FOSS Project Spotlight: Drupal

Framework Example

Drupal is a content management framework, and it's used to make many of the websites and applications you use every day. Drupal has great standard features, easy content authoring, reliable performance and excellent security. What sets Drupal apart is its flexibility; modularity is one of its core principles. Its tools help you build the versatile, structured content that ambitious web experiences need. With Drupal, you can build almost any integrated experience you can imagine.

Drupal Is for Ambitious Digital Experiences

Dries Buytaert, founder of the project, provides the vision for Drupal. Managing content for ambitious projects that aim to transform digital experiences for their organizations is what Drupal does best. Drupal goes beyond browser-based websites and reaches all digital platforms to provide a flexible, robust and innovative experience.

How to Get Started

Umami Demo

Figure 1. Umami Magazine Demo in Drupal Core

What's in Drupal Core

The base Drupal download, known as Drupal Core, contains the PHP scripts needed to run the basic content management functionality, several optional modules and themes, and many JavaScript, CSS and image assets.

Drupal 8's core platform has more than 200 features built in. For an up-to-date list of features, see Drupal.com.

Drupal 8.6.0 was the most significant update to Drupal 8. Expect Drupal 9 to release in June 2020, and if you're already using Drupal, it is expected to be the easiest major version upgrade yet. For the most current information on Drupal's latest version, visit Drupal.org.

Why Use Drupal?

Developers can build complex digital experiences with Drupal thanks to the updates in version 8. You can integrate with other systems, bring your content anywhere and display it as you wish, because Drupal is API-first. Translate and localize any component of the software to any of more than 100 languages. Drupal has a robust migration system and deployment configuration between environments for ease across all instances of your complex project.

Marketing teams can publish complex content with ease using new content editor features:

Drupal Library

Figure 2. The Media Library in Drupal 8.6

Workspaces module

Figure 3. The Workspaces Module in Drupal 8.6

How to Get Involved

Visit the Community Portal to find your place and meet people who share your interests. We're working hard on media management, layout building, content workflows and a new administration and authoring UI.

Community Portal

Figure 4. The Community Portal on Drupal.org

Anyone can get involved in Drupal. We're seeking marketing expertise for the Promote Drupal Initiative, where we're collaborating across the globe to make materials that the community can use to show the power of Drupal to evaluators.

There's always a place to grow your mentorship skills, to contribute to documentation and to get involved in community governance, growing local communities and event organizing. All are welcome—explore more at Drupal.org.

—Lizz Troudeau