Drupal Release: 8.3.2

TL;DR

Drupal 8.3.2 is a maintenance release that addresses several critical bugs, improves documentation, enhances migration capabilities, and fixes various issues across multiple modules. This release focuses on stability improvements rather than introducing new features, making it a recommended update for all Drupal 8.3.x sites. Key improvements include fixes for content moderation, statistics module, REST resources, and migration tools.

Highlight of the Release

• Fixed critical bug in content moderation where forms wouldn't appear on new entities
• Fixed statistics module errors that could cause site crashes
• Improved migration tools with better documentation and handling of legacy content
• Enhanced accessibility with restored sidebar menu indentation styles
• Fixed REST resource issues including CORS headers and XML encoding

Migration Guide

No specific migration guide is needed for upgrading from Drupal 8.3.1 to 8.3.2 as this is a maintenance release with bug fixes and improvements rather than breaking changes.

However, if you're using Drush with Drupal 8.3.x, note that Drupal 8.3.x is not compatible with Drush versions earlier than 8.1.10. Make sure to update your Drush installation if needed.

For sites using content moderation, statistics module, or custom migrations, testing after upgrade is recommended to ensure the fixes work properly in your specific environment.

Upgrade Recommendations

This is a maintenance release containing bug fixes and improvements with no known breaking changes. It is recommended that all sites running Drupal 8.3.x upgrade to this version to benefit from the numerous bug fixes and improvements.

Priority: Medium Effort: Low (standard update procedure) Risk: Low

Upgrade Steps:

1. Back up your database and site files
2. Put the site into maintenance mode
3. Update Drupal core using your preferred method (Composer, Drush, or manual update)
4. Run the database updates (drush updatedb or visit /update.php)
5. Clear caches
6. Take the site out of maintenance mode
7. Test key functionality, especially if you use content moderation, statistics, or REST services

If you're using Drush, ensure you're using version 8.1.10 or later, as earlier versions are not compatible with Drupal 8.3.x.

Bug Fixes

Content Moderation Fixes

• Fixed issue where content moderation form wouldn't appear on new entities
• Fixed issue where clicking on "New Draft" tab allowed content archiving
• Fixed misleading assertion in ModerationStateNodeTypeTest::testEnablingOnExistingContent
• Fixed issue with default revision flag not propagating to all entity translation objects

Statistics Module Fixes

• Fixed error in statistics_get() function that was causing crashes
• Fixed random failures in statistics tests

REST and API Fixes

• Fixed CORS issue where allow-origin '*' wasn't possible due to cached headers
• Fixed fatal error in XmlEncoder when encoding responses with embedded objects
• Fixed config schema missing for less common HTTP methods in REST resources
• Fixed URL parsing issue when query arguments contained another URL

Entity Handling Fixes

• Fixed issue where EntityOperations::entityPresave didn't always set the correct default revision
• Fixed issue where ContentEntityStorageBase::deleteRevision() didn't remove node_field_revision entries
• Fixed issue with EntityReferenceFormatterBase::view() not properly merging cacheability metadata

Views Fixes

• Fixed SQL error in "User has a revision" views argument handler
• Fixed issue with views_query_views_alter() not handling IN queries properly
• Fixed issue with Views roles filter breaking when using empty/not empty operators

UI and Styling Fixes

• Fixed visual regression where sidebar menus were missing indentation styles
• Fixed issue with Field UI not showing fields with unknown regions in the "Disabled" section
• Fixed incorrect human-readable name for content type

Migration Fixes

• Fixed issue with D6 text area formatting settings not being respected when migrating to D8
• Fixed issue with migrated custom block body field being hidden on form and display
• Fixed issue with vocabulary machine names longer than 32 characters

New Features

New Migration Process Plugins

• Added a new EntityExists process plugin to check if entities exist during migration
• Improved migration capabilities with better handling of CCK date fields, email fields, and text formatting settings

Documentation Improvements

• Added comprehensive documentation for multiple migration plugins
• Improved API documentation for various interfaces and classes
• Added DyanneNova to MAINTAINERS.txt for the Layout Initiative
• Added API-first initiative to MAINTAINERS.txt

Security Updates

No specific security fixes were mentioned in the release notes. However, as with any Drupal update, this release includes general code improvements that may indirectly enhance security.

Performance Improvements

Test Performance Improvements

• Removed timeout from ResourceTestBase to prevent random test failures
• Improved test readability and reliability across multiple modules
• Fixed issues with test assertions in browser tests

Impact Summary

Drupal 8.3.2 is a maintenance release that focuses on bug fixes and improvements rather than introducing new features. The impact is primarily positive, addressing several critical issues that could cause site errors or unexpected behavior.

Key areas of improvement include:

1. Content Moderation: Fixed critical issues with the content moderation workflow, including forms not appearing on new entities and problems with the revision handling.

2. Migration Tools: Enhanced migration capabilities with better documentation, new plugins, and fixes for handling legacy content from Drupal 6/7.

3. REST and API Services: Fixed several issues with REST resources, CORS headers, and XML encoding that could affect headless or decoupled implementations.

4. UI Improvements: Restored proper indentation in sidebar menus, improved Quick Edit contextual links, and fixed Field UI display issues.

5. Entity Handling: Fixed several issues with entity revisions, translations, and reference fields that could cause data integrity problems.

This release demonstrates Drupal's commitment to stability and quality, with numerous bug fixes and documentation improvements that benefit both developers and site administrators. The changes are backward compatible and should not require any special migration steps beyond the standard update procedure.