Views in Drupal
GuideLayout Builder
GuideLayout Builder in Drupal
CourseManaging Media in Drupal
CourseBuild Drupal Sites
GuideLayout Builder is one of many different approaches to handling editorial layouts in Drupal. Now that it's stable, and part of Drupal core, we expect to see it become the dominant approach over time. However, as with most things in Drupal, there are multiple ways to solve the problem of creating component based flexible layouts that can be administered via the user interface.
It's a good idea to understand the different approaches and know what's available.
When it comes to component based design and ability to construct flexible layouts, it is important to understand the benefits and risks of the most popular techniques: Paragraphs, Bricks, entities and view modes, and Layout Builder. Understanding which approach fits the needs of your project best can be critical for its success in the future.
In this tutorial we'll look at some common approaches to administering layouts in a way that gives content editors controls including:
- Drupal core's Layout Builder
- Using core's entity reference fields and view modes
- The contributed Paragraphs module
- The contributed Bricks module
By the end of this tutorial you should have a broad overview of the different popular approaches to creating editor-controlled layouts.
A new favorite page-building and design module in Drupal's core software, Layout Builder makes it possible to create content-type-specific layouts. All nodes of the associated content type will display their content using the defined layout. This allows site builders to display a page's content in two columns, or three, or two columns with a full-width banner image, etc. Then you can place the content type's fields and Drupal blocks into the sections of the defined layout, all via the Drupal UI.
In this tutorial we'll:
- Enable the Drupal Layout Builder and Layout Discover modules
- Create a new two-column flexible layout via the user interface
- Update the Basic page content type so that all nodes use the new two-column layout
By the end of this tutorial you should know how to create a new flexible layout, and apply it to one or more content types.
When building with Layout Builder, the list of blocks available for a site administrator to place in a layout can grow and become overwhelming to navigate. This is especially true when you've got a lot of different modules enabled, as each can add new blocks. As well, complex configurations may require site admins to create more and more custom blocks. Some blocks, like certain Views, or default core blocks like "Who's online", are not meant to be used within the Layout Builder. These blocks can clutter the UI and also impact the performance of Layout Builder UI. The contributed module Block List Override is designed to help solve this problem.
In this tutorial we'll:
- Learn what the Block List Override module does
- Install and configure the module to improve the user experience when creating layouts
By the end of this tutorial you should know how to use the Block List Override module to improve the UX of the Layout Builder interface.
Layout Builder module comes with some common layouts that can be used out of the box. The Drupal community has created modules that provide more layout options. However, perhaps your project requires special layouts that cannot be constructed with already existing options. Or you require more precise control over the CSS classes and HTML markup, especially if your website is based on a third-party front-end framework. In these cases you can define custom layouts in a module or theme and make them discoverable by the Layout Builder.
In this tutorial we'll:
- Define a new layout plugin
- Create a corresponding Twig template file for HTML markup
- Use our new layout in the Layout Builder UI
By the end of this tutorial you should know how to define a new layout in code, within a module or a theme.
When defining new layout plugins for Drupal you can add custom CSS and JavaScript via asset libraries. This allows for the creation of layouts with complex structures and interactive elements. Those elements might include grids, tabs, and accordions. Drupal allows you to attach custom CSS and JavaScript directly to a layout plugin, or via the layout's Twig template file.
In this tutorial we'll:
- Define a custom asset library with JavaScript and CSS functionality
- Attach the asset library to the custom layout plugin
- Transform a multicolumn layout into tabs
By the end of this tutorial you should know how to attach custom CSS and JavaScript to a layout plugin to add interactivity and styling.
One of the biggest UX problems with the current Layout Builder UI in core is that the control panel is often too narrow. This is especially noticeable when creating inline blocks, and working with WYSIWYG fields. The contributed Layout Builder Modal module is one solution to address this problem. It moves the UI for creating, and editing, custom blocks in a Layout into a wider modal window.
In this tutorial we'll:
- Install the Layout Builder Modal module
- Demonstrate how it can be used to improve the UX of managing custom blocks in Layout Builder
By the end of this tutorial you should know what the Layout Builder Modal module does, and determine if it's useful for your project.
The Layout Builder module for Drupal provides a layout user interface (UI), a set of flexible visual design tools that allows content creators and site administrators to customize the layout of a page via a powerful drag-and-drop UI. You can use Layout Builder to customize the layout of a single page, create a custom layout for all content of a certain type, or build landing pages.
At a high level it allows users to generate a layout -- two columns with a header, for example -- and then place a content type's fields and any blocks into that layout.
Layout Builder provides an API, and layout discovery feature, that themes and other modules can use to provide new templates. It allows more consistent tooling across the entire page-building ecosystem.
In this tutorial we'll:
- Give an overview of what Drupal Layout Builder is, and its common uses
- Introduce terminology and concepts related to Layout Builder
By the end of this tutorial you'll have a better understanding of what the Drupal core Layout Builder module does and how it might help with your specific use-case.
The Layout Builder Restrictions module allows you to configure which layouts, and which blocks, should be available in the Layout Builder UI. This helps improve the user experience by removing blocks that you don't want someone to place into a layout. It also restricts which layouts are available for a content type. For example, you may allow an editor to change the layout for a blog page but restrict them to choosing between 1- or 2-column layouts. Yet, you can still provide a 3-column layout option for use in other scenarios.
In this tutorial we'll:
- Install the Layout Builder Restrictions module
- Learn how to curate the list of layouts for use on a per-content type basis
- Restrict the list of blocks available for placement via Layout Builder's UI
By the end of this tutorial you'll know how to use the Layout Builder Restrictions module to curate the list of layout and block options available to editors in the Layout Builder UI.
The Layout Builder module allows editors to create flexible layouts per content type, and per node. When configured to allow per-node layout customization, each node inherits the base layout for the content type. But editors can choose to further customize the layout on a node by node basis. This allows them to tailor the layout to better suit the specific node, and to have presentation flexibility that can be managed through Drupal's UI instead of in code. This also makes it harder to enforce design consistency, and future updates to the content type specific layout won't be applied to pages using a node specific layout.
In this tutorial we'll:
- Learn how to enable node-specific layouts
- Create a custom layout that is used on only one page
By the end of this tutorial you'll understand how to configure per-node-specific layouts.
The Layout Builder Styles module extends the Drupal core Layout Builder UI to add the ability for editors to apply custom CSS classes to the blocks and sections that make up a layout. This gives layout editors more control over the look and feel of elements within a layout. It's especially useful when using Drupal's Layout Builder in conjunction with a design system like Bootstrap, Material UI, or your own predefined utility classes.
The module allows site builders to define new styles. Then, when placing a block into a layout, if there are any styles available for the block type, the user is presented with a select list where they can choose one or more to apply. When a style is applied, any CSS classes associated with the style are added to the markup. Also, a new style-specific theme hook suggestion is added to the block to allow for further customization.
In this tutorial we'll:
- Install and configure the Drupal Layout Builder Styles module
- Learn how to define new styles
- Learn how anyone editing a layout can apply the styles we defined to a block or section in the layout to change the UX
By the end of this tutorial, you should be able to use the Layout Builder Styles module to allow editors to add predefined styles to existing layouts and blocks without writing any code.