Sandbox projects

While sandboxes are being phased out this page exists to document the difference between "Full" and "Sandbox" projects and provide context.

The switch to using GitLab, and the fact that anyone can now create a "full" project without requiring the extra step of obtaining the git vetted user role makes the use of sandboxes obsolete.

"Sandbox" vs. "full" projects

"Sandbox" denotes that a project is experimental, you can use them try out new ideas, but you shouldn't expect any kind of support or that it's even working. "Full" projects are intended for use by others.

Here are the key differences:

• Sandbox project pages display an Experimental Project warning message with a yellow background on the project page.
• Sandbox project URLs are /sandbox/username/node-id, rather than a human-readable short name such as /project/views.
• You cannot create releases (downloadable files) of sandbox projects; the only way to obtain them is via Git.
• Sandbox projects do not appear in the Main project issue drop-down. To add an issue to a sandbox project, you must do it directly from the project's own issue queue.
• Users searching for projects will not normally see sandbox projects in search results, unless they check a box to show them.
• To create a full project, or to promote your existing sandbox project to a full project, you must go through a one-time approval process.

Promoting a sandbox to a full project

1. Find and visit your sandbox project's page. Click Edit, then Promote.
   
2. Fill out the form, being sure to enter a project short name that will replace the node ID that was used for the sandbox's short name. If your project has code, this should match the module or theme file names you used when you committed code to your project. The project short name will also be used to build the URL of your project, such as: drupal.org/project/[short_name]. Pick a unique short name that makes sense (preferably descriptive).
   
3. Submit the form and confirm that, yes, you want to promote the project.
4. Once your sandbox is promoted, the repository is moved from /sandbox/username/123456.git to project/project_name.git. At this point you must either re-clone your project in Git or update your remote url.

Note 1: The "Promote" sub tab is not visible for projects of type "Drupal core" or "Drupal.org Projects". This is for your own safety.

Note 2: The "Promote" sub tab can be found under the "/project/user" -> click the "Edit" for your project.