Feature

Backdrop CMS is a fork of the Drupal project. Although Backdrop has different name, the 1.0 version is very similar to Drupal 7. Backdrop 1.0 provides an upgrade path from Drupal 7, and most modules or themes can be quickly ported to work on Backdrop.

Backdrop is focused on the needs of the small- to medium-sized businesses, non-profits, and those who may not be able to afford the jump from Drupal 7 to Drupal 8. Backdrop values backwards compatibility, and recognizes that the easier it is for developers to get things working, the less it will cost to build, maintain, and update comprehensive websites and web applications. By iterating code in incremental steps, innovation can happen more quickly in the areas that are most important.

The initial version of Backdrop provides major improvements over Drupal 7, including configuration management, a powerful new Layout system, and Views built-in.

What's Different From Drupal 7?

Backdrop CMS is, simply put: Drupal 7 plus built-in Configuration Management, Panels, and Views.

Solving the Deployment Dilemma

Database-driven systems have long suffered from the deployment dilemma: Once a site is live, how do you develop and deploy a new feature?

Sometimes there is only one copy of a site – the live site – and all development must be done on this live environment. But any mistakes made during the development of the new feature will be immediately experienced by visitors to the site.

It’s wiser to also have a separate development environment, which allows for creation of the new feature without putting the live site at risk. But what happens when that new feature has been completed, and needs to be deployed?

We already have a few great tools for solving this problem. When it comes to the code needed for the new feature we have great version control systems like Git. Commit all your work, merge if necessary, push when you’re happy, and then just pull from the live environment (and maybe clear some caches).