Drupal is one of the most widely used content management systems worldwide.
Thanks to core attributes such as content authoring, solid performance, outstanding security and versatility, Drupal can be considered the perfect solution to create dynamic web experiences and integrated digital frameworks: many of the most well-known websites run on Drupal, including: BBC, NBC, Amnesty International and the University of Oxford!
The main strength of Drupal, in fact, is its ability to periodically increase its potential: Drupal 7 was first released in January 2011, but soon, in November 2022, after over a decade, will reach end of life. However, altough the official community support for it will end – along with the support usually provided by the Drupal Association on Drupal.org – a Drupal 7 Vendor Extended Support program will be in place until November 2025, allowing for Drupal 7 users to sign up for support with select vendors.
Probably, you are here because you already knew about it and your website is running on Drupal 7: so, the time has come to start planning your transition to Drupal 8 and then – soon – to Drupal 9.
When a piece of software reaches its end of life date, it will no longer receive bug fixes or security updates from the maintainers: so, this means that automated testing services, updates, and security fixes for Drupal 7 are going to be withdrawn.
Overall, this means your website and associated plugins will no longer be secure. In today’s current environment of incessant DDOS and other attacks, your website will almost certainly be attacked and potentially damaged.
The main reason for ending support is that maintainers want to push the adoption of the most modern platform’s version, which can truly fortify the user’s website in terms of technology and performances.
Drupal 7, in fact, was a cutting-edge step forward when it was released, but Drupal 8 represents a complete rework of the websites’ architecture and offers new powerful features, including a totally renovated release cycle. Drupal 9 is an even further evolution.
Web migrations may sound scary, we know, but they are worth it, and this time there are several reasons. To sum them up:
You are likely also aware that Drupal 9 has been released – and you might even consider an upgrade directly from Drupal 7 to Drupal 9.
However, we recommend following the best practice of upgrading to Drupal 8 first, and then to Drupal 9. The effort to upgrade from Drupal 7 to 8 is indeed significant, however Drupal 8 is a proven stable version in the market for some time.
Drupal 9 is very new and not all modules have been fully tested and confirmed in real use. Therefore it makes sense to begin with an upgrade to the mature Drupal 8 first. The eventual upgrade to Drupal 9 will then be far easier.
In doing so, you’ll discover that the benefits of a Drupal 8 migration are bigger than ever, with Drupal 8 being a modern, stable platform, able to manage extensive websites with complex functionalities.
Compared to Drupal 7, Drupal 8 offers:
A website Content Management System reaching its end of life is not something anyone wants to learn about: indeed, you surely have a lot of things to do and may not have the time and resources to cope with such a web migration.
But with changes come new awesome opportunities, above all in the digital space: it can sound scary, but is also necessary.
So, why not simplify this process by downloading our FREE SITE MIGRATION CHECKLIST below? Wait no more, start your website revolution right now!
Would you need some help with your website transition from Drupal 7 to Drupal 8? If so, download our FREE SITE MIGRATION CHECKLIST below!
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