when-not-a-module-for-that/2025-midcamp-when-not-a-module-make-and-maintain.md

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---
title: "When There's Not a Module for That— How to Make (and Maintain) a New Module presentation for MidCamp 2025"
date: 2025-05-20
draft: false
mermaid:
themeVariables:
lineColor: '#fff'
---
#### When There's Not a Module for That— How to Make (and Maintain) a New Module
MidCamp @ DePaul University
Chicago, IL
May 20, 2025
#MidCamp2025
11am, Room 324
benjamin "mlncn" melançon
ben@agaric.coop
---
### Agaric Technology Collective
![The Agaric logo, a blue outline mushroom.](content/images/agaric-icon.png)
presents
Note: my name's ben, i have been a worker and owner at the worker-owned Agaric cooperative since 2006.
---
## When There's *Not*
## a Module for That
### How to Make (and Maintain)
### a New Drupal Module
---
###### Presented by
**Benjamin Melançon**
**[mlncn](https://agaric.coop/mlncn)**
 
with behind-the-scenes help from
Mauricio Dinarte
**[dinarcon](https://agaric.coop/dinarcon)**
Keegan Rankin
and other Agarics, past and present
---
TOGETHER, we are **⅓** of
<img alt="Agaric" src="content/images/agaric-logo-stacked.png" class="plain" />
a web technology collective
**ask@agaric.coop**
---
Send complaints to ben@agaric.coop
and heckling posts to social.coop/@mlncn
---
![Frankenstein and monster, part of a still from 1931 guillermo del toro adaptation](images/frankenstein-and-monster-part-of-still-from-1931-guillermo-del-toro-adaptation.png)
Note: So what do you do when there's not a module for that? You make your own. It's easy.
---
![Regular node add form with Save button](content/images/create-frankenstein-unmodified.png)
Note: Say you're creating a site where people can relive great literature that may have been inspired by a famine. You've already created an excellent content type under Structure » Content. But somehow the usual "Save" doesn't communicate what you want when creating Frankenstein content.
---
`frankenstein.info.yml`
```yaml
name: Frankenstein
description: "Rename save button for Frankenstein's content."
type: module
core_version_requirement: ^8 || ^9 || ^10 || ^11 || ^12
```
Note: This file tells Drupal about your module, and it is technically all you need to enable your module.
---
`frankenstein.module`
```php
<?php
/**
* Implements hook_form_FORM_NAME_alter() for "Frankenstein" node (add) form.
*/
function frankenstein_form_node_frankenstein_form_alter(
&$form,
\Drupal\Core\Form\FormStateInterface $form_state
) {
$form['actions']['submit']['#value'] = t('Re-animate!');
}
```
Note: There we go, there's a module! I think we're done here. Anyone have any ideas for the next 40 minutes?
`.info.yml` files are not PHP. They cleverly indicate this by not starting with `<?php`. `.module` files are PHP...
---
### Where to put these files
![Folder hierarchy of custom module in Drupal](content/images/frankenstein-location-in-ranger.png)
Note: Our files are in place in our local site, now we go to our create 'Frankenstein' content form and…
---
![Regular node add form with Save button](content/images/create-frankenstein-unmodified.png)
---
# Enable your module
At **Extend** (`/admin/modules`) or with:
`drush -y en frankenstein`
Note: That slide may be the most important you're going to be shown. Enable your module.
---
![Regular node add form with Save button as reanimate](content/images/create-frankenstein-reanimate.png)
Note: Tadaaa! Now you know how to make a module!
---
![Adam Scott staring at the camera](content/images/adam-scott-conan-stare.gif)
Note: So you're all sitting* there thinking ... sure, that's easy if you know the exact words and symbols to *put* in that file. And you're absolutely right. And we're going to tell you how you can figure out all of that.
---
![A motor made of legos labeled Online Commerce Engine, a guitar made of legos labeled Music Media Gallery, and a pile of lego pieces labeled Module You Need](content/images/lego-modules-and-not-a-module.png)
Note: It has often been said, Drupal is a box of legos that you can build just about anything you want with. But sometimes those legos have been put together for you. And sometimes not.
---
A few basic approaches give a lot of power.
<img alt="Screwdriver with extensive collection of driver tips." src="content/images/screwdriver-tip-set.jpg" width="70%" />
Note: A few specific examples will give you a lot of tools. But first, two secrets. One's good news, second is bad news.
