Beyond Websites: Drupal as a Screen Management Platform

A platform for smart information spaces

Today, digital information and wayfinding systems perform a wide range of tasks in public and semi-public spaces. They inform students about the current cafeteria menu, show visitors the way, and communicate events, alerts, or the latest news. Nevertheless, many digital signage solutions still rely on a traditional principle: content is managed as playlists and distributed to screens via proprietary systems.

DiSign takes a different approach.

The platform does not see itself as a traditional digital signage system, but rather as a Drupal-based screen management platform. The focus is not on screens or slides, but on structured information. Drupal handles content modeling, media management, scheduling, and assignment to different screen views, thereby serving as the central communication system.

Each display is provided as a browser-based web application. The screens simply open a defined URL and automatically retrieve the content intended for them. This ensures that the technical infrastructure remains deliberately lean, system-independent, and usable without proprietary player applications. Changes to content or configurations are made exclusively and centrally in Drupal and become available automatically with the next update.

DiSign’s true strength lies in its intelligent integration of various information sources. Editorially maintained content can be combined with dynamic data—such as cafeteria menus, event information, weather data, transit information, or news from existing Drupal websites. Information is not maintained multiple times but is made available exactly where it is needed.

Drupal does far more than traditional content management. The sophisticated role- and permission-based system enables decentralized content management with centralized governance. Departmental teams manage their own content independently, while organization-wide information—such as emergency alerts or last-minute notices—can be published on a schedule across all relevant screens.

A key component of the concept is the consistent separation of content and presentation. Information is managed in a structured manner within Drupal and stored independently of the subsequent layout. It is displayed via custom-developed, responsive front ends that adapt to different screen sizes, resolutions, and corporate designs. Unlike traditional slide layouts, no static screen pages are created. Content remains flexible and can be combined with images, videos, audio, or dynamic data sources without having to be maintained multiple times for different devices.

In this way, Drupal evolves from a website CMS into a platform for intelligent, connected screen communication.

Goals

• Establish Drupal as a platform for digital information spaces.
• Centrally manage structured content and reuse it.
• Simplify editorial processes and clearly separate responsibilities.
• Seamlessly integrate dynamic data sources.
• Enable different corporate designs on a common technical platform.
• Create a modular and long-term scalable product architecture.

Results

• Browser-based playback without proprietary player software.
• Centralized management of structured content, media, and timing controls.
• Reusable information modules for different screen layouts and user contexts.
• Customizable, responsive front ends built on a common technical foundation.
• Integration of external data sources for dynamic information.
• Use of the Drupal role and permission system for decentralized editorial processes.
• Centralized maintenance combined with individualized delivery of information.

Contributions

• Gin: Dropdown button is broken in Operations
• Gin: Initial `--drupal-displace-offset-left` is missing until the window is resized
• Media Library Edit: Enable the edit button by default
• SVG Image: Read width and height from viewBox if explicit attributes are not available
• Views Reference Field: Sort views in the widget by label, not machine name
• etc.

Open architecture meets complex content management

The challenge was to consistently leverage Drupal’s flexibility and use it to develop a powerful platform for the centralized management of individual display content.

To achieve this, structured content, media, timing, and control logic had to be clearly separated from one another. Content needed to be managed centrally, regardless of specific use cases, flexibly organized into slidesets, and displayed on different monitors. At the same time, the architecture had to remain open enough to integrate new information sources, content types, and output scenarios at any time.

Equally important was the integration of centralized communication with decentralized responsibility. Different organizational units require individual editing and publishing permissions, while centralized information can be made available organization-wide. Drupal’s role and permission system forms the foundation for this and enables flexible governance without additional administrative tools.

Another challenge was the time-dependent prioritization and overriding of content. In addition to regular content—such as content based on the time of day—different content or entire slide sets can be specifically activated for defined time periods. Once the time period expires, the system automatically reverts to the regular content sequence. This allows events, special promotions, or important notices to be flexibly integrated into ongoing communications without having to manually alter the existing content schedule.

Because DiSign brings Drupal’s potential to life

DiSign showcases Drupal in a role that goes far beyond that of a traditional website CMS. The platform uses structured content, role- and permission-based management, media management, a responsive front end, and open interfaces to create a new form of digital organizational communication.

Instead of viewing digital signage as the management of static slides or proprietary players, DiSign establishes a screen management platform that intelligently consolidates information from various sources, prepares it in a context-sensitive manner, and delivers it via a browser. The consistent separation of content and presentation enables responsive displays for a wide variety of screen formats without the need to maintain content multiple times.

This case study impressively demonstrates how Drupal can be used as the foundation for innovative digital products. It expands the system’s scope of application far beyond traditional websites and showcases Drupal’s potential as a central platform for intelligent, connected organizational communication.