Drupal is a content management system (CMS) that allows you to create and manage your website’s content. Drupal can be used as a traditional CMS, but can it be used as a headless CMS?
Yes, Drupal is a mature and fully ready headless CMS.
It has been used in production for years and has a robust feature set that makes it ideal for headless architectures. The Drupal community is large and active, so you can find help and support if you need it.
What is Drupal & How Does it Work?
Drupal is a content management system (CMS) that enables you to create a website or blog without having to code it from scratch.
It’s used by some of the world’s largest organizations, including the United Nations, Amnesty International, and The Economist. It’s also used by many small businesses and individual bloggers.
Drupal is free and open-source software released under the GNU General Public License. When you install it, you get a basic website with a few example pages and blog posts. You can add new content to these pages, or create new pages and blog posts of your own.
You can also install themes and modules to change the look of your site and add new features. themes are collections of files that change the way your site looks, while modules are files that add new functionality to your site.
There are thousands of both themes and modules available for Drupal, so you can really make your site look and work however you want.
Drupal is a great choice for building all sorts of websites, from simple blogs to complex corporate sites. It’s easy to use yet powerful enough to accommodate almost any need.
Benefits Of Using a Headless CMS
There are many benefits of using a headless CMS, such as:
1. Improved performance – When your front-end application is not tied to the back-end management of your content, you can improve the performance of your website or app by caching static assets on the server or CDN.
2. Better security – By decoupling the front-end and back-end, you can increase security by only exposing the API endpoints that are absolutely necessary.
3. Greater flexibility – A headless CMS gives you greater freedom to choose the technologies that you want to use on the front end without being constrained by what’s available on the back end.
4. Easier integration – Headless CMSs are often easier to integrate with third-party applications because they expose their data through APIs.
What Does Headless Drupal Mean?
Headless Drupal means using Drupal as a back-end content management system (CMS) and decoupling the front-end presentation layer. This allows for greater flexibility in how content is displayed on different devices and platforms.
Drupal has long been known for its flexibility and power as a CMS. However, its traditional approach to front-end development can be limiting, especially when trying to create modern web experiences that are responsive and take advantage of new technologies.
Headless Drupal allows you to break free from these limitations by decoupling the back-end CMS from the front-end presentation layer. This separation of concerns gives you much more control over how your content is displayed.
For example, you could use a headless Drupal setup to serve content to a mobile app, a voice assistant such as Amazon Alexa, or even an IoT device. You are no longer limited to displaying your content within a browser on a desktop computer. Of course, this increased flexibility comes at a cost.
Without the built-in templating system of Drupal, you will need to find another way to manage the display of your content on the front end. This can be done with existing tools and frameworks such as React or Angular, or with custom code specifically designed for your needs.
Overall, headless Drupal provides greater control over how your content is presented while still benefiting from all the powerful features of Drupal as a CMS.
How Do I Use Drupal Headless?
In a headless setup, Drupal is used solely as a back-end content management system, with the front end being handled by a separate application.
This can provide a number of advantages, including increased speed and performance, as well as a more streamlined workflow.
However, it is important to note that headless Drupal does require a bit more work to set up and maintain.
Here are five steps to get started with Drupal headless:
Step-1. Choose a decoupled approach:
The first step is to choose whether you want to use a decoupled or headless approach. With decoupled Drupal, the front-end and back-end are completely separated, while with headless Drupal, the back-end is used as an API for the front-end.
Step-2. Install Drupal:
Once you have decided on your approach, you will need to install Drupal. If you are using a decoupled approach, you will need to install both the back-end and front-end applications.
Step-3. Configure Drupal:
Next, you will need to configure Drupal for your specific needs. This includes setting up content types, fields, and taxonomies.
Step-4. Build the front-end:
If you are using a decoupled approach, the next step is to build the front-end application. This can be done using any number of programming languages and frameworks.
Step-5. Deploy and manage:
Finally, you will need to deploy and manage your Drupal headless setup. This includes ensuring that your server is properly configured and that your front-end and back-end applications are properly integrated.
Headless Drupal Example
Headless Drupal is a way to decouple your Drupal back-end from your front-end. This means that you can use any type of front-end technology you want, without being limited by what Drupal can do. For example, you could use React or Angular for your front end, and then use Drupal as a headless CMS.
This would give you the best of both worlds: the flexibility of a front-end framework and the power of Drupal’s content management features. There are many benefits to using headless Drupal.
First, it allows you to easily create complex single-page applications (SPAs).
Second, it makes it easy to integrate with other systems and third-party services.
Finally, it gives you more control over the look and feel of your site, since you’re not limited by Drupal’s theming system.
Best Headless CMS
Headless CMS is becoming increasingly popular as they allow for more flexibility and creativity when it comes to building websites and web applications.
A headless CMS is a content management system that does not render the front end of a website or web application. Instead, it provides an API that can be used by developers to build the front end.
This allows for a greater degree of customization and control over the look and feel of a website or web application.
Here are some of the best headless CMS options currently available:
Contentful
Contentful is a headless CMS that offers a flexible content model and APIs that make it easy to build compelling user experiences. It is also backed by a strong community of developers.
Prismic
Prismic is a headless CMS that offers an intuitive interface and powerful tools for managing content. It also has a robust API that makes it easy to integrate with your existing website or web application.
ButterCMS
ButterCMS is a headless CMS that offers an easy-to-use interface and powerful tools for building dynamic websites and web applications. It also has an extensive library of plugins and integrations.
Directus
Directus is a headless CMS that offers a user-friendly interface and powerful tools for managing content. It also has a robust API that makes it easy to integrate with your existing website or web application.
Forestry
Forestry is a headless CMS that offers an intuitive interface and powerful tools for managing static websites. It also has an extensive library of plugins and integrations.
Strapi
Strapi is a headless CMS that offers an intuitive interface and powerful tools for building dynamic websites and web applications. It also has a robust API that makes it easy to integrate with your existing website or web application.
Bottom Lines
Drupal is a headless CMS. This means that all of the business logic and presentation happen on the client side, often using JavaScript frameworks like React or Angular.
This makes it possible to build truly decoupled applications where the back end can be completely different from the front end. Headless Drupal allows you to use any content management system you want as your backend and combine it with any frontend technology you choose.
While this can be more difficult to set up, it offers a lot of flexibility and potential for innovation
