citizens, and businesses) can share, find, re-use, and get inspired by to develop and implement new ones.
Now, you can just imagine that:
such a high volume of data
such a diversified ecosystem of content
... have turned Drupal into the unique CMS option to consider for Joinup.
Its excellent content capabilities and high scalability have made Drupal the best solution.
“On 4 October 2017, a brand new version of the platform, based on Drupal 8, went live. This migration from Drupal 6 to Drupal 8 was mainly driven by the fact that the maintenance of version 6 by the Drupal community was coming to an end and, also, by the performance and scalability improvements introduced by Drupal 8.” (source: Joinup.ec.europa.eu)
3. Jysk
The Danish retail chain is a leader in the European market of furniture and household goods, with online stores in 20 countries. Which makes its website (or better said "network of sites"), one of the most famous Drupal websites in Europe.
Why did the company choose Drupal to power its web presence? Because:
Drupal provides them with a multi-site architecture: Jysk's online presence translates into 20 different domains with similar feature sets and functionalities, sharing the same codebase, yet with different databases and configurations
Drupal's flexible: which enabled them to come up with fully customed e-commerce solutions, robust enough to cope with their complex business processes and backend systems
Drupal provides them with powerful content management features
Drupal provides them with multi-language support right out of the box: a crucial functionality considering that their website content needs to be translated into 20 different languages
Drupal's built to cope with high volumes of traffic: which, for Jysk, means about 60 million page views per month
4. Carrefour.fr
Why did the leading retailer in Europe choose Drupal for its e-commerce website?
For all the obvious reasons:
Drupal's editorial workflow: it empowers content creators to edit the content on carrefour.fr quick and easy and as often as needed
Drupal's one of the most secure open-source CMSs: an aspect of critical importance when handling lots of customer data
Drupal's system of roles and permissions: the granular access control system allows editors/admins to monitor who edits/publishes different types of content on the website (from product descriptions to prices)
Drupal's built with high-traffic websites in mind: massive volumes of traffic and intense e-commerce operations is what Carrfour.fr, one of the top 10 Drupal websites in Europe, needs to withstand
Drupal's online payment system: and here we're talking about a high volume of online payments being carried out daily
Drupal's equipped for content-heavy websites: hundreds of products, prices, product-specific promotions... no wonder that this retailer chose Drupal for powering its e-commerce website with: Drupal's the robust, go-to option for content-packed websites
5. Sevilla FC
Sevillafc.es is one of the most popular Drupal websites in Europe.
Why did the football club go with Drupal for their website?
Because:
they needed to appeal to an international audience and Drupal 8 provides multilingual support out of the box
they needed to get their new website equipped for high peaks of traffic and Drupal's already famous for powering some of the world's most visited websites
they needed a CMS that would enable their administrators and content team to add, update and publish content quick and easy and Drupal provides some of the most powerful content management workflow tools
they needed powerful multimedia capabilities, that Drupal provided their website with
they needed to set up a content management workflow for their mobile app content, as well: Drupal enables them to update and distribute content from a single entry point to their entire network
A "network" that includes their website, mobile app, and third party system.
6. Cancer Research UK
Among the top 10 Drupal websites in Europe, Cancerreaserchuk.org stands out with its vision:
“Our vision is to bring forward the day when all cancers are cured.”
It's no surprise to anyone why Drupal was chosen: it powers the websites of some globally known NGO, charity and non-profit organizations.
What I'd like to draw your attention to, in the case of Cancer Research UK in relation to Drupal, is Drupal Commerce powering its whole network of online shops.
The main goal, when bringing all the shops together on the same codebase was:
to deliver a seamless shopping experience
all while preserving each shop's identity
7. University of Oxford
Multiple individual sites under the same umbrella, providing a seamless, yet site-specific user experience.
Multiple departments of the same university in full control over their web presence... Does it ring any bell?
The website of the University of Oxford couldn't have been powered by another CMS than Drupal.
And the Application Development team there, at Oxford, dared to take Drupal's capabilities even further: they developed Oxford Mosaic, a Drupal multisite solution.
“Oxford Mosaic provides an easy-to-use interface for publishing attractive, responsive websites. Centrally maintained and fully supported, Mosaic is a cost-effective and sustainable web publishing solution.“ (source: Meetup.com)
By using Drupal:
creating new customizable web pages and even whole new sub-sites, from the ground up
handling a massive volume of content, highly diversified content, ranging from news and events to university research and information on the admission process
withstanding high volumes of web traffic, with all the students, faculty, and alumni accessing the website on a daily basis
… became easier.
