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Introduction
Documentation Status: 
No known problems

A summary of the most important features that were added to each minor version

Project History

Key features in version 1.0

Release date: January 15th, 2015

Backdrop 1.0 (announcement and release notes) was the first release of the Drupal fork, Backdrop. It included a number of major improvements over Drupal 7 while maintaining a high degree of compatibility. This release was in development for 16 months of development to deliver a next-generation CMS platform. Key features included:

  1. Configuration Management System
  2. Built-in Content Listing Generator (Views)
  3. Revamped Layout System
  4. Improved Performance
  5. Improved Mobile Support
  6. Reduced Theme System Complexity
  7. An upgrade path from Drupal 7

Key features in version 1.1

Release date: May 15th, 2015

Backdrop 1.1 (announcement and release notes); included new out-of-box abilities. Including:

  1. More tokens and a token UI in core.
  2. Automated URL alias creation for Users, Taxonomy Terms, and Nodes.
  3. A fresh new look to the administration theme!
  4. See the GitHub issue tracker for all 1.1 issues.

Key features in version 1.2

Release date: September 15th, 2015

Backdrop 1.2 (announcement and release notes); expands the out-of-box experience with critical features, specifically:

  1. Built-in Rich text editor.
  2. Built-in Date fields.
  3. Built-in Link field.
  4. Built-in E-mail field.
  5. See the GitHub issue tracker for all 1.2 issues.

Key features in version 1.3

Release date: January 15th, 2016

Backdrop 1.3 (announcement and release notes); focused on user experience (UX) improvements, polishing existing functionality rather than adding new major modules. New features included:

  1. Expanding the capabilities of the Layout edit (more out-of-box blocks and features)
  2. Easier and more powerful configuration of content types, vocabularies, and user accounts.
  3. Notification icon in the administrative toolbar for status report problems.
  4. Faster page loads with Background Fetch and Cron jobs.
  5. See the GitHub issue tracker for all 1.3 issues.

Key features in version 1.4

Release date: May 15th, 2016

Backdrop 1.4 (announcement and release notes); focused on providing new site-building tools, making it easier than ever to build a Backdrop site.

  1. 10 new responsive layouts based on the Bootstrap 4 grid system.
  2. Automatic and manual path redirection ability when path aliases change (Redirect module).
  3. A project browser module (Installer) that allows finding and installing modules from within the Backdrop UI.
  4. The Layout module UI has been improved with new terminology, more descriptive listings, and improved configuration of conditionals.
  5. See the GitHub issue tracker for all 1.4 issues.

Key features in version 1.5

Release date: September 15th, 2016

Backdrop 1.5 (announcement and release notes); focused on creating an all-new out-of-box experience.

  1. A new front-end theme, and hero block.
  2. A new default home-page layout.
  3. Responsive and drop-down menus by default.
  4. Emoji support.
  5. See the GitHub issue tracker for all 1.5 issues.

Key features in version 1.6

Release date: January 15th, 2017

Backdrop 1.6 (announcement and release notes); focused on improving the user experience.

  1. Add an image & file management User Interface
  2. Add support for custom view modes
  3. Add a hamburger-menu toggle for responsive menus.
  4. See the GitHub issue tracker for all 1.6 issues.

Key features in version 1.7

Release date: May 15th, 2017

Backdrop 1.7 (announcement and release notes); focused on improving the administrative style.

  1. New blocks for Page title, tabs, messages, and action links
  2. Drag and Drop or Clipboard Paste upload for Images in the Rich-Text editor
  3. Add links to Images in the Rich-Text editor.
  4. Links to local pages in the Rich-Text editor via autocomplete
  5. See the GitHub issue tracker for all 1.7 issues.

Key features in version 1.8

Release date: Sept 15th, 2017

Backdrop 1.8 (announcement and release notes); focused on interface changes that continue to improve on the overall experience of using Backdrop.

  1. Administrative interface design and usability improvements.
  2. Enhancements to Menu blocks.
  3. Unpublished content indicators in the Basis theme.
  4. See the GitHub issue tracker for all 1.8 issues.

