Drupal 7 continues to be used by some 431,644 websites, despite the impending end-of-life date, according to the most up-to-current statistics on Drupal's deployment. That's sufficient for a sizable portion of Drupal websites. For numerous reasons, not the least of which is that upgrading to Drupal 9 is a major endeavour that not everyone is prepared to undertake. Many organisations, including government institutions, were still using the vulnerable Drupal 7 platform. It might have been very bad if they lost their backing.
In light of this, Drupal project head Dries Buytaert and the Drupal community have just announced that the End of Life date for Drupal 7 would be pushed back to November 1, 2023. With this module, the Drupal team can keep protecting Drupal 7 users from security threats while still providing them with assistance. In light of the devastating impact the epidemic has had on businesses and their bottom lines, the end-of-life date for Drupal 7 has been extended to November 2022. However, here is why you should choose any reputable Drupal migration service to upgrade to Drupal 9.
Reasons to start thinking about upgrading to Drupal 9 right now
The most common issues that people face when trying to relocate somewhere have been discussed. Let's talk about how much better the Drupal 9 Website Design is. No matter what happens, you'll have to make the case that Drupal 7 has to be updated promptly to the site's owners and higher-ups. When told they had until November 2023 to do anything, most people immediately respond by saying they have plenty of time. For these reasons, we believe that upgrading your Drupal 7 site to Drupal 9 at this time is the best option.
System of the future
Upgrading to a more advanced platform is the only way to meet the needs of today's consumers.
Major updates to websites may be expected on a regular basis, much as how car manufacturers update their models every 5 years (or less, in certain circumstances) to account for advancements in technology and shifts in minimum system requirements.
There's no doubt that even a decade-old car had the best features at the time... like air conditioning, power windows, airbags, a fair amount of horsepower, and so on. But it just isn't sufficient for today's standards. And I would know; I drive a 2003 Jag. As beautiful as it is; it's clunky to drive, constantly in need of repair and has expensive upkeep. Side airbags, automatic climate control, traction control, fuel efficiency, etc., are only a few examples of the safety and comfort upgrades that have transformed the modern car.
The most efficient and inexpensive approach to transforming a subpar website into a lead-generating and user-experience powerhouse is to revert to technology and update a new and current platform. To adapt to the changing needs of every particular web presence, Drupal 9 is built on a foundation that can be readily modified. Drupal 9 is a cutting-edge, cutting-edge, and robust platform, therefore it makes perfect sense to make use of its features. The more you wait, the further behind you will be in terms of technology.
Constantly changing
All updates to Drupal continue in the same vein of continuous improvement that characterised Drupal 8. Developers' openness to new frameworks like Symfony, Twig, and Guzzle has led to a sea change in the state of the art in terms of online application development. What's more, the API-first approach paves the way for standardised content delivery across a wide variety of mediums, platforms, and hardware.
For optimal efficiency, always use the most latest versions of PHP, MySQL, and associated libraries. Adding major functionality without having to start from scratch is made possible by Composer and related tools that make it simple to manage dependencies and conflicts. This means that Drupal may be used to power high-traffic commercial websites without compromising efficiency or lifespan. Because of these characteristics, firms are more inclined to develop apps optimised for modern hardware.
Perpetually simple updates
Considering how drastically different Drupal 9 is from Drupal 7, it's reasonable to be concerned that future upgrades will be more of a hassle.
Since Drupal 9 requires a newer and more powerful framework, the transition from Drupal 7 will be a massive endeavour. Once you've made the leap to Drupal 9, however, future upgrades will be a snap. New features have been regularly added to the Drupal CMS with each major and minor release since Drupal 8 when the semantic versioning was first implemented. The time it takes to learn and create something new is reduced. The need for a re-platform has long since passed. This much, we can guarantee.
How ready are you to jump in?
Sites built on Drupal 7 with a lot of customisations may require extra time and effort to migrate to Drupal 9. You read that correctly; we're talking about a fresh start. Allocating budget in this manner is never popular, but the benefits of lower risk are worth the inconvenience.
The urgency of the situation is also a factor (we see this a lot). Some companies would engage unskilled developers because they are desperate when larger, more well-known Drupal development organisations are booked full. Customers that want assistance during a relocation make up a sizable component of our business. But the price tag for undoing a botched move is simply too high.
Before taking any action, you should complete the following steps:
Look for a reliable Drupal agency (like us, of course) that can make the transition to Drupal 9 easier. Someone like us will conduct a thorough audit of your current Drupal 7 site. Any Drupal agency you choose can and should perform a thorough migration audit (we can help with this). This audit report will detail your site's content structure, backend architecture, and SEO setup so that Drupal experts can plan the most effective migration strategy for your site.
Contact us to discuss your migration path.