Drupal 8 is an open source program that helps you, the end user, easily create a rich and functional website. Because the internet is often the first place that someone is introduced to your business, your website has to be clean, interesting, fast, and easy to use. Drupal 8 allows us to create stunning websites, even the less tech-savvy among us. Drupal 8 features many items that will help produce the site you need. Here are the five features that make Drupal 8 the King.
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Advanced and Enhanced CMI
One of Drupal 8’s features is that of the new CMI (computer managed instruction) system. This was not a part Drupal 7 and it is a game changer. The CMI is built into the core program which allows it to separate your content from your configuration, whereas before each module had to work individually. CMI is used to consistently store (as well as export and import) data. It will help you streamline your work, which will save you time and headaches.
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Increased Usability
Many of the new Drupal 8 features that are not included in this blog all boil down to one major change from previous versions: usability. So I admit it, I’m cheating a bit here because this #2 includes several features, but my reasoning is sound. Previous versions of Drupal were geared to those with a firm background in website building and coding. This limited the market greatly. Drupal 8’s features have been bundled to create a more robust and integrated program. Where before it would take a month or longer for a user to get used to Drupal, it is now in line with similar programs. The backend is sleeker and more user-friendly and you can create any size website you like, for small business or government department alike.
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TWIG for PHP Code and Themes
You, as the user, want themes to choose that you can then easily modify yourself. Drupal 7 used an engine to create PHP templates but, unless you had knowledge of PHP, you couldn’t make use of it. Drupal 8 features TWIG, which is a modern twist on the PHP template engine that makes it easy to learn and use without any prior knowledge of PHP. TWIG is also very fast with easy to read error messages, so you can fix issues simply.
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WYSIWYG Comes to Drupal 8
When you look for programs that create things like web pages or documents, you always want them to be WYSIWYG (“what you see is what you get”). Drupal 8 features this invaluable tool where before it was lacking. WYSIWYG is invaluable when designing a website. WYSIWYG allows you to see exactly what your page will look like before you publish it live and now it’s inside the core of Drupal 8. You can now even drag/drop instead of checking off boxes.
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Mobile Ready Out of the Box
We live in a mobile world and Drupal 8 features the ability to go mobile right away. Every theme included in Drupal 8 can be mobile in minutes. It’s developed to fit to any screen size. Plus you can modify from a mobile location or device. It’s called the “mobile-first approach”. Now you can do everything on the fly that before you could only do on a desktop or laptop.
More of a visual learner? We’ve created this infographic to truly get the point across about Drupal 8’s awesome features, and why you need to migrate to Drupal 8…now.
So, what are you waiting for? Move to the cutting edge and enjoy the power of Drupal.