This post was last updated in September 2024 to incorporate information about the recent release of Drupal 11.
Kanopi is a Drupal Certified Partner and can help with your migration needs.
Drupal is an open-source software content management system (CMS) that powers over 1 million websites globally. As a Drupal user, you were probably drawn to the platform because of its scalability and flexibility. You also know your site requires continual planning and updates to retain an informative, engaging online presence.
To ensure your website continues to excel, you must stay up-to-date with the latest changes in the Drupal world. Specifically, Drupal’s latest version, Drupal 11, launched in August 2024.
Now is a good time to review how these changes will impact your CMS planning. We’ve crafted this Drupal planning and development guide to help you prepare for upgrades and migrations and preserve your website well into the future. Let’s start by looking at some frequently asked questions from Drupal users regarding planning and development.
Drupal Planning and Development FAQs
What is the difference between WordPress and Drupal?
Both Drupal and WordPress are user-friendly, open-source platforms used to build powerful, comprehensive websites. Generally speaking, WordPress is known for its relatively simple admin user experience with many ready-made themes to choose from. By contrast, Drupal is often used by organizations looking to build complex sites, integrate with other services, and receive ongoing support from an agency or in-house developers.
If you’re looking to switch systems or are adopting a robust CMS for the first time, compare each platform’s features to determine which one better suits your needs. Kanopi’s Drupal vs. WordPress guide can help steer your decision-making.
I see Drupal 11 is the latest version. Should I upgrade to Drupal 11?
Upgrading your website to Drupal 11 depends on your current codebase and whether you have the resources and time needed to manage a migration. An audit of your existing Drupal site can help you decide when the best time to update to Drupal 11 should be.
Kanopi can help you work out the best upgrade or migration path. We’ll take a deep dive into your Drupal planning and development roadmap later on in this post.
How often should I make security and module updates in Drupal?
Review Drupal core security updates and contributed modules as they are released and apply them with expedience based on their Security Risk level. The higher the level, the more risk the vulnerability is to the site.
Non-security module updates are best done monthly or quarterly depending on time available or budget. Keeping your code up to date with the latest releases helps make future site upgrades easier, takes advantage of bug fixes, and can add additional functionality.
How can I get started building my Drupal planning and development strategy?
If you’re unsure where to begin with your Drupal planning, consider partnering with a Drupal development specialist. We’ve compiled a list of key support tasks you should expect to receive from an agency offering to assist you with your Drupal planning. They should:
- Work with you to create a Drupal strategy roadmap.
- Get familiar with your organization and your budget.
- Define the best way to curate existing content to maximize conversions.
- Provide module support.
- Offer Drupal training.
We’ll highlight additional ways a Drupal specialist can help optimize your website later on in this post.
Where can I find Drupal talent?
Drupal.org is a great place to start if you’re looking for Drupal talent. Kanopi also has a friendly team of Drupal experts ready to help you strategize your Drupal planning and development. Each of our Drupal experts has an average of 11 years of experience in Drupal development.
Where can I find more Drupal development tools and resources?
Kanopi’s resource library can help you learn more about Drupal, stay up to date on release updates, and craft your development strategy. Drupal also has a dedicated Slack channel for users. Other resources include:
Preparing Your Drupal Planning and Development Roadmap
Have you reviewed your website users’ needs recently? What about your site’s usability, accessibility, and content quality?
User needs change over time. That’s why it’s essential to have the most up-to-date picture of your users’ unique needs and take steps to determine whether your website content meets those demands.
If you’re brainstorming your Drupal roadmap, we suggest carefully considering the following:
- Undertaking user experience (UX) research. Use your website analytics and traffic patterns to determine how effectively different website aspects engage visitors. For instance, does your nonprofit’s online donation form have a high conversion rate? Can visitors easily find your business’s contact information and event calendar? Test site elements such as load speed, mobile-friendliness, and accessibility.
- Streamlining your user decision journey. The user decision journey is the steps your audience members take to learn about your organization and determine whether they want to engage with you further. This might involve purchasing one of your products or services, donating to your cause, or signing up to become a member of your group. Assess whether your website streamlines the user journey by asking questions about how visitors are likely to engage with your site. Do you have a variety of calls to action throughout the site that encourage visitors to get more involved?
- Fine-tuning your user personas. Is your website reaching the right people? Creating in-depth audience profiles allows you to understand your audience’s needs, goals, and interests and design your website content accordingly. Reassess your user personas to determine whether your audience has changed. Use the information in your customer or constituent relationship management system to assess your audience’s demographics, purchasing habits, and other distinctive characteristics.
By assessing the UX and appealing to your user personas, you can deal with blockages in your customers’ decision journey and create a more valuable website experience. You can also identify any sweet spots where your site currently excels that could be built upon ahead of your site migration.
Planning Pathways for Drupal Users
Your upgrade and maintenance process will differ depending on the Drupal version you’re currently using. This article explores the options available to Drupal users who intend to stay on the system.
