Open-source and enterprise-grade, Drupal has powered thousands of nonprofit, association, and government websites for years. Its unmatched flexibility, scalability, and strong security posture have made it a go-to platform for organizations with complex content needs and high-stakes digital experiences.
At its core, Drupal excels at structured content modeling. It takes information from a form-style entry and presents it in consistent, accessible formats across multiple channels. For developers and technical teams, Drupal offers deep control over how content is stored, displayed, and distributed.
That power comes with a tradeoff: Drupal has never been easy for non-technical users. Content managers often rely on developers to handle routine tasks, like adding a page, updating a layout, or configuring workflows. While other CMS platforms have focused on no-code and low-code interfaces and editor-friendly design, Drupal has remained firmly in the developer-first camp.
With the ongoing evolution of Drupal 11 and the Drupal CMS, this is changing.
The Usability Gap in Traditional Drupal
Drupal has traditionally required specialized knowledge to manage. Tagging content, creating new content types, or even setting up a publishing workflow often means writing custom code or relying on a development partner. While Drupal’s Layout Builder offered some layout flexibility, it remained clunky and developer-oriented compared to newer drag-and-drop tools.
This leads to bottlenecks for communications and marketing teams, who depend on developers for updates that should be straightforward. The experience feels slow, rigid, and disconnected from the fast pace of digital strategy and storytelling.
Other builders like WordPress’s Gutenberg and Webflow have raised expectations for usability. Drag-and-drop builders, reusable templates, and real-time previews have become standard. Drupal has lagged behind in delivering those features to its content managers.
Drupal 11 and CMS 2.0: A New Focus on Content Teams
The latest Drupal and upcoming Drupal CMS releases bring several major updates focused on usability. With this version, Drupal begins to shift from a developer-first platform to one that better supports marketing and communications teams.
This is not a minor change. It reflects a larger vision for Drupal: one that includes marketers, editors, and site builders, not just developers, as primary users of the platform.
Drupal CMS: Built for Non-Technical Users
Drupal CMS is a new packaging of the platform designed for content managers. It includes preconfigured content types, like blogs, events, and newsroom items. Publishing workflows are ready to use, which reduces reliance on custom development.
This version also introduces Recipes. These are modular, reusable bundles that allow teams to replicate site features without rebuilding them. A Recipe might include content types, workflows, views, and display settings.
For organizations managing multiple sites, like national nonprofits with regional chapters or associations with member organizations, Recipes make it easier to share common functionality across all instances. This creates consistency while reducing overhead for each site launch.
Drupal Canvas: Visual Page Building With Components
The new Drupal Canvas provides a visual interface for building pages. It includes a library of prebuilt components and a drag-and-drop layout system. Teams can also add custom components that match their brand.
Canvas allows you to build pages directly on the front end. Content managers can create and update layouts without requiring developer involvement, resulting in a faster and more responsive digital publishing process.
Compared to earlier versions of Drupal’s Layout Builder, Canvas is more user-friendly and fully integrated into the content creation workflow. It delivers a modern no-code/low-code page-building experience similar to platforms like WordPress’s Gutenberg or Webflow.
This shift gives communications and digital marketing teams control of their pages, campaigns, and storytelling, while advanced customizations continue behind the scenes as expected.
Drupal AI: Intelligent Assistance for Content Creation and Testing
Drupal AI introduces automation into site building and content management. It uses the Model Context Protocol (MCP), which allows AI to interact directly with site functions.
With Drupal AI, users can generate new content, analyze performance, and create improved versions of pages. A content manager can prompt Drupal AI to review the performance of a donation page and then receive suggestions or even view a revised version based on visitor behavior and A/B test results.
This functionality is especially valuable for organizations that need to move quickly but have limited resources and small teams. By automating parts of the content creation and testing process, Drupal AI helps teams work smarter without increasing headcount.
Beyond content creation, Drupal AI can assist with tagging, SEO recommendations, and accessibility checks. It acts as a built-in digital strategist, always available to support content teams.
A Better Fit for Nonprofits and Associations
Mission-driven organizations often have limited technical resources, and the new tools in Drupal will help reduce the burden on IT teams. Communications and marketing staff can take on more responsibility for managing content and updating the site.
These updates support faster campaign launches, enhanced storytelling, and greater control over the digital experience. Organizations gain the flexibility of Drupal without the ongoing need for developer support on every task.
For associations or federated organizations, Drupal CMS offers more scalable options for chapter sites, microsites, and member-driven content. With Recipes and Canvas, site building becomes more repeatable and manageable, even across a large ecosystem.
Moving Forward With Confidence
The maturation of Drupal 11, Drupal CMS, and Drupal AI represents a major inflection point. The platform retains its technical strength while becoming more usable for non-developers. With features like Recipes, Canvas, and AI support, Drupal offers a more balanced approach to power and accessibility.
Organizations that have relied on Drupal in the past can now expand their use cases and give more autonomy to internal teams. For those considering migrating to a new CMS, Drupal offers a more modern, user-friendly experience without compromising the flexibility that Drupal is known for.