Unsolved Drupal Mysteries

Posted | Updated

I'd like to talk about the long standing problems in Drupal that we run into from time to time.

Some things we expect to work, but are brittle or limited.

Others are rarely used and poorly documented.

Drupal WTF issue tag.

Needs addition:

  • Translations
    • Layout builder compatibility

Core

#3462359[meta] Drupal modernization - 2024

#82751Allow some HTML tags in node titles - 2006

#937814[meta] Smarter UI/API separation for modules - 2010

#3359511[regression] missing menu active trail since Drupal 9.5.9 - 2023

#3144382Feature to prevent multiple submits keeps submit disabled after back navigation - 2020

Use ARIA disclosure pattern for submenu buttons in vertical toolbar orientation - 2019

#1189464Add an 'instant' queue runner - 2011

#3189519Avoid using H2 in the menu - 2020 [closed - outdated]

#2045039Cleanup HTML heading structure - 2013

#2762131Generalize MenuLinkAdd so all local actions can use it - 2016 [fixed 2025]
Change record: https://www.drupal.org/node/3490245

#2209319Move 'type' .info.yml file property first for performance (lead by example) - 2014

#3460723Add a non blocking batch runner - 2024

#2968232Deprecate module_set_weight() - 2018

Performance

#2218651[meta] Make Drupal compatible with persistent app servers like ReactPHP, PHP-PM, PHPFastCGI, FrankenPHP, Swoole - 2014

#2531932Entity queries are not entirely cheap - 2015

#3333386[meta] Performance improvements - 2023

Blocks

#2284687Redesign UI for better management of block visibility - 2014

#3273172[META] Improve UX for block layout administration page - 2022

#3320446Add support for negating path visibility conditions (!=NOT) - 2022

#2767171Block settings vertical tabs only have summaries for core conditions - 2016

#3273176Allow visibility conditions for regions - 2022

#3273175Display active visibility conditions for blocks on the block layout administration page - 2022

#2358971Open the configure links on admin/structure/block in a modal - 2014

#213085UMN Usability: Preview feature for blocks - 2008

UI

Tables overflow on mobile - 2019
Claro theme.

Big Pipe

#3496329Fix not loading CKEditor 5 and Tour with BigPipe enabled after Drupal 10.4 update - 2024

Editing

#807996[meta] Input filters and text formats - 2010

Forms

#2895477HTML5 validation is preventing form submit and not fully accessible - 2012

#2190333Make #group FAPI / render feature work on all form/render #types out of the box - 2014

#3029189Support removing nested elements in Twig 'without' filter - 2019

#2897377$form['#attributes']['data-drupal-selector'] is set to a random value so can't be used for its intended purpose - 2017

#1880168Introduce top-level sections for all forms - 2013

Config

#2575547Formalize patterns for delete/uninstall of configuration dependencies - 2015

#2832558Add a 'disabled' section to config changes page when removing config - 2016

#2773205Come up with a design for highly destructive operations in confirm forms - 2016

#2935790Configuration change data loss prevention functionality inconsistent, restrictive - 2018

#2912466Warning about deleting configuration is easy to overlook - 2017

#2952037[meta] Add constraints to all simple configuration - 2018

#2300677JSON:API POST/PATCH support for fully validatable config entities - 2014

#3477363Add a way to automatically generate basic config forms - 2024

Views

#2325899UI fatal caused by views argument handlers no longer can provide their own default argument handling - 2014

#2528166Upcast named arguments/named parameters in views - 2015

#2020265Bring back contextual links for admin views - 2013

#2539664Contextual links in views preview not working - 2015

#2884801Views block duplicated contextual links - 2017

#1823450[Meta] Convert core listings to Views - 2012

#2778345Views argument validators aren't taken into account on access checks - local task point to 404 - 2016

#3112005View deleted without notice on deletion of content type, or uninstall of contrib module - 2020

#3177228Deleting a view which is referenced in other view by Views Area removes both views - 2020

#3520747Don't delete view due to config dependencies being deleted - 2025

#3211085Deleted field in Views still gets view dependency warning when deleting content type field - 2021

#2843953Remove collapsible details wrapper from Views UI advanced settings - 2017 [fixed 2025]

#1853522[META] (Re)introduce Views data integration for core modules - 2012 [solved]