8. The Paris Opera
Paris Opera's website is another one of those Drupal website examples that stand out. Like many other large organizations in Europe (and worldwide), they chose Drupal for being:
reliable
secure
robust
flexible to accommodate all development needs
9. Le Figaro
The online presence of the largest national newspapers in France is Drupal-powered.
No wonder why:
like any high-traffic newspaper website, it depends on Drupal's robustness for facing the challenge of live videos, media, and feeds-packed web pages
Le Figaro depends on Drupal's capabilities to deliver loads of varied content at a high page loading speed
it depends on Drupal's powerful features to support its social features (e.g. the comment sections on their articles)
10. Lush Cosmetics
Lush.com sets itself apart as one of the top 10 Drupal websites in Europe.
It 's also one of the most complex ones, from a content and user experience standpoint. A Drupal website where content and comments blend in beautifully.
Now, let me pinpoint just the strongest reasons why this company chose Drupal:
it stores a large catalog of products, with lots of interactive features that bubble up to the user experience: star ratings, user reviews, wishlists, charity pot
it's “packed” with tons of varied content that needs to be edited and published quick and easy: product videos and guides, ingredients lists, articles
it provides a seamless multi-channel customer experience
it addresses a global audience
In other words, Lush selected Drupal because:
it supports Lush's complex editorial workflow
it provides enough flexibility so the Lush team can easily update and customize various sections on the website
it integrates beautifully with third-party systems (various payment gateway, for instance)
it enables them to provide highly personalized experiences to users accessing their website from countries all around the globe
it grants the best user experience on all devices: their Drupal website's conveniently responsive
it's built to “fuel” even a heavy and complex content infrastructure like Lush's
The END!
These are the 10 best European Drupal websites.
What do you say: do you find it accurate or have we done certain websites an injustice?
Let us know, in the comments section below, if you agree with our top 10 Drupal websites in Europe.
Adriana Cacoveanu / Mar 19'2020
There’s no better way of telling which tool best fits your needs than by putting Drupal 8 Layout Builder and Paragraphs to the test, right?
If you were searching for an honest comparison of the 2 Drupal 8 drag and drop page builders, you’re on the right blog.
Because in this post I’ll compare Drupal Layout Builder vs Paragraphs.
What you’ll get is a straight answer to each one of your key questions regarding the 2 most popular page building tools in Drupal:
Why would you choose Drupal Paragraphs?
What are its main trade-offs?
What are its best use cases?
What are the key advantages of using Drupal 8 Layout Builder?
What are its limitations?
What are the use cases of Layout Builder vs Paragraphs?
Now, let’s get you those answers:
1. Drupal Layout Builder vs Paragraphs: Introducing the 2 Contestants
1.1. Drupal Paragraphs
The Paragraphs module was quite a revelation when it was first released.
Why? Because Drupal rocked supreme at enabling users to create template-based pages, but when it came to uniquely designed pages (i.e. landing pages) it started to show its limitations.
And this is where the Paragraphs module came in. It “seduced” Drupal developers with a new component-based approach to building a page’s layout.
Source: Championsdigital.com
The Paragraphs layout builder would allow developers to create individual paragraph types — popup elements, plain text, code blocks — and editors to assemble those paragraphs into highly flexible pages.
Moreover, they could reuse those page components to create new and new content layouts.
For instance, they could put together a page that included one WYSIWYG Paragraph, a Slideshow Paragraph, and one paragraph with both text field and image field...
The idea of “flexible structured content” had taken over the Drupal planet...
1.2. Drupal 8 Layout Builder
The drag and drop page builder in Drupal core designed to take the content editing experience to a new level.
How? By granting editors more control over the Drupal layouts they create.
Drupal 8 Layout Builder enables non-technical users to easily mix and match nodes, fields, and other types of content via a drag-and-drop UI.
They can create their visual layouts and landing pages in no time. All they need to do is drag and drop, then rearrange site-wide blocks and content fields to their liking.
Source: Drupal.org
Moreover, users can even create new custom “inline” blocks of their own.
Power and flexibility combined into one visual design tool aimed at improving the editor experience.
2. What Are Their Key Strengths?
2.1. Drupal Paragraphs
In a Drupal Layout Builder vs Paragraphs “battle”, why would you go with the “stacked components” approach to layout building in Drupal 8?
Source: Drupal.org
Because the content editing experience is intuitive: editors can use the “Add a popup” and “Add a quote” tabs and rearrange their components with drag and drop
Because it enables you to group multiple fields into new complex elements
Because it allows you to come up with an unlimited no. of ways for combining your paragraphs
Because it enables you to create reusable components that you can then use per node
Because it prevents the workflow of your nodes from becoming too cluttered by providing an entity type for your sub-page components
Source: Drupal.org
2.2. Drupal 8 Layout Builder
What are its key selling points? Why would you choose Layout Builder over Paragraphs?
