Navigating the top Drupal Development Trends of 2024

Drupal CMS is and has always been the industry’s hot favorite. 

Here’s why: 

• Businesses need adaptable websites, and Drupal can tailor sites effectively to brands’ identities and market preferences. 
• Businesses value cost-savings, and embracing open-source CMS solutions, like Drupal, align with their budgets.
• Businesses emphasize robust security and continuous support, both of which Drupal's dedicated developer community ensures.

Drupal’s dominance can further be linked to ‘enhancements and advancements’ that continue at full tilt. 

Like everything else across the digital landscape, Drupal is continuously evolving and pushing the frontiers of Drupal development. We examine the top 7 Drupal development trends in 2024, making waves in the industry and forging a new future of the web.

Let’s dig right in.

Drupal Development: Top 7 trends in 2024 that are making waves

It’s estimated that over 222,558 companies rely on Drupal for their web content management. Their confidence in the CMS is the result of Drupal’s smart evolution that makes web development even smarter. In 2024, the top Drupal Development trends include the following: 

1.  Headless Drupal
   
   Headless Drupal is a big game-changer in the field of Drupal web development because:
    
   • It separates the front end from the backend content management
   • It suits every framework, enabling programmers to design interfaces
   • It ensures fast loading, efficient operations, and convenient update process of the content without compromising the design

   With headless Drupal, the emphasis is placed on API integration. For this reason, third-party platforms can be a part of the hood much more naturally. In the year 2024, Headless Drupal will be a top Drupal Development Trends, providing impetus to businesses looking to achieve digital agility through flexible, future-ready web solutions.

2. Mobile-first design
   
   In today’s economy, having websites that are mobile-friendly is no longer a choice, but a way of life. The mobile-first approach by Drupal, as it gets more enhanced and advanced in 2024, ensures that a uniform user experience is maintained across different platforms and unlock a multitude of benefits. 
   
   Drupal-powered mobile-friendly websites have:
    
   • A higher search engine ranking, and so, they tend to generate more organic traffic
   • An easier-to-browse navigation and drive conversion rates
      
3. Deeper integration with artificial intelligence 
    

   Drupal with AI means a big change for Drupal development. The community behind CMS is relentlessly developing AI modules, helping Drupal web developers weave AI capabilities into websites and paving the way for more personalized and automated experiences. As far as the Drupal Machine Learning API module is concerned, it’s dedicated to training and developing the platform.

   In 2024, we expect the Drupal community to introduce new, high-performance modules and deeper enhancements to existing ones that will transform Drupal Development. As the core of Drupal, AI will make web development more user-centric and future-ready.
    

   
4. More able, stronger security features 
    

   The nature of cybercrime has changed. The attacks have become more intelligent and sophisticated. To stay ahead of notorious elements on the web, Drupal is constantly adding new security defenses and adding more muscle to the existing ones. 

   As we move forward into 2024, more security improvements - two-factor authentication and automated vulnerability scanning to name a few - led by Drupal are set to change the face of web development. Not only will these advancements safeguard websites but also ensure stability of user experience. 

5. Accessibility-first development 
    

   Drupal stresses on accessibility for all. In view of its vision, it continuously rolls out features and helps Drupal Web Developers build web solutions that can be accessed by all users, even those with disabilities. The CMS is lauded for expanding the scope of accessibility-led development with its every version.

   In the current year, we stand prepared for Drupal’s robust features that make web experiences even more inclusive. Drupal Developers will be placed well to build solutions for everyone beyond their physical and cognitive characteristics by leveraging: 

   • WCAG 2.x guidelines
   • Accessibility auditing tools
   • Industry-best practices
      
6. Progressive Web Apps (PWAs)
    

   PWAs are revolutionary in every way. For the uninitiated, these apps are built for the web but deliver mobile-like experiences. Coming together with Drupal, they are likely to open new, unexplored opportunities for Drupal Development.

   We foresee Drupal becoming the leading platform for PWA development in 2024. As more tailored features are introduced, Drupal web developers will ditch normal web solutions for more dynamic, user-centric PWAs, shaping better experiences for the modern-day world. Besides, PWAs will lead them to save more on costs, which is a major plus. 

   Drupal’s clout as a PWA development platform is going to get bigger, resulting in rich, hassle-free interactions in an ever-evolving web development landscape.

7. Automation in Drupal Development
    

   Drupal automation tools, like Drupal Drush and Console, are plain powerful. In 2024, we anticipate the realm of Drupal automation to get more efficient and effective, with code deployments, testing, and backups becoming more advanced. 

   We expect automation becoming a top Drupal Development Trend, bringing a step-change in code quality, reliability, and the speed of the overall web development process. With tools like Behat and GitLab CI/CD descending on the scene, we see developers build, fix, and change code quickly. Reliability and security, on the other hand, remains uncompromised.

Drupal Development Trends: A new dawn for web solutions in 2024

Drupal sits as the crown jewel in the CMS landscape, transforming the quintessential nature of web development, one trend at a time. It is always changing, always evolving. And, with every change, Drupal Development becomes more seamless, and user experiences turn more intuitive. 

2024 feels like a major ‘Drupal coming of age’ year. Drupal Developers are in for an exciting journey ahead, with revolutionary features at hand to build web solutions of the future.

With that being said, what's your favorite Drupal Development Trend?