V.142 Release Notes

Release Highlights

• Security and platform stability: Updated Drupal core to 10.6.14, removed the unused Ctools module, and completed an external authentication security task.
• Search improvements: Funding Opportunities search improvements, and Menu List filtering now supports keyword, team, and menu-type filtering.
• Editorial and admin reliability: Fixed taxonomy term editing for Profile User entries, corrected Grad Degree List filter reordering, and addressed a content security policy issue affecting Panorama block display.
• Content and media handling: Improved migrated image storage so files are organized into date-based directories, helping maintain consistency and styling.
• Operational cleanup and discovery work: Explored Webforms integration for UCDS and assessed the path toward removing unreliable dynamic news headers.

Bug fixes

• Updated the content security policy to allow blob usage, resolving a Panorama block display issue. 
• Fixed Funding Opportunities search addressing missing search results for sponsor-based queries and bubbling.
• Investigated and fixed cron failures on the Research Directory.
• Fixed cold-site errors when editing individual terms in the Profile User taxonomy by restoring missing third_party_settings configuration and adding an update to import the form correctly.
• Corrected Grad Degree List filter reordering after AJAX submissions so filters now retain their intended order after users apply them. 
• Resolved image upload issues caused by special characters in filenames that were leading to broken image derivatives in certain block types.

Improvements

• Improved content migration handling so migrated IMCE images stored directly in the public folder are moved into organized date-based directories, helping preserve structure and styling consistency.
• Enhanced Menu List filtering with support for keyword search, team filtering, and menu-type filtering for main menus, sub-menus, and arms-length menus.

Maintenance

• Updated Drupal core to 10.6.14, bringing in the latest patch-level maintenance updates including CKEditor and Guzzle improvements.
• Removed the unused Ctools (Chaos Tools) module no longer in use.

Spikes

• Explored approaches for integrating UCDS with Webforms, focusing on unknowns such as form complexity and error-handling patterns.
• Investigated the feasibility of removing imported dynamic news headers and standardizing news traffic and feeds around ucalgary.ca/news.

Task

• Completed security update work for the External Auth module. 

Work in Progress

• Fix an issue where clicking the explicit text link in Drupal Card blocks opens the same link twice or in the background. 
• Correct image warping in the 50/50 Testimonial block, especially on mobile screen sizes. 
• Resolve outdated schema notices for Image Gallery and Masonry Gallery module fields by moving field data into updated database tables. 
• Complete a PHPCS sweep to address minor code standard issues following related News updates.
• Fix an undefined array key warning in the old Profiles system when profile pictures are not available.
• Update page alias handling for block layout menus with multi-part custom menu prefixes so home page aliases resolve to the intended shorter URL. 
• Investigate and improve large taxonomy database queries to reduce performance issues and idle connections.
• Improve News related stories handling by clarifying maximum-story settings and automatically correcting cases where related stories exist but the maximum is set to zero.
• Update the reusable blocks disablement script with additional safety features and coverage for scenarios found after an earlier deployment issue.
• Investigate and clean up pages with duplicate Hero CTA blocks, including cases where one block is hidden. 
• Investigate custom body fields in Webform email handlers.
• Remove unused Article and Event landing page content-type options from content view filters and results where they are not needed.
• Remove the unused legacy CKEditor Liststyle module and verify CKEditor list functionality continues to work correctly.
• Implement a Lighthouse-based performance metrics plan to establish regular front-end performance baselines and support comparison for future UCDS integration work.
• Begin design auditing of Drupal theme and blocks as part of review work for UCDS integration planning.
• Adding VisualCeption regression tests coverage for News and Profiles content as part of larger integration

News System Notice

As the team continues to pursue opportunities to improve overall system stability and performance, we have identified some problem-prone functionality within the News system that has been investigated further.

Historically, a small number of primary UCalgary websites, such as faculty sites, were able to display News content in a way that made it appear as though the content was being served directly from the respective website, including that site’s header and footer.

While this provided a more seamless experience, the functionality has proven difficult to scale and maintain. Over time, it has become prone to breaks and caching issues, requiring recurring developer maintenance and taking capacity away from other priorities. There is also evidence that this functionality may slightly contribute to broader system performance issues.

Based on this assessment, the recommendation is to proceed with the next phase of work to remove this functionality entirely.

We will provide further details on timing, expected impacts, and any actions required from affected stakeholders as the work progresses.

For more information on the UCalgary Web System, visit https://web.ucalgary.ca/. 

If you have questions or need to report a bug or issue, let us know: https://web.ucalgary.ca/contact-us