Meetings and Meet-ups

1. Merge Tuesday: Just a few people at the MT call today, but we got a lot of Drupal 11 compatibility issues looked at, which is was.
2. Content Group: Fantastic meeting looking at publication workflows and using workspaces in Drupal.
3. Tech Group Drop-in: Some very interesting questions this week. I especially enjoyed talking about adding images to taxonomy terms.

Code Contributions

1. We have lots of PRs open for coding standards, especially now since we have added CSS and JS linting tools to our set up. I got through reviewing lots of these, so hopefully those test failures will be simple one-off failures and not show up again.
2. We released a cool feature for guides a couple of weeks ago, where you now have a theme setting to set the guide title as a "stacked heading", pulling in the title of the Guide Overview and the Guide Page. When used, however, it means that the guide title is then placed twice on the page. I got a snappy PR put together to fix that.
3. After adding some new settings to LocalGov Base a few weeks ago, we noticed some issues where our code expected, for example, TRUE as a result, but the subtheme config outputted 1. I've created a PR now so all themes generated from the subtheme generator, will automatically inherit the settings from LocalGov Base.
4. I got some nice work done on our 'Netcall Converse Queue Data' module. The point of the module is to bring data from Netcall's Converse  call centre system into the admin/content area of a Drupal site so content designers can see what topics people are calling their call centres about. And then write content on those topics. Currently, we're just working with dummy data, but will hopefully connect it up to the Netcall API very soon. I've a demo version of the module on Drupal.org.

My advice?

Be the best at something. It can be something small, but make sure there is no one in the world better than you at it. 

In my case, I am the best in the world at the frontend of LocalGov Drupal (LGD). I wrote most of the frontend system for it and continue to maintain it. People trust me when it comes to questions and consultancy about the frontend of LGD.

I know the above might sound arrogant, depending on how you read it. It's not arrogant. I have deliberately set out to find a niche that I can promote myself within. And it's taken me a long time to be able to have the confidence to say "I am the best in the world at X".

• I'm not the best in the world at Drupal.
• I'm not the best in the world at frontend development.
• I'm not the best in the world at LocalGov Drupal in general (though I am pretty high up there I think)

But ... no one knows the frontend system of LocalGov Drupal like I do. It's what I call a niche of a niche of a niche - Drupal => LocalGov Drupal => Frontend of LocalGov Drupal.

That's my advice, find a niche of a niche of a niche and be the best in the world.

Need LocalGov Drupal services? Give Big Blue Door a shout.

Meetings and Meet-ups

1. Merge Tuesdays: I got to two Merge Tuesdays. The first was a great MT. We made progress on - and an approach to getting - dropzone.js added to our default project set up. The second one we got lots of small updates to LocalGov Base merged.
2. NetCall working group: We regular monthly NetCall catch up where we discuss how we can continue to integrate NetCall's great suite of products with LocalGov Drupal.
3. Community Meetup: This month, the always-wonderful Rachel Lawson joined us to talk about "fostering community" in open source projects.
4. Tech Group Drop-in: I only got to one of these meetings this month, between travelling, being sick, and Christmas holidays. It's great to see more and more people joining each week and getting help with any LGD quetions they have. This week we spent some time talking about icons, but most of the time debugging some failing JavaScript tests in the LocalGov Alert Banner module.

Code Contributions

1. Now that we have our JS and CSS code being linted as part of our CI:CD process (thanks Lee), it has shown up lots of coding standards in our JS files. I took it upon me to fix all of these in the LocalGov Base theme. I thought it would take 30 minutes, but it took over 2 hours, just for the base them.
   1. Fix eslint issues in sticky-header.js
   2. Fix eslint issues in guides.js
   3. Fix eslint issues in subsites-menu.js
   4. Fix eslint issues in add-to-calendar.js
   5. Fix eslint issues in header.js
   6. Fix eslint issues in back-to-top.js
2. I had planned on doing all the JS files across the whole platform, but honestly, I can think of more exciting things to work on in my wrap up before the Christmas break.
3. HTML 5 validation is not very good. Drupal's form validation is much better. Here's a PR to disable HTML 5 form validation so Drupal's can be used instead.
4. There was an issue opened, fixed, and then closed seeking to have a 'Stacked header' pattern for Guides, like the NHS has - basically a title and subtitle wrapped inside the same container. Then we realised no one knows about it, and if they do they need custom code to implement it. So I created a PR in the LocalGov Base repo so site owners could easily turn it on/off for their guides. But then I realised ... guides doesn't have a subtitle field. So I now have lots of more questions and a PR left in WIP until we get this sorted.
5. We opened an issue in December 2020 (yes, 4 years ago) to say the contact component has no styling, which means each council must individually style it. This costs money, so we now have a PR to make the contact component look good. If you want to amend it, you can but at least out of the box we have a pretty contact component.

