Creating a theme in a content management system platform as complex as Drupal can be really tricky. It can be really confusing if you are just starting off working on Drupal. So, you must go with the easy way-out to get your work done efficiently. However, the right way is not to take shortcuts but to do the smart work as you can achieve similar results with Drupal as you would have if you had chosen any other framework or content management system. However, to utilize the feature-rich variety that Drupal provides, you must hire a professional Drupal development company. It can not only help you have a better vision but also provide your project with better exposure as a professional agency comes with a team of an entire team of developers and designers that make the theme development process a lot easier. But it’s always good to have ample information before starting off with a project as complex as building a Drupal theme. So, to give you a better understanding, we would be discussing some of the top 7 tricks for creating an awesome Drupal theme. 

Top 7 Ticks for Creating an Awesome Drupal Theme

Use of the Context Key in the Rendering Array 

A major error that you may come across while creating templates is the ability to pass the data between them. This will require programmers to perform more complex operations such as processing templates. But do you know what the real challenge is? Well, the more difficult thing is when some hooks have already been cached and there is still a need for data upload. There may be various ideas for solving the problems but in Drupal, the problem can be solved by the context key. So, for instance, you have implemented hook_preprocess_node, in which some additional elements are used with a dedicated template. But you will prefer to still have the access to the node object in it. So, that’s where the context key comes into play as it makes it quite easy to pass any data from one rendering table to another one. You can even fit anything in it be it any object that you require in the processing duration. 

Cache Support in Twig Templates 

Most demanding graphic designs of the website and also page optimization make you go with some shortcut solutions such as extracting the field value directly from the templates. However, displaying only a single field of the context variable can result in disastrous consequences in terms of cache problems. While in the rendering ways, there are various keys apart from HTML code, which are majorly responsible for storing such cache metadata like tag, context, and max-age. So, if you want to be certain about whether the metadata will be collected properly by the renderer service or not, you may just add one magic line in the template. So, even if we take the example of a node template, it will be the content variable but can be any main variable of your template. So, when it comes to passing the main rendering array through the render filters, it will allow you to correctly collect all cache metadata, without having to display the entire content variable. Similarly, the solution will not necessarily have any negative impact on the performance of the code execution if it is about using the cache mechanism.

Safe Filter Replacement / Raw

When it comes to this filter, it is considered rather dangerous because of the increasing possibility of successful XSS attacks and is particularly used in single cases. However, this can be avoided quite easily. You just need to look for a better way since one of them is extremely easy to use and simple to be comprehended and implemented. Moreover, when it comes to displaying images while omitting all the HTML code generation along with it, you must go in the easiest way possible. So, in such a situation, experienced Drupal developers come to play as they would know such a solution that they would instead of displaying the images on the page, will display the entire text encoded into HTML entities. So, in such a situation, you can add a raw filter but with a different approach by using Drupal’s Render API with the markup key. This way the method may perhaps be a little bit less readable than with the filter, but would definitely be a lot safer. Therefore, HTML code will still be filtered and allowed safe tags to be passed through. 

Theme Suggestion Without Using hook_theme_suggestion_

You may have heard of this solution and would also be aware of the availability of this out of the box solution. Well, it is enough to add the suggestion to the values hidden in the #theme or even theme_hook_original in any rendering array while keeping the template in mind. As a result, the variable value may be set in a way that records a suggestion for a base template that can allow you to create a template file named such as paragraph-my-custom-theme-suggestion.html.twig. Therefore, this solution can be preferred or exceptional cases while for general use, you may go with a hook dedicated for the purpose.

Referencing a Template from a Different Theme/Module

So, now comes the part to discuss when you have not used Twig mechanisms such as include embed, or even extend in your template files in general. So, in such a situation, the best way is to take up the DRY rule into account for each and every aspect of programming or for web development to be precise. Therefore, themes are the places where there is a higher possibility of duplicate code in both template files and in styles sheets. Also, because in most cases, the entire template fit gets copied, for instance, an inherited theme or module will add surrounding HTML code and modify the single template block.

View Reloading Using InvokeCommand 

You may have heard of the Views module of Drupal that facilitates the creation of views that use AJAX technology. This is done not just to switch between the various different pages of the view but also to display the results that value changes from the required form. However, when it comes to the content of the view needs to be refreshed because of performing some action outside post sending a request to the controller from another block? Or is it to submit a form on the same page? Well, to solve these questions, two very convenient functionalities are provided by the Drupal core. The first one being, the default RefreshView event registered on the view that causes the view to be refreshed and the second one is InvokeCommand that allows AJAX to return jQuery method calls.

Use of Drupal.debounce 

Lastly, the underscore.js library can also be used as it is bundled with Drupal core however, many developers don’t really use it. This primarily includes a great number of functionalities. One of the most common cases where the capabilities of this library can be used through debouncing. Because it can prevent multiple code execution in return to a given event which is mostly a change in the width of the browser window.

As we are aware of the fact about the history of Drupal. So, these are the top 7 tricks that can help you build a wonderful Drupal theme. However, you can make the development process a lot easier by hiring professionals. Well, Auxesis Infotech is one such Drupal agency that not only specializes in Drupal web development & app development but also has expertise in Drupal theme development along with support and maintenance.