Drupal 10 Compatibility with Emerging Tech

A powerful, open-source content management system that has been delighting users for several decades, Drupal, has captured audiences with its latest release of Drupal 10. With new features that allow better customizations and performance, Drupal 10 empowers its users to seamlessly curate and manage digital experiences that precisely cater to the specific user’s needs.

In this blog, we delve into Drupal 10’s new features along with its compatibility with emerging tools and technology like AI & ML, Progressive Web App, Cloud Services, Headless CMS and Mobile Applications.

1. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

1. Azure Cognitive Services API: Drupal 10 uses cloud-based services like REST APIs to build cognitive intelligence into web apps. With this, developers can integrate intelligent features such as video detection, facial, vision and speech recognition into their Drupal applications via available modules like:

• Face API Module: it integrates with Microsoft Face API  to provide the most advanced face algorithms for face detection and recognition. 
• Computer Vision API Module: it extracts information for categorizing visual data to help curate services.
• Text Analytics API: it provides advanced NLP that helps in keyphrase extraction, and language detection.

b. Chatbot API: The chatbot API module in Drupal 10 enables you to create  a common layer that feeds Drupal content to chatbots and PAs like Alexa, Dialog Flow, Google Home, etc. It benefits the user via intelligent chatbots interaction that is based on natural language processing (NLP) to support both advanced AI and ML and the developer by defying the need to create separate custom codes that handle requests and responses for every chatbot/ personal assistant platform protocol.

2. Progressive Web App

The Drupal PWA module in Drupal 10 seamlessly implements PWA features into Drupal websites. By creating a standard set-up, Javascript developers can write service worker scripts to further customize PWA’s app-like behavior. It also creates a configurable file to make the website installable on mobile devices. As one of its main advantages, the module auto-prompts an “add to home screen” when a visitor returns to a website. Its additional features include:

• The “service worker” feature to load pages faster, cache, and work offline
• Create a configurable manifest.json file with specific metadata to allow the "add to home screen" prompt in browsers
• Enable the configuration of manifest from Drupal AI by admins
• Modifications to the manifest via other modules on the Drupal website

3. Headless CMS

An increasing number of teams are moving to a decoupled architecture to create unique digital experiences across a range of channels. Since, Drupal 10, unlike traditional CMS, is API-first and is based on composable architecture, it becomes an indispensable tool for building digital experiences. 

Using Drupal as a headless CMS gives developers these additional benefits:

• An API-first approach focuses on utilizing APIs for data consumption instead of building an entire tech stack for data consumption.
• A single source of truth, like a central CMS hub that syndicates content via the “create once, publish everywhere” (COPE) feature across multiple channels, thus eliminating confusion over multiple documents and versions.
• A development process that is streamlined and independent for both front and back-end teams
• Easy resourcing that allows developers to communicate with a headless Drupal CMS for building applications
• The liberty to design front-end experiences that best meet users’ needs and expectations.

4. Cloud Services

Drupal modules not only support public clouds like AWS but also private cloud architectures like Kubernetes (K8s), VMware, OpenStack and Terraform Cloud. Modularized by Drupal architecture, the modern CMS offers cloud management functionalities like cloud governance and cost-aware features via cloud orchestration.

5. Mobile Applications

With its extensive module ecosystem, Drupal 10 provides several features that can power mobile based solutions including:

• Responsive Theming: Drupal 10 supports responsive web design principles that ensure websites adapt to different screen sizes and resolutions. Responsive themes in Drupal 10 use CSS media queries and other techniques to adjust the layout, typography, and images for optimal viewing on mobile devices.
• Mobile-Friendly Administration: Drupal 10's administrative interface, Drupal Admin UI, is designed to be mobile-friendly that manages websites, creates and edits content, and performs administrative tasks using mobile devices.
• Mobile-First Approach: An approach first introduced by Luke Wroblewski, this outlook displays web pages on different devices regardless of their distinct sizes. Drupal 10 utilizes a mobile-first approach to deliver excellent performance and usability on smaller screens.
• Responsive Images: Drupal 10 provides built-in support for responsive images. You can upload multiple versions of an image at different sizes and resolutions, and Drupal will automatically serve the appropriate image based on the device's screen size. This helps optimize image loading and improves the overall performance of your mobile site.
• Mobile App Integration: Via dedicated mobile apps, Drupal 10 can integrate with various mobile app frameworks and technologies. By using modules like DrupalGap or PhoneGap, Drupal backend can be leveraged to power the content and data for mobile apps. 
• Performance Optimization: Mobile users often have slower network connections and limited data plans. Drupal 10 offers several performance optimization features, such as caching, image compression, and minification of CSS and JavaScript files. These optimizations help reduce page load times, improving the user experience on mobile devices.

Conclusion

If you are a on a older version of Drupal like Drupal 7, Drupal 8 or Drupal 9, you should  migrate to Drupal 10 that features higher performance ability, increased flexibility and more efficient administration, along with:

• Automatic updates                                                                                                 
• Support for PHP 8, Composer 2, Symfony 6 and CKEditor 5
• New default UI theme                                             
• Detached menus

And if you are on the lookout for an efficient DXP which is compatible with emerging technologies, Drupal 10 should be your choice. Srijan’s expertise gives your business a cutting edge - right from the stage of consultation to implementation! 

Don’t think twice about your Drupal maintenance, migration and upgrading needs. Talk to our experts about Drupal solutions at Srijan.