Drupal 7, the content management system (CMS) which may power your website, reaches its end-of-life in November, 2022. Beyond that, Drupal will no longer offer bug fixes or security updates to the eleven-year-old system, meaning that websites may be left vulnerable to unresolved technical issues and data breaches.
While that’s definitely cause for concern, there’s no need to panic. Thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic, Drupal 7’s end-of-life was extended meaning that users now have more time to rebuild their websites and migrate to a different system. It’s no small task, however, so we’re going to take a look at what’s happening, what you need to do and when.
What’s happening?
Drupal 7 users were given a temporary reprieve earlier this year due to the Covid pandemic. Its end-of-life had originally been scheduled for November, 2021 (as Drupal 8’s was and still is), but due to how the pandemic affected businesses in terms of cashflow and workforces, Drupal decided to extend that end-of-life until November, 2022.
Why Drupal 7 and not Drupal 8? In order to operate, Drupal 8 depends on the Symfony 3 PHP framework which reaches its own end-of-life in November, 2021. As Drupal 7 doesn’t depend on Symfony 3, its lifespan could be extended.
What do I need to do?
If your website still runs using Drupal 7 it needs to be totally rebuilt.
The first thing you need to do is start thinking about what you want your rebuilt website to do for you in terms of its functionality and what it says about your business. This may or may not involve a major rethink of visuals and branding, so that’s something to bear in mind.
The second thing is that you need to do is to find a team of designers and developers with experience in both Drupal and other CMSs and make arrangements with them to undertake the rebuild. Although it’s still some time away, if you choose Dusted to take-on your project, it’s best to get the rebuild booked into our studio schedule sooner rather than later so we can ensure we have the most suitable team available.
What can Dusted do?
With our experienced team of designers and developers, we’re ideally positioned to design and build mobile friendly, impactful, and high-performance websites that solve business problems. Due to its ease of use, flexibility and extensibility, WordPress is our preferred choice for migration from Drupal 7.
Why WordPress rather than Drupal?
Over 30% of all websites are built using WordPress and with good reason. It’s extremely user-friendly, easily customised and, as it’s so widely used, its myriad plug-ins are frequently updated to optimise their performance. We’ve been working with WordPress for more than ten years, so we’ve plenty of experience in creating effective and user-focused websites using the system. Using WordPress too should help avoid the same kind of massive-scale periodic updates required between different versions of Drupal.
I don’t want to upgrade
No longer receiving support will leave Drupal 7 sites vulnerable to data hacks and other breaches, so we’d really, really recommend updating your website. It’s a matter of trust and protecting your users’ information. Failure to adequately protect client data can leave businesses open to huge fines, so think of it as a useful insurance policy.
If you’re worried about the inconvenience, Dusted can make the process as seamless and hassle-free as possible.
OK, it’s time
Great! We’ve got you covered on this one. Get in touch and let’s discuss your options when it comes to making the great migration from Drupal 7.