Happy Christmas

Happy Christmas everyone! See you all bright and early next year.

Exciting news for the Drupal community! The launch of a new ChatGPT-powered portal promises to revolutionize how Drupal-related queries are addressed. Designed specifically to assist with navigating the complexities of Drupal's extensive API and documentation, this tool is set to streamline the information retrieval process, making it more accessible and user-friendly.

What Does the Portal Offer?

The new portal leverages the advanced capabilities of ChatGPT to deliver precise answers to Drupal-related inquiries. By focusing on trusted information sources, it ensures reliability and accuracy, bypassing the often fragmented and overwhelming experience of manually sifting through numerous pages of documentation.

Curated Information Sources

The portal exclusively searches through highly respected Drupal resources, including:

• api.drupal.org
• drupal.org/documentation/
• drupalatyourfingertips.com/

This selective approach ensures that responses are based on authoritative content, avoiding the pitfalls of incorrect information that may be found elsewhere on the web.

Targeting Drupal 10 and 11

The portal is configured to prioritize responses for Drupal versions 10 and 11. However, it can also provide information on older versions upon request, ensuring it caters to the needs of various Drupal developers, whether they are working on the latest or legacy systems.

How Will It Benefit Developers?

• Efficiency: Save time by getting concise and relevant answers without having to navigate through extensive documentation.
• Dependability: Rely on information sourced from authoritative Drupal websites.
• User-Friendly: Enjoy an intuitive interface that focuses on delivering straightforward solutions.

Get Started Today!

The launch of this portal represents a significant advancement in how Drupal knowledge is accessed and utilized. Whether you're a novice or an experienced developer, this tool is designed to enhance your productivity and understanding of Drupal.

Visit the portal and experience the future of Drupal information retrieval!

Need LocalGov Drupal services? Give Big Blue Door a shout.

Meetings and Meet-ups

1. Tech Group Drop-in: This was the only meeting I got to attend this week, but WHITE SMOKE we got the Single-Directory Components PR merged. Woo Hoo!!!

Code Contributions

1. This was another one of those weeks where I did a lot of work on triaging issues, most notably calming people down when getting stressed/excited about our PR to start using Single-Directory Components. It's a big change and very much unfamiliar territory for a lot of people, so we need to take it easy when introducing it.
2. Our Primary Banner has a link field, and if you put a link into it will wrap all the content of the banner in an <a> tag. This is an accessibility issue as reported by Maria, especially if there is a lot of content in the banner - the link text becomes meaningless to people with assistive technologies. I created a PR in LocalGov base to wrap only the banner title in the link, and a corresponding PR in LocalGov Paragraphs to update the help text in the link field to reflect the new change.
3. I managed to get through every issue in LocalGov Base that was tagged with accessibility and either fix it or move the conversation along so it can get fixed.
4. One nice fix for this was an issue opened by Keelan nearly two years ago - sorry I only got around to it now, Keelan - to fix the focus states for service status items.
5. When this far, I decided "why not look at every accessibility issue across the whole of LocalGov Drupal?". So I did!
6. This led to a nice issue to add the language widget to ckEditor. This then allows editors to select parts of their content that is in a different language to the rest of the page to have the language for that selection set. E.g. if you say "Bon Voyage!" in a blog post, you can mark "Bon Voyage" as being French.
7. Next up, I worked on an issue to set Full Page Alert Banner field labels to "Hidden" as those labels were just adding extra noise to people using screenreaders and not conveying extra information.
8. We had multiple issues with the title on the Full Page Alert Banner. While working on a PR to fix some of those issues, I also took the time to rewrite the Full Page Alert Banner template and some of the CSS to bring it up to more modern standards.
9. We're told that a lot of councils are setting their Guides Navigation to a vertical system instead of the default column system we have. This was marked as an accessibility issue. We now have two PRs to add a "Layout" field so editors can choose on a guide-by-guide basis what layout they want for their guide nav.
   1. LocalGov Guides PR to add the new field and update the block config.
   2. LocalGov Base PR to add the necessary CSS

Need LocalGov Drupal services? Give Big Blue Door a shout.

