Drupal Platform Updates

The Maryland Drupal platform is constantly evolving. Below is a snapshot of our current priorities and recent improvements. We also maintain a broader backlog of agency requests and technical enhancements that are prioritized by reach, impact, usability, accessibility, security, and team capacity.

Have a suggestion? Share your ideas in our Drupal Community of Practice to help shape our future releases.

Upcoming priorities

Now (active development)

• New CX measurement tool: We are adding a statewide Customer Experience (CX) tool to collect real-time feedback from residents. This helps agencies understand how people are using their sites and where they can make improvements.
• Full-width agency heroes: We are completing the design work to allow agencies to use full-width "hero" banners at the top of their homepages.
• Content review and approval workflows: We are adding the ability for editors to submit content for review and approval prior to publication. Email notifications will be sent to reviewers when a page is pending their review.
• Basic page listing pages: We are creating a listing page for basic pages.
• Dynamic tables: We are expanding filter options and enhancing visual presentation of large data tables for improved usability.
• Mega menu: We are adding the option to use a mega menu for site navigation.

Next (near-term updates)

• Automated PDF search: We are extending site search to automatically index text within new PDF uploads, allowing users to find specific keywords inside documents.
• Enhanced navigation: We are adding a third level to the header dropdowns, allowing for a more organized, multi-tier hierarchy to improve how users navigate complex site sections.
• Expanded social media integration: We are updating our standard icon sets and sharing tools to include support for platforms like Bluesky and Threads
• Text size: We are decreasing the size of headers and body text across the platform to improve scanability.
• Vertical spacing: We are decreasing the vertical spacing across the platform to improve scanability.
• Listing page flexibility: We are adding more flexibility to listing pages with customizable metadata/tagging controls and simple show/hide options, allowing agencies to tailor what information appears.

Later (longer-term updates)

• Switchable color palettes: We are introducing preset color schemes that allow agencies to update their site’s look and feel while ensuring all color combinations remain accessible and compliant with state branding.
• Photo gallery: We are developing a dedicated gallery component to showcase images, featuring responsive layouts  to improve visual storytelling across agency sites.
• Hero search integration: We are adding an optional search bar directly into landing page heroes.
• Interactive maps: We are adding interactive maps to visually display locations.
• Enhanced search (autocomplete): We are upgrading the search experience with real-time suggestions that appear as users type, helping residents find relevant services.

Release history