The third feature release of Drupal 11 is here with the biggest performance boost in a decade. Serve 26-33% more requests with the same database load. New native HTMX support enables rich UX with up to 71% less JavaScript. Plus, enjoy the new stable Navigation module, improved CKEditor content editing, native content export, and cleaner OOP hooks for themes.
New in Drupal 11.3
Biggest performance boost in a decade
Database query and cache operations on both cold and warm caches have been significantly reduced. Our automated tests show that the new optimization for cold caches is about one third and on partially-warm cache requests by up to one fourth. Independent testing shows even bigger improvements on complex sites.
The render and caching layers now combine database and cache operations, notably in path alias and entity loading. BigPipe also now uses HTMX on the frontend, leading to a significant reduction in JavaScript weight.
Read more about performance improvements in Drupal 11.3.0.
Native HTMX: Rich UX with up to 71% less JavaScript
Drupal 11.3.0 now natively integrates HTMX, a powerful, dependency-free JavaScript library. HTMX dramatically enhances how developers build fast, interactive user interfaces. It enables modern browser features directly in HTML attributes, significantly reducing the need for extensive custom JavaScript.
Read more about HTMX support in Drupal 11.3.0.
Navigation module is now stable
The Navigation module is now stable, offering a superior and more modern experience than the old Toolbar. While it is an experience worth installing on all sites, it is most useful for sites with complex administration structures. While not yet the default, we strongly encourage users to switch and benefit from its improvements.
Improved content editing
CKEditor now natively supports linking content on the site by selecting it from an autocomplete or dropdown (using entity references).. CKEditor also has new, user-friendly options for formatting list bullets and numbering.. Finally, a dedicated Administer node published status permission is introduced to manage publication status of content (which does not require Administer nodes anymore).
Object-oriented hooks in themes
Themes can now use the same #[Hook()] attribute system as modules, with theme namespaces registered in the container for easier integration. This change allows themers to write cleaner, more structured code. Themes' OOP hook implementations are placed in the src/Hook/ directory, similarly to modules'. Themes support a defined subset of both normal and alter hooks.
Native support for content export
Drupal core now includes a command-line tool to export content in the format previously introduced by the contributed Default Content module. Drupal can export a single entity at a time, but it is also possible to export the dependencies of the entity automatically (for example, images or taxonomy terms it references).To use the export tool, run the following from the Drupal site's root:
php core/scripts/drupal content:export ENTITY_TYPE_ID ENTITY_ID
New experimental database driver for MySQL/MariaDB for parallel queries
A new, experimental MySQLi database driver has been added for MySQL and MariaDB. It is not yet fully supported and is hidden from the user interface.
While the current default drivers use PDO to connect to MySQL or MariaDB, this new database driver instead uses the mysqli PHP extension. MySQLi is more modern and allows database queries to be run in parallel instead of sequentially as with PDO. We plan to add asynchronous database query support in a future Drupal release.
Core maintainer team updates
Since Drupal 11.2, we reached out to all subsystem and topic maintainers to confirm whether they wished to continue in their roles. Several long-term contributors stepped back and opened up roles for new contributors. We would like to thank them for their contributions.
Additionally, Roy Scholten stepped back from his Usability maintainership and Drupal core product manager role. He has been inactive for a while, but his impact on Drupal since 2007 has been profound. We thank him for his involvement!
Mohit Aghera joined as a maintainer for the File subsystem. Shawn Duncan is a new maintainer for the Ajax subsystem. David Cameron was added as a maintainer of the Link Field module. Pierre Dureau and Florent Torregrosa are now the maintainers for the Asset Library API. Finally, codebymikey is the new maintainer for Basic Auth.
Going forward, we plan to review core maintainer appointments annually. We hope this will reduce the burden on maintainers when transitioning between roles or stepping down, and also provide more opportunities for new contributors.
Want to get involved?
If you are looking to make the leap from Drupal user to Drupal contributor, or you want to share resources with your team as part of their professional development, there are many opportunities to deepen your Drupal skill set and give back to the community. Check out the Drupal contributor guide.
You would be more than welcome to join us at DrupalCon Chicago in March 2026 to attend sessions, network, and enjoy mentorship for your first contributions.
The Core Leadership Team is always looking for new contributors to help steward the project. As recently various new opportunities have opened up. If you are looking to deepen your Drupal skill set, we encourage you to read more about the open subsystem and topic maintainer roles and consider stepping up to contribute your expertise.
Drupal 10.6 is also available
The next maintenance minor release of Drupal 10 has also been released, and will be supported until December 9, 2026, after the release of Drupal 12. Long-term support for Drupal 10 gives more flexibility for sites to move to Drupal 11 when they are ready while staying up-to-date with Drupal's dependencies.
This release schedule also allows sites to move from one long-term support version to the next if that is the best strategy for their needs. For more information on maintenance minors, read the previous post on the new major release schedule.