Meetings and Meet-ups

1. Merge Tuesday: We now have responsive tables in LocalGov Base!
2. Netcall Working Group: I love these meetings, so many great ideas from the Netcall team. This meeting we chatted a lot about getting the design integration working with LocalGov Base, like we have with the ModernGov template.
3. Tech Group Drop-in: Upgrading Drupal core is a bit of an issue at the moment after the release of Twig 3.14.0. We chatted about approaches to updating (especially for security releases) while waiting on a fix for Twig.

Code Contributions

1. I LOVE having our CSS follow Drupal coding standards, but we don't have automated checks for this (yet). What we do have is a stylelint package that leverages Drupal core's CSS coding standards, but it needs to be manually run and updated. This week I did this manual task and linted all the CSS for LocalGov Base, LocalGov Scarfolk, LocalGov Microsites Base, and LocalGov NHS Base.
2. We finally got the "Move components to Single-directory components" PR approved. Thanks to Christopher for all his work on this. I'm really excited to start moving our other components to use the same system.
3. Something that has been on my mind for a long time (as in, years) was to create a template for a card view mode. This will mean the cards in the featured news, for example, can use this rather than trying to bend the teaser view mode to our will. At last, this week, I got around to writing a PR for this, which has come out very well.
4. Following up from that, I noticed that when you are looking at featured news items on small screens, there is no vertical space between items, so I fixed that.
5. And then, following up from this also, I created a PR to get the featured news items to use this new card template and view mode.
6. Keeping with the news theme, we have an issue showing that news filters are sometimes in the left sidebar and sometimes in the right sidebar. This has bugged me for a while (thanks Maria for creating the issue) and I always end up on every site moving the blocks all to the left sidebar. So, I fixed that with a PR to say all news filter blocks should appear in the sidebar_second region.
7. After chatting with the Netcall team, we decided to make the Netcall AI Widget module available on Drupal.org. This means that any organisation using Netcall will be able to use this module, rather than just LocalGov Drupal organisations. I rewrote the module and made an alpha release of it on Drupal.org.
8. Once I had the module rewritten and posted to Drupal.org, I created an alpha release and the next day a beta release. The beta release allows us to leave the site wide parameter empty so we can have widgets that only appear on certain sections of the site and no global widget.

Need LocalGov Drupal services? Give Big Blue Door a shout.

Meetings and Meet-ups

1. Tech Group Drop-in: All the talk today was about setting up load balancers, LocalGov Finders, and JavaScript.
2. Tech Group Governance: A very detailed chat about moving to Drupal.org and how we can use the credits system to amplify organisations and individuals who are doing outstanding work.

LocalGov Drupal Week

This week was all about LocalGov Drupal week. 

In the session "Taking LocalGov Drupal to the next level", I was giving a demo of three the things I had been building recently, based on funding from Big Blue Door. They were:

1. Live Previews for Microsites
2. KeyNav Module
3. App to test multiple URLs simultaneously with Axe Core

I also spent some time Monday morning preparing for the LGD + Netcall integrations presentation. I was responsible for the section on integrating Netcall's AI Widgets into Drupal and showing how you can add different AI widgets to different pages on your site.

