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24 Jan 2023

Upgrade from Drupal 8 to Drupal 9

Drupal 8 End of Life was November 2021. Security coverage for Drupal 8.9 ended on November 2021. If you website is on Drupal 8 than you should consider migrating to Drupal 9 to receive updates and security coverage. This is easy and you can upgrade directly to the latest version of Drupal 9.

Drupal 9 has been released and is the successor of Drupal 8. It has a lot of new features and improvements which makes it more capable than its predecessor, Drupal 8. The question on every developer's mind is 'Should I upgrade from Drupal 8 to Drupal 9?'

Why should you upgrade from Drupal 8 to Drupal 9?

If you're like us and have been using Drupal for a couple of years, then it's likely that you're already familiar with how important upgrades are to the software industry. And equally as important is knowing when to do them. There's always something that gets dropped in between major releases, which is why there isn't really an exact date on when you must jump ship.

Drupal 8 has been superseded by Drupal 9, which is identical to the final release of Drupal 8 but with deprecated code removed and third party dependencies updated. The release was made in June 2020, making it stable enough for enterprise customers. As a result of this change, Drupal 7 will reach its end-of-life by year's end. It's time to plan your migration to Drupal 9!

Here are some of the reasons why you should upgrade to Drupal 9

  • Better Security

    The new codebase has been completely rewritten, removing all old code and replacing it with modernized versions. This means there will be fewer security issues than before. The third-party dependencies have also been updated to newer versions. As for compatibility, most of the code interfaces remained untouched, which means that developers will not have migration issues and support existing add-ons.

  • Multilingual Capability

    The ability to create multilingual sites out of the box was considered so important by the development team, it was given its own core initiative. Site and content translations are insanely easy to configure in Drupal 9 compared to prior versions of Drupal.

    Drupal is an entity, and all entities may be translated using a simple UI. You can even configure a workflow to approve translations in every language before they become visible to your guests.

  • Better Performance

    Drupal 9 offers enhanced support for responsive images, ensuring a great user experience on mobile devices by displaying images that consume fewer amounts of data. With content workflow, developers can define multiple workflows and multilingual properties for a wider reach.

  • Backward Compatible

    Drupal 9 is backward compatible, meaning it maintains its predecessor's compatibility with older versions. The latest version of Drupal can use modules, data and configurations created on previous versions. A migration from Drupal 7 or 8 to Drupal 9 would provide a fast and clutter-free website for site owners, who can expect enhanced performance from the latest version.

  • Clean Code Base

    Drupal 9 does not have any specific features, making it almost identical to Drupal 8.9. However, what makes it different from this last version of Drupal 8 is that it does not have any deprecated codes-a code base free of deprecated functions that can be removed during migration to a newer version of Drupal. When migrating to Drupal 9, you will need to remove all deprecated functionality in each module in all versions of Drupal 8; this should make your site run faster and more efficiently.

  • Headless CMS

    Drupal is a Content Management System (CMS) that can be used as a platform for both front-end and backend development. However, with Drupal 9, it has become a headless CMS-one can build the backend content repository on Drupal and use other technologies or frameworks other than Drupal to build the front-end. These front-end technologies would communicate with the backend via an application programming interface (API).

  • Easy Upgrade

    Many members of the software community have called the Drupal 9 migration "the easiest upgrade in over a decade." With this new version, organizations can rest assured that future upgrades will be easier as well.

  • Integration

    Drupal 9's strategic priority is to continue to make it easier for developers to integrate new devices and applications with the platform. For example, imagine having your content on your website and your mobile app at the same time.

  • New Layout

    The latest update to Drupal 9 enables site designers and content editors to build layouts with the drag-drop interface. The new Layout Builder replaces the Place Blocks module, making it easier than ever to work with Drupal's layout system.

Final Thoughts

The perfect time to upgrade to Drupal 9 is now.

Drupal 9 introduces a new approach to release management. The upgrade comes with built-in backward compatibility, which allows for a seamless process. The experience is improved in the following iteration, bringing it into line with previous website upgrades. CIGNEX has a team of 100+ Drupal developers including Drupal 9 certified developers who have experience of seamlessly upgrading any portal built on previous Drupal versions to Drupal 9. For information about migration to Drupal 9, contact us here.