Drupal 7 at end of life: why migrate to Drupal 9?

The end of life of Drupal 7 has been extended until November 1, 2023. This was announced by the Drupal organization in February 2022.

The 9 series, released in June 2020, will have to be adopted by all Drupal users and followers by the time the 7 series expires.

If you are still using Drupal 7, consider migrating as soon as possible. Indeed, it is important to prepare for this last big migration. Esokia is able to help you make this transition serenely, as our digital agency includes certified developers with experience in Drupal technologies.

The end of life of Drupal 7

The expiration of Drupal 7 has already been postponed twice (at the time of writing this article). It was first scheduled for November 2021, then November 2022. There are several reasons for these postponements on the part of the Drupal Association. Notably, the impact of the health crisis on budgets and businesses and the fact that Drupal 7 is the most popular version of Drupal.

Since its release in January 2011, there are about 570,000 sites still using a version of Drupal 7. It has over 11,000 contributed modules, 200 distributions and 600 themes.

Being so widely used, the Drupal Association wants to give its users (including businesses, government agencies, educational institutions and NGOs) time to migrate and especially to provide the necessary support.

Why upgrade to Drupal 9?

You can upgrade to Drupal 9 or choose another technology to migrate to. However, you should know that there are hundreds of new features waiting for you in Drupal 9. So why not take advantage of them?

By upgrading to Drupal 9, you'll benefit from the continuous innovation cycle that offers new features twice a year. Moreover, once you have completed your last major migration, future major updates will also be much easier.

As listed on its official website, Drupal 9 offers multiple advantages over Drupal 7, including:

• The use of the same structured content-based system;
• The creation of layouts with the built-in visual layout generator. Reuse blocks and customize all parts of the page;
• The use of the integrated configuration management system with support for the development and staging environment;
• The reusable media management in the ready-to-use media library;
• The option of full multilingual support in all content and configuration;
• This support is done with more confidence through improved keyboard navigation and accessibility;
• Changes can be made even from your mobile devices through a mobile user interface;
• The possibility of better performance and scalability with built-in BigPipe support for even faster initial page loads.
• JSON: API support is built-in for progressively and fully decoupled applications. (source: drupal.org)

So what are you waiting for? Contact Esokia as soon as possible to ensure your migration to Drupal 9!