Code Contributions

1. Let's start off with a simple one. Chris created an issue in the elections module to let us know that the link provided to check ONS wards info had changed. So I hunted down the new link and created a PR to fix the issue. Let's hope the rest of the issues are as easy to fix this week.
2. We've had an issue open for quite a while to improve the CSS for our tables. This is a bit tricky because it's hard to define what "improve" means (generally, we want table to be responsive on small screens), but also we don't know how tables are going to be inserted to our sites (wysiwyg, views, custom markup, etc) and don't know where they are going to appear (header, footer, blog post, sidebar, etc). One thing I do know is we have a "Table Field" module, so that definitely one place that tables will be inserted and I know they'll turn up then in the main body of a piece of content. So I created some CSS to at least have those tables get some horizontal scroll on small screens. It took a while to figure out the CSS as the demo tables are inside our layout containers, and it was these higher up elements that were forcing the tables to be wider than they should have been.
3. I came back to an old battle of mine: add a parent field to the election content type. This will then allow us to place elections in whatever hierarchy of our sites we want to. I had a PR that added a custom field for parents, but we decided a few weeks at at a Merge Tuesday meeting that we'd use the "Services Parent" field instead, following the same pattern as LocalGov Directories. I have a PR ready for this now, but it is having a small issue with trying to use "Autocomplete Deluxe" instead of "Autocomplete". We'll get there.
4. We got the "Convert CSS to use Logical Properties" PR merged, which I'm delighted with. Now all our CSS in LocalGov Base is using logical properties, which will mean less code to maintain and ensure our CSS is all fully-ready for any multilingual designs you can throw at it. Woo Hoo!
5. Let's keep making things more accessible. Maria posted an issue to say the contrast between the background colour of the sidebar and the inputs for search/date/etc in the sidebar wasn't enough. We have a tiny PR to fix that now.
6. I tackled the monster issue - start moving our components to use Single-Directory Components. This will be a great step towards making our design system truly componentised, but it's a tricky one to get started on when you have to consider the hundreds of sites already using our current way of doing things. Thanks to Christopher for leading on this. I think the PR is almost ready to merge.
7. Now that we have our all CSS using logical properties, I was able to do a second sweep of the codebase to tidy up the CSS, so any property that had, for example, margin-left and margin-right both set to the same value on a class now has margin-inline set to that value instead. This is part of an initiative to have as nice small codebase that is easy to maintain but that is also less stress on the environment.
8. Karl at Sheffield County Council was having some issues with permissions for his news editors. So I hopped on a call and sorted him out. I love these impromptu helping sessions that unblock people very quickly.
9. I don't have a number 9, but I have big news for Number 10 ...
10. I've just been voted on to the board of directors of Open Digital Cooperative, the custodians of LocalGov Drupal. I'll write a fuller blog post about this issue soon.

Need LocalGov Drupal services? Give Big Blue Door a shout.

Meetings and Meet-ups

1. Merge Tuesday: It was a quite week this week for PRs to review/merge, but good to spend the time during the meeting triaging some of the older issues so we could move them along or close them.
2. LocalGov Accessibility Meetup: I think this was the most interesting a11y meet up we have had so far. We discussed - in great detail - how to make cards accessible.
3. Tech Group Drop-in: This was shaping up to be very interesting - about 10 people on the call - but I had to drop out early so missed most of it.
4. Netcall Working Group: We met up to discuss our presentation for LocalGov week next week.

Code Contributions

Next week is LocalGov Drupal week, and I am part of a number of presentations during the week. One of the things I'll be demoing is the "Axe Thrower" application I have been working on. It allows you to test multiple URLs at the same time using the Axe library. I call it "Axe Thrower" because we can throw a load of URLs at Axe! Clever, innit?

After this week, I have the codebase in a much tidier place, and many more features on the dashboard. For example:

• The summary at the top of the dashboard lists how many issues were found in total, how many issues for each severity level, how many issues for each issue type, and more.
• Issues are grouped by issue type - all colour contrast issues together, all aria-label issues together, etc - so you can focus on fixing all issues of a certain type at the same time.
• There is now a modal/dialog to show you the details of each instance of each issue for each URL.
• The layout have been redesigned so it's much easier to see what's where.

After that I spent some time working on the LocalGov Microsites Base theme.

• Approved a PR by Duncan Davidson to add a missing favicon image for Safari pinned windows.
• Maria created an accessibility issue to look at the alt text of the logo when linked to home in the header. I created two PRs as solutions for this - one and two.
• An update from a while ago caused our titles on events to go missing. I have a PR created to add them back in.

A post on LinkedIn from Paul Johnson last night compelled me to write this blog post about LocalGov Drupal as a Digital Public Good.

