Update - Top 100 Drupal 7 modules

[stpaultim]

https://backdropcms.org/upgrade-from-drupal/top-100-drupal-7-modules

I know that this page does get updated from time from time to time. I'm just wondering if there is any process or instructions for this or if it just happens when someone randomly thinks about it.

Some problems were raised here and I went ahead and made this change to the page.
backdrop/backdrop-issues#4359

I'm noticing that the totals at the bottom don't add up, but am reluctant to make those changes in case I just don't understand something.

Suggestions:

1. Include some quick documentation about how this page is kept up to date. Although, I'm not sure anyone would know where to find it.
2. Could we add "Update top 100 Drupal 7 modules page on B.org" to the minor release checklist.

I'm going to bring this up at meetings tomorrow and hopefully follow-up myself with these suggestions after getting input.

[stpaultim]

@guidot made this suggestion in #4359

This may exceed this issue, but I think the list is also too cluttered with each name having its own symbol. What about grouping them by status? That would be easier to read.

[jenlampton]

Could we add "Update top 100 Drupal 7 modules page on B.org" to the minor release checklist.

great idea!

[jenlampton]

the list is also too cluttered with each name having its own symbol. What about grouping them by status?

The list is ordered by usage in Drupal 7. The original point of this diagram was to make it clear that things that are of higher usage in Drupal 7 (top/left of this list) are more likely to be in core for Backdrop (blue icon) vs things that are lower in usage (bottom/right of the list) are more likely to be in contrib (green icon). If we group by where the module ended up, we loose that meaning.

However, If this list becomes more meaningful to people than it's original intention, maybe its time to rebuild it as a view? :) Then everyone would be able to sort it however they needed.

[guidot]

Thanks for your welcoming reaction to my earlier comment. Damn, now I have to actually write down my thoughts (which I'm not good at, there are so many).

Hmm, the order is neither stated nor visually emphasized, so it is some kind of a secret. Which maybe isn't a problem, because is this ordering really necessary here? The important ordering has already been made: These are the top 100. (BTW: Has an assessment been made as to whether the top 100 actually cover the 80% target group?)

While thinking about it I ask myself: What is the purpose of this page? Is it supposed to sell Backdrop? Or is it meant as first tool for future site builders? Right now it seems to try to do both (a little).

• As an advertisement it could live with less details. And then it should maybe show the order from higher to lower usage.
• Dreaming of a tool for site builders I wouldn't care much about the top 100, but for the modules my actual site needs: I imagine a search form that I feed a list of Drupal modul names (maybe just comma separated) and that gives me a list of the corresponding Backdrop modules grouped by their current state/quality.
• And the super power variant would start with the advertisement version and morph into the site builder version once I start to interact with it.

[jenlampton]

Dreaming of a tool for site builders I wouldn't care much about the top 100, but for the modules my actual site needs: I imagine a search form that I feed a list of Drupal modul names (maybe just comma separated) and that gives me a list of the corresponding Backdrop modules grouped by their current state/quality.

Have you tried using the Backdrop Upgrade Status module on your Drupal 7 site?

[stpaultim]

@guidot - Thanks for following up with your thoughts. We talked about this page during our weekly dev meeting on Thursday. It's not clear to me that we had a really solid strategy for this page other than that it was data collected for a presentation that we thought some people might find useful.

Your comments have us thinking about how to make this page even more useful.

I think in the past (several years ago), the audience might have been developers and site builders familiar with Drupal 7 that might be concerned that Backdrop CMS might not have enough contrib modules and this page was mostly there to give them some confidence.

We're rethinking that now. If people are using it the way you used it, there are probably better tools, like the Backdrop Upgrade Status module - which we probably don't do enough to promote.

[klonos]

I think that a "Last updated on [date]" in that article could go a long way to show people reading it how/if things may be out of date.

As to how pages are being updated being a secret, how about implementing something like https://www.drupal.org/project/node_notes or https://www.drupal.org/project/private_notes ?

[guidot]

Have you tried using the Backdrop Upgrade Status module on your Drupal 7 site?

No, I've missed that module. Thanks!

[stpaultim]

Someone should review this list and see if there are any changes that need to be made.