Eastern Standard Q&A: What Is Drupal Starshot (aka Drupal CMS)?
Drupal Starshot, which will ultimately be named Drupal CMS, is essentially a preconfigured version of Drupal that already has a base set of themes, modules, and settings — called “recipes” — enabled for your specific use case.
Here, we answer some of the most common questions we’re hearing about this new initiative.
Q: Why Are There Two Names? Is it Drupal Starshot or Drupal CMS?
A: The initiative to create these new recipes was originally named “Drupal Starshot”, but ultimately the name for Drupal 11 + Recipes will be “Drupal CMS”.
Q: Is This a Totally New CMS Separate From Drupal?
A: No, Drupal CMS is still Drupal 11, just with some additional modules, themes, and configuration included as part of the default installation. The goal is to make the “out of the box” Drupal experience more user friendly and immediately ready for content managers to start building and publishing.
Q: So What Is Drupal CMS Then?
A: Our team has a set of modules, themes, and settings we apply immediately to any new Drupal project because we know that every site needs certain features that aren’t enabled out of the box (e.g., SEO meta tags). So when you get a Drupal site from us, you never see the “default” Drupal install because we’ve already added a bunch of “must have” modules and settings.
Drupal CMS is essentially doing the same thing by providing recipes — curated groups of modules and settings that make Drupal a bit more “ready to go” than it is when you install just the base system.
Q: Who Is Drupal CMS for?
A: Drupal CMS is targeted to non-developers who want to create a purpose-built Drupal site without much coding or customization. However, it will also provide some convenient out-of-the-box options for experienced developers who want to use it as a jumping-off point.
Q: Do I Have to Upgrade to Drupal CMS?
A: No, because Drupal CMS is still the same Drupal base system.
You can achieve what Drupal CMS provides by manually adding modules and themes to your Drupal install. Think of it like Ikea furniture: Ikea sells packages for an entire room, or you can buy each piece individually to get the same result. Sometimes, it’s just faster and more convenient to buy one of their ready-to-go packages.
Q: Why Did Drupal Introduce Drupal CMS?
A: Drupal has a reputation for being difficult to use out of the box. Part of the reason is that the Drupal base system doesn’t have many necessary plugins or themes installed, and because Drupal isn’t opinionated about how the administrative interface looks and feels.
The result is that people’s experiences with Drupal vary wildly based on how Drupal was configured. Some Drupal developers prioritize the content management experience and make it easy, intuitive, and visual; others focus primarily on the external-facing website and leave the content management experience feeling suboptimal.
Drupal CMS provides an “already nicely configured” version of Drupal for different needs, so the content management experience is already optimized and intuitive, and the necessary modules are already installed and ready to go.
Q: When Will Drupal CMS Be Available?
A: Drupal CMS is expected to be ready by the end of 2024. To learn more, watch the DrupalCon Barcelona 2024 keynote address from Drupal founder Dries Buytaert and try this Drupal CMS demo.
How Can Eastern Standard Help?
If you want to learn more about how Drupal CMS can help your organization reach its digital goals, reach out today. This is especially important if your site is currently running on Drupal 7, which is reaching end of life in January 2025.
