Over the past few weeks, the Marketplace Working Group and volunteers have been busy laying the foundations for the months ahead. As a reminder, our goal is to determine whether a Drupal Site Template Marketplace can be designed in a way that is trusted, inclusive, sustainable, and viable—and to reach a go/no-go recommendation before DrupalCon Vienna.
From Idea to Critical Assumptions
Over the past few weeks, the Marketplace Working Group has been focused on a key early step: identifying the assumptions that must be true for a Drupal Site Template Marketplace to succeed.
Rather than moving directly into planning and building, we are working transparently with the community to surface and stress-test our most critical assumptions before making any final decisions.
In this update, we’ll share where we are now—and where we still need your help to validate what matters most.
Why Focus on Critical Assumptions?
The Marketplace is an exciting idea, but it brings with it real risks. Some assumptions, if wrong, could seriously harm Drupal’s ecosystem, community trust, or financial health. We’ve identified the early critical assumptions—those with:

High impact if we’re wrong, and
High uncertainty based on what we know today.

Rather than ignoring or minimizing these risks, we are bringing them forward, openly and early, so the community can engage with them directly.
Critical Assumptions Emerging So Far
From the emerging community feedback (Survey #1: Shaping the Drupal Marketplace: Contributor Perspectives, slack prompts, and deep discussion in this thread), several high-risk assumptions have emerged:
1. There will be enough demand for site templates to sustain a marketplace.
If we build it, will they come? And will they pay?”
Without real demand, the Marketplace won’t achieve its goals—and may strain community resources without impact.

How we’ll validate: Ongoing surveys to Drupal users and agencies; testing via Drupal CMS starter templates; scenario-based surveys during RTCs.
2. High-quality templates will be created and maintained.
“We need to avoid a freemium wasteland of abandoned templates.”
Success depends on attracting contributors with design and UX skills—and ensuring long-term maintenance.

How we’ll validate: Contributor surveys about incentives, motivations, and barriers; prototype pilot tests; deeper exploration in RTC sessions.
3. The operational complexity of running a marketplace is manageable.
The DA can’t afford to build and maintain a marketplace that requires millions to operate."
The Marketplace must be financially and operationally sustainable from day one.

How we’ll validate: Modeling operational costs; evaluating automation options; benchmarking against other marketplaces.
4. A commercial element can be introduced without undermining open source values.
Commercialization must not erode what makes Drupal different.”
If done poorly, a commercial marketplace could fragment the ecosystem, damage trust, and alienate contributors.

How we’ll validate: Community consultation on licensing models; exploring models for attribution, revenue sharing, and code stewardship.
5. Governance structures can maintain trust and quality at scale.
If trust fails, the marketplace fails.”
The Marketplace must earn and maintain user and contributor trust through clear standards, quality controls, and transparent processes.

How we’ll validate: Testing community expectations through surveys; prototyping governance models; pilot feedback loops.
Important Tensions Emerging
Through open discussion, several important tensions have also surfaced:

Open Source vs. Monetization:
Balancing the spirit of FOSS with the need for financial sustainability.
Support Expectations:
Clarifying who provides support for templates—and setting fair boundaries.
Future Risks:
Avoiding the slippery slope toward undermining Drupal collaborative ecosystem model or a poor signal-to-noise ratio from low quality or unsupported templates.

We recognize that these are not easily solved with a single conversation. They will require ongoing community engagement, transparency, and iteration.
Where We Are Now
Here’s what’s been accomplished so far:

Roadmap finalized for how we'll reach a go/no-go decision.
Volunteer team onboarded, and we're beginning weekly coordination around community engagement.
Community framing completed, based on early signals from surveys, Slack prompts, and discussions.
Critical assumptions identified through our Week 2 Assumption Slam.

What’s Next
Over the coming weeks, we’re moving systematically through key questions:

Contribution Value: What would make it worthwhile for someone to contribute a template?
Governance & Trust: What signals would make users feel confident using a marketplace template?
Ecosystem Fit: How can the marketplace align with, not compete against, existing agency and contributor models?
Contributor Experience: What support is needed to help contributors succeed?

