DrupalCon New Orleans keynote. For a video recording of my presentation, see http://buytaert.net/state-of-drupal-presentation-september-2017.

1. DrupalCon Vienna
riesnote

2. DrupalCon Vienna
riesnote
with @Dries Buytaert
Founder & Project Lead, Drupal

3. Drupal is growing and changing

4. Drupal is growing and changing

5. Numberofissues
0
6000
12000
18000
24000
2016 2017
22%increase!
Number of issues fixed/closed on Drupal.org
for core and contrib combined
Source: https://dri.es/who-sponsors-drupal-development-2017

6. Numberofindividuals
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
2016 2017
Number of individuals contributing code on
Drupal.org for core and contrib combined
Source: https://dri.es/who-sponsors-drupal-development-2017
28%increase!

7. Numberoforganizations
0
225
450
675
900
2016 2017
Number of organizations contributing code
on Drupal.org core and contrib combined
Source: https://dri.es/who-sponsors-drupal-development-2017
26%increase!

8. Text
Europe is very important for Drupal

9. 45% of all code
contributions
on drupal.org
come from
Europe (a lot of
the sponsorship
comes from
North America)
Source: https://dri.es/who-sponsors-drupal-development-2017
Oceania
3.4%North America
28.6%
South America
3.4%
Asia
19.7%
Europe
44.6%
Africa
.3%

10. Non-code contributors are also
critical to Drupal's success

11. Numberofattendees
0
1150
2300
3450
4600
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
TOTAL ATTENDANCE OF
50 EUROPEAN DRUPAL CAMPS
Growinginvolvement!
DrupalCamp attendance in Europe

12. DRUPAL BUSINESS SURVEY 2017
Answers from 239 executives at Drupal organizations

13. Most Drupal agencies are doing well
In the last 12 months…
Shrank
22.8%
Stayed the same
28.7%
Grew
48.5%
Source: Drupal Business Survey 2017
Shrank
14.0%
Stayed the same
39.0%
Grew
47.0%
Drupal sales
pipeline is growing
Drupal deal sizes
are growing

14. Drupal 8 has become the go-to version,
but we are still in transition
Source: Drupal Business Survey 2017
Only Drupal 8
Mostly Drupal 8 but some Drupal 7
Equally Drupal 7 and Drupal 8
Mostly Drupal 7 but some Drupal 8
Drupal 7 only 12%
18%
7%
25%
38%

15. 0
400
800
1200
1600
Jan 1 2016 July 1 2016 Jan 1 2017 Sept 1 2017
Numberofcontribprojects
withastableDrupal8release
1,400+ stable projects
(4,000+ projects in development)
600 stable projects
The Drupal 8 contrib ecosystem
has matured a lot
Over 2xincrease in 1 year

16. Several ‘infrastructure modules’ have
become stable since DrupalCon Baltimore
(Since 5 months ago)
Chaos Tools Token
Panels/
Panelizer Commerce
Pathauto
Search API/
Search API Solr

17. But we still have some work to do…
– Backup and Migrate
– Organic Groups
– Rules
– Feeds
Fund
upgrades
Get involved
in the issue
queue!
Become a
co-maintainer

18. The Drupal 7 to Drupal 8
migration path is close:
Only 12 critical Migrate bugs remain

19. VI
People are raving about Drupal 8

20. VI
Kim Pepper |💧kim.pepper
Co-Founder & Technical Director @ PreviousNext

21. Launching October 4th, 2017
.4

22. 8.3
N/A ALPHA BETA STABLE
Migrate
Field Layout
State of experimental modules in 8.3
Media
Layout Discovery
Datetime Range
Inline Form Errors
Workflow
Settings Tray

23. 8.4
Progress on experimental modules in 8.4
N/A ALPHA BETA STABLE
Migrate
Field Layout
Media
Layout Discovery
Datetime Range
Inline Form Errors
Workflow
Settings Tray

24. Drupal is growing and changing

25. Drupal is growing and changing

26. prismic.io
Sitecore
WordPress
Contentful
Squarespace
Joomla
Wix
Adobe
Drupal
1) The vendor landscape is changing