#3462677Exposed Filter in Views Redirects to Page Display Path Instead of Block Path - 2024

#2877061Illegal choice in grouped exposed filters with enabled option remember (ListField, BooleanOperator - Views filter handlers) - 2017

#3538681Add support for selecting the dropbutton_type with the Views dropbutton field - 2025

#2923634[PP-1] Use hook_theme_suggestions in views - 2017

#3526779Customizable views area handlers ids - 2025

#3054944Base path for attachment summary view broken - 2019

#2741187Allow usage of WYSIWYG in views text area fields - 2016

#2900594CKEditor not available for Views "text" areas - 2017

#2923634[PP-1] Use hook_theme_suggestions in views - 2017

#3112005View should not be deleted on deletion of content type or uninstall of contrib module, even with a confirmation form - 2020

Views Aggregation

#2975149When using aggregation, additional fields should not be included in the grouping function - 2018

#2993507Timestamp field only shows as unix when Views aggregation is on and Timestamp field is Min or Max - 2018

#3151654Date field is not displaying correct value on a views with aggregation max/min - 2020

#2735997Decimal separator and decimals settings ignored when aggregating decimal fields - 2016

#2849881Field formatters no longer work for aggregated fields in Views - 2017

#2915552Views filter by distinct NID - 2017

#3344910Ajax error on views with aggregation - 2023

#3263208Missing schema on views with aggregation - 2022 [fixed 10/16/2025]
(Check if this fixes other aggregation issues, or just the config warning).

Views Dates

#3036460Using contextual filters for "created Day/Month/Year+Month/Full date" breaks the site when the argument is not numeric and matches the exception value - 2019

#2924061Create views filter plugin for date range fields - 2017

#2648950[PP-2] Use form element of type date instead textfield when selecting a date in an exposed filter - 2016

Views Ajax

#2951477Views ajax reload is removing contextual links - 2018

#3163299Ajax exposed filters not working for multiple instances of the same Views block placed on one page - 2020

Views hardcodes exposed filter block form ID's which breaks AJAX when the same form is shown multiple times on one page - 2017 #2894747Views hardcodes exposed filter block form ID's which breaks AJAX when the same form is shown multiple times on one page

#2968207Allow multiple instances of the same exposed filter form on a single page - 2018

#2876197On a page with multiple Views exposed Ajax enabled forms, multiple throbbers appear on submit - 2017

#3032353Exposed forms in a block are not updated by AJAX - 2019

#3500305Views pager does not always open page on top of list with ajax enabled - 2025

#2986041Triggering RefreshView on a view is making multiple ajax calls - 2018

#3311198Prevent multiple ajax calls on views refresh - 2022

#3300426Views viewsScrollTop (ScrollTopCommand AJAX command) doesn't work inside Drupal Off canvas dialogs - 2022

#2771361Ajax views leave obsolete Drupal.Ajax instances - 2016

#3035340Deprecate views_ui_add_ajax_trigger() - 2019

Form Ajax

#2958673AJAX system calls attachBehaviors() twice (or more) unnecessarily in forms - 2018

#2895477Native browser form validation does not fire when submit buttons use #ajax - 2017

AJAX

#3404409 [Plan] Gradually replace Drupal's AJAX system with HTMX - 2023

#3396318AJAX MessageCommand markup and styling differs from Theme default - 2023

#3440040JS messages are themed differently, not using status-messages.html.twig - 2024

Javascript

#2474019Implement before and after behavior ordering - 2015

#1446166Use JS events instead of Drupal.behaviors - 2012

jQuery

#3076171Provide a new library to replace jQuery UI autocomplete - 2019

#3052002 [meta] Replace JQuery with vanilla Javascript in core - 2019

#3176441 JavaScript event handling without a full jQuery dependency - 2020

#3145958 [META] Re-evaluate use of Backbone.js in core - 2020

Theming

#953034[meta] Themes improperly check renderable arrays when determining visibility - 2010

#2465377Long-standing architecture flaw: Directly printing a nested element skips important processing (including #access) of parent elements - 2015

#3314476Accessing raw values within Twig is hard, and can disempower site-builders - 2022