Each week, we’ll continue to validate assumptions, evolve our thinking, and ensure that what we’re building—if we build it—is something the community truly wants and can stand behind.
Thank you to everyone who has already shared feedback, challenged assumptions, and raised important questions. Your voices are helping shape this work.
Stay tuned—and stay involved.
How You Can Get Involved

Respond to weekly Slack prompts.
This week: What would make it worthwhile for you to contribute a template?
Join our upcoming Real-Time Collaboration (RTC) session
First session: 1 May 2025 at 15:30  UTC about Co-creating Value and Incentives
Share your perspective on the surveys when they open.
How could a Drupal Site Template Marketplace Help You? for Agencies and potential End Users of templates.
Bring forward your own assumptions and risks we may have missed.

In the DrupalCon Atlanta Driesnote and follow-up blog post, Dries laid out a bold vision:
Site Templates combine Drupal recipes, a theme, design elements, and default content to give users a fully functional website right from the start."

He also posed a big question to the community: Should we build a Marketplace for these templates—and if so, how?
In just the first couple weeks of conversation, hundreds of community members have weighed in across Slack, blog comments, and BoFs. From enthusiastic endorsements to thoughtful concerns, the input is rich, complex, and deeply-rooted in the spirit of Drupal.
This post captures what we’re hearing so far.
The Opportunity
Many in the community agree: the lack of easily accessible, visually appealing starting points is one of Drupal’s largest barriers to adoption. A Site Template Marketplace could:

Lower the barrier to entry for site builders and small organizations
Give developers a fast, “wow-worthy” way to spin up sites in hours, not weeks
Highlight the full potential of Drupal CMS + Experience Builder
Generate new opportunities for agencies, makers, and module maintainers
Strengthen the Drupal Association’s sustainability with shared revenue

As one commenter put it:
Every sold theme means a new Drupal site, likely a happy user... and the community gets something back."

What Would Make the Marketplace Useful?
In our first weekly Slack Prompt (#1), we heard:

Fast paths to beautiful results: Templates you can install, customize, and deploy in days—not weeks.
Tiers of complexity: Lightweight starter kits, robust enterprise templates, and everything in between.
Paths for free and commercial use: A mix of free, contributed templates and paid offerings with premium support or assets.
Rewards for collaboration: Incentives that elevate templates built by multiple contributors or agencies working together.
SaaS-style options: Templates bundled with hosting, updates, or paid support for non-technical audiences.

I wanna grab something from the marketplace, put it together in 2–3 days max, and blow people’s minds." —Community member

The Questions We're Hearing Most
Across Slack and the blog post, several themes of inquiry and caution have emerged:
1. Legal Clarity & Licensing

What parts of a Site Template can be sold under Drupal’s GPL license?
Will template buyers be able to redistribute what they purchase?
Can we enable commercial distribution while staying true to open source values?

Dries has addressed this nuance, noting that:
Assets like images, fonts, and demo content are not code and are not derived from Drupal. These elements… can use other licenses, including commercial ones."

2. Quality, Curation, and Trust

How might we prevent a flood of low-quality or AI-generated templates?
What might the minimum standards be for a “Marketplace-worthy” template?
Will there be community reviews, security checks, and update requirements?

Many worry about the “freemium wasteland” effect—where flashy templates lack depth, break easily, or are quickly abandoned.
3. Revenue, Incentives, and Equity

How might we compensate module maintainers when their code is included in paid templates?
Should the marketplace allow non-fiat options like contribution credits?
How might we incentivize the initial wave of templates while avoiding a “race to the bottom” on pricing?

Seeing others earn money by building on that work without recognition can be disheartening... But when it happens on Drupal.org, we have an opportunity to do better." —Dries

4. Experience & Accessibility

Templates must support non-technical users: installable from the CMS UI, not just Composer.
The Marketplace should integrate with Project Browser and potentially with hosters.
Examples, walkthroughs, and support channels are key for adoption.

5. Governance & Structure

Where might the Marketplace live? Drupal.org? Drupal.com? A subdomain?
What rules, vetting, and governance structures might protect quality and community trust?
Should a rollout be phased—starting with free templates first?

Additional Ideas from the Community

Use contribution credits or sweat equity as alternative currency
Add a “Marketplace-ready” badge system for contributors
Offer lead generation or support links for template maintainers
Allow template variation/extension patterns for maintainability
Define the relationship between templates, themes, and recipes
Rethink terminology: “Site Templates” vs. “Experience Kits” or “Project Starters”

Drupal has always had functionality. What it’s lacked is themes—and that’s what makes users fall in love with a CMS."

