I’ve been wanting to write this opinion piece for a while. On August 14, Dries Buytaert, the founder of Drupal, announced that Drupal Starshot would officially be renamed Drupal CMS. Honestly, I think it’s a big mistake.
As Dries explains—although he doesn’t provide much information on the matter—the name change wasn’t made lightly. Several user groups were consulted about their preferences and they all seemed to prefer “Drupal CMS.” That’s fine; at least the decision is based on data, but I don’t think the final conclusion is right for many reasons.
First of all, the Starshot brand was something new, vibrant, and had its own interesting narrative. I think it perfectly reflected the product’s rebirth and intentions. In a way, it was a new beginning, marking a fresh relationship with a different audience—content creators, marketing professionals, and other non-developer profiles—whom it seemed to connect with through a big brand reset, finally offering a product that aligned with their desires and aspirations.
But all of that has now been replaced by Drupal CMS—a clear, concise name that’s SEO-friendly but also very boring and somewhat confusing. Personally, I have nothing against the name Drupal. In the newsrooms where I worked, I defended it as a solid, secure CMS, but I must admit I never had much success.
On the other hand, the term CMS is already a bit outdated, although it’s true that people understand it well. What they won’t understand at all is the difference between the classic Drupal and the new Drupal CMS. Who on earth, outside of the tech world, understands the difference between a framework and a CMS?
Drupal still has time to improve in this regard, since Drupal CMS, although already available for testing, won’t be officially released for a few months. My recommendation is not to be afraid of going back or creating something completely new—a fresh brand and image that is genuinely attractive to its target audience, who are, for the most part, lovers of good branding.
Note: Article originally written in Spanish, translated with ChatGPT, and reviewed in English by Jorge Mediavilla.
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