I had the pleasure of being a guest on the February 3rd episode of the Talking Drupal podcast, where we discussed my workflow for building Single Directory Components (SDCs). I developed this workflow for a recent project upgrading the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis (WSLCB) website from Drupal 7 to Drupal 10.
SDCs are Drupal core's implementation of components, which are a common concept in other front-end frameworks. SDCs greatly simplify the process of creating a reusable front-end component in Drupal. Future Drupal features like Experience Builder will extend the functionality of SDCs.
The Talking Drupal podcast is a weekly show with close to 500 episodes. We had a fantastic conversation, covering everything from the basics of Single Directory Components to how I’ve been using them in real-world projects like WSLCB. We also discussed the advantages of switching to SDCs, some common pitfalls, and the best way to get started. Together we explored the future of SDCs in Drupal, how they work with decoupled sites, and what improvements we might see in upcoming versions.
One of the most interesting parts of the discussion was drawing parallels between the component model in JavaScript frameworks like React, and how SDCs function within Drupal. Understanding these similarities can help developers with a front-end background see the benefits of this structured, self-contained approach to theming.
The episode page includes links to some of the modules and resources I’ve relied on in my SDC workflow. It also provides an overview of the Embedded Content module, which turned out to be a great solution for some of the pain points I’ve encountered with Single Directory Components and custom elements.
You can listen to the episode on Talking Drupal or in your favorite podcast app, or watch the video recording on YouTube.
If you're interested in learning more, I’ll also be presenting "My Single Directory Components Workflow" at Florida DrupalCamp, so stay tuned for more insights and discussions on this topic.
