Drupal powers over 5% of all websites and holds a market share of almost 8% in comparison to other popular open-source content management system. It has a vast community comprising over 1M+ Drupal website developers, researchers, scholars, and testers. The CMS is known for its amazing security, flexibility, scalability, and advanced features.
Drupal 9 was released in June 2020 and if you are on Drupal 8, then it is the right time to migrate to the latest version. Drupal 8 and Drupal 7 official end of life is in November 2021. Drupal 8 has recently released a simple upgrade path but developers are still not confident regarding the new release. Thus in this blog, we will discuss new features and how you can move to Drupal 9.
What’s New Integrated to Drupal 9?
It is important to know that Drupal 9 is based on the similar architecture of Drupal 8 limited features that are integrated with the newest version. Drupal 8 was known for releasing new features every six months, but the new version is all related to the code clean-up. Being a cleaned-up version this offers several prominent updates and improvements for Drupal Web Development.
1. Built-in Backward Compatibility
Drupal 9 runs on the similar architecture of Drupal 8 and will support built-in backward compatibility. This feature ensures Drupal 8 components can easily collaborate with the new version. This means, to carry out the migration task in a simple manner, you need to keep your core, themes, and modules updated.
2. Third-party Dependencies
Drupal has a huge dependency on third-party elements like Symfony, Guzzle, CKEditor, and Twig. As we know both Symfony and Twig have recently upgraded, thus Drupal 9 is shipped with upgraded versions of third-party dependencies. Symfony 4/5 and Twig 2 are integrated to ensure security and performance are up to the mark.
3. New Theme Integration
To engage users on the visual front, Drupal 9 has done remarkable facelift. The Bartik theme released with Drupal 7 in 2011 is completely replaced by Olivero. It is a new default theme for Drupal 9 in 2020. In comparison to the earlier theme that seems outdated, the new default theme is simple, modern, accessible, scalable, and flexible. This will be a game-changer for Drupal development services for building engaging websites.
Why Should You Upgrade to Drupal 9?
If you are still seeking solid reasons regarding the upgrade to Drupal 9, some are:
- Drupal 7 and Drupal 8 end-of-life (EOL) is in November 2021.
- No security patches and support would be offered for the older versions.
- Avail of latest features and enhancements to eliminate third-party dependencies, extensions, and modules.
- Simplify and clean up content to further enhance user experience and design.
How to Prepare for Drupal 9 Upgrades?
No matter whether you’re moving your website from Drupal 7 to Drupal 9 or Drupal 8 to Drupal 9, some tips are always beneficial:
- Don’t Hesitate to Automate
- Keep the Drupal Core Updated
- Keep Your Modules Updated
- Keep the Contributed Modules Updated
- Detect and Fix the Deprecated Code
- Check Your Custom Code
- Verify the Release Notes
So, these are some significant tips that need to be followed before making an upgrade. If these tips followed website development will become smooth, simple, and robust.
Wrapping Up:
Drupal 9 is already released it is the perfect opportunity to make a smart move by migration from the old version to the latest version. This will help your business website to engage users in large numbers and stay ahead in the competitive world.
Author Bio:
The author is working with the best Drupal Development Company as a senior developer. Having years of experience and expertise in the website design, you can avail of the latest information on current, trending & upcoming technologies. Stay connected for more posts in the future and comments on us for improvements.
