Content Architecture using Design Patterns

Creating a solid content architecture in Drupal is difficult, because there are so many possibilities to model your content.

Have you ever built a website with:
* too many different content types?
* too many different fields on content types?
* too many different entity types for content (content types, taxonomy terms, custom entities, paragraphs, etc.)?
* poorly named fields, that are unspecific, too specific, or plain confusing?
* awkward editorial experiences based on the problems above?
* frustrating developer experiences based on the problems above?

Well, then this session is for you!

As many of you know, web design has evolved from being page-driven to being component-driven with Atomic Design being perhaps the most well known methodology. Mapping these design patterns in a consistent way to Drupal entities results in solid architectures.

But the challenge is not merely one of architecture, it is one of teamwork. Frontend developers, backend developers, solutions architects, and even project managers must collaborate and plan how Drupal structures will map to component patterns, while simultaneously considering the editorial perspective. Through Component-based best practices and strict data modeling we can create an intuitive and reusable content structure that results in a consistent editorial experience, and allows for an enjoyable developer experience.

In this session I will begin with a short overview and examples of Atomic Design. Then we will examine several types of components and discuss their potential frontend behaviors, content models, and editorial experiences. I will demonstrate how we integrate our components by mapping Drupal templates to our design patterns. Finally I will show how we can optimize the authoring experience based on both the content architecture and the design system.

This session is targeted at solution architects, designers, frontend developers, Drupal site-builders and Drupal site owners. Attendees will learn how web design and content architecture can work together using Drupal, and will take away methodologies and practices that they can apply to their own design and development workflows.

*Session Materials*