Because it requires less custom code
Because it grants you a higher level of control over the layouts you’re creating
Because it grants you lower maintenance costs
Because you get to mix field content with blocks
Because you’re free to create and populate new landing pages from the ground up: just set up your custom content blocks and arrange them to your liking within the layout
Because it provides you with an improved authoring experience
Because you can extend the default set of layout grids through custom plug-ins
Because it allows you to keep your structured data
Because it enables you to get the most of the block system for creating your Drupal layouts: custom inline blocks, programmatic blocks, custom global blocks, custom field blocks
“Blocks” that are fieldable, translatable, templatable, reusable, and part of Drupal core, as well.
Source: Phase2Technology.com
In a nutshell, this Drupal page builder provides both:
an easy way to manage fielded content in the backend
the best drag-and-drop editor experience
3. Where Does Each Drupal Page Builder Fall Short?
3.1. Drupal Paragraphs
What could make you… hesitate before choosing the Paragraphs layout builder for creating structured content? What are its key limitations?
You (your content editors) still depend on a developer to set everything up
Managing nested paragraphs when dealing with complex layouts can get quite overwhelming
Source: Evolvingweb.ca
And this is the biggest trade-off that could discourage you from going with Paragraphs as your page building tool:
You get to nest/add new and new elements, which carry their own sets of elements, up to the point where this “unlimited nesting” of paragraphs turns into a too confusing interface to cope with.
3.2. Drupal 8 Layout Builder
Where does it fall short?
In a Drupal Layout Builder vs Paragraphs “debate”, which drawbacks of this visual design tool could make you choose Paragraphs instead?
You might find block content not to be 100% explicitly connected to nodes
Combining template-based with custom layouts is a bit challenging
Enforcing a sitewide consistency of your custom-made layouts is quite a dare
4. When Would You Use One Layout/Editing Tool Over the Other?
4.1. Drupal Paragraphs
When you need to reuse many of the content components on your website to create new pages
When being able to reuse those components “per node” is of particular importance for your workflow
When your structured layout does call for nested paragraph bundles
4.2. Drupal 8 Layout Builder
When would you use this particular solution for creating layouts in Drupal 8?
When is Layout Builder a better choice than the paragraphs module?
When your landing page calls for a grid-like layout, including both dynamic elements (custom blocks, views) and fielded content
When you need to “juggle with” multiple columns for creating your layout
When you need to create a fully customed page from the ground up; a “special” page, that’s not connected to any structured content on your website (i.e. a single “Get a Quote” page)
When you need to custom-tune templated layouts; to override existing page layouts
When you need to set up “layout templates”, such as the layout for your product page or your blog post page
5. Final Results: Which Approach Best Fits Your Needs?
What do the results of this Drupal Layout Builder vs Paragraphs comparison tell you?
That there’s no “best” Drupal page builder. Only the one that best fits your specific layout creation needs.
It all comes down to the level of diversity in your content:
If it’s a particularly intricate page layout that you need to create, you might not want to go with Paragraphs. Its nesting feature can turn against you.
If you’re “craving” flexibility and the content on your Drupal 8 website varies a lot from page to page, yet you still want to keep a level of layout consistency, the Drupal 8 Layout Builder is your best choice
Your turn now: which of these 2 page building tools do you prefer and why?
Let me know in the comments below.
Image by 200 Degrees from Pixabay
Adriana Cacoveanu / Mar 06'2020
Here you are, facing an impossible dilemma: is the Apigee Developer Portal Kickstart on Drupal 8 the best solution for the developer portal that you're setting up? Or should you go with Apigee's integration portal instead?
How are they different in terms of provided features? How do your own requirements and constraints influence your choice?
Now, let's dive right into:
what the Apigee developer portal is
when to consider Apigee's integrated portal
why and when to choose Drupal 8 Apigee Kickstart
what could discourage you from using the Drupal distribution
1. What Is Developer Portal Apigee?
You're already building APIs that expose your services to developers from your team and to those outside your enterprise, right?
But you want to go beyond merely building APIs: you want to provide the best developer experience, as well. One that would entice developers to use those APIs.
And this is what the Apigee developer portal is mainly designed for:
To help you "lure in" those admins and developers using APIs managed by the Apigee platform.
2. Choose Apigee Integrated Portal If...
... it's a basic marketing or developer documentation website that you're planning to put together.
