Paragraphs Got a Problem
YO Let's Solve It!
by Hawkeye Tenderwolf
$ whoami
Senior Developer at Lullabot
What is Paragraphs?
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Powerful content creation tool
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Chaos manager (DX-friendly)
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Silly name
Paragraphs is a:
Why do we love Paragraphs?
Reasons to Paragraph:
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"Panels" pains
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Better than a WYSIWYG
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Components rock
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We like structured/semantic data (*even if it's an illusion)
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It's Drupally
How does Paragraphs work?
Entity
+ Entity Reference
+ Revisions
= ...
Entity Reference Revisions
The problems
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Database bloat
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Form save timeouts
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Dependency tree hell
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Migration woes
- ...
A typical "landing page" using Paragraphs for layout and content
| # per depth | Total | |
|---|---|---|
| Grid rows | 10 | 10 |
| Grid column | 3 | 30 |
| Content (e.g., Hero) | 2 | 60 |
| Nested content (e.g., Hero CTA) | 2 | 120 |
Sum total: 10 + 30 + 60 + 120 = 220 paragraph entities
A typical "landing page" using Paragraphs for layout and content
Database Bloat
| 1000 landing pages |
| 100 minor edits |
| 5 languages enabled |
1000 * 100 * 5 = 500,000 revisions
500,000 revisions * 220 paragraphs = 110,000,000 rows
Let's be fair.
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Paragraphs is but the most prominent symptom.
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Same thing can happen with other Entity types
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Paragraphs is solving a real need.
So what are our options??
I'm so glad you asked!
Two main use-cases:
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Layout
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Complex Field Data (repeatable chunks / compound fields)
1. For Layout:
Layout Builder!
2. For complex field data:
Custom field definitions
CCK
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Limited
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Concise
Field API
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Powerful
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Crufty
Create Custom Compound Fields
Questions / Group Therapy