What’s Next?
This is just the beginning. Over the next few months, the Marketplace Working Group will continue to:

Collect input via weekly Slack prompts, community surveys, and live feedback sessions
Map feedback to the F-V-U-D-E model (Feasibility, Viability, Usability, Desirability, Ethics)
Explore different models for governance, monetization, and sustainability
Share out summaries like this one every few weeks to keep the community involved

We’re on track to make a go/no-go decision in Q3 2025, and your participation is essential in shaping that outcome.
How Can You Get Involved?
There are many ways to plug in and volunteer—whether you have 5 minutes or a few hours a week:

Share your thoughts - Reply to the weekly Slack prompts in #drupal-cms-marketplace

What would make the Drupal Marketplace useful to you?
What might prevent you from using or contributing to the Marketplace?




Take a survey - Survey #1: Shaping the Drupal Marketplace: Contributor Perspectives targeted at Agencies, Drupal Contributors and Drupal Certified Partners


Join a real-time session - Help shape decisions in live 50-min community calls
Become a volunteer - this work is open to all community members—no special technical background required. Many roles are great fits for folks who enjoy facilitation, organizing, writing, or user-centered thinking.
Spread the word - Invite others to share feedback or join a session

Join us THURSDAY, April 24 at 1pm ET / 10am PT, for our call to chat about all things Drupal and nonprofits. (Convert to your local time zone.)
We don't have anything specific on the agenda this month, so we'll have plenty of time to discuss anything that's on our minds at the intersection of Drupal and nonprofits. Got something specific you want to talk about? Feel free to share ahead of time in our collaborative Google doc: https://nten.org/drupal/notes!
All nonprofit Drupal devs and users, regardless of experience level, are always welcome on this call.
This free call is sponsored by NTEN.org and open to everyone. 
Please note that, since we postponed for a week due to NTC, the Zoom link for this month is different. Please use the following link for April's call:


Join the call: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81168469697?pwd=7UI5ZBjeDJQuicIq61et1TmMu2pDqb.1


Meeting ID: 811 6846 9697
Passcode: 284106



Follow along on Google Docs: https://nten.org/drupal/notes

View notes of previous months' calls.

With the excitement surrounding Drupal CMS, many in the community are asking: what’s happening with Drupal core? We’re thrilled to share some great updates.

Updated Drupal core strategy in the works
The Drupal core team has been hard at work developing an updated strategy to guide the future of core. While the Drupal core strategy document is still a work in progress, we’re excited about the direction it's taking — and we want your input! Community feedback is not only welcome, it's essential. Now is a great time to help shape the next chapter of Drupal core.
Introducing the Drupal Core Leadership Team
As part of these discussions, we’ve taken a fresh look at how we refer to the people stewarding core. The term "Core committers" focused on the end of the process some of us do, and we recognized that it doesn’t capture the full scope of leadership across the team — especially those whose impact isn’t reflected in code commits.
To better represent the diverse responsibilities and collaborative nature of this work, we’re introducing a new name: the Drupal Core Leadership Team.
Expanding team facilitators
Griffyn Heels (griffynh) based in Australia and working with PreviousNext, has been doing an outstanding job facilitating meetings in the Bug Smash and Experience Builder initiatives. We reached out if he would be interested to help us in the core leadership team too. We are glad that he accepted, so Griffyn joins the team as a non-committer member, as a provisional Team Facilitator.
Two Drupal 7 committers join the modern Drupal crew
As Drupal 7 reached its end of life earlier this year, we want to take a moment to celebrate the incredible work of the core committers who kept it going strong for so long. Rather than stepping back, two of them accepted our invitation to continue — now as part of the modern Drupal core team.
Please join us in welcoming Juraj Nemec (poker10) from ActivIT in Slovakia and Drew Webber (mcdruid) from Acquia in the UK. Both are joining as General Committers, a new role that focuses on contribution and collaboration without specific leadership responsibilities. We’re excited to have their deep experience and steady hands on board.
Strengthening frontend leadership with a focus on components
With Drupal core’s renewed emphasis on frontend components and display building, we’re reinforcing our leadership in this area. Pierre Dureau (pdureau), owner of Beyris in France, has been contributing thoughtful, high-quality work in this space with UI Suite for years. His attention to detail and focus on flexible solutions are exactly what the team needed.
We’re excited to welcome Pierre as a provisional Frontend Framework Manager, bringing more focus and faster momentum to frontend improvements in core.