#1843798[meta] Refactor Render API to be OO - 2012

#2195695Admin UIs on the front-end are difficult to theme - 2014

#3230518Figure out how we want to incorporate web components in Drupal 10 - 2021

#3103378Require themes to specify whether they support content editing - 2019

#3458589Deprecate $variables['page'] for node.html.twig and node_is_page() - 2024

#3159050Allow deprecating theme suggestions - 2020 [RBTC]

#1764912Fix regressions and further improve tableheader.js - 2012

#3352063Allow schema references in Single Directory Component prop schemas - 2023

#2752443Incorrect order and duplicate theme hook suggestions - 2016

#2118743Twig debug output does not display all suggestions when an array of theme hooks is passed to #theme - 2013

#3212831Wrong entity template suggestion added by views suggestions alter - 2021

#2015147[meta] Improve the DX of drupal_render(), renderable arrays and the Render API in general - 2013

#2316941Use the builder pattern to make it easier to create render arrays - 2014

#2888838Optimize render caching - 2017

#2495001[meta] Add a replacement for renderRoot() that returns a cacheable render array instead of a string - 2015

#2367655Control the list of behaviors run by Drupal.attachBehaviors - 2014

#1446166Use JS events instead of Drupal.behaviors - 2012

#2382671Automatically define schema for themes - 2015
DX improvements.

#3035288Deprecate theme_get_setting() - 2019

#1685492Convert theme engines into services - 2012

#3472165[Meta] Track converting Install and Theme hook implementations to OOP - 2024

#3544715Add oop support to most hooks currently supported by themes - 2025

#2603598Use sane default region order - 2015
Subthemes with undefined regions.

#3345259Theme logo image is rendered without dimensions - 2023

#3246825Radios and checkboxes not rendered correctly when nested inside other render arrays - 2021

Libraries

#2642122Overriding already overridden libraries-override requires knowledge of previous libraries-overrides - 2015

#2605130Best practices for handling external libraries in Drupal 8/9/10 and 11 -2015

#2856499Sub themes do not inherit "libraries-override" - 2017

#1945262Replace custom weights with dependencies in library declarations; introduce "before" and "after" for conditional ordering - 2013

#2873160Implement core management of 3rd-party FE libraries - 2017

Layout Builder

#2911996Layout template suggestions are not loaded properly - 2017

Dialog

#2158943 Add a native dialog element to deprecate the jQuery UI dialog - 2013

#3075236jQuery UI dialog modals repositions incorrectly on window resize when there is a off canvas rendered - 2019

#2985324The position of the toolbar moves above the off-canvas top dialog if a modal dialog is opened - 2018

#2741877Nested modals don't work: opening a modal from a modal closes the original - 2016

#3356667Error: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'settings') with dialog.position.js - 2023

#3446818Replace dialog positioning with floating-ui - 2024

Blocks

#3342998Add view tab + standard template for block content - 2023

#2479459BlockRepository::getVisibleBlocksPerRegion() does an uncached entity query on every request - 2015

Cache

#2453945Use multiple get for #pre_render / #cache where possible - 2015

#2429287[meta] Finalize the cache contexts API & DX/usage, enable a leap forward in performance - 2015

Translations

#3044386[META] Make Layout Builder layouts translatable - 2019

#2946333Allow synced Layout override Translations: translating labels and inline blocks - 2018

#3044993Allow synced Layout default Translations: translating labels and inline blocks - 2019

#2546212Entity view/form mode formatter/widget settings have no translation UI - 2015

Layout Builder

#2916876Add visibility control conditions to blocks within Layout Builder - 2017

#2907413Consider supporting Layout Builder Overrides for other view modes - 2017

#3089951Add visibility control conditions to SECTIONs within Layout Builder - 2019

#3083754Layout Builder doesn't respect the view mode set in a hook_entity_view_mode_alter() implementation - 2019

#3121372Use layout builder for content add/edit form - 2020

#3042418Layout Builder created blocks do not clean up when removed from its layout - 2019 (notes)

Fields

#501366Add field grouping to Drupal core - 2009

#607396Killer feature: Fieldable Fields in core - 2009

#1954188Revaluate the concept of 'extra fields' - 2013

#2353867[META] Expose Title and other base fields in Manage Display - 2014

#2924783confusing error & behavior when creating a new referenced entity containing parentheses - 2017

#2442757Move the field storage deletion if the last field has been removed to the UI layer - 2015