---
#### Good News
### Now you know where to paste
![How do I exit the Vim editor? viewed 2.1 million times](content/images/stack-overflow-helping-devs-quit-vim.png)
Note: And knowing where to paste unleashes the power of Stack Overflow / Stack Exchange sites. (yes, the same family of sites that has helped a couple million developers figure out how to quit vim.) Knowing where to put this code unleashes the power of Stack Overflow. You now know enough to be dangerous. And i hope i have definitively slayed (slewn?) the mythology that module-making is a mystic domain of Drupal druids.
---
#### Bad News
### That simple form alter has hidden gotchas
&nbsp;
* As written, it only applies to the create (node/add) form— not the edit form.
* There's a dozen variations of the humble form alter hook, and all are valid.
Note: With our dirty secrets acknowledged, on with the show. We'll show the edit form hook later on!
---
## The Show
- Prelude: **How To Make a Module**
- Act One: **How Not To Make a Module**
- Act Two: **How Not To Have to Make a Whole Module**
- Act Three: **How To Figure Out How To Make a Module**
- Encore: **How To Contribute Your Module**
---
Act One
### How Not To Make a Module
![Muppet Show curtain](images/muppet-show-curtain.png)
---
### Hierarchy of Code Usage
Stop at the first layer configurable to your needs.
1. Drupal core code
2. Broadly supported contributed module code
3. Less-supported or patched contributed module code
4. Code you have written and contributed
5. Custom code you have written and hidden from the world
Note: Why not to make a module.
---
#### When not to make a module?
[![Turtle with golf ball on spring contraption on back.](content/images/rube-goldberg-tortoise.jpg)](https://www.koreus.com/video/machine-rube-goldberg-lente.html)
Note: You can do anything with a module! Why wouldn't you make one every day?
---
#### …when there's an easier way
![Ginger Howard completing her swing after hitting a golf ball](content/images/ginger-howard-golf-swing.jpg)
Note: find a contrib module that does it. Should it be in a template? If it's very specific to the display on your site, you should probably do it in the theme layer. But if it's at all data and you might ever want to switch themes, or want to allow site builders or site managers to disable or change settings, get that in a module.
---
Alternatives to a module:
- Template override
- String override
- ECA (Event Condition Action, or now Rules is also stable, but i like ECA)
Note: There are a couple of modules for string overrides, or they can go in settings.php. ECA is not necessarily faster than making a module, especially once you know how to make a module, but it exposes the logic to non-developers better.
---
> When building a Drupal site, “there’s a module for that” can be the sweetest words you can hear.
Note: So let's start there.
---
### Is there already a module for that?
[drupal.org/project/project_module](https://www.drupal.org/project/project_module)
![Modules link](content/images/download-extend-modules-menu-2025.png)
---
![Modules search](images/modules-search.png)
Note: I definitely recommend changing core compatibility to something reasonable, Drupal 10, to start. And Status to "All projects", not just Full, non-sandbox projects, if you're ready to write a module. A sandbox may be a great start. And then allow any version. Then put in your key words and search. Remove the version— perhaps your best bet is porting an existing module. Use lots of different keywords.
---
* Do the same searches on an Internet-wide search with “Drupal” and “module” included as keywords.
* Ask in IRC: #drupal-support, #drupal, and #drupal-contribute (in that order and over some time, even a few days)
* Er, i meant the Slack equivalents #support, #general, #contribute, see https://www.drupal.org/slack
---
Take note of every word that you use when searching for a module.
Note: This is how people in the same situation will find your module. Currently we are pouring our notes into Logseq, and they'll be public soon.
---
##### There's a module that *almost* does exactly what you want
* Contribute a patch!
* Port it to modern Drupal 10/11!
Note: Even if your patch is not accepted nor is there any way given to build on the module, you can fork the module— maintain your own copy. Indeed, this is the standard way of contributing now, with an Issue Fork.
---
![David submitting issue with patch](content/images/david-filing-issue-with-patch.png)](https://www.drupal.org/project/comment_notify/issues/2850935)
---
![David fixing a reported comment notify issue all himself.](content/images/david-fixing-comment-notify-issue-alone.png)](https://www.drupal.org/project/comment_notify/issues/2976478)
Note: This strategy is not without risks. David was made a maintainer of Comment Notify, and now routinely fixes issues there all himself. Still, that's generally better for *everyone* than to make your own module with duplicate functionality.
---
Act Two
### How Not To Have to Make a Whole Module
![Muppet Show curtain](images/muppet-show-curtain.png)
---
### Be a part of something bigger
(but not as big as all of Drupal)
#### Commerce
#### ECA - Event Condition Action
#### Extra Field
#### Search API
Note: Build on or with some major —and with luck join a community of people invested in a part of Drupal and willing to share passion and knowledge.