LocalGov Drupal (LGD) is a groundbreaking, open-source platform designed specifically for local government digital services. Built on the Drupal content management system (CMS), LGD enables municipalities to offer more accessible, efficient, and community-centered online services. This platform is not just an innovative tool for local governments; it also embodies the principles of a Digital Public Good (DPG) - a designation formally awarded to Drupal itself in 2023.

Let’s explore why LocalGov Drupal qualifies as a digital public good, its roots in the Drupal ecosystem, and how it empowers local governments to serve communities more effectively.

What is a Digital Public Good?

A Digital Public Good (DPG) is defined as software, content, data, or standards that meet specific criteria for accessibility, quality, openness, privacy, security, and relevance to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). DPGs are created to be freely accessible, enabling people and institutions globally to leverage them for social good. By making powerful technologies available as public goods, DPGs promote equity and digital inclusivity.

Drupal was formally recognized as a DPG in 2023, affirming its commitment to these principles. This recognition strengthens the status of any system built upon Drupal - like LocalGov Drupal - by association.

LocalGov Drupal (LGD): Built on Open Principles

LGD is a platform tailored for local government use, allowing municipalities to manage and present their digital content in a way that’s responsive, easy to navigate, and accessible to all. By leveraging the flexibility and scalability of Drupal, LGD addresses a critical need in government technology: the ability to deliver digital services that are user-focused, inclusive, and cost-effective.

The LGD project exemplifies the key attributes of a digital public good in the following ways:

1. Open Source and Free Access
   LocalGov Drupal is open-source software, freely available for anyone to use, modify, and share. This aligns with the open-access criteria of a DPG, enabling local governments - regardless of budget constraints - to provide high-quality digital services to their constituents.
2. Collaborative Development for Public Good
   LGD is built and maintained by a community of developers, designers, and government stakeholders who collaborate to improve the platform continuously. This collaborative model fosters innovation, reduces duplication of efforts, and ensures that all improvements benefit the entire community.
3. Accessibility and Inclusion
   Built with accessibility as a priority, LocalGov Drupal allows local governments to provide digital services that meet or exceed web accessibility standards. This focus on inclusivity ensures that digital services are usable by people with disabilities, enhancing equitable access to information and services—a core principle of digital public goods.
4. Alignment with Sustainable Development Goals
   LocalGov Drupal supports the United Nations' SDGs, particularly Goal 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions) and Goal 10 (Reduced Inequalities). By facilitating transparent, accessible, and accountable digital services, LGD strengthens government institutions and bridges digital divides within communities.
5. Security and Privacy
   With security and data privacy as key priorities, LGD is regularly tested and updated to maintain high security standards. Local governments using LGD can be confident that their services are protected and comply with stringent data protection laws and regulations.

Why Drupal’s Recognition as a DPG Matters

Drupal’s designation as a DPG in 2023 reinforces the credibility and value of platforms like LocalGov Drupal. Drupal’s established reputation for quality, openness, and global accessibility also extends to LGD, highlighting it as a trusted solution for government services. This DPG recognition assures users - whether local government leaders or community stakeholders - that LGD adheres to highest standards for ethics, security, and inclusivity.

Looking Ahead: The Future of LGD as a Digital Public Good

LocalGov Drupal represents a vision for the future of government technology: one that is open, collaborative, and built with the community in mind. As more governments adopt LGD, it will continue to grow and evolve, bolstered by its foundations in Drupal’s recognized DPG status. This recognition underscores the role of LGD in promoting inclusive digital infrastructure and sets a precedent for other government platforms aiming to follow the DPG model.

LocalGov Drupal not only meets the standards of a digital public good but serves as a powerful example of how open-source solutions can drive digital transformation in the public sector. As a model of transparency, inclusivity, and community-driven development, LGD is truly a public good for a digital age.

In today’s world, digital presence is more than just a checkbox for councils, it’s a key part of delivering services and staying connected to the community. But finding the right Content Management System (CMS) for your council website can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. You need something that’s robust, flexible, secure, and designed to meet the unique needs of local government. This is where LocalGov Drupal shines. 

