Are You Still Using Obsolete Drupal 7? Let’s Know What To Do With That Website!

Drupal 7 is around us since 2011 and it is still being used by many websites. Despite the Drupal 9 release and soon Drupal 10 will be on the table, there are umpteen websites are still running on Drupal 7?

This older version of Drupal has served us for a longer span with quite an impressive performance. But everything comes to an end, so Drupal 7 has almost reached its end of life. Initially, its EOL was scheduled for November 2021 then it got extended to November 2022, and lately, the Drupal community has announced its end of life on November 1, 2023.

The extended date for community support implies, that the websites still using Drupal 7, have a little more time to upgrade or migrate the website to the latest version. But eventually, a decision has to be made, if not today then tomorrow. Most importantly, it is a technology that needs to get updated. When everything evolves with time, then why you don’t want to upgrade your website with time and trends?

It may ask for exhaustive effort and might take time, but at last, you will be having an updated, modern, and secured website.

Do you know the repercussions of still staying on Drupal 7? 

There can be underlying consequences if you will not upgrade your Drupal 7 website to the newer Drupal version. It is a more than a decade older version that is vulnerable to security breaches. Additionally, you are missing out on new features that enhance the performance of the website. The recent versions are made keeping new audiences and trends in mind, whereas you are using a decade older version. Do you think, you will be able to chase with these newer and latest versions?

Now have a look at a few dependencies of Drupal 7 that are already obsoleted. For example, Drupal 7 relies on many jQuery libraries like jQuery, jQuery UI, and jQuery Forms. Drupal 7 uses jQuery 1.4.2, and the current Drupal 9 version uses jQuery 3.6.x. And there is a long list of such libraries and dependencies including PHP and databases. Also, the contrib modules will no longer be getting community support after Drupal 7 EOL. Thus, overall site vulnerability will increase, and eventually, you’ll end up troubling yourself.

There is a phrase that says - The pitcher will go to the well once too often. This means, that a period of a good thing will eventually end. So, how long this period of Drupal 7 will be going to last? It’s better you start thinking of updating the website.

Whatever cost and time you think it will take to move from Drupal 7 to another latest version, it will be lesser than the cost of recovering data from an outdated and wracked website.

So, instead of fixing bugs, find out other options.

What can be your other options?

We shall discuss the best possible options for your website, thereby, you won’t have to bear any losses.

• Migrate your Drupal 7 website to Drupal 9

Consider your website migration from Drupal 7 to Drupal 9. It is one of the intelligent choices to go with. Because you will upgrade your website to the latest version of your own trustworthy CMS, which you are using for many years.

Drupal 9 will help you with a modern feature-rich website with amazing performance. Features like modern content authoring, improved front-end performance, integrated media libraries, robust translation system, extensive library of ready-to-use open-source modules, sturdy security, and many more others.

Drupal 8 onwards, makers have started releasing frequent minor versions and easier updates, which is an added advantage of migrating to Drupal 9. And more importantly, you don’t need to do a bridge migration by migrating firstly to Drupal 8 and then Drupal 9. You can directly migrate to Drupal 9.

However, migration is costly and time-consuming, yet you are getting a whole new version that is way better than the one you are still using. Since your website is running on Drupal 7 for more than 10 years, it may have enormous important data. For safe and complete migration, hiring a professional is better than going through a steep learning curve and then executing the migration.

There are three key tools that help you in migration from Drupal 7 to Drupal 8 or 9.

1. Drupal core offers a migrate module suite to perform data migration from Drupal 7. The module gives you an opportunity to create your website in the best possible way in Drupal 8 or 9. You can import the whole content to the correct places with the help of this module.

2. The Upgrade Status module of Drupal 7 helps in knowing the Drupal 9 availability of the modules currently in use.

3. The Drupal module upgrader is a command-line script that scans a Drupal 7 module’s source, flags the code which require to update to Drupal 9, points off any relevant API change notices, and wherever possible converts the Drupal 7 code to the latest Drupal 9. This module does not use deprecated APIs in the generated codes, which implies if you wish to upgrade firstly to Drupal 8 and then Drupal 9, the upgrade path will be smoother.

• Re-design the website with Drupal 9

If feasible for your organization, consider re-designing a new website using the latest Drupal 9 version. It will give an altogether new architecture to the website and also, you’ll be able to evade the compatibility issues of modules that you’ll face while migrating from Drupal 7 to Drupal 9.

You can choose a new CMS as well that fits your budget and which has an equal proven track record like Drupal such as Adobe Commerce. Though opting out for a new CMS is something that increases your work and expenses. Therefore, staying with your existing technology’s updated version is an astute step.

Choose the option carefully as it will affect your future business goals and conversions.

Ready to upgrade to the latest version of Drupal?

To avoid the opportunity cost and unknown vulnerabilities of a decade-older version of Drupal, switch to the latest Drupal 9. As soon as Drupal 7 will reach EOL, it will start giving you trouble. Better start planning and moving today before it’s too late. You may hire Drupal developers or an agency to help you with that.

You only have a year time approx. in hand, so choose one of the best suitable options and start the execution. Your choice of the option depends on how much effort you’ve baked into Drupal 7 and what is your team’s capabilities.