Technology behind Mass.gov

A content management system built on the open-source Drupal platform.

History of Mass.gov

Mass.gov, launched in 2017, is built on a web content management framework called Drupal. This technology, written in PHP, supports everything from small blogs to sophisticated websites, such as Mass.gov.

Drupal emerged as an open-source project in 2001, and as such has been contributed to by hundreds of thousands of people. Drupal supports user account management, system administration, page layout customization, and more. Security, privacy, web accessibility, and other upgrades are added regularly.

The Drupal platform is trusted by government, healthcare, education, business, and other organizations to support web and application needs.

Massachusetts Digital Service's engineering team updates the Mass.gov platform with features and fixes weekly.

The design and accessibility elements that make up Mass.gov's look and feel are collected in what we call the Mayflower Design System, an open-source resource that Commonwealth government agencies are encouraged to use and adapt for their own websites

What is open source?

Open-source software refers to code made freely available that can be modified and distributed by anyone. The Drupal web content management framework that Mass.gov is based on is an example of open-source software.

The benefits of using open source include the regular security, privacy, accessibility, and other updates made to the software by a development community of thousands. A wide variety of optional features allow for websites such as Mass.gov to evolve to meet new constituent needs.

Using open-source software fits with the Commonwealth’s approach to data transparency: Everyone can see the reusable code that makes Mass.gov work.

As an open-source user and supporter, the Commonwealth also gives back to the development community, as it has done with its Drupal Test Traits project.