The Drupal Association brought a new challenge to the Drupal community this past summer. At the beginning of May 2024, Dries Buytaert, the founder and leading visionary for the Drupal platform, announced an ambitious plan codenamed Starshot. The community rapidly came together around the concept and started planning how to make this vision of the future a reality, including Oomph.

What is Starshot/Drupal CMS?

Codename Starshot is now known as Drupal CMS. Drupal is a free, open-source content management system (CMS) where authors and developers build and maintain websites. Drupal has been around since 2001, and in the past, it was focused on being a developer-friendly platform that supports complex integrations and custom features.

Drupal CMS is a reimagining of Drupal for a wider market. Currently, Drupal successfully supports the complexities that governments, high-volume editorial sites, and membership organizations require. But, the barrier to entry for those that wanted to start with a small, simple site was too high. 

Drupal CMS is the community’s solution to drastically lower the barrier to entry by providing a new onboarding and page-building experience, recipes for common features, advanced SEO features, and “AI Agents” that assist authors with content migration and site-building acceleration. Dries challenged the community to start building towards a working prototype in less than 4 months, in time to demonstrate significant progress for the audience at DrupalCon Barcelona in mid-September.

The Contact Form Track

The Contact Form is an official recommended recipe. As the name suggests, its purpose is to provide a Recipe that installs the necessary modules and default content to support a useful, but simple, Contact Form. 

The primary user persona for Drupal CMS is a non-technical Marketer or Digital Strategist. Someone who wants to set up a simple website to promote themselves, a product, and/or a service. A Contact Form should start simple, but be ready for customization such as integrations with popular email newsletter services for exporting contacts and opting into receiving email. 

Research and Competitive Analysis

Drupal CMS aims to compete with juggernauts like WordPress and relative newcomers like SquareSpace, Wix, and Webflow. To create a Contact Form that could compete with these well-known CMSs, our first step was to do some competitive research.

We went in two directions for the competitive analysis (Figma whiteboard). First, we researched what kinds of experiences and default contact forms competitor CMSs provided. Second, we took stock of common Contact Form patterns, including those from well-known SAAS products. We wanted to see the kinds of fields that sales lead generation forms typically leveraged. With both of these initiatives, we learned a few things quickly: 

• The common fields for a simple Contact Form are generally consistent from platform to platform
• More complex sales lead forms also had much in common, though every form had something custom that directly related to the product offered
• WordPress does not have a Contact Form solution out of the box! Site owners need to research commonly used plugins to achieve this

Our approach was starting to take shape. We internally documented our decisions and high-value MVP requirements and presented them to the advisory board for feedback. With that, we were off to create the start of our Contact Form recipe. 

Recipe and Future Phases

Phil Frilling started the Contact Form recipe, which is currently under peer review. The recipe is barebones for Phase 1 and will install the required modules to support a default Contact Form and email the site owner when messages are received. Once the initial recipe is accepted, a round of testing, documentation, and additional UI in a custom module may be required. 

Our plans include additional fields set as optional for the site owner to turn on or off as they need. Some customization will be supported in a non-technical user-friendly way, but all the power of Drupal WebForms will be available to those that want to dig deeper into customizing their lead forms.

In the short term, we are proposing:

• Database storage of contacts that safeguards valuable leads that come in through forms
• Quick integrations with common CRMs and Newsletter providers
• Enhanced point-and-click admin UI through the in-progress Experience Builder 
• Advanced fields to handle specialty data, like price ranges, date ranges, and similar
• Conditional defaults: Through the initial set up, when a site owner specifies an Editorial site they get one default Contact Form, while someone who specifies E-commerce gets another default Contact Form
• Feedback mechanism to request new fields

Next stop, the Moon

DrupalCon Barcelona took place last week, September 24 through 27, 2024, and the Drupal CMS prototype was displayed for all to see. Early 2025 is the next target date for a market-ready version of Drupal CMS. The community is continuing to push hard to create a fantastic future for the platform and for authors who are dissatisfied with the current CMS marketplace.

Oomph’s team will continue to work on the Contact Form Track while contributing in other ways with the full range of skills we have. The great part about such a large and momentous initiative as Drupal CMS is that the whole company can be involved, and each can contribute from their experience and expertise. 

