Drupal Planet

Drupal Starshot blog: Marketplace Share Out #3: Value and Incentives

Over the last few weeks, the Marketplace Initiative has been mapping assumptions, surfacing motivations, and exploring real-world expectations for a Drupal Site Template Marketplace. The initial rounds of feedback were designed to surface motivations, beliefs, unknowns, and frame what success might mean. That work has helped ground the initiative in shared purpose and direction.

Now we’re starting the work of transforming those broad ambitions into working models of value, governance, trust, and experience. We're beginning to sketch what the Marketplace does, how it creates and protects value, and what contributors and users can expect from it.

Why a Drupal Site Template Marketplace?

Across survey feedback, community prompts, and RTC themes, several consistent value propositions have emerged — answering the question: Why build a Drupal site template Marketplace?

For Contributors

A trusted, visible channel to distribute, monetize, and showcase high-quality site templates that reflect your expertise — and generate leads, recognition, and revenue.

For Agencies & DCPs

An ecosystem catalyst that drives qualified leads, lowers implementation costs, and helps you deliver faster, better Drupal experiences to more clients.

For End Users (Builders, Subject Matter Experts, Evaluators)

A library of trustworthy, ready-to-launch Drupal sites — professionally built, continuously vetted, and provided by the Drupal community.

For the Drupal Project & Drupal Association

A sustainable marketplace that strengthens the ecosystem, generates new revenue, and reflects the values of open source through governance, quality, and inclusion.

What Makes Contribution Worthwhile?

In Slack, surveys and our real-time collaboration session we asked contributors directly: “What would make it worthwhile for you to contribute a template?” Key themes emerged from the discussion:

  • Compensation matters. Contributors suggested price points between $300–$1,000 per site template, depending on complexity. Some see templates as a viable business; others view them as strategic loss leaders.
  • Lead generation is an incentive. Access to user contact info or opportunities to offer services was cited as a powerful motivator—even more than direct revenue in some cases.
  • Recognition and visibility also surfaced as important non-financial incentives, especially for those aiming to grow brand or project awareness.
  • Licensing clarity and IP protection remain concerns—contributors want guardrails to discourage cloning and unauthorized redistribution.
  • Marketplace features—such as demo previews, rich media listings, and clear tech specs—can enhance both contributor experience and buyer confidence.

We also heard loud and clear what gets in the way of contribution:

  • High (Uncompensated) Support Expectations: Ongoing maintenance, support, and clarity of lifecycle.
  • Lack of Clarity: Around what qualifies, what gets featured, and how disputes are handled.
  • Governance Gaps: Without rules, the risk is chaos — too many low-quality or misaligned submissions.
  • Misaligned Incentives: Contributors worry about monetization models that exclude or exploit.
What’s Coming Next

Here’s what we’ll be working on over the coming weeks:

  • Governance Sketching: From submission flow to trust signals and appeals.
  • Contributor Workflow Design: What the path from idea → listing → maintenance actually looks like.
  • Quality & Review Criteria: What “good” looks like across code, content, accessibility, and UX.
  • Revenue & Recognition Models: How value is created, shared, and sustained.
How You Can Contribute Now

We’re still in active input-gathering mode, and your voice matters.

  • Survey #2 is still open – If you haven’t yet shared how a Drupal CMS Marketplace might help you or your business, take it now.
  • Survey #3 just launched – This one explores expectations around fairness, openness, and revenue models. Take the survey here.
  • Join the weekly Slack prompt in #drupal-cms-marketplace
    Up this week: What would make you trust a site template listing?
  • Participate in our Drupal Certified Partner and Agency Ecosystem Roundtable 15 May 2025 UTC 15:30. Register here.

DDEV Blog: DDEV May 2025 Newsletter

Welcome to the May 2025 DDEV Newsletter
This month: special-networking guides, add-on maintenance tips, community tool highlights, and Randy’s bikepacking plans.

What’s New
  • Special Network Configurations
    Handling packet-inspection VPNs (Zscaler, GlobalProtect) → Read more↗
  • Add-On Maintenance Guide by @stasadev → Read more↗
  • AMD64 on Apple Silicon → Read more↗
Community Tutorials Events & Talks
  • Drupal4Gov: “Divide and Conquer: A Systematic Approach to Troubleshooting” → Watch on YouTube↗
  • Backdrop Live: migrating from Lando to DDEV (not recorded)
Governance & Roadmap
  • Apache-style PMC Exploration
    We'll be exploring an Apache-style "Project Management Committee" model for DDEV governance → Details↗
Your Input Requested!