27. prismic.io
Sitecore
WordPress
Contentful
Squarespace
oomla
Wix
Adobe
Drupal
1) The vendor landscape is changing

28. prismic.io
Sitecore
WordPressoomla
Adobe
Squarespace
Drupal
Contentful
Wix
Headless CMSes are
growing 500%+ YoY
Single blogs and
brochure websites
best served by SaaS
Enterprise solutions moved beyond CMS
and are competing on marketing capabilities
1) The vendor landscape is changing

29. prismic.io
Sitecore
WordPressoomla
Adobe
Squarespace
Drupal
Contentful
Wix
1) The vendor landscape is changing

30. prismic.io
Sitecore
WordPress
Ember
Joomla
Node.js
JavaScript
Wix
React
AdobeAngular
Headless
Drupal
Laravel
Vue.js
Symfony
Squarespace
Drupal
AWS
Contentful
Azure

31. React
Contentful
Vue.js
Azure
Wix
prismic.io
Sitecore
WordPress
Joomla
Node.js
JavaScript
AdobeAngular
Headless
Drupal
Laravel
Symfony
Ember
Squarespace
AWS
Drupal
2) The technology stack is expanding
Node.js Angular Symfony React Laravel Vue.js
9.6%
17.2%
33.9%
42.3%43.5%
53.6%
Non-Drupal technologies used by Drupal agencies:
Source: Drupal Business Survey 2017

33. Change leads to uncertainty
Who is Drupal for?
What do I do?
What do we do?

34. Drupal is for
AMBITIOUS DIGITAL EXPERIENCES
Source: https://dri.es/drupal-is-for-ambitious-digital-experiences

35. REACH
Drupal scales from small to large
Drupal Omni-
channel
website
Multi-site
platform
Blog
Brochure
site
Portfolio
site
SMB
site with
integrations
Community
engagement
site

36. RICHNESS
REACH
It’s about richness, not reach
Drupal Omni-
channel
website
Multi-site
platform
Blog
Brochure
site
Portfolio
site
SMB
site with
integrations
Community
engagement
site

37. Multi-site
platform
Omni-
channel
websiteSMB
site with
integrations
Community
engagement
site
REACH
Blog
Brochure
site
Portfolio
site
RICHNESS
Drupal
Drupal is for sites with medium-to-high richness

38. SaaS
builders
REACH
Blog
Brochure
site
Portfolio
site
RICHNESS
Drupal
Drupal is no longer for simple sites
Multi-site
platform
Omni-
channel
websiteSMB
site with
integrations
Community
engagement
site
Blog
Brochure
site
Portfolio
site
Drupal-as-a-service could change that

39. SaaS
builders
REACH
RICHNESS
Drupal
Drupal is no longer for simple sites, but for sites with medium-to-
high richness, except maybe when they have a lot of traffic, and …
Multi-site
platform
Omni-
channel
websiteSMB
site with
integrations
Community
engagement
site
Blog
Brochure
site
Portfolio
site

40. SaaS
builders
RICHNESS
Drupal is for ambitious digital experiences
Drupal
REACH
Multi-site
platform
Omni-
channel
websiteSMB
site with
integrations
Community
engagement
site
Blog
Brochure
site
Portfolio
site

41. REACH
SaaS
builders
RICHNESS
Drupal
Multi-site
platform
Omni-
channel
websiteSMB
site with
integrations
Community
engagement
site
Blog
Brochure
site
Portfolio
site
Ambitious is much more than just enterprise
Enterprise

42. REACH
SaaS
builders
RICHNESS
Drupal
Multi-site
platform
Omni-
channel
websiteSMB
site with
integrations
Community
engagement
site
Blog
Brochure
site
Portfolio
site
Example: Small company that manages 50 rental properties.
Not a lot of traffic but integrations with
e-commerce system, booking system, customer
support tool, etc. 50k EUR budget.
Ambitious is much more than just enterprise
Enterprise

