Upgrading from legacy Drupal
From older versions 6 and 7
Similar upgrade processes for older distributions
In short: anything is possible, and the journeys have a lot in common.
The biggest differentiator will be the complexity of your site and its various extras, customisations and processes.
We'll work with you to develop and refine estimates, then carry out the upgrade with minimal interruption to your site.
You’re acutely aware that you’re on an older (legacy?!) version of Drupal, and have stayed for important reasons. The options haven't been attractive, but now you're having a harder look.
The upgrade process, as you likely already know, is a full rebuild - much the same as any other new Drupal site build, with a content & data migration if desired.
A rebuild is great opportunity to: (with budgetary approval!)
- refresh the site design UX and Design for Drupal
- review which functionality is actually used
- review all your site content, content, revisions and products
We recognise that the primary blockers for this upgrade process are either budget constraints, or the size and risk of rebuilding a longstanding and complex site. As mentioned in the EDF Energy Case Study, we can help you with:
- assessing which functionality is worth rebuilding, based on balanced, pragmatic reviews of the complexity involved and the importance to your customer journey
- redesigning site architecture for improved performance, faster build time or reduced complexity, where possible
From Drupal 7
If you’re still on Drupal 7, you’ve held out for quite some time! Whilst there are options for security support beyond End Of Life in Q1 2025, few are intending to continue much beyond a couple of years.
It really is time to look seriously through your upgrade options.
We have helped many clients upgrade from Drupal 7 to latest Drupal (9 or 10), and would be happy to chat through the process with you. Below we have an outline of the key tasks in a D7-10 migration.
From Drupal 6
Upgrading from Drupal 6 to the latest Drupal is absolutely possible - it is still specifically supported (see here).
A D6 site by this time likely has a lot of custom functionality and tweaks. We’ll work with you to peel back the layers and ensure we get all the most important functionality and tweaks into your new site.
Why should I upgrade?
If you're unsure of the upgrade benefits, or wary of the costs, we recommend reading our guide.
Migrating older sites to Drupal 10 involves:
1. Building an understanding of your existing site(s), data, functionality and infrastructure
A series of discovery conversations and investigations help us get up to speed on what we're working with and what we're working towards.
2. Designing the new Drupal 10 site, theme, functionality and content plan
With your business goals in mind, we work on outline solutions for key aspects of the project.
3. Developing an overall project plan and an estimate
Together we review the different aspects of the project and discuss the resulting timeline and cost estimates.
4. Constructing the new D10 site
Build time! Our team get to work on your site, and regular check-ins ensure you're aware of how things are progressing - and involved appropriately in technical discussions that arise.
5. Composing and running a data migration between the old and new sites
If you're bringing your data or content with you, we'll need to migrate it from the old site to the new. Once built, the migration automatically imports and upgrades your content. A trial run allows you to confirm that everything works as expected.
All this is supported by our flexible outlook and strengths in confident project management
Case Study
Find out how we built not just one but six websites for EDF Energy, migrated their existing content into place, and achieved a seamless transition.
Over the years we have taken some of our clients through from Drupal 4 to current latest Drupal, stopping at each version along the way. So we can really do migrations!
Having taken many of our clients through the 7-10 upgrade recently, we are well familiarised with the Migrate API and the many supporting modules and tools.
Still unsure?
See our comprehensive review of the major reasons people hold back on their Drupal upgrades, and the business benefits that can result from following through sooner rather than later.