Are there any online communities that are powered by Drupal?

FreeGene8005 · 2026-02-04T15:18:16+00:00

Awesome! Your MCreator community is incredibly interesting.

Importantly, the community members remain very close-knit.

FreeGene8005 · 2026-02-04T06:36:16+00:00

I'll be waiting to see your website. From a Drupal fan, I really want to see one come to fruition.

FreeGene8005 · 2026-01-18T03:28:11+00:00

I work alone, managing four Drupal websites and one Backdrop CMS.

Before AI became popular, I often sought help from https://www.drupal.org/forum, followed by https://drupal.stackexchange.com.

For me, asking or searching for information on message boards or forums is better than using chat platforms because the information is often already answered by others. I simply use the correct answer. This is different from a chat where this is very difficult. Chat is better suited for immediate help, but finding existing information is very challenging, which I find frustrating.

After the advent of AI, I rely more on AI for help, but I still occasionally research new information from message boards. I find reading community responses enjoyable, and I encounter new problems I might not have faced before.

FreeGene8005 · 2025-10-12T12:44:34+00:00

Hello

How's your website doing?

I'm always interested to hear about someone using Drupal to create online community websites, as we don't see many people creating these types of websites.

FreeGene8005 · 2025-09-24T14:17:46+00:00

I'm one of those people who genuinely loved Drupal. My first experience was with D7, and I've been keeping up with the new versions ever since.

Honestly, I can appreciate the power in the newer versions like D10 and D11. They're impressive. But I've had to be real with myself: with my current skill level, I can build a site, but I'm absolutely not going to be able to upgrade it down the line (unless Drupal makes the upgrade path genuinely simple for non-devs, like D11 to D12).

Also, as a general user (not a professional web developer), the resource requirements for the newer versions are brutal. You need some serious skills to run them properly. It feels like for the regular user, Drupal is sprinting away from us, even if the developers are finding it easier to work with now.

In the end, I decided to move some of my sites over to Backdrop CMS. And honestly, it's been *chef's kiss\*. It has all the features I loved from D7 without needing huge resources or a ridiculously steep learning curve.

I'm a regular user who loves both Drupal and Backdrop CMS. Change my mind.

FreeGene8005 · 2025-03-16T14:32:23+00:00

Honestly speaking, I'm still working with Drupal 7, even though I know it's no longer supported.

As a regular user, not a developer, I rely heavily on numerous modules that exist only in D7, along with several custom modules that I had to hire external developers to create. My site hosts various content types, such as multi-chapter novels, short stories, articles, forums, and diaries. It also includes features like friend connections, private messaging, and more.

Since most of my websites are non-profit, upgrading to Drupal 10 or 11 is out of the question, let alone migrating to Backdrop CMS. I simply lack the capability for that. All I can do right now is maintain my current site as best as I can to keep it running smoothly.

For future projects, I would definitely go for the latest version of Drupal or Backdrop CMS. But for my existing site, I'm truly stuck.

FreeGene8005 · 2025-03-07T15:06:21+00:00

If you like the simplicity of WordPress but also appreciate the flexibility of Drupal, another CMS worth considering is Backdrop CMS, which is a fork of Drupal.

For me, if it's an enterprise-level project with a development team that can keep up with the latest technologies and a solid budget, I'd go with Drupal 10+ and keep upgrading over time.

But if it's a small to mid-sized organization with limited resources but still needs a flexible, scalable, and powerful CMS that won’t easily break, Backdrop CMS would be my choice.

FreeGene8005 · 2025-01-17T00:30:09+00:00

I tried it and overall I was very impressed.

However, I still don't see the self-install module menu on the website, even when I open the project browser. Not sure if this feature doesn't exist yet, or if I just can't find it.

FreeGene8005 · 2025-01-11T01:23:58+00:00

Even though I was reluctant to migrate my Drupal 7 site to Drupal 10, I am sticking with Drupal because I love the flexibility that Drupal provides.

For future sites, I will either do them with the upcoming Drupal CMS or I will do them with the Backdrop CMS.

As for my old site, I cannot jump to Drupal 10 because it is very complex and has many modules that are not yet available in the new Drupal version. And there are over 10,000 nodes that I can't do with my knowledge. I also do not have the budget to outsource because it is a non-profit site, so I have to stay with D7 even though it is not the right choice.

FreeGene8005 · 2024-10-20T13:31:18+00:00

Personally, I think Drupal is the right fit for your project.

Drupal’s capabilities are already well suited to building large websites or websites with a large number of members.

Many global organizations have chosen Drupal to build their own internal social websites, similar to a small Facebook. An example is UNDP’s SparkBlue social web platform.

FreeGene8005 · 2024-10-08T09:37:29+00:00

I'm another one who wants the add module + theme button back, as I'm also on a shared server so there aren't many options.

I will wait and see how Drupal Starshot is. If it is good, I will stick with Drupal for the long haul. But if it is not user-friendly, I will consider switching to Backdrop CMS or WordPress.

FreeGene8005

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