---
#### Example: BEF Links Filter
[drupal.org/project/bef_links_filter](https://www.drupal.org/project/bef_links_filter)
Search API's friends include Facets and Better Exposed Filters
Note: By extending BEF Links module, we were able to get a lot of power— with a much better user experience, thanks to our ~250 lines of code altogether.
----
[![Screenshot of worldpece.org/analyize showing "Annotation for Transparent Inquiry (ATI)" and another result alongside a right-hand column with an opened fieldset for "Question set" with a search box labeled "Filter" and a ten options starting with "Reading Qual Data Repository Platforms" and "Decolonizing the University" and ending in a muted "Show all" button.](content/images/pece-bef-links-filter.png)](https://worldpece.org/analyze)
[![Screenshot of worldpece.org/analyize showing an opened fieldset for "Question set" with a search box filled in with "tech" and two options, "Analyzing Representations of 'Local Knowledge' in Tech Development" and "Archive Ethnography: Technics"](content/images/pece-bef-links-filter-detail.png)](https://worldpece.org/analyze).
Note: It is the small text on the right that is important in the first screenshot; in the second it is zoomed in and filtered by the word "tech".
----
`bef_links_filter/src/Plugin/better_exposed_filters/filter/LinksFilter.php`
```php
<?php
namespace Drupal\bef_links_filter\Plugin\better_exposed_filters\filter;
use Drupal\better_exposed_filters\Plugin\better_exposed_filters\filter\Links;
```
Off the edge there our namespace ends in `filter` and we are using BEF's `filter\Links` class.
----
Which means we are outright extending the filter 'Links' from Better Exposed Filter itself:
```php
/**
* Filterable list of facet links.
*
* @BetterExposedFiltersFilterWidget(
* id = "bef_links_filter",
* label = @Translation("Filterable links"),
* )
*/
class LinksFilter extends Links {
```
Note: Our module is directly inheriting everything that Better Exposed Filter's Links filter does. (That we are adding JavaScript filtering to that filter is an unfortunate confusion.)
----
Which means we get all the actual facet links for free, and we can add on options.
```php
/**
* {@inheritdoc}
*/
public function defaultConfiguration(): array {
return parent::defaultConfiguration() + [
'minimum_to_show_text_filter' => 5,
'initial_shown' => 10,
'allow_show_all' => TRUE,
];
}
```
Note: The main thing to note there is `parent::` which you will use when extending things often.
---
#### Look for opportunities to plug in
No, literally, look for plugins.
In `src/Plugin` of whatever modules you are operating in the vicinity of.
BEF Links Filter is a `better_exposed_filters` plugin in about 250 lines of code altogether.
Note: Doing your own module by extending an existing plugin or copying and modifying an existing plugin is probably the highest impact to effort ratio.
---
Act Three
### How To Figure Out How To Make a Module
![Muppet Show curtain](images/muppet-show-curtain.png)
---
### When to make a module
![Lego heart with a missing piece](content/images/lego-heart-missing-piece.jpg)
Note: You've identified to the best of your ability that there's definitely not something out there that does what you want to do. I personally do not advocate introspection at this point: Why am i trying to do something that no one else is trying to do? Credit: lego heart is credited to Llama-Muffin-Kelly on DeviantArt but only see it on Pinterest
---
### Steal, and keep stealing
----
![A large button with the label "+ Add content block"](images/add-content-block-action-link.png)
Note: If you decide your module should have one of those button links you see at the top right of a bunch of pages in Drupal's administration, you *don't even need to know* that they are called "Action Links" and find a tutorial on making them. You can just go look in the code of a module you know has them, grep for the label, and steal the code around it.
----
![grep -nHIRs "Add content block" web/core/ with a half-dozen results, including web/core/modules/block_content/block_content.links.action.yml:9 and a bunch of results in tests.](images/grep-add-content-block-action-link.png)
Note: Grep. Even when i am fully using an IDE for everything else, i grep in the regular command line when looking for text in a file. This habit is probably fueled more by failing to tell the IDE to index Drupal core and contrib modules more than anything else.
----
!["block_content_add_action:
route_name: block_content.add_page
title: 'Add content block'
appears_on:
- block.admin_library
- entity.block_content.collection
class: \Drupal\block_content\Plugin\Menu\LocalAction\BlockContentAddLocalAction"](images/yml-add-content-block-action-link.png)
---
### Building blocks
* Hooks
* Form alter
* Node insert
* Plugins
* Block
* Formatter
* Services
* Route subscriber
* Event subscriber
Note: The three main ways to mess with Drupal 8 and 9: hooks, plugins, and services, with a couple examples in each. Both examples of what technically to do and how to do general things. For example: Doing something with a form? You want hook_form_alter() or one of its variants.