Exploring Drupal 11
As mentioned, Drupal 11 was released in August 2024. Our recent blog post recaps everything you need to know about Drupal 11’s new features, including:
- The Drupal core Workspace module, which helps manage content changes by staging new content or previewing a major site overhaul.
- Single-Directory Components that are now supported in core to provide a simplified front-end development workflow.
- Navigation module that updates the admin toolbar with modern options.
- Recipes API to help apply complex configurations.
- Access policy API to build custom policies to accommodate a wide variety of access verification needs.
Drupal 11 has the same basic functionality as Drupal 10.3, which many sites were upgraded to in the spring of 2024. Drupal 11 was released to offer new features and eliminate deprecated code.
So, how can you prepare for D11? No matter what Drupal version you’re currently using, we’ve got a planning and development roadmap for you.
Drupal Planning: 7 to 11
Drupal 7’s end-of-life (EOL) date was adjusted to January 2025. Therefore, many D7 users have decided to stick with this version to give themselves more time to prepare for an eventual transition to a later version.
Although you can remain on D7 for a while longer, now is a great time to transition to D11. Your D7 to D11 migration roadmap should include the following tasks:
- Make a plan for content that can be retired from your site before moving to Drupal 11.
- Map out how redirects will be handled for any content you remove from the current site to ensure your SEO isn’t negatively affected.
- Review the modules you use in Drupal 7 and investigate the upgrade path needed for those modules to be compatible with Drupal 11.
- Identify and recommend alternative modules, tools, or third-party services for modules that aren’t available for Drupal 11.
- Look at the site’s content types and determine if anything needs to be changed or combined to meet your users’ needs and/or make the site easier to maintain.
We recommend switching to D11 before D7 reaches its end-of-life (in January 2025) so you can continue benefiting from security team updates and fixes..
Drupal 8 and 9 Users
There’s good news and bad news for Drupal 8 and 9 users. Let’s start with the bad news: D8 reached its end-of-life in November 2021, and D9 reached EOL in November 2023. Drupal 8 and 9 are no longer supported and no more bug fixes or improvements will be released, so if your site is currently running on one of these versions, it’s more vulnerable to cyber-attacks and other security threats.
Here’s the good news: if you plan to upgrade from D8 or 9 to 11, you are looking at a very simple, streamlined migration process.
Your Drupal development partners can create a roadmap with these elements:
- Look for any deprecated code in your code base that may need to be updated for D11.
- Make sure that the modules you use in Drupal 8 or 9 are compatible with Drupal 11, or have a target date for compatibility.
- Ensure that the site’s configuration files are tidy so that it’s easy to export/import configuration during the upgrade.
Upgrading your D8 or 9 site to D11 as soon as possible will help you maintain its security and functionality.
Drupal 10 Users
If you’re currently using D10, you’re in a great position to migrate to D11. Support for Drupal 10 will end in 2026, so you still have some time to transition, but it’s never a bad idea to stay ahead of the curve to make the most of the new features available in D11.
You can prepare for D11 by staying up-to-date with bug fixes and other security updates. If you have custom code on your site, keep an eye out for deprecation notices as well, and update that code regularly to remove them. You can use Upgrade Status and Drupal Rector to identify modules and deprecated code that need to be updated.
You’ll also need to update your website to the latest version of Drupal 10.3 because, as Drupal explains, “all core updates added prior to 10.3.0 have been removed. If any modules or themes have been removed you may use the respective contributed project instead.”
Consider working with a web development consultant to help you stay on top of all updates. For instance, the Kanopi team offers website support services for all Drupal users. This includes:
- Module and plugin updates
- Bug fixes and security patches
- Performance enhancements
- Development modifications
Read on for a deeper look inside Kanopi’s Drupal development and support offerings.
Exploring Kanopi’s Drupal Planning and Development Services
Kanopi can support your Drupal site until it’s ready for an upgrade, even if that means going beyond the end-of-life date of your current operating version. Instead of large structural changes, we recommend focusing on incremental changes that can be delivered with a potentially fluctuating budget, such as:
- Improved navigation
- Revised content strategy
- New content curation
- Accessibility support
- Search engine optimization (SEO)
We can also provide a website growth plan for you, which typically includes:
- How to increase website conversions for your organization
- Customization based on your unique situation
- A breathing window to maintain your site ahead of a migration (if your site is operating on D7)
Along with our Drupal 7 maintenance package, we also have options for Drupal 8, 9, and 10 users to help create a game plan or launch a migration.
Looking for more information to learn more about Drupal planning and development? These additional Kanopi resources can help:
- All About Drupal 11. Explore additional new features and information you need to know before upgrading to D11.
- Drupal 7 End of Life: A Guide to Next Steps. Are you considering which direction to take your Drupal 7 site next? This guide will help you figure out your next steps.
- How (And Why) To Set Up Drupal Maintenance And Support. Establishing a plan to maintain your Drupal site is critical to its long-term health. Learn what you need to know to keep your site running smoothly.