One that should integrate with a subset of features exposed vis Apigee's API management platform.
Tip: think twice before choosing this solution if you need to integrate API revisions, load balancing, monetization or various complex documentation structures with your developer portal, etc.
You'd Want to Use the Integrated Portal Solution Because:
it's an easy to build, easy to use portal, integrated with Apigee Edge, that you have in mind
it's a simple developer documentation website that you're setting up
it's a basic, turn-key developer portal solution that you need
it provides you with hosting on Google Cloud, support and maintenance
it makes documenting and managing your APIs fairly easy
Apigee's Integrated Portal Top Features:
Create pages using page editor
API Documentation
Access control to portal content and APIs
Customize design elements via SCSS style sheets
Advanced customizations (customize domain, configure your email, custom registration fields, extend portal using scripts)
Create pages using page editor
Analytics via Google Analytics and custom analytics tracking
Add menus for navigation
Self-service registration for developers to build apps using your APIs
Markdown and HTML to compose content
3. Choose Apigee Developer Portal Kickstart If...
it's a powerful developer portal platform that you need
it's a highly flexible, fully customizable solution that you're looking for
you need to get your developer portal up and running, integrated with Apigee Edge, in no time
Source: docs.apigee.com
Are all these 3 requirements on your priority list?
Then Apigee's distribution for Drupal 8 might just be the best way to set up a new developer portal. Or to move your current one from Drupal 7 to Drupal 8.
You'd Want to Use the Apigee Developer Portal Kickstart Because:
it does most of the Drupal 8 module installing and configuration work for you
it provides you with step-by-step guidance to install Drupal 8 core, integrate your portal with Apigee Edge, and customize its theme
its theme's Bootstrap-based, enabling you to easily customize and brand your website
it's faster and more extendable
it's forward-compatible with Drupal 9
it's, overall, highly customizable: you get to create fine-tuned brand experiences
it provides you with sample content, as well, so you can set up your developer platform quick and easy
it operates with already familiar Drupal 8 concepts: content types (e.g. Basic pages, article, forums...) media types, etc.
In a nutshell: take the Apigee Kickstart developer portal as a convenient package with all the Drupal 8 modules and libraries that you'll need to quickly put together a developer community.
One that's connected to Apigee Edge, exposes your APIs and publishes the API documentation that developers need.
Apigee Developer Portal Kickstart Top Features:
API Catalog page
Modules for FAQ, Blogs, and Forums
16 pages with preloaded content for demonstration
API documentation content type
Customizable site theme
“Getting Started” page
Developer Portal homepage
API doc landing page with demo content and vocabulary
4. You'd Hesitate Using Drupal 8 Apigee Kickstart Because...
it makes you dependent on this Drupal distribution's maintainers; on their updates and security patches releases
it "ties" your developer portal to the distribution's predefined theme, content layout, font, colors...
So, you'll first want to check that the distribution — Apigee Kickstart Drupal in this case — is regularly and properly maintained.
5. The Best Solution for Your Developer Portal Is...
the one that meets your customization needs
the one that complies with your time constraints
the one that fits your team's level of expertise in setting up a developer portal
Source: docs.apigee.com
In short, choosing between an integrated portal and a Drupal-based one starts with setting your requirements (and your constraints) against each solution's benefits and key features.
Are you time-limited, but do you also "crave" power of customization over your future developer portal? The Apigee Kickstart Drupal might be the best solution for you.
Do you need a ready-hosted turn-key platform to set up your developer community on? Are you already an Apigee Edge for Public Cloud customer?
Then Apigee's integrated portal might suit you best.
The END!
Integrated portal or Drupal-based portal: what would you choose? And why?
Adriana Cacoveanu / Feb 13'2020
How viable is it to have your online store running on Drupal 8 Commerce?
Why not go with... Magento 2 or Shopify? Or just stick to Drupal Commerce 7, instead of jumping to Commerce 2.x? What are its most “tempting” features?
Those that make it a better option for you than:
the Drupal 7 Ubercart module
Commerce 1.x
other eCommerce platforms
And also: which of its limitations could discourage you from using Drupal 8 and Commerce?
Let's dig in for some answers and steer you in the right direction:
1. Why Use Drupal 8 Commerce?
Because it's “extremely” customizable.
And this is both its “superpower” and the main reason why you'd hesitate using it...
Source: Drupal.org
Commerce 2 is definitely not a “plug and play” eCommerce solution. Instead, it grants you total freedom of customization.
And that can be overwhelming for some...
Since it assumes nothing about your business model, you're free to tweak it to your needs. To create precisely the eCommerce customer experience that you'd like your website to provide.