#3447617Stop automatic storage creation of body field for node - 2024 [fixed 2025]

#3427095[Meta] Deprecate text_with_summary - 2024

#2685749Add a 'machine_name' widget for string field types with a UniqueField constraint - 2016

#2828556Display meaningful error messages according to the link type - 2016

Form display

#3344498[PP-1] Improve the manage form display page by untwining field widgets that belong to the main content and sidebar - 2023

#2795833[plan] Add layouts to entity displays (both form and view) - 2016

#2893740Allow the sidebar for the node form to be used on other entity forms as well - 2017

Components

#3056089Provide a new render element for accordion - 2019

Entity

Complex Composite Entities (incl. types, references and revisions) - 2016

#2795833[plan] Add layouts to entity displays (both form and view) - 2016

#3364744Add a reliable entity-usage system to core - 2023

#1239558Deleting an entity with revisions and file/image field does not release file usage of non-default revisions, causing files to linger - 2011

#1875974Abstract 'component type' specific code out of EntityDisplay - 2012

Files

#2648816Uploaded files are impossible to replace - 2016

#2820980Optimize images on file upload - 2016

#3282721Files are uploaded even when forms are not submitted - 2022

#3012457Allow managed_file form elements to specify FILE_EXISTS_REPLACE behavior - 2018

#3450005File entity update is allowed only for user who has uploaded the file - 2024

#2821423Dealing with unexpected file deletion due to incorrect file usage - 2016

#3059494File usage is not tracked by revision, leading to private files embedded in text fields in old revisions being accessible when they shouldn't be - 2019

#2826127Usage of Files Referenced in Entity Reference Fields Not Tracked - 2016

#3350697File "in use" does not get set to "0" after being removed from content - 2023

#2729953Clarify handling of multiple references to the same file from entities - 2016

Images

#2831529Instead of just resizing original image, select an image style to apply on the image being uploaded - 2016

#2664632Bugs with images that include image orientation from image EXIF data - 2016

#2982556Image should be removed from the folder - 2018

#3372932[Meta] High-performance images (nearly) out of the box - 2023

Media

#2835840Track media usage and present it to the site builder (in the media library, media view, on media deletion confirmation, etc.) - 2016

#3168966Add ability to insert Media inline in CKEditor widget - 2020

#2947796Responsive image format for media - 2018

#2831943Use "rendered media" (not links) as default media field formatter; add modal to configure the used media view mode - 2021

Dates

#2734255Support a per-instance "all-day" option for datetime and datetime range fields - 2016

[meta] DateTime Module Improvements - 2015

#3471878Modernize Drupal datetime system - 2024

#3063377Dates and dateranges - core handling, storage, and planning for the future - 2019

#2716891DateTimeIso8601::setDateTime() vs. DateTimeItem::schema(): (at least) one of them is broken - 2016

#2794481Allow end date to be optional - 2016

#2885413Timestamp field items are affected by 2038 bug - 2017

#65474[meta] Y2K38: Unix Millennium bug - 2006

CKEditor

#3072317CKEditor embedded media previews do not render with attached assets - 2019

#3364736Allow editing of Width and Height of embedded <drupal-media> images - 2023

#3414316[10.2] CKEditor 5 "left" alignment doesn't inject "text-align-left" class to elements - 2024
EX: paragraph has alignment field set to centered, but description field text is left aligned.

Administration

#2755613Restructure the admin interface Information Architecture - 2016

#3373303[PLAN] Administration UX improvements - 2023

#3530849[META] Gin 6.x: Preparation for merging into core 2025

#3530852[META] Admin theme modernisation - 2025

Access

#3038908Deprecate node_access_view_all_nodes() - 2019

Accessibility

#3452724Add aria-label attribute to navigation menu blocks - 2024

#3354030Dropbutton widget not accessible to screen readers - 2023

#3037446Forms with required fields marked by asterisk do not have text explaining what the asterisk means - 2019

Navigation

#3391723[PLAN] Accessibility review for new Navigation bar - 2023

#3541910Elements in closed sidebar are focusable - 2025

Users

#2668736Allow custom field to be used as user picture - 2016

Project Browser/Recipes/Site Templates

#1841788Add project browser - 2012

#3520092[meta] Site template support in core - 2025

Drupal.org

#2916051Project Page Enhancements - 2017

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