---
How to figure out how to make a module (recap)
## Learning to learn
* Drupal documentation
* Drupal contributed modules
* Drupal core and *its* modules
* Debugger
* Drupal forums and issues
* Drupal.StackExchange.com
* The rest of the Internet
* Code search / grep
Note: Where to start if i don't cover it in this session. And the debugger to more quickly find methods and functions, or even step through code, in contributed modules, core, and the module you're working on!
---
### Building a Contrib-Worthy Modern Drupal (10, 11, 12…) Module
#### What module to make?
* One you need.
* One not already made!
Note: To summarize: ^^
---
#### Write up what you plan to do
[groups.drupal.org/contributed-module-ideas](https://groups.drupal.org/contributed-module-ideas)
Note: Is one place, but your own blog or
---
File issues for your own modules.
Note: It helps you think through what you are planning to do, it makes features and bugs more discoverable by other people, if you do not get to it right away there is a chance someone else will (in a way that they coordinate with you!), and you (and anyone else who helps) get Drupal.org issue credit for that (you get no credit for contributing the actual module).
---
Be willing to commit based on your own opinion, don’t let issues languish waiting for the community to test, if you feel it’s good and you gave a bit of time (or feel it doesn’t need it) be willing to commit it on your own accord (also valid for “maintainer adjusted on commit”)
— cmlara
---
![image](images/copyright-block.png)
---
```yaml
name: "Project Copyright"
type: module
description: "Generate a block with the copyright leyend."
core_version_requirement: ^8 || ^9 || ^10 || ^11 || ^12
```
---
```php
<?php
namespace Drupal\copyright\Plugin\Block;
use Drupal\Core\Block\BlockBase;
/**
* Provides a block with the copyright legend.
*
* @Block(
* id = "copyright_block",
* admin_label = @Translation("Copyright"),
* )
*/
class Copyright extends BlockBase {
/**
* @inheritDoc
*/
public function build() {
return [
'#markup' => $this->t('Copyright © @year All rights reserved', ['@year' => date('Y')]),
];
}
}
```
---
![Cat waving paws at mirror with the text Magic Portal: Activate! superimposed.](content/images/magic-portal-cat.jpg)
Note: Hooks are magic portals that let any module appear in another part of Drupal and do something. More technically, a hook is tied to some sort of Drupal event and is an opportunity for our module to take action. There were 251+ hooks in Drupal 7 core. After a concerted effort in the development of Drupal 8 to remove hooks and replace them with more modern and widespread (outside Drupal) programming practices such as plugins and services... There are now 288 hooks in Drupal 8.8. To be fair, we moved some big contributed modules like Views into Drupal core ... but even after that, we've added 25 hooks to core since Drupal 8.2 (and only deprecated 9, which are removed in Drupal 9). Hooks are still very much a part of Drupal. Every contributed module can provide hooks, too.
---
Hooks work by naming convention.
To implement a hook, take the 'hook' part off the hook name and replace it with your module's (machine) name.
---
## Resources
Most of these links go to a page on [Drupal's API reference which is also a great place to go for an overview](https://api.drupal.org/api/drupal/9.0.x) of what tools are available to you as you pick through the pieces Drupal offers and assemble your module.
https://api.drupal.org/api/drupal/core%21core.api.php/group/extending/
---
### Key hooks
* [hook form_alter](https://api.drupal.org/api/drupal/core%21lib%21Drupal%21Core%21Form%21form.api.php/function/hook_form_alter/9.0.x )
* [hook_entity_extra_field_info](https://api.drupal.org/api/drupal/core%21lib%21Drupal%21Core%21Entity%21entity.api.php/function/hook_entity_extra_field_info/9.0.x ) + a 'field' site builders can use in entity view modes, such as to combine entity data and format it for display. Or you can replace those three hooks with one plugin by using the [Extra field module](https://www.drupal.org/project/extra_field )
### All the hooks
* [api.drupal.org/api/drupal/core!core.api.php/group/hooks](https://api.drupal.org/api/drupal/core!core.api.php/group/hooks/)
Note: A note on all these links: I've linked to the Drupal 9.0 version. These hooks all work in Drupal 8.x also. Drupal.org [inadvertently for quite a while treated 8.2 as the end-all-and-be-all version of Drupal](https://www.drupal.org/project/apidrupalorg/issues/3085999 ); this has been mitigated and is being fixed but Google is still likely to take you to 8.2 when searching for documentation on a hook. Just switch to the version you're using, or the latest version of Drupal if
---
## Bonus tip
### Don't bother to support older versions
Note: And i'm not talking about Drupal 7, 6, 5, or 4.7. Don't bother with Drupal 10 if you want to use the new cool object-oriented style hooks.