But that means there's more coding to do, compared to conventional webshop systems.
Now, deriving from the power of customization, here are the main reasons why you'd want to use Drupal 8 Commerce for your online store:
1.1. Cart Works Pretty Much Out of the Box
Since it's opinionated, you don't need to get tangled up in configuration... too deep.
1.2. It Provides You with Multi-Store Support
Commerce 2 makes it easier for you to manage an entire infrastructure of online stores. Each one with its own Drupal 8 custom checkout process, its currencies, its product types, etc.
1.3. It Enables You to Have as Many Product Variations as Needed
From size to color, to language. Drupal 8 Commerce comes with great product attribute handling.
You're free to put together any custom combination of product attributes. To include as many product variations in your store as needed.
1.4. It Ships with Multiple Currencies Built-In Support
A too powerful feature to ignore. Especially if it's a multi-store architecture that you're planning to run on Commerce 2.
1.5. You Can Easily Develop Analytical Hooks to Further Improve the UX
You can fire events at any stage of the user journey on your eCommerce website to identify the weak links. Those with low user engagement.
1.6. It's Ideally Suited to a Headless Architecture
Are you planning a headless eCommerce setup? Drupal 8 Commerce's the ideal “candidate” for that.
It works smoothly with GraphQL, so you can use the front-end framework of your choice — say... React — and deliver the best eCommerce experience to your customers.
In a nutshell: Commerce for Drupal 8 empowers you to customize every little aspect of your online store.
But maybe some demo stores, that are already leveraging these Commerce 2 features, would weigh heavier in your decision-making process:
Demo store 1
Demo store 2
2. What Could Keep You From Using Commerce 2.x?
As I've already stated here:
“The power of customization that it provides is both its “superpower” and the main reason why you'd hesitate using it.”
You can, indeed, customize your online store down to the last detail, but that does come at a cost. The cost of coding. The cost of a skilled team of developers.
But let us detail the reasons why you'd.... hesitate to use Drupal 8 Commerce:
2.1. It Has a Pretty High Learning Curve
If you're used to Shopify's “get up and running” approach and you're not familiar with Drupal development, you'll see that Commerce 2.x isn't that non-developer friendly.
It's not the type of tool that site builders without high programming skills find it quick and easy to learn.
2.2. It Requires Quite a Lot of Custom Code Writing
Do keep that in mind:
Drupal 8 Commerce is unexpectedly configurable and ideally extensible. Yet, you need to write plenty of custom code to unleash all that customization power.
So, do expect to be challenged to write custom modules, custom templates and, overall, do a lot of custom work.
2.3. Setting It Up Is Not that Intuitive
… as you might expect, being familiar with “ready-to-use” eCommerce platforms like Shopify, for instance.
And all that because it assumes nothing. So, there's no preconfigured structure that you get out of the box. One that you should stick to.
2.4. It's a Completely Different System from Drupal 7's
And this is another strong “blocker” that might stop you from using Drupal 8 and Commerce 2.x for your next online store.
You expect it to be fairly similar to Commerce 1.x. And yet, it's a whole new system.
One that ships with brand new concepts that you need to get yourself familiar with (i.e. checkout is no longer a form)
3. Why Move from Drupal Commerce 7 to 8?
Why not just stick to Drupal 7's Ubercart module, for instance? Or to Commerce 1.x?
Photo by Bruno Kelzer on Unsplash
Here are the top 4 reasons why you'd want to choose Drupal 8 Commerce instead of Drupal 7:
3.1. Drupal Commerce 2.x Provides More Out of the Box
It ships with a fully functional promotions system, for instance.
From coupons to discounts, you can incorporate the type of promotion that you have in mind for your customers in... no time.
3.2. It's an Upgraded Version of Commerce 1.x
And that translates into improved:
product administration
third-party integration
3.3. The Drupal 8 Custom Checkout
In Drupal 8 Commerce checkout is not a form.
A bit intrigued?
With Drupal Commerce 2 you're free to create your own custom checkout flows. Meaning that you get to customize the process according to specific:
customer profiles
product types
orders
… and so on.
For instance, you can set up 2 different checkout flows. One for your digital items and the other one for the physical ones that you sell on your eCommerce website.
3.4. You Benefit from a More Modular Design
Just think about it:
Compared to Drupal 7 Commerce, the Drupal 8 version is a lot more extensible and configurable. This allows you to custom-tune other elements of your website besides the checkout.
For instance, you're free to configure your catalog from the ground up. From products to orders, to shops (if you're running a marketplace with several different stores), to prices... you get to tailor your catalog to your most specific business needs.
