Defend Public Health

Fast-tracking a grassroots mission with Drupal CMS

Facing an urgent need to amplify their message and organize action, DPH needed their site live as quickly as possible. Within eight weeks, we moved from discovery through design, content architecture, site building, theming, and integration with Action Network tools to launch with confidence.

The resulting site is concise yet powerful—built with just six content types and twelve reusable blocks, the platform enables DPH to share news, resources, and campaign updates with clarity and impact. A dedicated “Get Involved” page guides users through ways to take action—from joining committees to subscribing to the weekly newsletter. The newsroom features syndicated content and original commentary to highlight DPH’s expertise and visibility in public discourse.

Leveraging Drupal CMS to empower non-developers

One of the central goals of the Defend Public Health project was to learn how effectively a small, distributed team of non-developers could launch and maintain a Drupal site. With the newly released Drupal CMS, we found the platform’s out-of-the-box tools offered an accessible balance of structure, flexibility, and ease of use—making it ideal for fast-moving, volunteer-led teams.

How Drupal CMS delivered:

Smart defaults for faster setup

Drupal CMS streamlines the initial setup by offering preconfigured content types, view pages, and navigation menus based on the user’s selected site structure. For DPH, this meant no need to build from a blank slate. Standard content types like News and Blog were automatically created with detail pages, views, and “most recent” blocks, all styled using the Olivero theme. This allowed site builders to immediately see how content types work in practice, and make adjustments without deep technical knowledge. It also accelerated onboarding for new contributors, who could learn by editing instead of starting from scratch.

Simplified content authoring

Drupal's WYSIWYG editor made it easy for team members to create and format content without modifying HTML. Image uploads, text formatting, and media embedding were all available via intuitive tools, reducing friction in the publishing workflow.

Custom content modeling with ease

We found creating new content types to be straightforward, with clearly labeled field types, drag-and-drop interfaces, and reusable fields. This enabled non-technical site administrators to quickly define new structured content, such as Campaigns, without custom development. Because we used Single Directory Components (SDCs) for theming, front-end developers could start working on the theme independently to site building.

A modern, accessible admin experience

The redesigned Drupal admin UI played a critical role in empowering the DPH team. With a clean, modern layout, the interface was both accessible and visually intuitive. The customizable dashboard brought key actions—like managing drafts, reviewing submissions, or launching new pages—front and center, streamlining day-to-day operations.

The result: a platform that allows DPH to maintain and grow their site without relying on ongoing technical support—making it a sustainable choice for a volunteer-run organization.

Outcome

Within the first three weeks post-launch, the site helped DPH achieve measurable traction:

With a solid digital foundation and user-friendly tools to support long-term content and campaign efforts, DPH is better equipped to inform, engage, and mobilize around the health challenges facing communities nationwide—in a time where it’s all hands on deck.

We’ve been amazed at the outpouring of donated, volunteer labor and expertise that put this site together. This is going to be a long, difficult fight to protect our nation’s health, and I hope this new site will help more people to get involved.Elizabeth Jacobs, DPH Communications co-chair