Video series - #02 Display Builder config profiles feature walkthrough
Author
G4MBINI
Tags
drupal-planet
display building
design system
Reading time
3min
Comments
https://git…

Display Builder for Drupal: shaping the editing experience with Config Profiles

Part 2 of the Display Builder Beta video series by UI Suite

In the first episode of the Display Builder Beta video series, Pierre introduced us to the fundamentals of the module, by demonstrating how to create and work with page layouts. In this second instalment, he is diving into one of Display Builder's most powerful features: Config Profiles.

What are Config Profiles?

Last time, when we created a Page Layout with  Display Builder, we were prompted to pick a profile. Out of the box, only the “Default” profile has been available.

Config Profiles are configuration entities — meaning they are fully editable, exportable, and deployable like any other Drupal config. 

To unlock profile editing, Pierre first heads to Extend  and installs the Display Builder UI module. Once enabled, a new section appears under Structure → Display Builder Overview, listing all available profiles.

The philosophy behind profiles

Display building is too important to be handled by a monolithic, rigid,  one-size-fits-all, UI. So, Display Builder is built for any kind of Drupalers: 

  • Developers and power users, who need access to the full toolkit — style utilities, design tokens, advanced layout controls.
  • Content contributors and marketers, who need a streamlined, focused workspace where they can work confidently without being overwhelmed.

Config Profiles are the tool addressing this. They allow project teams to craft tailor-made editing experiences for each type of user — without writing a single line of custom code.

Editing the default profile

Clicking Edit on the Default Profile reveals a rich set of configuration options:

  • The usual Drupal metadata: label, description and status
  • Roles selection: like for Views or Text Format, decide which users will be able to use the profile
  • Islands selection and configuration, Each profile is made of configurable “Island” plugins, each of them is handling an interactive part of the builder page. They are grouped by type:
    • View panels: As a main area tab or as a sidebar
    • Toolbar: Direct, general operations
    • Contextual panels: Rich edit a specific part of the display
    • Library panels: Stuff we can add to the display
    • Menu items: Simple actions on specific parts

The granularity here is impressive. You can toggle individual plugins on or off, giving you precise control over what each type of user sees and can interact with.

Creating a marketer profile: a live example

To illustrate the power of profiles, Pierre creates a new one tailored for a marketing team. His goal: strip away everything that isn't essential for a content contributor.

Here's what his marketer profile looks like:

  • View panels: Only Builder and Preview — no state (publish / revert) operations.The focus is purely on composing and previewing content.
  • Toolbar / contextual panels: Only the Contextual Form — the main editing form for blocks and components. Advanced tools like style utilities and design token libraries are removed entirely.
  • Library panels: Only Components and Blocks, configured to show components from the project's own theme. Experimental panels, module-contributed components, and system blocks are excluded, with a clean mosaic thumbnail view.

Profiles and user roles

One important detail Pierre highlights: which profiles a user can access is governed by Drupal's role system. In the demo, Pierre (logged in as User 1, a super admin) has access to both the Default and the new Marketer profile. A content editor, on the other hand, would only see the profiles assigned to their role.

This means you can safely deploy powerful tools to developers while giving contributors a clean, purpose-built interface — all within the same installation.

Extensible by design

Pierre closes with an exciting note for developers: every plugin in Display Builder is just a simple PHP class implementing a simple interface. This means:

  • You can contribute new plugins to the Display Builder ecosystem.
  • You can extend Display Builder within your own project's namespace.
  • You can build entirely bespoke plugins for your client's specific needs.

As he puts it: "The sky is the limit."

Key takeaways

  • Config Profiles let you define precisely which Display Builder UX and features are available to each type of user.
  • They are standard Drupal configuration entities — fully exportable and deployable across environments.
  • Profiles are assigned via user roles, making them a robust governance tool for multi-role editorial teams.
  • The plugin architecture is open and extensible — new plugins can be contributed or built project-specifically.

Stay tuned for the next episode, where Pierre will go back to building and discuss the entity view display feature. The Display Builder series is produced by the UI Suite team.