Besides configuration of the default behavior for a standard eCommerce store, Commerce 2x. doesn't impose any predefined, rigid logic on you.
4. Go with Drupal 8 Commerce If...
you already advocate for Drupal's flexibility and robustness
you don't mind investing some time in learning Commerce 2.x and writing custom code
you need more than a standard online store, that's easy to set up, but offers you no customization freedom (see Woocommerce)
you're not ready to pay for every little add-on that you might need (see Shopify), that you could create it yourself
The END!
Would you trade flexibility for convenience?
The convenience of having a generic webshop up and running in no time? Let's start a conversation on this topic in the comments here below!
To learn more about how our Drupal eCommerce agency can help you meet your business goals, contact us.
Image by justynafaliszek from Pixabay
Adriana Cacoveanu / Feb 11'2020
Unfortunately for many tech enthusiasts, the vast majority of web developers in Canada currently trying to implement AI, Blockchain, or IoT want them for their novelty rather than for the genuine purposes they can serve. So what happens when you do have a creative use for one of these technologies?
For many development houses, the choice between investing in emerging technology capability or staying on top of the vast set of platforms users choose from is an easy one — more platforms means more clients, and you can usually find a way to fill most functions using traditional technologies.
At OPTASY, however, we knew we wanted to push the boundaries of what was possible. By focusing on Drupal development, we have been able to become leaders in our field, enabling our clients to take control of far more powerful technologies than have ever before been available.
That attitude, combined with our attention to detail and customer service, has landed us a series of excellent reviews on Clutch.co, placing us in the top 10 web developers in all of Canada.
Clutch promotes leading agencies by collecting verified, unbiased feedback on vendors and displaying it in the form of written ratings and reviews.
In one of our most recent projects, we built the Drupal 8 website of an equal opportunity community nonprofit. Our team worked hard to provide iterative design and development that incorporated all of the client’s feedback throughout the process. Their team was particularly impressed with our professionalism and openness to input.
“We would definitely choose them in the future and recommend them to any individual looking for a website that leads to conversions and conveys a message in a smart format. They welcomed our feedback but also balanced our ideas with conversion principles. The site’s beautiful and performing exactly how we’d hoped it would.” - Sean Kelly, Executive Director
Feedback like this from our valued clients demonstrates one of the biggest reasons we love what we do so much.
Development may be our selling point, but building meaningful business relationships is what makes the world of tech go ‘round. We really appreciate the chance that Clutch provides to learn from our past engagements and reach potential future customers.
We are also featured highly on The Manifest, a platform that hosts industry-organized company rankings alongside business insights and articles explaining a variety of topics. On Visual Objects, customers have the chance to look through portfolio items to help inform their decisions, helping them to get a sense of what their project might look like with any particular team of web developers in Canada.
If you’re looking for a development partner to help make your business dreams come to life, check out our profile on Clutch or reach out to us! We’re always looking for exciting new partnerships to take on, and would love for the next one to be you.
Image by Tomislav Kaučić from Pixabay
Adriana Cacoveanu / Jan 27'2020
How do you take advantage of AI and get the most of Drupal's content management system? Are there any Drupal 8 AI modules and tools that you could incorporate into your website and... get the most of both worlds?
The best of Drupal as a reliable content repository and of a:
chatbot
virtual assistant or another type of conversational interface
Or maybe you want to implement AI to boost the various content workflows happening on your website:
content that needs to be served to various markets (and thus translated into... various languages)
user-generated content that needs to follow a certain editorial guideline (e.g. "adding alternative text to images")
content experiences that need to be tailored to each user's activity on your site
Nothing easier.
There are at least 7 different modules in Drupal to help you inject AI capabilities into your website:
1. What Are the Biggest Advantages of Artificial Intelligence in Drupal?
How does building AI integrations on top of your Drupal website translate into benefits? Strong, clear benefits...
Well, it all bubbles up to the user experience and to your team's efficiency:
you create and deliver more personalized experiences for your website visitors
you streamline and automate your team's content and marketing workflows
you get to boost your targeted marketing efforts
you provide more engaging user experience, as well, incorporating smarter features into your Drupal site
2. Build a Drupal Chatbot Fast with 2 Drupal 8 AI Modules
Thinking about delivering a more user-centric experience on your website? Then you must be wondering how you can implement an AI-powered conversational interface in Drupal, right?
You'd then be using Drupal for front UI, content management, user admin...
