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You’ve finished working on your excellent website plan and now’s the time to make things happen. One of the first decisions you need to make when you’re ready to build a new site is which content management system (CMS) you’re going to use. WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace are all really popular, but can they handle the extraordinary website experience you want to deliver? If you want to stand out from the crowd, you should consider Drupal web development.
What Is Drupal Web Development?
Drupal is a free, open-source CMS built on a modular framework. It’s distributed under the GNU General Public License. Here’s a breakdown of what all this means:
- Open-source: You can modify any part of the Drupal platform to make it work exactly how you want it to. Other CMSs, such as Squarespace, are more limited and only allow you to make specific changes. With Drupal, your hands are never tied.
- Modular framework: After the initial Drupal setup, you’ll have a basic website straight away. Although it only has limited capabilities and features, it’s still a website. There are thousands of free pre-built modules at your disposal to add to the website to make it your own.
- CMS (Content Management System): Drupal provides an easy-to-use admin interface that non-technical people can use to develop, manage, and publish websites. You can alter what the interface looks like and what it does.
- GNU General Public License: This is a group of free software licenses which are widely used throughout the world. They guarantee users the freedom to run, share, study, and modify the software. Because of this, you’re free to modify Drupal as you see fit.
How to Manage a Drupal Project
Even if you’re totally new to website design, Drupal web development is highly intuitive and you’ll learn quickly on the go. Here are a few things you can do with limited experience or knowledge:
- Create and build new pages with the help of various premade page layouts
- Add content, such as text, links, images, and videos
- Drag and drop different types of paragraphs to create new page layouts
- Manage user navigation, footers, and menus
- Create webforms and manage automated email sequences
- ebsite submissions
The above are all things you should easily be able to do yourself, even if you have no web design experience. However, you will need the assistance of a Drupal web developer if you want to make bigger changes, such as:
- Update the website’s design
- Add plugins and extensions
- Deploy security patches
Major Brands That Use Drupal
Drupal is the CMS of choice for many top websites with high traffic. You’ve probably even used one today without realizing it. Here are some of the biggest brands that use Drupal web development:
- NASA
- Nokia
- The Australian Government
- Mint
- Entertainment Weekly
- The European Commission
- Tesla
- NCAA
- The Emmy Awards
- ABS-CBN News
Even though these websites use Drupal, they’re all remarkably different in how they are navigated. Each has its own design, features, and user experience that makes it enjoyable to use. They’re also all able to cope with 100,000s of pageviews each day.
Why Do Big Brands Choose Drupal?
Drupal may not be the most famous CMS in the world, but major corporations, enterprises, and institutions understand its advantages. The biggest sites rely on Drupal’s high security, while developers love the freedom and flexibility it grants them.
You can create almost any website imaginable with Drupal. You get a simple website out of the box and can make it more complex by installing free, paid, or custom modules. This allows big brands, along with everyone else who uses Drupal, to build everything from a simple corporate portal or online magazine to a complex multi-layered e-commerce store.
For increased flexibility, you can use Drupal web development exclusively for the backend of your project as part of a headless formula.
Drupal vs. Other Content Management Systems
Drupal is one of the best open-source CMSs out there on an enterprise-level. This is how it compares to some of the other popular content management systems:
Better Support
Because Drupal is open-source software, it’s backed by a community that values support, innovation, and improvement. There are currently more than 1.4 million Drupal users across 230 countries who work hard to make sure Drupal will succeed.
Every time there’s a new Drupal release, organizations and individuals around the world spend time and resources going over code, making documentation, carrying out tests, giving feedback, and helping other users solve problems. You’ll struggle to find a better or bigger support circle than the one you get with Drupal web development.
User Experience
Drupal has a reputation for being difficult for beginners to use. But the newer versions of the CMS are proving to be more intuitive and user-friendly. Even with limited knowledge, experience, and skills, many site editors and content creators can do basic web development and management.
The layout builder provides users with an easy-to-use page building experience that lets them take charge of how their content looks without having to rely on the help of a Drupal web development team.
Security
Online security is one of the top essential characteristics Drupal as well as any websites. This is especially true for public-facing and highly-regulated organizations, such as hospitals and governments. Failure to adhere to digital security standards can cause users to lose belief in the organization and the penalty of hefty legal fees. Drupal is often cited as the most secure open-source CMS there is.
The Drupal web development security team is composed of security experts from all over the world who analyze and identify potential risks in Drupal core and its modules. Before it’s released, each module undergoes a strict review to ensure it’s safe. Thanks to Drupal's extended support community, millions of developers worldwide have the power to detect issues and submit bug reports.
Scalability
Drupal web development is a powerful and future-proof CMS that gives businesses the freedom to scale up and down as they need to. The flexible API architecture has a global multi-site ecosystem that supports exponential content growth. Drupal features caching modules that boost faster page loading and optimized bandwidth for a more robust performance.
The Drupal-based Justice.gov website is a great example of how this CMS backs scalability. When the site released the high-profile report on Russian interference in the U.S. election, it received a 7,000% increase in traffic. Because it’s based on Drupal, the site experienced no availability issues or interruptions.
Accessibility
Choosing Drupal web development means you can offer an inclusive web experience for all your users. Accessibility is one of the prerequisites for any new feature or module added to the Drupal core. The CMS ensures all functions and features adhere to the ADA guidelines, WAI-ARIA, and World Wide Web Consortium guidelines WCAG.
Elements such as alt tag defaults, optimized color contrast themes, control tab order, aural alerts, and mobile responsiveness come as standard. This ensures everyone has an equally great user experience, regardless of their background, ability, or device.
Conclusion
Is Drupal web development the right choice for you and your project? It comes with a series of excellent benefits you won’t find anywhere else. It’s open-source to help you stay within budget and make all the modifications you like. It also had a vast support network and excellent security to keep your website and users’ information safe. It’s accessible out of the box, can easily cope with massively increased demand, and some parts of it can be used by beginners.
The decision is ultimately yours. But if you’re searching for a content management system that will allow you to create a robust, innovative website with a unique design that works exactly as you want it to, Drupal is a fantastic excellent choice.
Drupal Web Development FAQs:
Still haven’t decided if Drupal is the best CMS for you? Here’s some extra info to help you make up your mind.
Q1. Is Drupal in demand?
Drupal and Drupal developers are very much in high demand. Over 1.75 million websites have used Drupal at some point and there are currently more than half a million sites using it today. It may not be the choice for small-time bloggers and local websites with limited traffic, but huge, high-traffic websites, such as Pinterest, the IRS, and the BBC, all use it.
Users are demanding greater connectivity between devices, more personalized experiences, and more interactive features when they’re online. To cater to these high demands, brands are using Drupal to provide a fast, fluid, and engaging user experience while achieving KPIs and business goals. If you are ever in the need to hire your first Drupal developer, here is a guide for you.
Q2. Is Drupal good for websites?
Drupal is a great content management system for websites. It offers a number of built-in features as standard, excellent performance, and top-notch security. The best thing about Drupal is how flexible it is and the freedom it gives you. Because it’s based on open-source code, Drupal lets you build one-of-a-kind websites that do exactly what you need them to.
Drupal is supported by a fantastic community of web developers and designers who frequently contribute to the open-source system. There’s always someone there to help other users out with problems and requests. Finally, Drupal websites are very accessible, difficult to hack, easily scalable, and they provide an exceptional user experience.
