drupal

This step-by-step series has covered a lot of ground on planning and preparing for a Drupal 7 to Drupal 10 migration. Today, we start putting that knowledge into practice by automatically migrating content types. First, we will execute a migration to pull all content types in Drupal 7. Then, we will customize the migration to remove unnecessary content types. Finally, we will learn how a separate node title label migration also affects content type configuration in Drupal 10.

Here's what I've been working on for my LocalGov Drupal contributions this week. Thanks to Big Blue Door for sponsoring the time to work on these.

The prime objective of any business is to work efficiently with high speed and agility in application development. This helps a company work effectively and allows them to explore an application's extensive features. Low-code works the same way, this platform is becoming more popular due to its greater speed and flexibility in application development. In this information piece, we are going to talk about the best low-code platforms that are making significant changes in the app development world.

Join us as Andrei Mateescu demonstrates the Workspaces module's powerful capabilities for enterprise-level Drupal sites. Discover how the module allows preview and management of extensive content changes and integrates with core functionalities like translations and Layout Builder. Although currently labeled experimental, Workspaces is already in use in production environments and will become a stable part of Drupal Core.

Welcome, Drupal 11! At a previous DrupalCon Portland Drupal’s creator Dries Buytaert introduced the goal of making Drupal the preferred tool for ambitious site builders on the open web. Recently, Dries shared an updated plan for Drupal 11 which has 3 major focus areas:

Drupal 11 is early! But don’t panic, the new Drupal 10 support model means you are not under pressure to upgrade. Drupal 10 will continue to be supported until mid-late 2026. But as we know, it’s best to be prepared and understand the upgrade process when that time comes for your organization.

Similar to the upgrade from Drupal 9 to Drupal 10, the latest version of Drupal 10 - Drupal 10.3.1 - defined all the deprecated code for Drupal 11. Also like previous modern Drupal major version upgrades there is a recommended set of areas to focus in order to get your applications upgraded as cleanly as possible.

Shanice Ortiz

Director of Projects

Alongside her project management duties, Shanice is passionate about expanding Four Kitchens’ DEI efforts and fostering a culture of advocates and allies.

January 1, 1970

Platform upgrade.

For any IT manager, especially those at large organizations, these two words are enough to cause stress. Even if you just completed a move to Drupal 10, the release of Drupal 11 is around the corner with the latest version available in late July 2024.

What does that mean for your organization? Primarily, your greatest takeaway is that you shouldn’t feel the anxiety of another looming deadline. You still have two years to complete the upgrade. Plus, engineering plans are just starting to come together about how to tackle the upgrade multiple different ways. Time is still on your side.

However, just because a move to Drupal 11 isn’t cause for immediate alarm doesn’t mean you shouldn’t start planning an upgrade. You and your organization will see considerable benefits by addressing this change sooner rather than later.

What the move to Drupal 11 means for your website

In terms of adding new tools or website features, moving to Drupal 11 doesn’t mean much for your organization. Drupal rolls out upgrades differently than conventional software platforms. Version 11 will seem a lot like Drupal 10.3 in terms of new functionality.

Instead, Drupal will be deprecating features to eliminate ‌unnecessary or outdated code from the core platform. For example, in moving from Drupal 9.5 to 10, the CKEditor 4 module was removed to make room for CKEditor 5. For Drupal 11, the Book module will be deprecated.

If your organization doesn’t use this feature, its subtraction amounts to a positive by eliminating unneeded weight to the platform. If you do, then Book will still function in a more nimble way as a contrib module.

Ultimately, your organization won’t see any new features from Drupal 11 until the release of the next version, Drupal 11.1. Does that mean you should wait until then to start planning a website upgrade? You guessed it — absolutely not.

Why get ahead of Drupal 11?

The biggest benefit of planning your upgrade to Drupal 11 early is to avoid the scramble of a last-minute migration. This creates headaches for your team, and you also run into crowded schedules if you rely on a development partner. You don’t just run the risk of incurring unnecessary charges for trying to plan an upgrade at the last minute. You also risk limited availability as development agencies support other clients who also waited until the last minute.

Plus, planning to migrate to Drupal 11 now enables you to sidestep the complications of upgrading after 11.1 is released. Version 11.1 will include new features, and migrating across two versions will be more difficult, especially if you manage multiple websites.

Making the Drupal 11 move now gives you a leaner version of the platform while leaving you better positioned for 11.1. In all, your journey to Drupal 11.1 will be significantly faster and easier if you’ve already completed the migration to Drupal 11.

What stakeholders need to know about Drupal 11

As you plan an upgrade to Drupal 11, you need to keep your stakeholders informed about what to expect. Rather than getting bogged down with deprecations or other elements, you should frame the upgrade as a maintenance release.

In other words, the migration is primarily a way to improve your organization’s position going forward. Along with creating an easier path toward accessing the new features coming for 11.1, this update also will improve the performance and scalability of the platform for your websites.

How to plan a Drupal 11 migration

Drupal 11 will be released in late July. Consequently, your organization has a long runway toward completing an upgrade. In fact, you have two years until version 10 reaches its end of life in mid- to late 2026.

While that sounds like an eternity from now, your organization has more options at its disposal for planning an upgrade the sooner you begin. With enough lead time, you could include much of the work of preparing for Drupal 11 as part of a Continuous Care program with Four Kitchens.

Depending on your subscription tier, you can allocate your hours differently to support the upgrade. Alternatively, you can plan to allocate additional hours to your tier to complete the upgrade. Or, you can upgrade to Drupal 11 as part of a standalone project separate from your Continuous Care engagement.

The point, ultimately, is to underscore that you have options. At Four Kitchens, we’re already working on our upgrade plan to guide our clients through a seamless transition to Drupal 11. By considering the right approach for your organization sooner rather than later, you can ensure you still have options for navigating this upgrade in a timely, efficient way.

If you’re ready to start planning, we should talk.

The post Why time is of the essence for a Drupal 11 migration appeared first on Four Kitchens.