Source: Drupal Camp Pune
It's simple:
There are 2 dedicated AI modules in Drupal that help you create a chatbot in no time:
2.1. Chatbot API
Let take this scenario:
You want your "Drupal headless" setup to share content across an entire ecosystem of services: Facebook bot, Dialogueflow, Amazon Echo... Yet, you dread the idea of writing custom code for every single chatbot/personal assistant in this ecosystem.
How do you streamline your content serving efforts? How can you write your code once and... have your content shared with all your target chatbots and?
You install Chatbot API.
It will intermediate the integration of all those services into your Drupal website. And it will ensure that data gets served across the whole network of chatbots.
2.2. Drupal Chatbot
Another useful module to use if you consider creating a chatbot on Drupal data.
Here's how it works:
It enables you to set up a voice and text-based bot to interact with your website visitors. One that acts as a layer between Drupal and the NLP agent.
You get to choose the block where you want it enabled and to add various functionalities, as well: Latest Article Search, Latest Pages, Top Rated Pages...
3. Implement a Virtual Assistant with Decoupled Drupal Commerce
What if you want to take the eCommerce experience on your online store to a new level? To turn it into a... conversational eCommerce experience?
How? By integrating a Drupal virtual assistant into your website.
Nothing easier:
You connect a bot to decoupled Drupal Commerce.
Bot Frameworks + Decoupled Drupal Commerce APIs + NLU = A Conversational Interface for your eCommerce website.
Since Drupal:
puts a whole collection of APIs at your free disposal (being API-first)
provides you with the Commerce Cart API module to leverage
... storing content (and product details) and interacting with shopping carts in Drupal Commerce becomes particularly easy.
And here's how your Drupal Commerce-powered bot would work:
it will trigger "review cart" and "add to cart functionality" via message-based interactions
it will unblock search and "explore the products" functionality by connecting itself to the Drupal Commerce APIs
4. Create Personalized Experiences with Drupal Machine Learning
Personalization is the norm these days.
To serve content tailored to your customers' past activity (what they shared, what content they searched for...) and their profiles.
And for doing it right, you need to incorporate machine learning techniques into your Drupal website.
"Is it possible to do that?"
Of course. And here are just 2 Drupal 8 AI modules that you can tap into for personalizing the web content experience that you provide your site visitors with:
4.1. Acquia Lift Connector
Take it as a convenient 2-in-1 tool at hand: customer data & content.
This way, you get to streamline your content personalization efforts. To scale and share user-tailored experiences across an entire infrastructure of channels and devices.
It'll "equip" your marketing campaign with all the powerful features you need: behavioral targeting, real-time audience segmentation, A/B testing...
In a nutshell, what this module does is connect your Drupal site with the Acquia Lift personalization tool...
4.2. Azure Cognitive Services API
The go-to module if you consider "injecting" intelligent features — speech, facial and vision recognition, speech and language understanding — into your Drupal website or app.
Your development team can just tap into the machine learning APIs exposed and... turn them into machine learning functionalities to be incorporated into your Drupal application.
Source: Drupal.org
It's a package of 4 different AI modules, in fact:
Face API Module
Emotion Recognition API Module
Computer Vision API Module
Azure Text Analytics API Module
The last one, for instance, triggers advanced natural language processing on raw text.
This translates into 3 key features: key phrase extraction, sentiment analysis, and language detection.
5. Streamline Your Workflows with 2 Drupal Intelligent Content Tools
One of the biggest advantages of artificial intelligence is that of streamlining (and automating) your in-house workflows.
Your content and marketing ones...
So, how do you inject "efficiency" into your Drupal content and marketing teams' various workflows? You integrate these 2 Drupal 8 AI modules into their work.
5.1. Automatic Alternative Text
What if you could implement AI capabilities into the process where users upload their own content?
Just ponder on this scenario for a while:
You can include "Add alternative text images" into your set of editorial guidelines, but you can't expect users to follow them, as well, when they upload content, right?
And that's what you have the Automatic Alternative Text module for.
Source: Drupal.org
It describes the image that the user uploads. In one sentence.
It generates more than one description for the same image, actually...
Furthermore, it ships with features like:
detecting mature content
identifying faces in a given image
determining the prevailing colors
5.2. Cloudwords for Multilingual Drupal
Another one of those Drupal intelligent content tools that you should turbocharge your team's workflow with.
Just put yourself into one of your marketers' shoes:
He/she has to deliver content (lots of it) to an entire ecosystem of markets, in various languages.
And delivering localized, consistent content experiences at a global scale does take plenty of resources...
What this module does is automate the entire content delivery and management process:
Just select the piece(s) of content that you'll need to localize and let Cloudwords serve it at high speed, to all your target markets.
The END!