Key features in version 1.9

Release date: Jan 15th, 2018

Backdrop 1.9 (announcement and release notes); focused on keeping up with all the bug-fixes and improvements made to Drupal 7.

  1. Manage files independent from other content.
  2. Redirect logged-out visitors to /user/login on the /user page.
  3. Integrates many bug-fixes and improvements that were also made to Drupal 7.
  4. See the GitHub issue tracker for all 1.9 issues.

Key features in version 1.10

Release date: May 15th, 2018

Backdrop 1.10 (announcement and release notes); focused on adding some popular features available in Wordpress, and improving the installer and the project listing/management pages.

  1. Posts can now be scheduled into the future
  2. Commenting can now be closed automatically
  3. Improvements to the installer, and a better first impression
  4. Improvements to module, theme, and layout selection interfaces
  5. See the GitHub issue tracker for all 1.10 issues.

Key features in version 1.11

Release date: September 15th, 2018

Backdrop 1.11 (announcement and release notes); focused on giving some love to "neglected" modules like Color and Contact, and reintroducing content previews and an Image Browser.

  1. Restore Content Previews
  2. Image Browser for inserting inline images
  3. Allow nodes to be pathless (à la RabbitHole)
  4. Provide theme settings preview (with color support!)
  5. See the GitHub issue tracker for all 1.11 issues.

Key features in version 1.12

Release date: January 15th, 2019

Backdrop 1.12 (announcement and release notes); focused on core self-updates, and introducing a simpler, user-friendly way to to provide options for selects, radios, and checkboxes.

  1. In-app core updates (manual)
  2. A contact form block
  3. CSS grid for views grid displays
  4. A better UI for specifying allowed values (Options Element in core)
  5. See the GitHub issue tracker for all 1.12 issues.

Key features in version 1.13

Release date: May 15th, 2019

Backdrop 1.13 (announcement and release notes); focused on introducing an admin dashboard, which can be used to provide a quick overview of the most important things related to your site.

  1. Administrative Dashboard
  2. Support for more link attributes in the Rich-Text Editor
  3. Field Formatter Settings functionality moved into core
  4. See the GitHub issue tracker for all 1.13 issues.

Key features in version 1.14

Release date: September 15th, 2019

Backdrop 1.14 (announcement and release notes); focused on file entities in core, and on introducing a way to create layout templates via the admin interface.

  1. Flexible layout templates (layout template builder via the admin UI)
  2. Fieldable files (i.e. File Entity in core)
  3. Include an 'Editor' role in the standard profile
  4. Opt-in support for trusted_host_patterns in settings.php.
  5. See the GitHub issue tracker for all 1.14 issues.

Key features in version 1.15

Release date: January 15th, 2020

Backdrop 1.15 (announcement and release notes); focused on adding an Image Library browser to Image fields, on using the Dashboard to communicate news via a "Recent news" block, and on improving the datetime and boolean fields.

  1. Added an Image Library browser to Image fields
  2. Added a "Recent news" block to the Dashboard
  3. Allow content to be placed into the menu by default
  4. Allow menus to be always click/touch activated (rather than hover activated)
  5. Add new translatable HTML5 date form elements: html_datetime, html_date, html_time
  6. Add more display options for boolean fields
  7. See the GitHub issue tracker for all 1.15 issues.

Key features in version 1.16

Release date: May 15th, 2020

Backdrop 1.16 (announcement and release notes); focused on improving the user experience in various parts of the admin UI.

  1. Vastly improved the UX of the text format configuration form, by merging the UI elements that allow you to enable/disable, reorder and configure filters into a single draggable table
  2. Autocomplete is now available on all link/path fields
  3. Disabled text formats can now be re-enabled
  4. Any configuration value can be overridden in settings.php
  5. Author and Date display can now be customized for each content type
  6. Individual content types can now be excluded from the search index
  7. No password required when creating user accounts, if the "Notify user of new account" option is selected
  8. See the GitHub issue tracker for all 1.16 issues.