We’ll continue to share our progress in the weeks to come!

Thanks! 

Track Lead J. Hogue with Philip Frilling contributing engineer, Akili Greer and Rachel Hart researchers, and thanks to Rachel Hart again for bringing the Contact Form Track Lead to Oomph for consideration.

The Brief

The Approach

A Dashboard Built for Speed or Browsing

On the starting page, an employee might be in need for something immediate or might have time to explore. We do not know their intention, therefore, this page needs to support both. 

The left drawer is open to employees on the dashboard. It is open to show them what it contains and to remove a click when accessing the important common destinations within. The first seven links are common items for any employee, curated by the Lifespan team. They are a mixture of tactical items — like time sheets — and company culture items — like the CARE recognition program. 

Below that are the employee Favorites. The first six favorites are shown while all are available with an extra click.

The top navigation supports speed to common destinations, some of which are search interfaces and others which are built for browsing. 

The rest of the page showcases engagement and company culture. Featured news stories with images are balanced with quick news and event lists. Flexible content sections allow authors to add and remove content blocks as new items are required. 

Other content pages that were focused on engagement are the deeper News and Events pages, customized Location pages (for each major hospital location), and a community Bulletin Board.

The Results

The Brief

The APPROACH

The Results

High-quality content management systems (CMS) and digital experience platforms (DXP) are the backbone of modern websites, helping you deliver powerful, personalized user experiences. The catch? You have to pick your platform first. 

At Oomph, we have a lot of love for open-source platforms like Drupal and WordPress. Over the years, we’ve also built applications for our clients using headless CMS tools, like Contentful and CosmicJS. The marketplace for these solutions continues to grow exponentially, including major players like Adobe Experience Manager, Sitecore, and Optimizely.

With so many options, developers and non-developers with a project on the horizon typically start by asking themselves, “Which CMS or DXP is the best fit for my website or application?” While that is no doubt an excellent question to consider, I think it’s equally important to ask, “Who is going to implement the solution?” 

CMS/DXP Solutions Are More Alike Than You Might Think

I recently attended the annual Healthcare Internet Conference and spoke with quite a few healthcare marketers about their CMS tools. I noticed a common thread: Many people think their CMS (some of which I mentioned above) is hard to use and doesn’t serve them well. 

That may very well be the case. Not all CMS tools are created equal; some are better suited for specific applications. However, most modern CMS and DXP tools have many of the same features in common, they just come at different price points. So here’s the multi-million dollar question: If most of these products provide access to the same or similar tools, why are so many customers displeased with them? 

Common Challenges of CMS/DXP Implementation

Often, we find that CMS users get frustrated because the tool they chose wasn’t configured to meet their specific needs. That doesn’t necessarily mean that it was set up incorrectly. That’s the beauty of many of today’s CMS and DXP products: They don’t take a one-size-fits-all approach. Instead, they allow for flexibility and customization to ensure that each customer gets the most out of the product.

While enticing, that flexibility also burdens the user with ensuring that their system is implemented effectively for their specific use case. In our experience, implementation is the make-or-break of a website development project. These are just a handful of things that can derail the process:

1. The implementation partner didn’t fully understand how their client works and configure features accordingly.
2. The demands of user experience overshadowed the needs of content editors and admins. 
3. Hefty licensing fees ate away at the budget, leaving behind funds that don’t quite cover a thorough implementation. 
4. The project was rushed to meet a tight deadline. 
5. The CMS introduces new features over time that add complexity to the admin or editing experience. 
6. Old features get sunsetted as new capabilities take their place. 

Most of the work we do at Oomph is to help our clients implement new websites and applications using content management systems like Drupal. We have decades of combined experience helping our clients create the ideal user experience for their target audience while also crafting a thoughtful content editing and admin experience that is easy to use.

But what does that look like in practice? 

