Contributed

In Drupal, contributed (short: contrib) describes a module, theme or distribution that is published on Drupal.org but is not part of Drupal core. You download it separately and add it to a site that already runs core. The Drupal User Guide tells you to download it with Composer.

How contributed projects work in Drupal 11

Drupal.org describes its community as a set of projects. Every contributed module, theme and distribution is a software project you can download from the site. A project home page typically shows a description, the maintainers, download links, documentation and an issue queue.

The Drupal User Guide separates two sources. The core download provides modules for features such as user accounts, content and fields, menus and Views. Everything beyond that comes from Drupal.org's module downloads, or from a custom module that you write yourself.

The installer-paths example on Drupal.org's Composer page sends contributed modules to modules/contrib and contributed themes to themes/contrib.

The module listing on Drupal.org shows what to check before you choose one. Its filters cover maintenance status (from actively maintained to unsupported), development status, and whether the project has security advisory coverage.

Example

You need a feature that core does not provide, so you search the module listing on Drupal.org. On the project page of a candidate you read the maintenance status and the releases. You copy the Composer command from the Releases section and run it in the project root:

composer require drupal/token

Composer downloads the module, together with any modules it depends on, into the contributed modules directory.

Common mistakes

• Ignoring the maintenance status. The project listing can mark a module as seeking a new maintainer or as unsupported. Read that before you build a feature on it.
• Mixing up contributed and custom. A contributed project is published for everyone on Drupal.org. A custom module is code written for one site.
• Reporting a contributed bug in the core queue. Each project keeps its own queue, linked from the project home page.

For marketing and content teams

When a developer says a feature comes from contrib, it means a community project rather than something in the Drupal download. Ask who maintains it and whether the release you run is covered by the security advisory policy. That answer belongs in any budget or roadmap that depends on the feature.

With DXPR

DXPR Builder is a contributed module on Drupal.org. On 26 October 2026 its project page showed security advisory coverage for the stable release 2.8.1 and none for the 3.0.0-beta23 beta release. See DXPR Builder for what it adds to the editing screen.

Sources

• Drupal.org: Overview of projects and issues
• Drupal User Guide: Understanding modules
• Drupal User Guide: Installing a module
• Drupal.org: Manage dependencies with Composer
• Drupal.org: Security advisory policy
• Drupal.org: Module project listing
• Drupal.org: Contributed modules guide
• Drupal.org: Licensing
• Drupal.org: DXPR Builder project page