Talking Drupal #509 - A WordPresser @ DrupalCon

Today we are talking about DrupalCon, Wordpress, and what a wordpress guy can learn at a Drupal Event with guest Chris Reynolds. We’ll also cover Shortcode as our module of the week.

For show notes visit:
https://www.talkingDrupal.com/509

Topics

• The Pros and Cons of Short Codes
• Chris Reynolds' Journey to DrupalCon
• Comparing DrupalCon and WordCamp
• Funding and Organization of WordPress Events
• The Collaborative Spirit of the Drupal Community
• Wishlist for WordPress Features
• Composer Support in WordPress and Drupal
• Backward Compatibility in WordPress
• Challenges with Composer in Drupal
• Config Management in WordPress vs. Drupal
• Responsive Image Management
• User Experience in Drupal
• Community Collaboration Between WordPress and Drupal

Resources

• A Wordpresser Goes To DrupalCon Atlanta 2025
• wpcfm
• Longhorn PHP Conference Oct 23-25 in Austin, TX
  • Call for proposals through July 18
  • Join #texas-camp in Drupal Slack if you’re interested in organizing a mini Texas Camp to pair with Longhorn PHP
• WP community collective

Guests

Chris Reynolds - jazzsequence.com jazzsequence

Hosts

Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan
John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi
JD Leonard - jdleonard

MOTW

Correspondent

Martin Anderson-Clutz - mandclu.com mandclu

• Brief description:
  • Have you ever wanted your Drupal site to support WordPress-style shortcodes, macros to be used within content? There’s a module for that.
• Module name/project name:
  • Shortcode
• Brief history
  • How old: created in Sep 2010 by Dénes Szabó (denes.szabo) of Tag1
  • Versions available: 2.0.3, which supports ^9.3 ^10 ^11
• Maintainership
  • Security coverage
  • Test coverage
  • Number of open issues: 30 open issues, 3 of which are bugs against the current branch
• Usage stats:
  • 13,260 sites (almost 70% are D7 however)
• Module features and usage
  • For anyone not familiar with WordPress short codes, the documentation describes them as macros, and most often they are used for inserting elements into content such as image galleries, videos, playlists, and more. Shortcodes can also wrap content, however, and it’s possible to nest shortcodes as well.
  • Drupal typically solves the problems addressed by shortcodes using custom HTML elements, as implemented in the media ecosystem, or with the Entity Embed module. I think that shortcodes may also be useful in places where Drupal might also rely on tokens, albeit with an additional module like Token Filter.
  • Gutenberg includes a Shortcode block that can be used as a flexible way to add a variety of elements into a post’s content.
  • I think Shortcodes are an interesting paradigm because they’re really a tool for power users. Instead of providing a UI to browse and choose elements for something like an image gallery, they allow a savvy editor to quickly write a tag that will construct a gallery using numerical ID values.
  • I don’t think this is a tool that most Drupal sites will need, but it could be a really good way for experienced WordPress teams to feel more at home when starting to work with Drupal.

Raw timeline

Talking Drupal: Episode 509 - A WordPress Developer at DrupalCon
This episode of Talking Drupal features a conversation with Chris Reynolds, a developer advocate at Pantheon, who shares his unique insights as a WordPress developer attending DrupalCon. The discussion covers what WordPress developers can learn from Drupal events, the module of the week 'Short Code', and a comparison of capabilities between WordPress and Drupal. Chris also elaborates on his experiences, including some areas where he feels Drupal excels and vice versa. Additionally, the episode dives into the community aspects of both platforms and explores ways they can collaborate more effectively. Join hosts Nic Laflin, JD Leonard, and Martin Anderson-Clutz for an engaging and insightful discussion!
00:00 Introduction to Talking Drupal
00:31 Meet Chris Reynolds: Developer Advocate at Pantheon
01:21 Module of the Week: Short Code
03:23 The Pros and Cons of Short Codes
09:28 Chris Reynolds' Journey to DrupalCon
11:20 Comparing DrupalCon and WordCamp
15:11 Funding and Organization of WordPress Events
27:34 The Collaborative Spirit of the Drupal Community
35:02 Wishlist for WordPress Features
40:31 Composer Support in WordPress and Drupal
41:36 Backward Compatibility in WordPress
43:16 Challenges with Composer in Drupal
45:12 Config Management in WordPress vs. Drupal
47:24 Responsive Image Management
51:42 User Experience in Drupal
01:01:59 Community Collaboration Between WordPress and Drupal
01:09:21 Conclusion and Contact Information