43. REACH
SaaS
builders
RICHNESS
We won’t leave the non-enterprise majority behind
Drupal
Multi-site
platform
Omni-
channel
websiteSMB
site with
integrations
Community
engagement
site
Blog
Brochure
site
Portfolio
site
Majority of Drupal ecosystem
Enterprise

44. Drupal is growing and changing

45. Some people feel
left behind…

46. Drupal is not for simple sites
Updates are difficult
and expensive
I don’t want to learn object-oriented programming
Drupal’s
admin
is dated
Drupal is too hard to use
Drupal 8
moves too fast

47. We aren’t going
to “fix” these
Drupal is not for simple sites
I don’t want to learn object-oriented programming
Drupal 8
moves too fast

48. Drupal is not for simple sites
Updates are difficult
and expensive
I don’t want to learn object-oriented programming
Drupal’s
admin
is dated
Drupal is too hard to use
Drupal 8
moves too fast

49. These are things
we want to fix
Updates are difficult
and expensive
Drupal’s
admin
is dated
Drupal is too hard to use

50. What should we focus on?
1. Powerful site building tools
2. Easier updates & maintenance

51. What should we focus on?
1. Powerful site building tools
2. Easier updates & maintenance

52. People
Process
Tools

53. People
Process
Tools

54. People
Process
Created product
management role on
core committer team
Tools

55. People
Process
Created product
management role on
core committer team
Appointed UX designer
@yoroy as a core committer
Tools

56. People
Process
Created product
management role on
core committer team
Appointed UX designer
@yoroy as a core committer
Tools
And you!

57. People
Process
Tools

58. People
Process
Lead with design and
product management
Tools

59. People
Process
Lead with design and
product management
Tools
Most initiatives target non-developers
Media, Layout, Workflows

60. Text
Layout builder
Targeted
for Drupal 8.5

61. Text
W
orkspaces
Planned
for Drupal 8.5

62. M
edia
Library
Targeted
for Drupal 8.6

63. People
Tools
Process

64. People
Tools
Process

65. People
Tools
Process
Really good UX today:
built in modern JavaScript

66. People
Tools
Process
Really good UX today:
built in modern JavaScript
Many developers want
modern JavaScript

67. Recommendation 1:
Invest more in headless Drupal (API-first)
Support a variety of JavaScript libraries
User-facing front end
Administrative front end
Drupal
Administrative front end

68. Recommendation 2:
Improve administrative UIs using modern
JavaScript library
1.
Making Drupal
easier to use
3.
Dogfood web
services APIs
Order of priorities
2.
Increase JS
expertise in Drupal
User-facing front end
Administrative front end
Drupal
Administrative front end

69. Recommendation 3: Start small with one
or two (new) administrative UIs
The new layout builder maybe?

70. Proposed
initiatives
Active
initiatives
Planned
initiatives
JAVASCRIPT
LIBRARY

71. Table-based
layouts
Div-based
layouts
Separate
mobile site
Responsive
website
Static UIs
(server-side,
PHP)
Dynamic UIs
(client-side,
JavaScript)
2005 2010 2015

72. What should we focus on?
1. Powerful site building tools
2. Easier updates & maintenance

73. What should we focus on?
1. Powerful site building tools
2. Easier updates & maintenance

74. Updates are difficult and expensive

75. WE HAVE FREQUENT UPDATES
Monthly
core updates
Ad-hoc
contrib updates
6-month
core updates

76. WE HAVE MORE COMPLEX TOOLS
Third-party
libraries

77. Auto-updates
♥
Users want this
“Without some form of automated security update solution in
place, I fear I may never be allowed to take a holiday again”
Really valuable when there is a critical security patch
“I don’t have to hire expensive talent”
This would protect Drupal’s reputation
See https://www.drupal.org/node/2367319

78. Auto-updates
But but but …
Requires complex code
Requires more testing
Not everyone wants it
“This makes Drupal.org a bigger target for malicious hackers”
“We’d need a lot more testing or we risk breaking sites”
“This would require the site to overwrite itself which is actually less secure”
“I prefer to use version control”
The best organizations overcome these concerns
See https://www.drupal.org/node/2367319

