UI Suite Monthly #08 - Navigating New Challenges and Exciting Developments

Overall Summary

Our eighth monthly UI Suite meeting brought together the community to discuss several pivotal developments in our initiative. We're facing an exciting opportunity with the upcoming project browser integration in Drupal 10.2/10.3, which will require significant updates to our modules to ensure compatibility and discoverability. The meeting covered our ongoing work across multiple modules, with particular focus on UI Patterns' major 2.0.x branch development and the integration of Single Directory Components (SDC) as a foundation for future releases.

We also addressed technical challenges around module categorization, branding requirements, and source plugin limitations that need resolution. The community continues to grow, now reaching 113 people, and we're making steady progress on various fronts including Bootstrap theme development and government agency collaboration opportunities.

Key Topics Discussed

Project Browser Initiative Preparation We're preparing for a major shift as Drupal introduces the project browser in version 10.2 or 10.3, allowing site builders to discover and install modules directly from the interface. This initiative will impact our 20+ modules significantly, requiring us to add logos, short descriptions, and proper categorization. The challenge lies in creating consistent branding across our suite, as we currently lack a unified color palette or design system.

UI Patterns 2.0.x Development Our main module is undergoing substantial evolution with three key focus areas: ecosystem consolidation, degree promotes, and interactive videos. We've launched a new 2.0.x branch with ongoing merge requests, though we're being cautious about potential breaking changes while maintaining compatibility with existing implementations.

The integration with Single Directory Components (SDC) represents a significant architectural decision. SDC was merged on April 20th and provides an excellent foundation for our next release, offering definitive slots, props, and component management similar to our current approach but with core integration benefits.

Source Plugins Enhancement We've identified critical limitations in our current source plugin architecture. Currently, these plugins only provide lists of available options without their actual values, forcing each rendering plugin to hard-code value retrieval. We're planning to restructure source plugins to provide both lists and values, potentially extending this to support raw values for slots and clean values for props.

Bootstrap Theme Progress Our Bootstrap implementation continues advancing with alpha 7 release, fixing numerous bugs and expanding adoption. We now have 80 websites using the theme, exclusively on the version 5 branch, demonstrating strong community acceptance. The focus remains on adding new components and utilities while maintaining backward compatibility.

Key Action Points

Immediate Development Priorities

• Complete the merge request for set attributes in class filters, pending final review and community discussion
• Finalize the pattern settings menu functionality to enable better mapping between pattern products and navigation menus
• Address the source plugin restructuring to support value provision alongside option lists

Branding and Documentation Tasks We need to establish a cohesive visual identity for our initiative before the project browser launch. This includes developing logos for all main modules, creating consistent descriptions, and defining appropriate categories. The categorization challenge is particularly important as the current system confuses both module developers and end users when filtering and discovering modules.

Community and Collaboration Efforts Our meeting with government officials showed promising results for potential official channel access, which could significantly boost our contributor community engagement. We're planning to onboard new developers, particularly for Bootstrap and UI Styles modules, as these offer more accessible entry points for new contributors compared to the complex UI Patterns architecture.

Technical Integration Work The SDC integration requires careful consideration of our component architecture. We're proposing to extend the SDC definition class while using SDC's component trick function for Twig rendering, maintaining compatibility with our existing pattern discovery system through a legacy layer.

Upcoming Deadlines / Releases

Our next monthly meeting is scheduled for June 20th. We encourage all community members to participate in the ongoing discussions and contribute to the merge requests currently under review.