Structure Enables Flexibility at Scale: Content modeling for useful components
Florida DrupalCamp 2026 Keynote
Components break when the content model underneath them is rigid — and by the time anyone notices, the structural decisions are already locked in.
This featured session makes the case that content strategy work happening months before Drupal implementation — field structure, required versus optional fields, granularity, relationships — directly determines whether your component system enables speed at scale or becomes a bottleneck.
Humans that impose limits & the humans that break them
Drawing on large-scale government projects where small teams manage sites serving millions of users, the talk walks through what useful content modeling looks like in practice, what goes wrong when it's skipped or rushed, and how to make those decisions in a way that holds up as the site grows, the agencies multiply, and the editors change.
Some takeways
- Establish baselines of rules & freedoms.
- Start with restrictions; loosen them later.
- Require anything needing consistency.
- Encourage relationships over duplication.
- Test against real people & content.