UI Suite Monthly #22 - Major Transitions and Exciting Developments Ahead

Overall Summary

Our 22nd monthly UI Suite meeting brought together community members for an exciting update on the ecosystem's evolution. This session focused heavily on transitions and new developments, with UI Patterns 2 taking center stage as the official version while layout options are being phased out. We're experiencing significant momentum across our entire suite of tools, with multiple modules preparing new branches compatible with UI Patterns 2 and the upcoming UI Icons integration into Drupal core.

The meeting highlighted our community's growth and enthusiasm, with several themes announcing their migration to the UI Suite ecosystem. We're seeing increased adoption rates across our modules, demonstrating the strong value proposition of our component-driven approach to Drupal theming.

Key Topics Discussed

UI Patterns 2 Production Readiness

We're thrilled to announce that UI Patterns 2 Beta 4 is now production-ready. This milestone represents months of dedicated work, and we're confident in recommending it for new projects. The beta was described as a "game changer," marking a significant step forward from the almost-complete Beta 3 to a truly robust solution.

• Beta 5 Release: Scheduled for two and a half weeks from the meeting date
• Release Candidate Timeline: Expected before Christmas as a "Christmas present" to the community
• Model Changes: Beta 5 introduces new prop types with 'set' now handling checkboxes and 'list' managing select sources

The ecosystem considerations remain crucial for adoption success. We emphasized that the main risk for UI Patterns 2 isn't the module itself, but rather the quality of SDC (Single Directory Components) implementations. Poor component definitions can significantly impact adoption rates, which is why we're offering extensive community support for auditing and improving implementations.

Theming Ecosystem Transformation

Our theming landscape is undergoing major structural changes as we migrate to UI Patterns 2 and UI Icons. Different themes are adopting varied approaches to this transition:

Branch Management Strategies: Some teams like UI Suite Bootstrap and UI Suite DSFR are maintaining major version numbers while opening minor branches (5.1, 1.1) for UI Patterns 2 compatibility. Others, such as UI Suite USWDS, are creating entirely new major branches. UI Suite Material is taking a direct approach by switching to UI Patterns 2 in the current branch due to its alpha status and limited usage.

UI Bootstrap 5.0 Progress: The team has made significant strides with their first beta release, introducing the last breaking changes for Carousel item restructuring. They're now focused on providing components to replace layout options, with previous layouts being marked as deprecated in version 5.1 for removal in 5.2 or 6.0.

UI Icons Core Integration

We're making excellent progress on integrating UI Icons into Drupal core, targeting Drupal 11 for the main API inclusion. The current UI Icons Patterns module will see its logic moved directly into UI Patterns, while we hope the Iconify API will find dedicated maintainership. This integration will eliminate the need for external dependencies once merged into core.

Developer Experience Improvements: Beta 3 of UI Icons will introduce a simpler, more powerful icon library system with dynamic preview capabilities. We're also working on better form elements, including both autocomplete functionality and a visual icon picker widget for enhanced user experience.

Community Growth and Engagement

Our community continues to expand with exciting new additions. The Bulma project has joined the UI Suite ecosystem, bringing nearly 400 installations and enthusiastic developers. This represents the first time a current theme is switching to our ecosystem, marking a significant validation of our approach.

Recent presentations at DrupalCamp in Berlin and various meetups have generated considerable interest. Someone who attended the Berlin talk has already started their own module based on the UI Icons API, demonstrating the practical impact of our community outreach efforts.

Key Action Points

Documentation and Communication Priority

We're prioritizing comprehensive documentation updates, particularly for UI Patterns 2. Currently, users are referencing UI Patterns 1 documentation, which creates confusion and implementation difficulties. The move to a new Drupal.org markdown format will provide an excellent opportunity to reorganize and improve our explanations.

Transversal Documentation Initiative: We're planning to extend markdown documentation across all our modules - UI Styles, UI Skins, and UI Examples. This standardization will improve consistency and maintainability across our entire ecosystem.

SDC and Community Support

Our commitment to community support remains strong, with ongoing efforts to audit and assist with component implementations. We encourage teams to reach out for testing assistance and implementation guidance, as quality SDC implementations are crucial for successful UI Patterns 2 adoption.

Testing and Auditing: We're actively providing audit services for both clients and community members, spending significant time helping teams improve their component quality and adoption strategies.

Module Compatibility and Integration

Several modules are actively working on UI Patterns 2 compatibility:

• UI Styles: Implementing prop sources for UI Patterns 2, particularly focusing on attribute prop type sources
• UI Suite Bootstrap: Nearly reaching 1,000 installations while preparing comprehensive UI Patterns 2 integration
• UI Examples: Successfully reached stable 1.0.0 release with new syntax without sharp symbols

Upcoming Deadlines / Releases

The December meeting promises to be particularly exciting, featuring demos of Bulma integration, new icon libraries, UI Patterns 2 release candidate, and potentially PatternFly demonstrations. We're expecting this to be a demo-rich session showcasing the culmination of months of development work across our ecosystem.