Why choose Drupal: the opinion of an experienced developer

Drupal has established itself as one of the most powerful content management systems (CMS) for web projects requiring customisation, flexibility and robustness. Régis, senior front-end developer at DJM digital, shares his experience and explains why this open source CMS remains an essential choice for businesses, whatever their size and ambitions.

For Régis, Drupal excels particularly when it comes to managing projects involving a wide variety of content. “If a site needs to structure a variety of elements, such as catalogues or lists of classified items, Drupal is an obvious solution. Take a property site, for example: it needs to manage properties with precise characteristics – price, number of rooms, surface area, location – while allowing easy browsing thanks to advanced filters.”

At DJM digital, Drupal was used to design the website for Standard, the Liege football club. “The project included complex entities such as players, matches, clubs and news. Each element could be linked to others, such as the events that take place during a match. For example, a goal is linked to the player who scored it, the club he belongs to, and the match in which it was scored. With Drupal, we were able to structure and manage all these relationships seamlessly.
We developed the site on Drupal 8 in 2017, then upgraded it to versions 9 and 10 over the years. This scalability is one of Drupal’s great assets. Unlike other CMSs, where each major update can require a complete overhaul, Drupal allows for simpler and less costly transitions.

What makes Drupal particularly interesting is that it is just as suited to start-ups with modest needs as it is to large organisations with complex projects.

Drupal’s flexibility lies in its modular architecture. Régis explains: “Each feature can be added in the form of a module, with a clear and consistent structure. This homogeneity guarantees clean code, avoiding the performance losses associated with haphazard additions. With other CMS, plugins developed without a precise framework can slow down the site or cause incompatibilities. With Drupal, everything is well structured.

This modularity is largely based on the Symfony framework, which has been integrated into Drupal since version 8. Symfony doesn’t just structure the code: it also simplifies teamwork. “With a standardised organisation, several developers can collaborate effectively on the same project, even if they join the team along the way. This consistency reduces errors and speeds up the process of maintenance or adding new functionality.

Régis adds that flexibility also extends to hosting: “Drupal is designed to work with cloud infrastructures capable of automatically managing peaks in traffic by distributing the load over several servers. This compatibility makes it an ideal choice for businesses that need high-performance, scalable solutions.

Security is a major issue for any web project, and particularly so for organisations such as governments, banks and healthcare companies, where the protection of sensitive data is essential. Régis points out that Drupal meets these requirements perfectly, thanks to its rigorous and proactive approach. “Its code is regularly audited by a dedicated team from the community. This means that any vulnerabilities can be identified quickly and we can react quickly to correct them.

Another of Drupal’s strengths lies in its advanced management of user permissions. “This granularity makes it possible to define precisely who can access, modify or publish a given piece of content, which is particularly useful for multilingual projects or projects involving several levels of users.

Finally, Régis highlights the integration of Symfony, which makes Drupal even more robust. “Symfony, which forms the basis of Drupal, ensures regular updates and easier patch management. This guarantees continuity without disrupting the site’s structure, even if a vulnerability is discovered. A secure architecture, coupled with simplified updates, makes Drupal a trusted CMS for companies with stringent data protection requirements.

Drupal’s API-first approach transforms the way websites and applications are developed by clearly separating content management (back-end) from its display (front-end). This architecture offers great flexibility, allowing Drupal to serve as a robust base for data, while the display can be designed using modern technologies such as React, Vue.js or Angular. “This allows us to offer particularly fluid and rich user experiences while retaining Drupal’s content management power,” explains Régis.

Concrètement, cette approche repose sur les API (interfaces de programmation d’applications), qui permettent à Drupal de communiquer avec d’autres systèmes ou plateformes. Régis illustre : « Pour le site du Standard de Liège, nous avons configuré une API permettant de rendre les actualités publiées dans Drupal automatiquement accessibles dans une application mobile. Cette API agit comme un pont entre le back-end Drupal et l’application mobile, facilitant la récupération et l’affichage des données en temps réel. »

L’avantage de cette architecture API-first réside également dans sa pérennité. Les entreprises peuvent faire évoluer le front-end sans toucher au back-end, ou intégrer facilement de nouvelles plateformes, comme des écrans tactiles ou des assistants vocaux, tout en centralisant la gestion des données dans Drupal. « Drupal génère une API qui donne accès à son contenu de manière universelle, permettant de l’exploiter sur tous types de supports », conclut Régis. Une approche qui s’impose aujourd’hui comme une norme pour les projets ambitieux et multicanaux.

In terms of content management, Drupal offers powerful tools that simplify the creation and organisation of pages, even for non-technical teams. “With Drupal’s workflows, you can define several stages in the creation of content. For example, an editor can write an article, which is then checked by a manager before being published. This structure improves the efficiency of internal processes.

What’s more, thanks to its custom fields and taxonomies, Drupal makes it possible to structure complex content such as catalogues or multilingual articles. “This is a real time-saver, especially for companies that manage a wide variety of content translated into several languages.

“Drupal’s code is open, which means that thousands of developers are constantly contributing to its improvement. This means we can innovate quickly and incorporate the latest technologies.”

Another major advantage is financial. “Unlike proprietary solutions, Drupal has no licence fees, and many modules are free. This allows companies to focus their budget on custom development rather than fixed costs.”

For Régis, Drupal is a sustainable solution. “It’s a CMS that evolves with the company’s needs without requiring a complete overhaul. What’s more, it offers powerful tools for optimising performance, such as advanced cache management.

Thanks to its architecture, active community and regular updates, Drupal is a reliable choice, whether you’re a start-up with a modest project or a large organisation with complex needs. “Its robustness, flexibility and durability make it a platform that adapts to all ambitious projects, whatever they may be.”