As the world of technology and web development continues to evolve at a rapid pace, it's important for businesses and organizations to stay up-to-date with the latest versions of their systems and platforms. This is especially true for users of Drupal, a popular content management system (CMS) used by millions of top websites worldwide. With the recent release of Drupal 10, many users are wondering what the best course of action is for upgrading their websites. In this article, we'll provide answers to some frequently asked questions about upgrading from Drupal 8 to Drupal 9 and Drupal 10. We'll cover topics such as the benefits of upgrading, the process for upgrading, and whether it's feasible skipping Drupal 9 and going straight to Drupal 10.
Upgrading to Drupal 10 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. Drupal 10 has been released, isn’t it better to upgrade directly from Drupal 8 to Drupal 10 instead of upgrading twice?
Drupal 8 reached its end of life in November 2021! You must upgrade to Drupal 9 first to update to Drupal 10 later on. Use Upgrade Status to analyze your site. With over 9,000 Drupal 9 ready projects, and more than 2,500 projects ready for Drupal 10 even before its release, there's a good chance everything you need is ready.
2. What is required from the client?
You are required to perform user acceptance testing on a staging environment before the upgrade is pushed to production.
3. How long does the upgrade normally take?
A typical upgrade takes 2-5 weeks depending on the complexity of the site and the number of modules, custom modules, and integrations.
4. How can we make sure that the upgrade doesn’t affect the stability of the site?
The upgrade is performed on a development environment, then moved to a test/staging environment where testing and quality assurance takes place.
5. What features and benefits come with the upgrade?
- Drupal 9 and PHP 8 come with many improvements, mainly in terms of performance. PHP 8 is a lot faster than PHP 7. And this has a positive impact on SEO. Not to mention the increase in website operational time and continuity, and the ability to use modern technologies and libraries that depend on PHP 8 and Drupal 9.
- Drupal 10 comes with a new default front-end theme (Olivero) with a modern look and feel. The theme will be WCAG AA conformant and include functionality that supports new features.
- The Claro administration theme (replacing Seven). Claro is a clean, accessible, and powerful administration theme in Drupal Core. It is part of the Admin UI and JS modernization initiative.
- The new recipe's functionality seeks from pre-defined 'recipes' that assembled Drupal functionality for specific needs.
- Easy upgrades with drupal-rector and the number of contribution projects already ported.
6. Will this be required for each major upgrade, or only from Drupal 8 to 9?
Yes, this will be required for each major version upgrade. However, further upgrades will require less and less effort, and hence budget.
7. Does the backend theme change, will this affect the editorial experience?
No, changes are minor, and are improvements if any.
8. Will editors need training after the upgrade?
No.
9. What happens if we don’t upgrade?
Drupal 8 support has ended in November 2021 and it has stopped receiving updates and security patches. On the other hand, major hosting providers are removing PHP 7 and replacing it with PHP 8. Not upgrading to the latest version of Drupal puts your CMS and website in jeopardy.
10. How do integration(s) get upgraded/affected?
If the integration is achieved using a custom module, we work with the custom module maintainer to upgrade its compatibility with Drupal 9.
Take Out
In conclusion, upgrading from Drupal 8 to Drupal 9 and Drupal 10 offers a number of benefits, including improved security, new features and functionality, and ongoing support from the Drupal community. While the process of upgrading may require some effort and resources, it is generally a smooth and straightforward process. By carefully considering the factors outlined in this article, you can make an informed decision about upgrading to Drupal 9 or Drupal 10.