Drupal Site Template Marketplace Moves Forward with Governance and Business Model Drafts

The Drupal Association’s initiative to develop a trusted Site Template Marketplace has reached a critical turning point. Following weeks of community input and exploration, the focus is shifting from broad ideation to structured planning, laying the foundation for real-world testing.

Key developments include the drafting of a Lean Business Model Canvas and a Governance Framework, informed by recent surveys, Slack discussions, and expert consultation. These frameworks aim to establish the necessary infrastructure for a scalable, fair, and community-aligned marketplace.

Contributors have emphasized the importance of standards to build trust. Feedback from Slack Prompt #5 highlighted strong support for transparency, automated checks, and human review to ensure quality, accessibility, and security—especially for paid listings. Participants also stressed the need for templates to meet baseline requirements if hosted on Drupal.org.

Insights from Slack Prompt #6 revealed that users are willing to pay for templates when they offer time savings, trusted sourcing, and streamlined setup. Suggestions included bundling hosting and templates to reduce confusion for non-technical users.

Survey #3 spotlighted values of fairness and recognition. Community members called for clear governance, tiered certification models, and meaningful review systems that promote transparency without enabling abuse. Revenue sharing to support the broader ecosystem, including modules and infrastructure, was also endorsed.

The Marketplace Working Group is currently piloting these early structures with agency partners. A public request for comment on the draft governance framework is expected this summer. Minimum viable product (MVP) standards for accessibility, security, and licensing are also in development.

For updates or to contribute to ongoing discussions, visit the #drupal-cms-marketplace channel on Slack or listen to Talking Drupal #504.

Learn more at https://www.drupal.org/about/starshot/blog/marketplace-share-out-5-turning-insight-into-structure