10 Drupal 8 Features Content Managers Will Love
For years now, Drupal has been known as a developer’s content management system (CMS).
Its advanced functionality and next-level security are just a couple of the reasons it's the platform of choice for major governments and international corporations that need the best of the best in website performance.
That said, previous versions of Drupal have been a bit more challenging for non-developers. Thanks to many of the updates in D8, however, the latest version of Drupal is more accessible than ever before.
Several new content and admin features make it much easier to manage Drupal websites. So, if the end-of-life of D7 (November 2021) isn’t motivation enough for you to update, perhaps these exciting new features will be.
Content Features
Better Rich Media Management
Video and image content is more important than ever, and will only continue to become more central to your marketing strategy, regardless of your industry. That’s why we’re pretty psyched that Drupal 8 has made it easier to incorporate all kinds of rich media content on your website.
In D8, you’ll be able to easily embed videos from third-party platforms like YouTube and Vimeo. You’ll also have the Media Library module included in Core, which will give you the ability to add and access existing media files out of the box.
Layout Builder
In the past, Drupal has been known as one of the most advanced content management systems (CMS), but perhaps not the most user-friendly ones. That is beginning to change with Layout Builder.
This design tool offers drag-and-drop functionality for:
- Creating new layout templates
- Customizing existing templates
- Spinning up new, one-off landing pages that aren’t derived from existing, structured content.
Better Multilingual Capabilities
It’s easier than ever to make your website accessible to speakers of other languages. In D8 you can install Drupal in 100 different languages, and automatically translate content and configuration. For many companies whose sites are frequented by visitors from all over the world this is going to be a key change.
Improved Structured Content
Structured content is content in your site that is broken down into specific parts that are readable by search engines, allowing them to categorize your site to deliver the most relevant search results to users.
The benefits of the expanded structured content in D8 are many. When used correctly, it makes the content on your website more easily translated, discovered, shared and consistent.
Increasingly, Google is delivering expanded search results that make visits to websites unnecessary. When you structure your content, you increase the chances that Google will display relevant info from your site within search results.
Admin Features
Content Workflow
The new Workflow feature brings together elements of project management with content publishing. Content managers can now create multiple workflow types and even define the various stages of each.
This allows teams to collaborate to review, revise and publish content all without leaving your CMS. And that editorial workflow is just one standard example of what you can create.
Front End Editing
Here’s yet another new feature that will make managing a Drupal website easier for non-developers. The new In-Place Editor allows you to make changes to a web page directly from the front-end. While avoiding the back end of the site may not always be wise, this is the perfect way to make minor changes or corrections efficiently.
Superior Mobile Experience
Drupal has long excelled as a platform that aces mobile responsiveness for website users. But in the latest updates, it’s simpler than ever for website developers and content managers to make changes to the site from a mobile device.
While this may not be something you use frequently, it can certainly make a big difference if an issue pops up when you don’t have access to a computer.
Performance and Development Features
BigPipe
You probably already know by now that page load times are incredibly important in website performance, from both an SEO and UX perspective. Well, thanks to this new Drupal feature, the most critical parts of your page will be prioritized when loading. Basically, this means the main part of the page will load super fast while less important parts (like sidebars, footer, etc.) will load a bit more slowly.
Seamless Configuration Management
As a company that specializes in website design, this feature is a big one for us! It makes it much easier to move between development, staging and production environments as we build new sites and features. And now, we can do it even more safely without potentially compromising the live environment.
Views in Core
The Views module that allows site managers to create custom displays content has always been a critical module to Drupal users. Now that this module is in Core, the updates and functionality are more seamless than ever.
The Best Drupal Ever
With each new version they release, Drupal becomes a more user-friendly, secure and adaptable platform. And your reward for committing to the switch to D8 is seamless, simple updates from here on out.
So, you’ve got nothing to lose and a whole arsenal of powerful web tools to gain. When you’re ready to take the plunge, get in touch and EDUCO can make the process as painless as possible for your organization.