Drupal Release: 8.7.9

TL;DR

Drupal 8.7.9: Performance Improvements and Bug Fixes

This minor release focuses on performance improvements for Layout Builder and fixes several critical bugs affecting entity updates, Views rendering, and accessibility. Key improvements include optimized entity loading in Layout Builder, fixed field storage installation during entity updates, and accessibility enhancements for the admin toolbar with JAWS screen reader compatibility.

Highlight of the Release

• Performance improvements in Layout Builder and entity loading
• Fixed critical bug preventing field storage installation during entity updates
• Improved accessibility for admin toolbar with JAWS screen reader
• Fixed language handling in Views' Rendered Entity plugin

Migration Guide

No migration steps are required for this update. This is a minor release containing bug fixes and performance improvements that should not affect existing functionality.

Upgrade Recommendations

This update is recommended for all Drupal 8.7.x sites, especially those:

• Using Layout Builder functionality
• With complex entity relationships
• Requiring accessibility compliance for admin interfaces
• Experiencing performance issues with entity loading

The update contains important bug fixes and performance improvements with no known breaking changes. Standard update procedures apply:

1. Back up your database and code
2. Update your codebase to Drupal 8.7.9
3. Run the database updates via the UI or using Drush: drush updatedb
4. Clear caches: drush cache:rebuild

Bug Fixes

• Entity Updates: Fixed a critical issue that prevented installing new field storage definitions during fieldable entity type updates (#3056816)

• Views Rendering: Fixed the "Rendered Entity" Views plugin to properly add langcode in the render function, ensuring correct language handling (#2925816)

• Admin Toolbar Accessibility: Fixed accessibility issues with the admin toolbar that made it unusable with recent versions of JAWS screen reader due to incorrect implementation of aria-owns attributes (#3066954)

• Code Cleanup: Removed unused $moduleData property in \Drupal\Core\Menu\Form\MenuLinkDefaultForm (#3088163)

• Documentation: Fixed duplicate "attributes" in docblock (#3083444)

New Features

No significant new features were added in this minor release. This update primarily focuses on bug fixes, performance improvements, and accessibility enhancements.

Security Updates

No security fixes were included in this release. For security-related updates, always refer to the official Drupal Security Advisories.

Performance Improvements

• Layout Builder Performance: Fixed significant performance degradation in Layout Builder by optimizing entity loading processes. This addresses issues where Layout Builder operations could become slow or unresponsive, especially on sites with complex layouts or many entities (#2981889)

• The performance improvements extend beyond just Layout Builder to other areas of the system that use similar entity loading patterns, resulting in better overall system performance.

Impact Summary

Drupal 8.7.9 delivers significant performance improvements for Layout Builder and fixes several critical bugs. The performance enhancements address a notable degradation issue in Layout Builder and related systems, making the interface more responsive and efficient.

The bug fixes resolve important issues with entity type updates, multilingual content rendering in Views, and accessibility of the admin toolbar. The accessibility improvements ensure that users of JAWS screen readers can properly navigate the admin interface, which is essential for organizations that need to meet accessibility requirements.

For developers, the fixes to entity type updates resolve a critical issue that prevented installing new field storage definitions during updates, which could block certain upgrade paths or feature implementations.

This release demonstrates Drupal's ongoing commitment to performance, accessibility, and stability without introducing breaking changes.