Web Dev With A Touch of the French Revolution and a Side of Chicken

France after the storming of the Bastille. King Louis XVI was condemned to death, which befell him (no pun intended) in the form of a falling guillotine blade that weighs almost 100 pounds. Now picture him after that. He's Headless Louis. Wait, this analogy is shit, I'm supposed to be promoting headless CMS architecture. Okay, forget the French and picture a chicken running around with its head cut off. There, so much better.

Headless Drupal

Current App Store metadata requirements

It's no secret that submitting an app to the App Store is much more difficult than submitting the same app to the Google Play Store. Trying to get your app past Apple's reviewers is a bit like trying to smuggle pizza into North Korea.

How to cross the border into the Democratic Peoples Republic of iOS

What are plugins in Drupal? In a word, awesome. In two words, really awesome. In three words...

Plugin Types Are Like Pokémons, But For Drupal

My hope is that you have found this article after having found a half dozen or so other tutorials on how to get your Virtual Camera running in OBS Studio 26 or higher on a Linux Mint 20.1 Cinnamon machine, and after following the (often conflicting) instructions on each, you still don't have your Virtual Camera running in OBS.

Setting up your virtual camera in OBS Studio on Linux Mint

I have been an avid reader of Games magazine (now called Games World of Puzzles) since I was a kid. I first encountered Games when I was flying somewhere with the fam and I went in an airport bookstore to pick up something to entertain myself during the flight.

My first cryptic crossword

One of the classes I'm teaching right now is an introductory CSS/HTML/JavaScript class. I feel it's my challenge with these code newbies to help them become addicted to coding... and to do that, they need to understand how their code editor works.

A few VSCode tips for those who are just getting started with coding

As you progress through your journey into learning React, you will eventually come across what may seem to be a paradox, the classic question of "what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?"

Immutable State, Reducers, and the Clerk at the DMV Office

Using Window.prompt() within a JS function (more Mad Libs analogies)

What is wrong with this function? What is wrong with YOU?

Understanding Function Arguments Using Mad Libs

I can't pee with you standing there watching me

Job Interviews and the Dreaded Technical Test

Painless way to get started with an out-of-the-box site in your local environment

Creating a new Drupal site in a local dev environment can be quick and painless, or it can probably be a super-complex and intimidating endeavor. I will demonstrate my personal recipe, of the "quick-and-painless" variety, which has been my go-to method for a couple of years now. Hopefully it will work as smoothly for you as it does for me.

Spinning Up a New Drupal 10 Site in Under 5 Minutes, Part One

Setting field-level permissions for CRUD operations means you can refine your permission scopes

Imagine a website that sells widgets. Each widget has a node, `/widget/1`, `/widget/248`, etc. The website has three roles, and each role needs to have access to the widget nodes, but each role needs exclusive access to certain fields. Do we need to create three types of widget nodes, make a custom module, or go fully unDrupal and hack out a solution?

Filling the Need for Nuanced Permissions with the Field Permissions Module

Continuing to explore advanced permission configurations that rely solely on Drupal Core

In the spirit of seeing how much functionality we can squeeze out of a D9/10 Core install, here are some more use cases where permissions could be tweaked in creative and/or advanced ways.

More Core Permission Configuration Ideas

Taking the next step in setting up a customized multi-tiered permission system in Drupal 10

Building on Drupal Core's OOTB permission options from the last article, let's go a little further this time. But let's stay in the Core box and look at a combination of modules that are included in Drupal 10 Core, but which are not enabled in an OOTB install - Content Moderation and Workflows.

Power Permissioning Without Leaving Drupal Core

You can get as granular as you need, often without any custom modules

One of Drupal's strengths is its permissioning system. Out of the box, you can set up a tiered permission system pretty easily with, for example, authors, editors, approvers, and of course anonymous users who can read the site and not much else.