DrupalCon Atlanta 2025 brought the spirit of open source to life with vibrant energy, bold ideas, and community connections that stretched across the globe. The event made an unforgettable mark on the Drupal community — from the bustling exhibit hall to the heartfelt hallway conversations, from first-time contributors to long-time collaborators.
Held in the heart of downtown Atlanta, the conference welcomed attendees from around the world for four days of learning, collaboration, and celebration. It was a reminder of what makes Drupal so powerful: our people, our purpose, and our shared passion for creating a better web.
A Truly Global Gathering
This year’s conference drew participants from over 25 countries, reaffirming Drupal’s role as a global digital platform and community. The United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and India topped the list, but the impact spanned continents.

Who Attends DrupalCon
DrupalCon Atlanta attracted a wide variety of professionals from across industries, reflecting the broad applicability and flexibility of the Drupal platform.
From higher education and government to digital agencies and healthcare, Drupal continues to power complex web experiences in some of the most demanding and innovative sectors. 
This diversity not only fuels valuable cross-sector knowledge-sharing but also demonstrates Drupal’s critical role across public and private digital ecosystems.

Grassroots Power: Local Camps Take the Stage
More than 30 local Drupal camps and meetups were represented at the conference — a testament to the grassroots power of the community. Attendees proudly wore camp stickers, staffed community booths, and gathered to discuss regional challenges and opportunities.
To support local groups, we launched a new ticket-sharing initiative: 1 complimentary ticket for every 5th sold through participating organizations. As a result, 31 Drupal Camps received free tickets, expanding access and rewarding the dedication of our grassroots leaders.

First-Time Attendees & Event Stats
DrupalCon Atlanta welcomed 1,288 registered participants, with a 96% check-in rate — one of our strongest ever. Of those:

27% were attending their very first DrupalCon
41% (529 individuals) received complimentary tickets through speaking, volunteering, scholarship, sponsorship, or community contribution

A Seamless On-Site Experience
Hosting the event at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta provided an integrated, accessible experience for attendees. Sessions, social events, and accommodations were all under one roof, creating ease, comfort, and connection.
“Everything I needed was right there — it made attending so much easier.”
“It felt like the whole community was in one place. Loved that.”
What We Heard — and What We’re Doing With It
Survey feedback from attendees, speakers, and sponsors is being carefully reviewed as we begin shaping DrupalCon Chicago 2026. You told us what worked — and what we can improve — and we’re listening.
Key themes that will shape future events include:
- Even more dynamic and diverse session formats
- Streamlined navigation and event layout
- Focus on wellness, accessibility, and inclusive experiences
- Continuing to strengthen the “hallway track” and contribution culture
A Heartfelt Thank You to the Steering Committee
The success of DrupalCon Atlanta 2025 would not have been possible without the dedication and vision of the North American Steering Committee. This volunteer-led group helped shape the event’s content, community outreach, and overall experience. Committee members collaborated across key areas—local engagement, DEIB, contribution advocacy, marketing, and speaker content—to ensure an inclusive and impactful conference.
We are deeply grateful for their time, leadership, and creativity:

Bree Benesh – Speaker Review / Content
Fredric Mitchell – Entry Level Representative / New User
Jasmyne Epps – Local Ambassadors / Social Engagement
Mike Anello – Contribution Advocacy
Nikki Flores – Community Advocate / DEIB
Rosie Gladden – Communications / Marketing
Stephen Mustgrave – Core Conversations

Their efforts helped bring the Drupal community together in meaningful and memorable ways. Thank you for helping make DrupalCon Atlanta such a success!
The Power of Sponsor Support
DrupalCon Atlanta was made possible by the generous support of our sponsors, who invested not just in the event, but in the long-term health and success of the Drupal project.

