The Wise Report

Drupal 8 is a version of the popular open-source content management system (CMS) known for its flexibility and scalability. Released in November 2015, Drupal 8 introduced many significant changes and improvements over its predecessors, making it more modern and robust. Here are some key features and characteristics of Drupal 8:

1. Core Improvements

• Symfony Framework: Drupal 8 is built on top of the Symfony framework, which allows for better structure and modern PHP practices. This change enables more efficient, object-oriented programming and easier integration with other systems.
• Twig Template Engine: Replacing PHPTemplate, Drupal 8 uses the Twig template engine for more secure and flexible theming.
• Configuration Management: Configuration data (like site settings) is now stored in files rather than in the database, making it easier to export, manage, and deploy configurations across different environments.
• Mobile First: Drupal 8 is designed with mobile-first principles, meaning it offers responsive design out of the box. Administrative pages and themes adapt better to smaller screens.
• Multilingual Capabilities: Drupal 8 has greatly improved multilingual support, with built-in tools that make it easier to create and manage multilingual content.

2. Authoring Experience

• CKEditor Integration: Drupal 8 comes with CKEditor as the default WYSIWYG editor, offering a more user-friendly experience for content creators.
• In-place Editing: Editors can modify content directly on the page without navigating to a separate form.
• Content Previews: Real-time previews allow users to see how their content will look before it goes live.

3. API-First Approach

• RESTful Web Services: Drupal 8 supports REST out of the box, enabling it to function as a backend for decoupled or headless applications. This makes it easier to expose content to external applications, including mobile apps.
• JSON:API and GraphQL: Optional modules provide additional API options, allowing developers to build more sophisticated integrations with other systems.

4. Improved Performance

• Caching: Drupal 8 introduced the BigPipe module for improved performance. It separates the rendering of dynamic and static parts of a page, allowing static content to load first.
• PHP 7 Support: With support for PHP 7, Drupal 8 performs significantly better in terms of speed and memory usage compared to previous versions.

5. Custom Fields and Entities

• Custom content types, fields, and entities have always been a hallmark of Drupal’s flexibility, but Drupal 8 makes creating and managing these elements even easier.
• Fieldable Blocks: Blocks in Drupal 8 are now fieldable entities, which means you can add custom fields to blocks, extending their capabilities.

6. Media Management

• Media Entity: Drupal 8 introduced improved media handling. It allows for better management of files, images, and other media assets.

7. Migrations

• Drupal 8 comes with a set of migration tools that make it easier to upgrade from older versions of Drupal (like Drupal 6 or 7) or other content management systems.

8. Future-Proofing

• Semantic Versioning: With the introduction of semantic versioning, Drupal 8 received regular updates every six months for new features, in addition to security fixes, making it easier to evolve without drastic overhauls.

9. Security

• Drupal is known for its robust security features, and Drupal 8 continued this legacy by enhancing user roles and permissions, security updates, and community-driven security advisories.

End of Life:

Drupal 8 reached its end-of-life (EOL) in November 2021, after which no further updates, including security updates, are provided. Users are encouraged to migrate to Drupal 9, which offers similar functionality with backward compatibility and updated dependencies.