4 Steps for a Successful CMS Implementation

Implementation can be the black box of setting up your CMS: You don’t know what you don’t know. So, we like to get our clients into a demo environment as soon as possible to help them better understand what they need from their CMS. Here’s how we use it to navigate successful CMS implementation: 

1. Assess the Capabilities of the CMS

The first step can be the most simple at face value. Consider what the CMS needs to do for you, then find a CMS that includes all of those features. Content modeling (more on that below) is a key part of that process, but so is auditing your team’s abilities. 

Some teams may be developer-savvy and can handle less templated content-authoring features. Others may need a much more drag-and-drop experience. Either use case is normal and acceptable, but what matters is that you identify your needs and find both a CMS and an implementation process that meets them. That leads us to the next point.

2. Test-Drive the CMS Early and Often

You wouldn’t buy a car without test-driving it first. Yet we find that people are often more than willing to license a CMS without looking under the hood.

Stepping into the CMS for a test drive is a huge part of getting the content editing experience right. We’ve been designing and engineering websites and platforms using CMS tools for well over a decade, and we’ve learned a thing or two along the way about good content management and editing experiences. 

Even with out-of-the-box, vanilla Drupal, the sky’s the limit for how you can configure it. But that also means that nothing is configured, and it can be difficult to get a sense of how best to configure and use it. Rather than diving into the deep end, we work with our clients to test the waters. We immediately set up a project sandbox that offers pre-configured content types, allowing you to enter content and play with a suite of components within the sleek drag-and-drop interface.

3. Align User Experience with Content Authoring

Beyond pre-configured content and components, our sandbox sites include a stylish, default theme. The idea is to give you a taste both of what your live site could look like and what your content authoring experience might be. Since so many teams struggle to balance those two priorities, this can be a helpful way to figure out how your CMS can give you both. 

4. Finalize Your Features & Capabilities 

While a demo gives you a good idea of the features you’ll need, it might include features you don’t. But discovering where our pre-built options aren’t a good fit is a good thing — it helps us understand exactly what YOUR TEAM does and does not need.

Our goal is to give you something tangible to react to, whether that’s love at first type or a chance to uncover capabilities that would serve you better. We’ve found this interactive yet structured process is the CMS silver bullet that leads to a better outcome. 

Content Modeling

Another key part of our project workflow is what we call content modeling. During this phase, we work with you to identify the many content types you’ll have on your website or application. Then, we can visualize them in a mapping system to determine things like: 

• What relationships exist between these different content types?
• Who should have access to a content type, and what governance should be in place to ensure all content is accurate, on brand, and approved for publishing?
• What features do you need to support content at every level? For example, at the field level, do you need a drop-down with predefined values that only certain people can edit, or do you need an open-text field a content editor can customize? 

With a solid content model in place, we can have a higher level of confidence that our CMS implementation will create the right content editing experience for your team. From there, we actually implement the content model in the CMS as soon as possible so that you can test it out and we can make refinements before getting too far along in the process.

Content Moderation & Governance

Many clients tell us they either have too much or too little control over their content. In some cases, their content management system is so templated or rigid that marketing teams can’t quickly spin up landing pages and instead have to rely on development teams to assist. Other teams have too much freedom, allowing employees to easily deploy content that hasn’t been approved by the appropriate team members or strays from company brand standards. 

Here at Oomph, our mantra is balance. A good content editing process needs both flexibility and governance, so teams can create content when they need to, but avoid publishing content that doesn’t meet company standards. Through discovery, we work with clients to determine which content types need flexibility and which ones don’t. 

If a content type needs to be flexible, we create a framework that allows for agility while still ensuring that users can only select approved colors, font types, and font sizes. We also identify which content needs to be held in moderation and approved before it can be published on the website. 

Taking the time to discuss governance in advance creates a CMS experience that strikes the right balance between marketing freedom and brand adherence. 

Implementation Turns a Good CMS Into a Great One

Modern CMS/DXP solutions have mind-blowing features, and they will only continue to get more complex over time. But the reality is that while picking a CMS that has the features you need is important, how it’s configured and implemented might matter even more. After all, how helpful is it to have a CMS with embedded artificial intelligence if making simple copy updates to your home page is a nightmare? 

Implementation is the “it” factor that makes the difference between a CMS you love and one you’d rather do your job without.

Interested in solving your CMS headaches with better implementation? Let’s talk.