Can you handle all the ... power that Drupal 8 is about to lay in your very hands, whether you're a developer, a marketer/content editor or a user/end-user? Will you take the dare to set yourself free from the desktop and from any regional or language limitations and to step into the... future?
If you answered “No”, then... good luck with implementing your digital “vision”, you'll need it!
But if you've answered “I'm not sure” or “what does this fancy utopia even mean?”, you'll definitely want to read the following true facts about Drupal 8.
Empower yourself with helpful information about what is described as “the world’s leading digital experience platform that helps you manage and deliver web content across channels and devices."
Shifting to a Mobile First Mentality
“If I were to start Drupal from scratch today, I'd build it for mobile experiences first and desktop experience second”, Dries Buytaert.
Need we add more to this suggestive quote?
We're not going to beat around the bush stating the obvious (that users have started to rely more on their mobile devices for... getting themselves informed, entertained or for buying/booking certain goods/services).
Instead, what we'd like to point out to you is precisely those upgrades that the visionary team behind Drupal 8 have upgraded it with:
- its was conceived primarily for mobile devices (and only secondarily for desktops), therefore its structurally made to support responsive design
- it sets itself apart from the (now) rudimentary belief of “one size fits all”
- it comes upgraded with responsive image support (pictures adapt automatically to any device's specific viewport size, without affecting the page's loading time)
- it turns managing content on mobile devices into a highly intuitive process (its admin has been significantly adapted for mobile)
- it empowers site builders with new responsive themes, mobile-adapted ones, thus enabling them to get... creative and craft great Drupal 8 websites that look appealing on mobile devices
Drupal 8 Encourages You to Go... Global
In other words, Drupal 8 supports your “taking over the world” vision (only as a visionary entrepreneur of the digital era, of course...).
Since, now you should start envisioning user-friendliness as “user friendliness on a global scale”, what Drupal 8 does is that it... empowers you (sorry, we couldn't find a more appropriate word to describe Drupal 8's main... “mission”) with all the cool tools you'll need for going... international:
- Content Translation module: it helps you communicate in your users' own languages, therefore to easily translate your site' content
- Interface Translation module: it helps you, as a site developer, by giving you the chance to... build sites in your own language (you get to actually translate the blocks, the toolbars, the menus etc.)
- Language module: it... empowers you (there, we did it again!) to determine specific languages (that your site will support) for your target visitors
Usability+Accessibility= A New Winner in the Drupal vs Wordpress Showdown
We didn't find it necessary to add customization to the above formula, for this is already THE feature (along with the related flexibility) that Drupal has become famous for among developers belonging to both teams (the Drupal enthusiasts and the Wordpress fans for life).
Now let's sum it up:
- Drupal 8 websites/apps can be accessed anywhere on the globe
- Drupal 8 websites/apps can be accessed on practically any type of device
OK, so we've cleared the accessibility issue out!
But what about usability, the ultimate goal that both Drupalers and Wordpress enthusiasts are craving for while their developers are striving to reach?
Let us check this ultimate goal off the list, as well:
Content Editors/Marketers Get More Power Than Ever
That's right, Drupal 8 is not just about easing the developers' work or about putting the user and the end user into the spotlight. It's also about empowering content marketers.
In this respect, here's how Drupal 8 will “lighten” up your work life, if you're a content marketer:
- the integrated WYSIWYG editor, easing content authoring
- the on-page editor
- better preview
- uploading images with drag and drop
- modules (more of them) for monitoring your SEO-oriented activity
- easy to integrate YOAST and Google Analytics
But What is in it for Drupal Website Developers?
Still, if Drupal 8 is focused on the end user more than all the previous Drupal versions and if it invests content marketers with so much power, it doesn't mean that... there's nothing in it for website builders, too.
We've kept “the best” for last, so to say...
So, if you're a Drupal website developer (or willing to become one), here's how Drupal 8's own visionary developers have decided to ease your work:
- Rest API's
- PHP7 and we all know that this is a huge step forward, turning Drupal 8 into one of the most dynamic content management platforms out there
- You get to use it as a data source (you get to post data from the front end and output content as XML or JSON
- Hypertext Application Language
- JavaScript Automated Testing
- Customization is still... king with Drupal 8, too: you get to customize your admin tools, lists, views, determine the way your data gets displayed (and all that without having to write code)
- More fields for you to better structure your content
Now that Drupal 8 empowers you with accessibility, usability, mobile-first mentality and global-ready vision, all you need to bring in to the table is... your own share of innovation, creativity and... boldness and you can go ahead and craft the digital experiences of the future!
