Drupal Canvas: Visual Page Builder for Drupal Released

Drupal has released Canvas, a visual page builder designed to enable the creation of custom websites without extensive programming knowledge. The tool is aimed at site builders and content teams who previously had to choose between pre-made templates and complex custom development.

Less complicated technology for users

As an open-source CMS, Drupal is used by many organizations, but the system's flexibility has so far required a considerable amount of technical know-how. As Product Lead Lauri Timmanee explains in the Drupal blog, there is a trade-off in Drupal: "Either you are forced to create a kind of cookie-cutter website, or you have to write complex code. We want to break this trade-off by providing better tools so that you can actually create websites tailored to your own brand without needing to know complex code."

Drupal Canvas 1.0 is based on a React frontend integrated with Drupal's core APIs. Key features include component-based visual page building with a drag-and-drop interface, in-browser code components for adding new building blocks, and the option to create multiple pages before publishing and preview them with multi-level undo. The system is intended to give developers more time for in-depth technical work, while non-technical users can work more independently.

Canvas is designed as a community-driven project. According to the Drupal roadmap, the goal is for all modules in the upcoming Drupal CMS 2.0 to be compatible with Canvas in the future. The developers provide a demo installation on GitHub and are collecting feedback via the dedicated Slack channel #drupal-canvas. The project thus positions itself in competition with established page builders like WordPress Gutenberg or Elementor, but relies on Drupal's strengths in enterprise environments.

Outlook on Drupal CMS 2.0

Drupal CMS is a pre-configured distribution based on Drupal Core, optimized for rapid website creation with pre-built modules and workflows, while Drupal Core offers the minimal, flexible foundation for developers. Drupal CMS is now close to releasing version 2.0, which, according to several Drupal experts, is expected to bring a major development leap for web developers and users. The new generation of the software is set to offer improved performance, a modernized user interface, and simplified integration options for AI-powered tools.

In addition to technical improvements, Drupal CMS 2.0 will place particular emphasis on accessibility, security, and modular extensibility. A revised framework and optimized workflows will enable developers to implement projects faster, while editors will benefit from a clearer structure and AI-powered features such as content generation and SEO optimization. The official release is currently scheduled for the first quarter of 2026, having originally been planned for October 2025.

(fo)