Translating Backdrop CMS

Without any special action, the Backdrop CMS user interface is presented in English. But of course the system can also be operated in other languages, e.g. Arabic, French, Hebrew, Persian, Spanish, Swedish, and many more.

In this session let's talk about,

  • how to equip a Backdrop website's user interface with multiple languages,
  • which tools can be used to translate the user interface individually,
  • how to help improve translations for the community on the Backdrop translation server.

Making Backdrop CMS Better for Everyone

Can and should Backdrop CMS compete with Wordpress, Squarespace, and/or WIX as a tool for individuals with limited (or without any) coding skills, to build their own website?

Not everyone will agree that this is possible or even something worth trying for. But, if you would like to see Backdrop CMS moving in that direction, this session is intended as a discussion about what we can do to move in that direction. Most likely, we’ll focus on contrib ideas, but we may also discuss ideas for Backdrop CMS core.

How to make CSS changes to Core?

We've been grappling with this problem for years, lacking any consensus on the best way forward. With discussions of Backdrop CMS 2.x underway, now seems like a good time to figure this out and make a decision. 

In this discussion, I'd like to review the options available and see where the current consensus is at. Much time has passed since this was discussed in detail and some folks may have changed their opinions. Can we build towards a consensus solution?

This is one of those issues that might require a real-time discussion to break the log jam.

CKEditor 5 - Upgrade and Caveats

Backdrop 1.27.0 released January 15, 2024, and included a new major version of the popular rich text editor CKEditor. The jump from CKEditor 4 to 5 is a big one, with an entirely new plugin architecture.

This session we'll be reviewing the upgrade process for sites using CKEditor 4, starting with sites that are simply upgrading to the latest version. Then we'll go over common issues and differences from CKEditor 4, such as loading CSS into the editor.

Finally, we'll take a look at upgrading modules and plugins to the new API.

What will happen in Backdrop 2.x?

Join us for a lively discussion on what should (or should not) be included in Backdrop 2.x.

The lifespan of Backdrop 1.x has been extended several times as the lifespan of Drupal 7 has been extended. Initially, our goal was for Backdrop 2.x to be released at least 2 years after the end of Drupal 7 support. Our hope was to give Drupal 7 site owners they time they need to both move to Backdrop, and prepare for the first Backdrop major version upgrade. 

Preparing for CKEditor 5

CKEditor 4 is reaching its end of support November 2023. The Backdrop community has been working towards transitioning to CKEditor 5. Come see the current state of the new module, how to test it, and what work remains to be done. We expect this module will be included in Backdrop 1.27.0.

Future of Basis / New Core Theme

For the last 12-18 months, some of us in the core issue queue have been debating the best way to make changes/improvements to the Basis theme without breaking existing sites. There are several ideas out there, but we have yet to reach consensus on any of them. 

One idea that is being currently discussed would be to add a new theme to core. 

In this session, we'll have an open discussion about the future of Basis for Backdrop and whether or not it's time to add a new theme to Backdrop Core. 

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