What is a Drupal Distribution?

What is a Drupal Distribution?

Distribution is a complete Drupal site package, including Drupal core and a set of themes, modules, libraries, and installation profiles. Distributions provide site features and functions for a specific type of site as a single download. They make it possible to quickly set up a complex, use-specific site in fewer steps than installing and configuring elements individually.

A Drupal distribution is a special kind of install profile. The terms Drupal distribution and Drupal profile can be confusing, but distributions are more complex versions of Drupal profiles. You can find a list of all publicly available Drupal distributions here.

In simple terms, you can say that a distribution is a template or starter kit that can be used to quickly create a website/web application for a specific type of requirement.

Drupal Distribution - Use cases

Some everyday use cases for creating Drupal distributions are:

1. The Central IT department of a Country or State wants to create websites for its departments or state and district administrations. Examples are the Drupal distribution we have made for the Department of IT and Telecommunications, the Government of Bhutan, or the GovCMS distribution created by the Government of Australia.
2. A music company wants to create websites for its artists.
3. A pharma company wants to create websites for doctors' communities in different countries.
4. A retail brand wants to create independent product information websites for its brands.
5. An educational institution wants to create multiple websites that share standard functionalities.

Drupal Distribution - Advantages

1. Security - If we use a Drupal distribution for creating websites, we only have to worry about maintaining one single codebase, and that help reduces the headache of security issues.
2. The total cost of ownership - The total cost of ownership drastically decreases as features are implemented once and reused across multiple websites.
3. Faster turn-around time - All businesses want to be as agile as possible and get things done quickly to accelerate their digital transformation initiatives. A Drupal distribution will help the company achieve speed by equipping the IT team to set up a website soon.

Building and maintaining a Drupal distribution can be quite a task. This is why we have an expert team of Drupal Architects to help you with your needs. As one of the Top 30 Drupal Contributors globally, you can rest assured knowing you're in good hands. Schedule a meeting with our team today, and get some of the best Drupal talent working on your platform.