The Tricycle Manifesto: Balancing Site Building, Version Control and Support

The ability to configure Drupal quickly in the administrative user interface is a key advantage.  But keeping configuration in a database outside of version control can be a road to ruin.  Can we get the best of both worlds?

Drupal empowers users to build complex site structures and relationships directly in the admin UI. In Drupal 7, the Features module was repurposed to manage configuration deployments across environments. Exemplified by the Dcycle Manifesto, this developer-oriented workflow is now built into Drupal 8 core. But for small to medium-sized projects, a strict code-based workflow can be cumbersome, require substantial development expertise and take attention away from the content modeling process. Moreover, site building and content administration are critical to the success of a project and the long term viability of Drupal as a CMS.

Fortunately, the configuration system is flexible and supports a wide range of workflows.  A database UI-driven workflow is well suited to rapid site prototyping and content modeling. A config-Git-driven workflow pays dividends when scaling up the development team and performing automated tests. And there are plenty of options for balancing rapid delivery with managing version control on a live production site.

This talk will identify the distinct phases of work in the lifecycle of a Drupal project and how to switch workflows accordingly. This streamlines the development process and opens up opportunities for site builders and content administrators who don’t have a local development environment or aren’t intimately familiar with Git. This session will be introductory but some basic understanding of Drupal site building principles and architecture will be helpful.