Drupal Migration

Drupal 7 to Drupal 11 Migration Plan¶

Project Overview¶

The migration from Drupal 7 to Drupal 11 is a significant upgrade that requires careful planning and execution. With Drupal 7 reaching its End-of-Life, this upgrade becomes essential for security and maintainability reasons.

Current System State¶

Installed Modules¶

The system includes multiple enabled modules, with core components being: - Commerce ecosystem (e-commerce platform) - Custom modules (business logic) - Multilingual system (multilingual support) - SEO & marketing tools

Content Types¶

Multiple content types (including Commerce products)
Several taxonomy vocabularies (many with custom fields)

Theme¶

Custom theme
Responsive design
E-commerce integrations

Migration Strategy¶

1. Analysis & Preparation¶

Complete inventory of all modules and dependencies
Analysis of custom functionality in existing modules
Evaluation of theme requirements and responsive design
Full system and database backup

2. New Environment Development¶

Set up new Drupal 11 environment
Install and configure Commerce
Convert theme to Twig and modern standards
Configure multilingual system

3. Data Migration¶

4. New Functionality Development¶

Rebuild custom modules
Integrate with new Commerce API
Implement new features and improvements

5. Testing and Execution¶

Functional testing of all features
Performance testing
User acceptance testing (UAT)
Final migration and go-live

Special Challenges and Considerations¶

User Migration¶

Transfer all user accounts and profiles
Preserve passwords (requires special preparation)
Migrate user roles and permissions
Maintain user references in orders and content

Rules Migration¶

Drupal 7 Rules are not compatible with Drupal 11
Required reimplementation using:
Core Actions and Triggers
Commerce Conditions
Custom event subscribers
Workflow modules

Order Migration¶

The most complex aspect of the migration

Requires custom migration scripts

Must preserve:
Order IDs and timestamps
Product references
Customer data
Payment information
Order status history

Integration with new Commerce order system

Theme Migration¶

Complete rewrite from PHPTemplate to Twig
Replace theme dependencies
Update JavaScript (jQuery → modern ES6+)
Responsive redesign and accessibility improvements

Time Estimation¶

Section	Complexity	Estimated Time
Preparation & Analysis	Medium	Several weeks
Development Environment	Low	1-2 weeks
Content Migration	Medium	Several weeks
Commerce Data Migration	Very High	Several weeks
Theme Migration	High	Several weeks
Custom Modules Development	Very High	Several weeks
Testing & Optimization	Medium	Several weeks

Total estimated time: Depends on project complexity

Recommendations¶

Immediate Actions¶

Disable new feature development in Drupal 7 during the migration process to avoid constant "shifting the goalposts" and facilitate data migration.
Gather all requirements from stakeholders
Select development team with Drupal 11 expertise
Set up development and staging environments

Critical Focus Areas¶

Commerce data integrity during migration
User password migration planning
Custom functionality redevelopment
Performance optimization in the new environment
Comprehensive testing strategy

Long-term Planning¶

Training for content editors on the new system
Documentation of all custom features
Maintenance plan for the Drupal 11 site
Budget planning for ongoing development

Conclusion¶

The migration from Drupal 7 to Drupal 11 is a complex project requiring significant technical resources and careful planning. Successful execution will ensure: - Improved security and performance - Modern technology and extensibility - Better user experience and content management - Reduced maintenance costs long-term

The key to success lies in a phased approach, thorough testing, and collaboration between technical and business teams.

Get Started¶

Ready to start your Drupal migration? Contact us today to schedule a consultation and learn how we can help with your Drupal 7 to 11 migration project.

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