Drupal Canvas introduces a major shift in how Drupal sites are assembled, giving editors unprecedented flexibility and control. But building components that truly work well in this new paradigm requires a different way of thinking.

In this session, I’ll share practical, real-world lessons from developing components specifically for Drupal Canvas. You’ll learn what works, what breaks, and how to design systems that feel seamless for both developers and content editors.

Prerequisite

This session is ideal for frontend developers, themers, and anyone building design systems in Drupal.

Target Audience

This session is ideal for frontend developers, themers, and anyone building design systems in Drupal.

Outline

Drupal Canvas introduces a major shift in how Drupal sites are assembled, giving editors unprecedented flexibility and control. But building components that truly work well in this new paradigm requires a different way of thinking.

In this session, I’ll share practical, real-world lessons from developing components specifically for Drupal Canvas. You’ll learn what works, what breaks, and how to design systems that feel seamless for both developers and content editors.

- Creating editor-friendly enhancements that reduce friction and improve usability
- Applying modern CSS design system practices to build resilient components that work anywhere
- Designing flexible layout systems with consistent spacing and predictable behavior
- Working with global regions and content templates
- Handling images in Canvas while playing nice with Drupal’s rendering system
- Structuring components for the right level of granularity and long-term scalability
- Optimizing components for performance and AI-assisted content workflows
- Understanding where Canvas works well today and where it does not

We’ll also take a look at where Drupal Canvas is headed and how to future-proof your approach so your components continue to work as the ecosystem evolves.

This session is ideal for frontend developers, themers, and anyone building design systems in Drupal.

Learning Objectives

In this session, I’ll share practical, real-world lessons from developing components specifically for Drupal Canvas. You’ll learn what works, what breaks, and how to design systems that feel seamless for both developers and content editors.

- Creating editor-friendly enhancements that reduce friction and improve usability
- Applying modern CSS design system practices to build resilient components that work anywhere
- Designing flexible layout systems with consistent spacing and predictable behavior
- Working with global regions and content templates
- Handling images in Canvas while playing nice with Drupal’s rendering system
- Structuring components for the right level of granularity and long-term scalability
- Optimizing components for performance and AI-assisted content workflows
- Understanding where Canvas works well today and where it does not

Experience level
Intermediate