---
### The Rest of the Internet
* Duck Duck Go (!g for Google results)
* [ddg.co](https://duckduckgo.com/)
* [agaric.coop/blog](https://agaric.coop/blog)
* Your own notes
---
### Copy or have technology copy for you
* A module that was generated with Drupal Console https://www.drupal.org/project/ckeditor_youtube/ - simple and used by many, and slowly got more complex
Note: Shows how a lot of this is boilerplate.
---
### Field Formatter
* A module bringing in a PHP library and getting crazy (started with simple field formatter, can use this or another module to demo that) - https://drupal.org/project/inotherwords
Note: @TODO bring in, cleaned up and not confusing
---
### Services: Event Subscriber
https://gitlab.com/find-it-program-locator/findit_library_sync/-/blob/8.x-1.x/migrations/findit_library_sync_events.yml#L5
---
## Why contribute?
* Right thing to do
* I asked you to
* People may contribute to it
* Someone may take it over and upgrade it or improve it greatly
---
[![Workflow buttons issue: Add a configure link in Extend page.](content/images/workflow-buttons-add-configure-link-in-extend-page.png)](https://www.drupal.org/project/workflow_buttons/issues/3120524)
Note: Or someone may make a tiny improvement that makes everyone's lives better.
---
## Nice touches
`workflow_buttons.info.yml`
```diff
type: module
description: 'Provide workflow buttons for content moderation instead of a select dropdown of states.'
core_version_requirement: ^8 || ^9
core: 8.x
+configure: workflow_buttons.settings
dependencies:
- drupal:system (>=8.4)
```
---
### How to develop while sharing the same code you're using
Your module `composer.json`:
```json
{
"name": "drupal/cyborgtranslate",
"description": "Trigger Google translate and Drupal interface translation at the same time, allowing sections of your site's localization to be done by humans and the rest by machines.",
"keywords": ["drupal", "translation", "multilingual", "localization", "google translate"],
"type": "drupal-module",
"license": "GPL-2.0+",
"homepage": "https://www.drupal.org/project/cyborgtranslate",
"minimum-stability": "dev",
"support": {
"issues": "https://www.drupal.org/project/issues/cyborgtranslate",
"source": "https://gitlab.com/agaric/drupal/cyborgtranslate/tree/8.x-1.x"
}
}
```
Note: Composer makes a lot of stuff seem more complicated, but it makes it easier to contribute. Trust me... this will only be three screens of gibberish. It's also possible to read from other sources, not just Drupal.org. In this case, for example, we are getting the project from our GitLab mirror, which we have so people can submit merge requests if they would like.
---
Your project root `composer.json`:
```json
{
"require": {
"drupal/core": "^8.8.0",
"drupal/cyborgtranslate": "dev-8.x-1.x as 1.x-dev",
"drush/drush": "^9.0"
},
"repositories": {
"drupal": {
"type": "composer",
"url": "https://packages.drupal.org/8"
},
"drupal/cyborgtranslate": {
"type": "git",
"url": "git@gitlab.com:agaric/drupal/cyborgtranslate.git"
}
}
}
```
---
### Examples for developers project
[drupal.org/project/examples](https://www.drupal.org/project/examples)
Note: It's like it was written just for you.
---
Drupal.org/planet to keep up to date with what is going on in the Drupal world.
Drupal.tv for recording of talks at different conferences.
Drupical.com to find out about events happening in your city.
The official Drupal API documentation.
The Drupal Slack to get community support.
A video series by OSTraining on YouTube.
Drupalize.Me for high quality (paid) material.
UnderstandDrupal.com shameless plug
---
### Maintaining
Note: Isn't that the most anyone can ask of us these days, to maintain?
---
![Little rabbit in big grass](content/images/little-rabbit-in-big-grass.jpg)
agaric.coop/wtnamft &middot; <a href="mailto:ask@agaric.coop">ASK@AGARIC.COOP</a>
Note: It's a big wild world out there. Bite off a piece you can chew. Links for all of this and more on the session page.
---
To be continued…
Note: Let me know what you build!
---
Free Palestine
#LandBack
Note: Land acknowledgement. Pairing these intentionally. Leonard Peltier was finally freed this year. If a Native Americans were to respond to 400 years of dispossession and , and political parties rallied for more active extermination, would you join that, or would you be working for Land Back?
There is more than enough resources and land for us all to be comfortable. We need to work for human rights for all at the expense of privileges for a few.
Maybe work for justice now so there is no decision to be made if there is sudden violence; you already know you are working on the right thing.
---