Display Builder Beta 1 Unifies Layout Interfaces for Drupal Site Builders

The UI Suite team has released Display Builder beta 1, introducing a new display building module for ambitious site builders working with Drupal. The beta marks the first public milestone for a unified tool designed to replace several existing display-building interfaces with a single, consistent experience.

Display Builder offers one interface for building entity view displays, page layouts, and Views displays. The module can be used as an alternative to Layout Builder, Block Layout, and the Views display UI, aiming to reduce complexity and eliminate fragmented workflows. The system is powered by the UI Patterns module and can pull data from core and contributed APIs such as content fields, menus, breadcrumbs, and Views.

Design system support stands at the core of the project. Display Builder allows teams to use components, icons, style utilities, themes, modes, and CSS variables directly within Drupal. Native integrations rely on recent and upcoming core APIs, including Single Directory Components, the Icon API, and the Style API, without requiring additional compatibility layers.

Modern builder features are part of the beta, including dynamic previews, contextual menus, pattern presets, and real-time collaboration. The interface itself is fully configurable through profile-based setups using Dynamic Islands plugins, which are powered by Drupal core’s HTMX API. This approach lets teams tailor the experience for different roles, such as marketers and developers.

Beta 1 introduces a stable storage format, allowing teams to begin experimenting or even start projects with the module. Installation follows standard Drupal practices, with separate sub-modules handling entity view displays, page layouts, Views integration, and the user interface.

Development continues toward Beta 2, planned for release within weeks. The next milestone is expected to bring API stability commitments, full test coverage, a new translation mechanism, and remaining features planned for version 1.0.0.

The DropTimes has previously published in-depth interviews with Pierre Dureau and Michael Fanini, offering additional background on UI Suite and the vision behind Display Builder.

Readers can find more details, updates, and participation information on the Display Builder project website. For more information on the release, the features and the roadmap, join us on Slack #display-builder.