The New Drupal 11: Starshot, Key Updates to Drupal Core, and What They Mean for You

Need to Know 

• Released in August 2024, Drupal 11 introduces a host of improvements, including enhanced performance, stronger security protocols, and a variety of new features and upgrades to the user experience.
• The most recent version of Drupal aims to streamline workflows to make building and managing websites more efficient and secure.
• Learn more about what’s changed in Drupal 11, plus get expert recommendations for your upgrade and a timeline of its key updates below. 

Drupal 11 was officially released in August 2024, bringing benefits like improved performance, better security, and a range of new features to enhance the user experience. With these updates, users can expect faster, more scalable websites, and tools that streamline both content creation and management. Keep reading to learn more about Drupal’s latest update, and what it means for users like you.

What’s new in Drupal 11?

In Drupal 11, several updates have been made to streamline site management and improve security while maintaining the platform’s core functionality:

Drupal Starshot is the initiative that was launched at DrupalCon 2024 that aims to create a simple out-of-the-box experience for those without Drupal expertise.

The new Drupal CMS, which is the product of the Starshot initiative, will be released at the end of 2024.

Drupal CMS will be based on the strong foundation of Drupal core, relying on Project Browser and Recipes to give site-builders who aren’t familiar with Drupal the tools to make a new Drupal site, and extend it with Recipes, all within their browser.

A key update is the platform’s ability to make automatic security updates, which help reduce the total cost of ownership by enhancing site security.

The update also introduces a new navigation module with a redesigned vertical sidebar menu for simplified navigation and usability.

Recipes are a new experimental feature that allows site builders to bundle and apply new site functionalities. You can create custom Recipes, or apply those created by others to your site.  

Workspaces allow users to create and manage multiple environments, making all changes to configuration and content in one workspace and publishing them simultaneously.

The New Access Policy API gives users more options when assigning permissions, giving administrators better control over site access.

Several features are being deprecated to eliminate unnecessary or outdated code, including Actions UI, Activity Tracker, Book, Forum, Statistics, and Tour.

​​Layout builders have been decoupled, giving users more site-building flexibility and freedom. Drupal Gutenberg and JSON data and schemas will help you make the most easy-to-use enterprise CMS.

As an open-source project, Drupal collaborators must currently use a technical set of tools to contribute to Drupal, which can make the process cumbersome and discourage contributors who are not familiar with them.

The platform’s GitLab Acceleration Initiative is a key priority to empower community members with streamlined tools to more easily share their contributions.

The Drupal team will continue working on the GitLab Initiative to bring better collaboration and development tools to contributors.

The best of the existing Drupal API clients have been combined into a base set of utilities to address common use cases with little configuration.

The base API client package contains all common elements shared by different API implementations, and can be extended to support the needs of a diverse JavaScript ecosystem and provide defaults for tasks like data fetching and caching that can be easily overridden.

The JSON:API client package will be the primary client implementation, and is just one way to extend the base API client.

Both packages will be universal and framework-agnostic so they can be used with any JavaScript framework, server or client-side rendered.

When will I need to switch to Drupal 11?

When Drupal 11 was first announced, its estimated release date could have been as late as December 2024. However, the Drupal team decided to release this version early to allow for an easier transition for users, with overlapping support for both Drupal 10 and 11.

In the past, dependencies made it so that new versions were integral to Drupal’s continued functionality, but in this case, the team chose an early release to allow for improved stability and to give users more time to make the transition.

Drupal 10 will reach end-of-life in mid-to-late 2026, so users have time to plan their transition to Drupal 11 accordingly.

Drupal will release version 10.4 in December 2024, which will be designed for implementation before Drupal 11 to simplify the transition.

Here’s a more detailed timeline for Drupal’s upcoming releases:

-The 11.1.0 beta 1 release will happen in November 2024, with the official 11.1.0 release in December.

-The current version of Drupal, Drupal 10, will be upgraded to 10.4 in December 2024.  

-Security support for Drupal 10.2 will end in December 2024.

How should my team plan to transition to Drupal 11?

If you are already on Drupal 10, all you need to do is follow the upgrade path. When version 10.4 is released in December 2024, it will set the stage for you to upgrade anytime. Drupal’s Long Term Support (LTS) release will help with the transition, with patches that are meant to facilitate changes without disruption.

If you are on Drupal 9 or earlier, consider a build directly on Drupal 11. Upgrading is especially crucial for Drupal 7 users, as end-of-life will be January 5, 2025, and support will not be extended again.

Still trying to figure out the right path forward? A diagnostic and discovery can help you make the right decision for your team. Working with a reputable agency like Northern can help you analyze your findings and make a decision. Our experts are here to help you with any or all of the steps in the process, from planning an in-depth upgrade plan, to working directly with your team to implement your Drupal upgrade.

Whatever option you choose, we recommend keeping your Drupal CMS as up-to-date as possible to take advantage of the platform’s new features and functionalities.

With 2025 around the corner, now is the perfect time to start planning for your upgrade to avoid a last-minute rush in 2026.

Contact our team today to discuss how our experts can support your transition, in conjunction with your other business goals.