Heads-Up: Randy will be out bikepacking May 23–June 23, so updates may be limited; Stas will keep things moving!

Sponsorship Status
  • Monthly average income up from $7,639 to $7,659 (64% of $12,000 goal) → Become a sponsor↗
Stay Connected

drunomics: Drupal Dev Days 2025: Innovation, Community, and Collaboration in Leuven

Drupal Dev Days 2025: Innovation, Community, and Collaboration in Leuven wolfgang.ziegler Mon, 05/05/2025 - 22:36 Drupal innovation is accelerating! Join our journey at the Drupal Dev Days 2025 in Leuven where we explored ambitious plans for Experience Builder, AI integration, and a new pan-European Drupal association while connecting with the passionate community.

Talking Drupal: Talking Drupal #500 - Community Edition

Join us for an extraordinary celebration of Talking Drupal's 500th episode! In this milestone episode, we dive into a treasure trove of memories, insights, and updates from an array of special guests. From innovative Drupal contributions to the future of open-source technology, this episode is packed with valuable discussions. Don't miss appearances from notable guests like Dries Buytaert, Tim Doyle, Tim Lehnen, Mike Anello, and many more. Celebrate with us as we look forward to 500 more episodes!

For show notes visit: https://www.talkingDrupal.com/500

Topics

Guests include, in order of appearance:

  • Jason Pamental
  • Dries Buytaert
  • Tim Doyle
  • Tim Lehnen
  • Carlos Ospina
  • Mayela Jackson
  • Mike Anello
  • Jonus Cuyvers
  • Jacob Rockowitz
  • Antonio Estevez
  • Norah Medlin
  • Kevin Quillen
  • Chris Wells
  • Steven Jones
  • Jürgen Haas
  • Thomas Scola
  • Chad Hester
  • Matt Glaman
  • James Abrahams
  • Avi Schwab
  • Josh Mitchell
  • James Shield
Resources

Road to deprecating .module files

Hosts

Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi Martin Anderson-Clutz - mandclu.com mandclu Stephen Cross - stephencross

The Drop Times: Growing but Not Devoid of Pain

Dear Readers,

The 2025 State of Open Source Report has dropped, and it’s raising eyebrows. Open Source adoption keeps climbing, with 96% of organizations either holding steady or increasing their usage. But behind that impressive number is a more complicated story. Many teams are pushing ahead without the skills or strategy to manage what they’ve adopted. The tools are powerful. The human side, including staffing, governance, and lifecycle planning, is struggling to keep pace.

Drupal users will recognize the tension. As one of the most mature and widely deployed open-source platforms, Drupal has long been part of the enterprise tech stack. But even here, the report's themes hit home. The risk of running outdated modules, the effort needed to stay current with security updates, and the rising demand for cloud-native workflows are all very real. It's not just about building with Open Source anymore. It's about managing it with clarity and consistency.

The key takeaway? Adoption alone isn’t success. Whether you're using Drupal, containerized services, or open-source data platforms, the same pressures apply. Unsupported code, compliance gaps, and missing talent can quietly undermine progress. The report is worth your time if you care about using Open Source in a sustainable, responsible way. Read the full 2025 report to get a grounded look at where the ecosystem stands and what needs attention next.
 

DISCOVER DRUPALLISTICLEEVENTORGANISATION NEWS

We acknowledge that there are more stories to share. However, due to selection constraints, we must pause further exploration for now.

To get timely updates, follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. You can also join us on Drupal Slack at #thedroptimes.

Thank you, 
Sincerely 
Alka Elizabeth 
Sub-editor, The DropTimes.

Drupal Association blog: Let’s support a pillar of Open source

Open source projects thrive because of the people and institutions that nurture it behind the scenes empowering innovation, collaboration, and digital freedom. One impactful institution is the Oregon State University Open Source Lab (OSL). The Drupal community owes much of our success and growth to Open Source Lab when they supported the project in 2005 by hosting our servers.

Today, OSL needs our support.