Fine Tuning Your Permissions in Drupal

Using PHP namespaces to tame your code

PHP namespaces are a powerful way of grouping stuff together: classes, interfaces, functions, constants. They give you the ability to tame your code, avoiding naming conflicts between different parts of your code or with any third-party libraries you are using.

Coding in the Name Of...

Some techniques for dealing with associative arrays, including an improvement that comes with PHP ^8.0.0

What was originally planned to be a quick rundown of array methods in PHP has morphed into a deeper assessment of the array_multisort method in PHP 8.

Hip Hip Array! (Part One)

Anti-Laravel sentiment in the PHP subreddit, complete with a request to ban Laravel discussions

Laravel is the most widely used PHP framework, to the dismay of many PHP devs. A post on the PHP sub entitled, "Laravel considered harmful" got over 500 upvotes and comments in less than a week, so I decided to take a look.

No Love for Laravel

AI as visual interpreter might not be quite ready for prime time yet

I asked Dall-E to give me a parody of the iconic movie poster, "Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman", replacing the titular woman with a 50 ft. Teletubby, while retaining the look and feel of the original. What I got was... well, interesting.

DALL-E: Don't Quit Your Day Job Yet

My personal tips and tricks for smoothly transitioning from JS to PHP and back

I fell in love with programming in the early 80s with a language called BASIC (Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code). It was easy to learn, using line numbers and a strictly procedural flow, and it was the default language on several computers of that time. My first was a Commodore VIC-20, followed by a Commodore 64, and on those two machines I became fluent in my first programming language.

So You Want to be Bilingual and Efficient

Abandon hope, all ye who enter

Every time I get a new group of students in my React Native class, I cringe. With each group, I inevitably have to guide at least one or two of them through an elaborate hit-and-miss process of trying to get their Expo dependencies all working while attempting to ensure that everyone in the class is on the same versions as much as possible, so that they can all access the same functionality.

Dante's Eighth Circle: Expo Dependencies

Yawn... a new way of creating a module is coming to D10. Put everything in one folder. I am supposed to be excited by this and see it as the best thing since JavaScript taught us that `typeof null` is `'object'` (wait what?)

Drupal 10.1.0 Experimental Module: Turtles, All The Way Down

The Challenges of Remembering to Change the Subtitle of an Article When Using a Previous Article as a Template

Organisms, molecules, atoms. If 'chemistry' is the only thing you're thinking about when you hear those terms, perhaps you've never heard of Atomic Design, an approach to systematic component design introduced by Brad Frost in 2015. Atomic Design is a living methodology; it is still alive and evolving 8 years later. How does it fit into a Drupal 10 project?

Atomic Design in Drupal

Unlocking the mysteries of DrupalSpeak

A Drupal Glossary that will elevate your vocabulary from giberrish to genius.

Drupal Glossary

Your .module file: giving your hooks a home

We added a Settings page where we can set a search string to use, so now we want to start adding functionality to our module. We are going to need to interact with node content, and Drupal gives us a resource to use for interacting with various parts of the system: Hooks.

Building Your Own Custom Module in Drupal, Part Three

Building a Settings page

In part one, we looked at the steps involved in creating an MVP of a custom module. We looked at the .info file, which is what makes a module visible to your Drupal site, and we looked at the configs that are stored in it. Before we get to the actual work that our `copyright_symbol` module is going to perform, let's do a couple other setup steps.

Building Your Own Custom Module in Drupal, Part Two

Getting started with a module that inserts copyright symbols into text

One of the best parts about Drupal is the ease with which you can build your own custom functionality. If you find yourself with a custom need on your Drupal site and you can't find a contributed module that is the perfect-fitting round peg for your site's round hole, don't waste time trying to shove it in and make it fit. Roll your own; it's not that difficult if you know the important steps.

Building Your Own Custom Module in Drupal, Part One

The Bouncers of Club JavaScript

JS's built-in array methods are like the bouncer who guards the door at a bar or nightclub. You know, the large and usually intimidating looking person who everyone has to walk past on their way in. Whether or not you get in is up to the bouncer. Whether or not you remain in the club or bar is also up to the bouncer.