And these are but 7 of the Drupal 8 AI modules at your disposal for injecting artificial intelligence capabilities into your website/app.
Have you implemented any AI integrations in Drupal 8 so far? Any chatbots or maybe AI-powered tools for personalizing the content experience on your website?
What other types of AI modules would you like to find in Drupal?
Photo by Franck V. on Unsplash
Adriana Cacoveanu / Jan 24'2020
Powerful, full-featured media handling in Drupal. This has been your, our, and all the content authors and Drupal site builders' wish for a decade now. And it has just become reality: Drupal 8 Media Library is now a stable core module shipping with... WYSIWYG embedding support.
You just click that shiny and new button added to your CKEditor and add your media. As simple as that!
And there's more:
You can embed media assets in your content in a... finger snap. No mouse needed.
A bit overwhelmed?
Now, let's see how we got this far. How was the life of an editor before Media in Drupal 8 core and how it came to improve?
And, of course, how these 2 major media improvements in Drupal 8.8 impact your content creation experience.
1. Drupal 8 Media Library: Why Was It Necessary in the First Place?
Since we already had the Drupal 8 Media module in core, right?
Yes, but it lacked an UI...
So, any time an editor needed to add/reuse media file to a... blog post, let's say, he/she had to type in that file's name in the entity referenced field, triggering its auto-complete functionality. He could not visualize those media items before selecting them. There were just plain-boring forms, a table for all the media files and administrative views...
Therefore, the team behind the Media Module in Drupal 8 created Media Library, which was meant to provide precisely that visual experience that was missing.
In short: Drupal 8 Media Library was meant to add a nice UI to Media.
Editors could browse though all their media assets, then quickly select and upload, right from their media libraries, the ones they wanted to reuse across their websites.
It would open up a visual grid display of all their media items, with built-in filters to narrow down their options.
The result? A far better editorial experience.
2. Media Management in Drupal 8: From None to... a Full-Featured System
How did we get this far? From almost no media support to a modern ecosystem of powerful media handling features?
It all started in 2007, when Dries first outlined the need for “Drupal’s core features for file management and media handling... generic media management module with pluggable media types” in his “State of Drupal” talk.
Since then, decent media handling support in Drupal has been one of the most requested features:
Source: Drupal.org
Now, putting the whole “Media in Core Drupal 8” process on high-speed we get to:
the release of Drupal 8.4, when the Media module was first added to core
Drupal 8.5 with Media working right out of the box
Drupal 8.6, when the Drupal 8 Media Library module “stepped into the spotlight” as an experimental module
Drupal 8.7 with significant improvements to the Media Library visual interface (e.g. bulk uploads)
Drupal 8.8 with WYSIWYG embedding support
Now, can you imagine the life of a Drupal site builder/content author, back in those days? The “before Media” days?
Whenever he needed to reuse an image media, previously uploaded on the website, but on a different page, he had to... re-upload it.
There was no way of reusing and embedding it into the text, quick and easy. And no way of using remote media, either (Instagram, Youtube...)
Now, back to the present, when we (finally) have Media and Media Library in Drupal Core:
You get to add different types of media items — audio files, remote video, images, documents — store them in your library and reuse them in your content whenever you need.
Furthermore, you get to bulk upload media files, filter them by specific criteria, display them in a table or a grid view, you name it.
Managing and reusing your media resources in Drupal has never been easier.
3. Media Library in Drupal 8.8: The New “Add Media” Button
Drupal 8.8 came to “seal” a whole decade of efforts put into building and implementing a robust media handling system in Drupal.
And the last improvements that it brings to the entire core media in Drupal 8 ecosystem are just... mind-blowing:
Media Library is officially a stable module in core
it comes with an “Add Media” button added to the CKEditor panel
keyboard accessibility: entity embed is possible without using a mouse
Source: The Drop is Always Moving
And there you have it! The last “roadblock” on Drupal 8 Media Library's roadmap to the status of a stable core module has been overcome:
You have WYSIWYG integration in Drupal 8.
Meaning that now you can embed media in your content types by simply clicking on a button, right in your editor. And all that with a... finger snap. No mouse needed.
Source: Drupal.org
In other words, Drupal 8 Media Library means, since Drupal 8.8's got released:
A quicker, simpler way for everyone to add media from the media library directly to the text editor.
The END!
We're a bit curious:
With powerful media handling now in Drupal core, what's the next “nice to have” improvement on your wishlist?
What other critical feature, that Drupal currently lacks, would significantly improve your developer/site builder/admin/editor experience?
Image by Pettycon from Pixabay
Adriana Cacoveanu / Jan 15'2020