About Open Source Lab

The Oregon State University Open Source Lab is a nonprofit organization with a powerful legacy in the open source ecosystem. For years, it has provided secure, reliable hosting services to some of the most widely used and mission-critical open source projects like Apache, CentOS, Debian, Django, Docker, Eclipse, Mozilla Firefox, GNOME, Go, KDE, Node.JS, OpenBSD, OpenSSL, postgreSQL, Rust, sqlite, The Tor Project, Yum, and yes, Drupal.

Open Source Lab helped shape Drupal’s journey

In 2005, when a surge of interest melted down the shared server that was being used by Dries to host Drupal.org, Sun Microsystems donated a server but there was nowhere to host it. Open Source Lab stepped forward providing managed data center services, offering not only hosting but also long-term support through its student mentorship model. This commitment shaped the careers of many open source leaders, including former Drupal Association Infrastructure Manager Rudy Grigar and current Infrastructure Manager and Tag1 CTO Narayan Newton, both Open Source Lab alums. 

While the Drupal Association has now moved to a hybrid cloud architecture, we still operate some critical infrastructure at the Open Source Lab, including pre-production environments, mail transport, and legacy systems that are still mid-migration, and will be repurposed for things like our testing infrastructure. It is our hope for Drupal to continue to be present at the Open Source Lab for years to come.

A Critical Moment for Open Source Lab

In recent years, the Open Source Lab has faced a steady decline in corporate donations, leading to an operational deficit. Today the Open Source Lab is under threat, placing Open Source Lab’s future in jeopardy.

Unless they secure $250,000 dollars in commitments by 14 May 2025 they will have to close their doors.

If Open Source Lab shuts down, we lose a backbone of the open source world and a value-driven infrastructure provider. It would ripple across dozens of projects and thousands of contributors, setting back years of progress and community building.

Together, we can keep Open Source Lab alive

This is an opportunity for all of us to come together to support an unsung pillar of open source.

Here’s how you can help:

  • Your donations are vital to keep this precious resource for the public good open. Consider making a donation to support Open Source Lab’s future. Donate today.

  • If you are able to make a major gift, you can also reach out to: donations@osuosl.org 

  • Help raise awareness by sharing this post within your network and with anyone you think could help support Open Source Lab.

The Open Source Lab has played an important role in supporting the open source community, now it’s our turn to give back. By contributing today, you’re helping secure the future of open source innovation and sustaining essential digital infrastructure. It's time to come together to ensure the Open Source Lab’s legacy continues to thrive.

Golems GABB: Functional testing on DDEV Selenium Standalone Chrome

Functional testing on DDEV Selenium Standalone Chrome Editor Mon, 05/05/2025 - 11:42

DDEV has really changed the game for developers by making it easier to set up local development environments in no time! When you team it up with the amazing automation features of Selenium, you get a powerful duo for doing thorough functional tests. In this article, your favorite Drupal development team looks at how this combination can boost your development efficiency and enhance the quality of your projects.

Niels de Feyter: Maximize Productivity and Success as a Drupal Contractor: 6 Expert Tips

Working as a Drupal contractor can be rewarding and fulfilling, but it also comes with its own set of challenges. In this article, we'll explore 6 tips for boosting productivity and success as an independent contractor. From setting clear goals and priorities to staying organized and keeping your skills up-to-date, these tips can help you be more efficient and effective in your work. We'll also discuss the importance of networking and building relationships, as well as how to negotiate fair and reasonable rates for your services. By following these tips, you can set yourself up for success and enjoy a fulfilling career as an independent Drupal contractor.

Niels de Feyter: I am getting excited about Drupal 8

Drupal 8 is better than Drupal 7. Data-modelling, performance, multi-language. It feels so much more robust this day. More functionality is in-core and fully tested.
In a conceptual way, Drupal 8 is not so different from Drupal 7. The Administration-UI’s are the same and you probably will also use the same modules for a project. Site builders will feel really comfortable.
All-in-all I am getting excited about Drupal 8!

Niels de Feyter: Setup Entity Translation the right way

This article contains a detailed instruction on how to setup the Entity Translation module for Drupal 7 websites.
Entity Translation is part of Drupal 8 core and its approach is to translate fields instead of full nodes/entities.

Goal of this tutorial is to set up a multilingual website that can be navigated in multiple languages by visitors and to enable the content to be easily manageable by editors / cms administrators.
To get multilingual right, it’s critical that you configure your content-types and fields with care and precision and upfront, because if content is already in your database it is almost impossible to change these configurations.
So let's go.

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