Array Methods

The Challenges of Being the In-house Drupal Dev in a Marketing Department

For my first 6 years of working professionally with Drupal, I was the web guy in the Marketing Department of a hospital. When I moved on from that job, I went to a university, where for 2 more years I was the Drupal person in the Marketing department. In both cases, I was the only one in the room who knew what I did or how I did it.

A Coder Among Copywriters

My first Drupal site was a news site that used Drupal, version 4. This was 2005 and the concept of Content Management Systems was pretty new. I remember trying out Drupal and another open-source CMS, Mambo, and settling on Drupal... though I can't remember why I picked it over Mambo, to be honest.

A Trip In The Wayback Machine to Drupal 4

What Your Github Profile Says (and Doesn't Say) About You

Taking a realistic look at what the green activity dots on your Github profile are really able to tell a potential employer about you.

The Green Dot Illusion

In the RN courses at Nucamp where I'm an instructor, the students learn Expo and RN together with very little delineation between the two. The course being a four-week blitz through RN pretty much necessitates pairing RN and Expo up in order to allow students to jump right in. But are Expo and RN inseparable? What's it like learning  RN without Expo?

Should You Bother Learning RN Without Expo?

An open letter to someone that I used to know

jQuery, you had a good run. You made a significant impact on the web development world, and we'll always remember you for that. But it's 2023, and we have outgrown you. It's time for you to take a step back and let the modern tools and technologies take the spotlight. It's time for you to gracefully accept your place in the history of web development and let the new generation forge their own path. It's time for you to take your pension and pack for Florida.

Dear jQuery, Just Go Away Already

Whether you are a Drupal developer or a site owner, there is one thing you need to be aware of -- the importance of keeping up with weekly security releases. No joke; your site's safety and data are on the line.

The Importance of Keeping Up with Weekly Security Releases for Drupal

Drupal vs. Wordpress

Two OG CMS heavyweights go head to head, but who will win? You decide!

Epic Rap Battles of History

Why should a small business still consider it?

Are the days of forking out massive amounts of capital for an enterprise-worthy website gone? CNET says so. "The days of needing a professional coder to create a website for yourself or your business are over," they say, in an article that lists Squarespace, Wix and Weebly as the top options. (In other words, an article sponsored by Squarespace, Wix and Weebly.) But the question remains: is Drupal still worth it? Yes, says a blog post written by a Drupal dev who is not paid by Drupal for his evanglism services but, yanno, would be okay with that.

Drupal in 2023

Drupal is always striving to adhere to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and make the web a more inclusive place for everyone. Many developers and site owners are aware of Drupal's commitment to accessibility, but some lesser-known built-in WCAG features in Drupal core are often overlooked. This blog post will shed light on these hidden gems and explain how they can help create a more accessible website.

Lesser Known Built-In WCAG Features in Drupal Core

What Is It? Who Should Learn It?

Adventurous devs can create a new mobile app sith the new Fabric architecture. But... should you care?

Fabric in React Native

The Swan Song of an Unremarkable and Brief Era

Getting ready for D10. Even if you never got around to 8 => 9. Even if you didn't know there even _was_ a 9. (If you didn't know there was an 8, get back under your rock and stop reading.)

Farewell, D9, We Barely Knew Ya

Polonius was full of garbage advice, such as this steaming lump of poo: To thine own self be true, and it must follow as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.

To thine own self be truthy

My mind went blank. This was after it recovered.

Handling State in a React App

Just read the agile manifesto. I did, and it made me a better person.

Scalability: Your Future Self Will Thank You

We need to discuss the transition from Twig 1 to Twig 2, which is essential upgrading to D9.

Upgrading to D9

Drupal 7.71 release has support for PHP 7.4. Let us discuss.

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