79. We’re evolving in the right way
Manual
updates
Auto-updates
Drush updates
Drupal 4.7

80. Update Manager
We’re evolving in the right way
Manual
updates
Auto-updates
Drush updates
Drupal 4.7
Drupal 7

81. Update Manager
We’re evolving in the right way
Manual
updates
Auto-updates
Drush updates
Drupal 4.7 Drupal 8
Drupal 7

82. Update Manager
Drupal 7
Drupal 8Manual
updates
Auto-updates
Source: Drupal Association analysis of drupal.org download data
59%
of all Drupal 8 users update
by downloading modules
from drupal.org
Drush updates
Drupal 4.7
24%
of all Drupal
8 users
22%
of all Drupal
8 users

83. We need something
more site builder-friendly
Manual
updates
Auto-updates
Drupal 7
Update Manager
Drupal 8
Drush updates
Drupal 4.7

84. Manual
updates
Auto-updates
We don’t have to get there overnight
Drupal 7
Update Manager
Drupal 8
Drush updates
Drupal 4.7

85. Manual
updates
Auto-updates
We don’t have to get there overnight
Drupal 7
Update Manager
Drupal 8
Drush updates
Drupal 4.7
Step 1:
Auto-updates for
security releases
(core only)

86. Manual
updates
Auto-updates
Step 2:
Auto-updates for
security releases
(core + contrib)
We don’t have to get there overnight
Drupal 7
Update Manager
Drupal 8
Drush updates
Drupal 4.7
Step 1:
Auto-updates for
security releases
(core only)

87. Manual
updates
Auto-updates
Step 2:
Auto-updates for
security releases
(core + contrib)
Step 3:
Auto-updates for all
patch releases
We don’t have to get there overnight
Drupal 7
Update Manager
Drupal 8
Drush updates
Drupal 4.7
Step 1:
Auto-updates for
security releases
(core only)
(Might use Composer under the hood)

88. Manual
updates
Auto-updates
Step 2:
Auto-updates for
security releases
(core + contrib)
Step 3:
Auto-updates for all
patch releases
We don’t have to get there overnight
Drupal 7
Update Manager
Drupal 8
Drush updates
Drupal 4.7
Step 1:
Auto-updates for
security releases
(core only)
(Might use Composer under the hood)
Step 4:
Auto-updates for
minor releases

89. Lots to figure out …
“Let’s build a UI for Composer”
“Drupal.org’s packaging system
could run Composer”
“We need to make Composer better first”
“Let’s connect Composer with
the Update Manager”
“Can’t we start with better documentation?”
“Contributed modules should
support semantic versioning first”
“How are we going to improve
our test infrastructure?”
“Contributed modules should
standardize on Composer first”

90. Proposed
initiatives
Active
initiatives
Planned
initiatives
JAVASCRIPT
LIBRARY
AUTO UPDATES

91. What should we focus on?
1. Powerful site building tools
2. Easier updates & maintenance

92. Drupal is not for simple sites
Updates are difficult
and expensive
I don’t want to learn object-oriented programming
Drupal’s
admin
is dated
Drupal is too hard to use
Drupal 8
moves too fast

94. REACH
SaaS
builders
RICHNESS
Drupal
Multi-site
platform
Omni-
channel
websiteSMB
site with
integrations
Community
engagement
site
Blog
Brochure
site
Portfolio
site
Majority of Drupal ecosystem
Enterprise

95. Majority of Drupal ecosystem
Enterprise

96. We’re lucky that we have a
large community of contributors

97. We need to keep
making it easier
to contribute
These problems
are complex &
time-sensitive

98. We need to support
those companies that
meaningfully contribute
to core development
Top contributing Drupal businesses
according to https://dri.es/who-sponsors-
drupal-development-2017

99. One such organization is
Commerce Guys

101. This is the
Drupal way

102. Always wanted to get involved?
This week is the time and place to get started

103. hank you
dri.es/subscribe
@DRIES
for these slides & more