drupal's competition
TRANSCRIPT
(and what we can do about it.)
How our competitors are kicking Drupal’s ass
Angie “@webchick” ByronSep. 27, 2016
DrupalCon Dublin
Who the heck are you?
First, a thought-provoking question…
Who is Drupal’s end user?
People like us?Developers, Site Builders?
Yes, but…
Drupal’s *real* end users:
content authors
The people who will actually *use* the Drupal site you
build. ;)
By and large, deciding what CMS to be stuck with.
They’re the ones employing people like us.
What do content authors value?
• Ease of use.
• Well-integrated parts.
• Flexibility; not being told “no” when asked to do something reasonable.
• Drupal is not my job! $mission_statement is my job. Get the tech out of the way and let me focus on it.
Ok, now let’s get to… the contenders!
“Enterprise”“Small Fry”
“Backend as a Service”
• “WordPress is web software you can use to create a beautiful website, blog, or app.”
• Key feature: Powers 25% of the web
• 5 minute install, media management, SEO out of the box, large community
• Price: Free AND open source!
https://wordpress.org/
Squarespace• “Set your website apart”
• Key feature: dozens of beautifully designed templates to choose from
• Make design changes directly in the UI
• Price: Free trial, $11-17/month, or $24-36/month for commerce support
https://www.squarespace.com/
• “It All Starts with Your Stunning Website”
• Price: Free (ad supported) or $9-26/month for premium features (e.g. e-commerce, event booking)
• Features: drag and drop editor, over 500 well-designed templates, over 250 apps, hosting included
http://www.wix.com/
Enterprise
• “The only integrated experience management platform: Content, data, and delivery in one”
• Web content management + marketing platform; heavy on personalization features and analytics
• .NET-based, also uses Microsoft Office-esque UI, so Microsoft shops love it.
• Price: one arm and one leg. ;)
http://www.sitecore.net/
http://www.sitecore.net/
http://www.sitecore.net/
• “Make delivering great digital experiences look easy.”
• Key benefit: Integrates seamlessly with Adobe Creative Cloud, so great for art departments
• Part of the “Marketing Cloud” suite of products, which includes personalization, analytics, and social community tools
• Price: Your first born. ;)
http://www.adobe.com/marketing-cloud/enterprise-content-management.html
And now for something completely different… backend-as-a-service
• “Like a CMS... without the bad bits.”
• Barebones CMS that concentrates on content modelling.
• Raw content exposed via a JSON API.
• Geared toward developer teams who want to build entirely custom front-ends (“headless”, decoupled)
• Free for limited plan; $99-$199/month for extra users, content entries, API requests
http://www.contentful.com/
So, uh… how does Drupal (core) fare..?
Our sample content is “screw you” ;)
Here’s our media experience
Here’s our media experience
Here’s our theme selection
Here’s our theme selection
Layouts are hard-coded;no drag and drop content
Contrib closes most gaps…
…if you know which modules to use.
So, uh… what are we doing about all of that? :\
Meet the new Drupal 8 strategic initiatives!
Including a couple of old ones. ;)
Customer Experience
Developer Experience
Editorial Experience
New Drupal 8 release cycle
Dec2015
Jan2016
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep Oct
2016
8.0.x supported release
beta8.1.x development rc 8.1.x supported release
beta8.2.x development rc 8.2.x supported release
https://www.drupal.org/core/release-cycle-overview
8.3.x devNew, backwards- compatible features!
We are here.
New innovation tool: Experimental modules
• New module package for bleeding-edge users
• Allows putting things into core that are known not to be perfect yet, but that are of strategic significance
• Rapid iteration based on real user feedback; gradually move to stable
• Allows core to benefit from “agile” best practices usually only seen in contrib development
https://www.drupal.org/core/experimental
Content Moderation (experimental) 8.2
Place Blocks (experimental) 8.2
Settings Tray (experimental) 8.2
?
Drag-and-drop image uploads 8.3?
https://www.drupal.org/node/2421427
Sample content in install profile
• What if instead of a blank slate, we showcased what Drupal could do in the standard installation?
• “Snowman” community initiative
• Builds off work done by the Drupal documentation team
https://www.drupal.org/node/79582
8.3+
Waterwheel (JavaScript SDK) 8.4+
https://github.com/acquia/waterwheel-js
Full-site preview 8.4+
Want to help? Join us!
Team up with an initiative!
Come to the sprints on Friday! (Newbies welcome!)
https://www.drupal.org/about/strategic-initiatives
Evaluate This Session
THANK YOU!
events.drupal.org/dublin2016/schedule
WHAT DID YOU THINK?