1. It’s Designed For Councils, By Councils

One of the standout qualities of LocalGov Drupal is its deep understanding of council needs. Developed with input and collaboration from numerous UK councils, LocalGov Drupal addresses the real-life challenges and requirements councils face in providing services online. It’s been designed around the types of content and services that matter most to councils, from service directories to news updates to consultations. Instead of using a generic CMS and trying to shape it to fit your needs, you’re starting with a foundation built around the way councils actually work.

2. Cost Savings for Your Council

Budgets are always tight in the public sector, and traditional CMS platforms can be costly—not just in terms of licensing but also with custom development, ongoing support, and upgrades. LocalGov Drupal is open-source, meaning there are no licensing fees to worry about. You’re free to modify, customize, and build on it without incurring high costs. Plus, councils using LocalGov Drupal often report reduced development costs since much of the functionality they need is already built-in or can be easily added. These cost savings make it easier to invest in other areas, benefiting both the council and the community.

3. A Community-Driven Platform with Knowledge Sharing

One of the most valuable aspects of LocalGov Drupal is its vibrant community of councils working together to improve and share ideas. When you adopt LocalGov Drupal, you’re not just getting a CMS—you’re joining a community. Councils share their experiences, ideas, and even code updates, so everyone benefits from each council’s contributions. This collaborative approach means new features, best practices, and innovations are constantly emerging. Instead of facing challenges alone, your council can tap into the experience and support of other councils who have faced (and solved) similar issues.

4. Highly Accessible and User-Centric

Accessibility is at the heart of LocalGov Drupal, which is critical for councils aiming to serve all members of their communities. Built with WCAG 2.1 compliance in mind, LocalGov Drupal makes it easier to deliver a website that meets modern accessibility standards. It offers the tools you need to create an inclusive digital experience, ensuring that people of all abilities can access services and information seamlessly. This isn’t just about compliance; it’s about inclusivity and making sure your council is there for everyone.

5. Flexible and Scalable to Meet Growing Needs

Councils serve diverse and ever-changing communities, and LocalGov Drupal is flexible enough to keep pace. It’s a modular CMS, so councils can pick and choose the features they need, tailoring the platform to their unique requirements. Plus, as your council’s needs grow, LocalGov Drupal can scale with you. Whether you need to expand your site, add new features, or manage increased traffic, this platform is built to grow with you.

6. Top-Notch Security and Stability

Security is paramount for any government website, and LocalGov Drupal takes this responsibility seriously. Built on the trusted Drupal platform, LocalGov Drupal benefits from robust security protocols and a dedicated security team constantly monitoring and updating the platform. Councils can rest easy knowing they’re using a CMS that meets high standards for security and stability, making it a safe choice for handling sensitive data and safeguarding your council’s reputation.

7. Proven Success Stories Across the UK

The proof is in the pudding, and numerous councils across the UK have already made the switch to LocalGov Drupal with impressive results. Councils like Croydon, Brighton, and Bracknell Forest have embraced LocalGov Drupal and seen improvements in user experience, efficiency, and service delivery. These success stories show that LocalGov Drupal isn’t just a theoretical solution—it’s a proven CMS that works in real-world council settings.

8. Easy-to-Use for Non-Technical Staff

Councils need a CMS that doesn’t require a team of tech wizards to manage. LocalGov Drupal is designed with non-technical users in mind, so your staff can easily create, edit, and manage content. This user-friendly approach empowers your team to focus on delivering value to the community rather than wrestling with complicated systems. Plus, with a wide range of training and support resources available, onboarding and ongoing training are a breeze.

9. Environmentally Conscious

LocalGov Drupal aligns with many councils’ commitments to sustainability. Being open-source and community-led, it reduces duplication of efforts and allows councils to share resources, which contributes to a smaller digital footprint. By reducing waste and sharing resources, LocalGov Drupal helps councils contribute to a more sustainable and eco-friendly future.

Making the Switch

Switching your CMS might sound like a big move, but LocalGov Drupal offers councils an opportunity to transform their online presence in a way that’s community-focused, budget-friendly, and future-proof. With the support of a like-minded community and a feature set designed specifically for councils, LocalGov Drupal is a platform built to help councils succeed.

So, if your council is exploring CMS options, consider giving LocalGov Drupal a closer look. Join the councils who are already benefiting from this open-source solution and see the difference it can make in your digital journey. Together, we can build stronger digital communities, one website at a time.