UI Suite Monthly #16 - Building Momentum Towards Beta Release

Welcome back to our monthly UI Suite initiative update! After skipping March, we're excited to reconnect with our community and share the significant progress we've made across our ecosystem. This special April meeting not only marked our return to regular updates but also celebrated Lina's birthday – making it a truly memorable gathering for our team.

Overall Summary

Our April meeting showcased substantial momentum across all areas of the UI Suite ecosystem. We're experiencing a critical period of convergence as multiple projects approach major milestones. The most significant development is our preparation for UI Patterns 2 Alpha 1 release, which represents six months of intensive development work. Meanwhile, we're actively preparing our modules for Drupal 11 compatibility while making strategic decisions about legacy Drupal version support.

The integration of SDC (Single Directory Components) into Drupal core represents a watershed moment for our initiative, eliminating the need for patches and streamlining our development process. Our testing coverage has reached impressive milestones, with 100% prop type guessing for both Umami and Prototype themes. We're also seeing renewed activity in previously stalled projects, including the Icon initiative and Twig Foundation, demonstrating the growing vitality of our ecosystem.

Key Topics Discussed

Project Browser Integration Our Project Browser work has gained urgency as the project will be merged into Drupal 10.3, shipping in June. We need to focus on creating compelling icons and refreshing module descriptions to make our first paragraphs more welcoming to newcomers. Currently, no one in our team is actively using the Project Browser, which presents both a challenge and an opportunity. While the team expressed mixed feelings about the Project Browser, we recognize it as a valuable avenue for publishing our icon set and improving module discoverability.

Drupal Version Compatibility Strategy We're facing important decisions about Drupal version support across our 15-20 module ecosystem. With Drupal 11 potentially releasing in June or July, we need to address compatibility while considering whether to maintain support for Drupal 8 and 9. The consensus leans toward dropping Drupal 8 support due to significant API changes, but Drupal 9 support remains debated. Some maintainers prefer to keep Drupal 9 compatibility because many projects haven't migrated to Drupal 10 due to PHP version requirements, while others advocate for dropping it entirely when implementing Drupal 11 compatibility.

UI Patterns 2 Development Milestone Our Alpha 1 release represents a critical achievement after six months of intensive development. This release will stabilize all APIs, including plugin managers, SDC compatibility layer, and utilities, reaching 90% of our intended scope. The remaining 10% focuses on unit testing and quality improvements. We've expanded our team with Thomas joining Mikael on formatters and views development, creating a strong division of responsibilities across core development, testing, library work, and legacy layer maintenance.

SDC Core Integration Success The integration of Single Directory Components into Drupal core's theme namespace represents one of our biggest victories. This eliminates the need for patches starting with Drupal 3, making UI Patterns 2 fully compatible with core SDC functionality. Our testing across multiple themes (Bootstrap 5, USWDS, SFR) has yielded impressive results, with 100% prop type coverage for Umami and Prototype themes. We're actively seeking additional themes for testing and encourage both public and private project submissions for compatibility verification.

Key Action Points

Immediate Development Priorities 

• Complete Alpha 1 Release: Target this week or next for UI Patterns 2 Alpha 1, stabilizing all core APIs
• Project Browser Preparation: Develop icons and refresh module descriptions before June's Drupal 10.3 release
• Drupal 11 Compatibility: Address automated bot issues and ensure day-one compatibility when Drupal 11 launches

Module Maintenance Decisions Each maintainer needs to decide their Drupal version support strategy. The team discussed two main approaches: maintaining broader compatibility by keeping Drupal 9 support, or streamlining by dropping both Drupal 8 and 9 when implementing Drupal 11 compatibility. These decisions will impact the APIs we can utilize and the maintenance overhead for each project.

Community Engagement Initiatives We're actively seeking contributors for several key areas. The layouts and blocks scope beginning next week offers an excellent entry point for new contributors, focusing on generating layout and block plugins from components. Our Icon initiative has gained momentum with a kickoff meeting at French Drupal Camp, establishing a private Slack channel and strategic roadmap. We particularly need a project management leader to organize this growing community effort.

Testing and Quality Assurance 

• Theme Compatibility Testing: Continue expanding our test suite with additional themes
• Unit Test Development: Focus on comprehensive testing for core functionality
• Quality Improvements: Implement code quality enhancements leading to Beta 1

Our themes are also making significant progress, with Bootstrap 5 and USWDS approaching Beta status. The DSFR theme released Beta 6, our biggest release ever, featuring substantial contributions from the Ministry of Finance and other teams. While this included major breaking changes, it represents a significant step toward project maturity.

Upcoming Deadlines / Releases

The convergence of these timelines creates both opportunities and challenges. Our Beta 1 release targeting mid-June aligns perfectly with Drupal's release cycle, providing maximum visibility for our initiative. However, it requires coordinated effort across multiple projects and careful attention to quality assurance.

Looking ahead, we're building toward a significant presence at DrupalCon Barcelona, where we've submitted a presentation about plugging components directly into UI. The growing momentum in our community, evidenced by 20 new Slack channel members over two months, demonstrates increasing engagement with our vision for component-driven Drupal development.

Our next monthly meeting is scheduled for May 2nd, where we'll provide demos of completed work and continue our journey toward the Beta 1 milestone. The combination of technical achievements, community growth, and strategic positioning makes this an exciting time for the UI Suite ecosystem.