Presenting Sponsors (Core 1): 2
Champion Sponsors (Core 2): 5
Advocate Sponsors (Core 3): 12
Exhibitor Sponsors (Core 4): 27
Village Sponsors: 6
Community Booths: 3
Media & Booth Add-ons: 8
Meeting Rooms (Premium + Standard): 5
Summit Sponsors: 9
Dinner & Special Event Sponsors: 9
Contribution Sponsors: 2
Other Program Sponsors: 9

Total Sponsorships: 97
Their support made this experience possible — from coffee breaks and contribution mentoring to summits and stage time. Thank you again to our DrupalCon Atlanta Sponsors!
Looking Ahead
DrupalCon Atlanta was more than a conference — it was a homecoming for some, a first step for others, and a milestone for us all. The connections forged, the ideas sparked, and the paths paved here will ripple out through projects and communities around the world.
We’re already looking ahead to the next stops on our journey

DrupalCon Vienna – 14–17 October 2025
DrupalCon Nara – 17–19 November 2025
DrupalCon Chicago – 23–26 March 2026

You can learn more about all upcoming events at https://events.drupal.org/ 
Until then — thank you to everyone who joined us in Atlanta. Let’s carry this momentum forward, together.

Following the recent announcement made in the Driesnote at DrupalCon Atlanta, we are glad to share with you that we are kicking off the research process for the Marketplace. And, as per usual, we need your help!
As we are starting to work actively on framing the idea of the Marketplace, we want to hear the thoughts of our partners. Hence, this Monday we sent out a survey to DCPs and contributing partners in order to gather their thoughts on the matter.
Meanwhile we are also looking for individual contributors. So if you feel courageous and excited about this new initiative, please, check out our “Join the Marketplace Volunteer Team!” form and become a part of the crew - we are thrilled to have you on board!

Hello fellow Drupalers,
In case you missed the news, the 2025 Global Drupal Developer Survey is out!
The Global Drupal Developer Survey helps Drupal contributors, service providers, tool developers, and the Drupal Association understand the unique experiences of Drupal developers all over the world.
The survey takes less than 10 minutes to complete. Every question is optional. The results are shared publicly under a creative commons licence after the survey closes (except for any personal data collected).
This year the survey closes at 23:59 April 20 UTC ad the results will be available in May.
So please, take a moment of your time and fill it in - we are truly looking forward to hear your thoughts!

Drupal 11.2 alpha phase begins May 7
In preparation for the minor release, Drupal 11.2.x will enter the alpha phase the week of May 7, 2025. Core developers should plan to complete changes that are only allowed in minor releases prior to the alpha release.
The 11.2.0-alpha1 deadline for most core patches is May 7, 2025.
The 10.6.x release branch of core will be created for the next maintenance minor release.


Developers and site owners can begin testing the alpha after its release.


The 11.2.x release branch of core will be created before the alpha is tagged. Future feature and API additions will continue to be targeted against the main development branch, 11.x.


After 11.2.x is branched but before 11.2.0-alpha1 is tagged, alpha experimental modules will be removed from the 11.2.x codebase. Their development will continue in 11.x only.


Following the release of Drupal 11.2 and 10.5, only security issues will be fixed in Drupal 11.1 and 10.4. Additionally, Drupal 11.0 and 10.3 will become end-of-life (EOL).


During the alpha phase, core issues will be committed according to the following policy:

Most issues that are allowed for patch releases will be committed to 11.2.x and 10.5.x. Such issues may also be committed to 11.1.x and 10.4.x until the final normal bugfix releases of 11.1 and 10.4 on June 4, 2025.
Most issues that are only allowed in minor releases will be committed to 11.x only. (Such issues may be released in 11.3 or another future minor.). A few strategic issues may be backported to 11.2.x, but only at committer discretion after the issue is fixed in 11.x and before the beta deadline. For these issues, leave them set to 11.x unless you are a committer.
Most issues that are allowed in maintenance minor releases will be committed to 11.x and 10.6.x only. A few strategic issues may be backported to 11.2.x and 10.5.x, but only at committer discretion and before the beta deadline. For these issues, leave them set to 11.x unless you are a committer.



Roughly two weeks after the alpha release, the first beta release will be created. All the restrictions of the alpha release apply to beta releases as well. The release of the first beta is a firm deadline for all feature and API additions. Once the beta commit freeze begins, issues in the Reviewed & Tested by the Community (RTBC) queue will be committed to the next minor release only.
The release candidate phase will begin the week of June 2.
Security support of Drupal 10 and 11



Drupal 10.3.x and 11.0.x
Security releases will be provided until June 18, 2025.


Drupal 10.4.x and 11.1.x
Security releases will be provided until December 10, 2025.



See the Drupal core release process overview, the Drupal core release schedule, allowed changes during the Drupal 10 and 11 release cycles, and Drupal 10 and 11 backwards compatibility and internal API policy for more information.