Drupal 7 End of Life Date

The majority of our clients’ systems are built using a content management software called Drupal. Drupal has been updated, so the latest version available to use is Drupal 10. We have already migrated the majority of our clients’ systems from earlier versions (Drupal 7, 8 or 9) to Drupal 10. The Drupal 7’s end-of-life date, that is the last day of official support and security updates for Drupal 7 ends, is Sunday 5th January 2025. Drupal 8 and 9 are also no longer supported.

There are obviously costs and developer time involved with migrating from an older Drupal version to Drupal 10. Although Drupal 7 will still technically work after the 5th January 2025, If your organisation is using Drupal 7, 8 or 9 and have decided not to migrate to Drupal 10, you will need to be are of the implications of choosing this option. The most important issue will be the lack of security updates issued after this date, and we are advising clients in this situation to ensure that board members and senior management teams are aware of this decision and the implications.

So, what does End-of-Life mean?
As with other software, when any major new version is launched, it is prioritised over any other, earlier versions, meaning new features and security measures are more inclined to come with the new upgrade. As a consequence, the ‘shelf-life’ of the previous versions get an expiration date, which is what is happening with Drupal. This does not mean that those earlier versions cease to exist or work altogether. It means that after the end of life date, the version it is associated with will stop getting official support and bug fixes and security updates won’t happen, as the focus and resources will have shifted onto the newer version.

Also, at some point in future, we at Northbridge Digital will cease to work on Drupal 7 sites, due to the lack of comprehensive security support available for our clients from Drupal and the Drupal community.

For more information on what Drupal is, see here: https://northbridgedigital.co.uk/what-is-drupal/

What’s the difference between Drupal 7 and Drupal 10?
Drupal 10 was released in December 2022 and saw over 200 new features and security upgrades added. Drupal 10 is recommended due to it being a major update to a modern content management system. This upgrade is the most innovative and user-friendly version of Drupal yet, especially as it provides some cutting-edge improvements for site builders and developers.

Your Drupal 7 site is still working, so why do you need to upgrade now or at all?

Below are some reasons that will help you make your decision.

After the 5th January 2025 date, Drupal 7 will become unsupported by Drupal and the Drupal community and will no longer receive security updates. Your data will potentially become insecure. 

A More Secure CMS in Drupal 10.
A Content Management System (CMS) is software that helps organizations with creating and modifying their website content. Thousands of Drupal community members are continuously testing the Drupal platform, which keeps it extremely secure and makes it the CMS of choice when it comes to managing large amounts of highly structured data.
A large number of high-profile businesses, as well as many national governments, and NGOs like the UN, have chosen to use Drupal, because of its reputation for safety and security.

Built-in layout tools in Drupal 10.
Drupal’s Layout Builder now allows content editors to easily build and modify pages visually using drag-and-drop, meaning website content editors will now have the ability to manage many layout management needs themselves without relying on developers. This unique tool caters to layouts for templated content and customisation of templated layouts.

More effective mobile responsiveness in Drupal 10.
Being mobile responsive is highly important for user experience and accessibility. With Drupal 10, each view has been thoughtfully designed to keep mobile accessibility in mind.

Built-in HTML5 support in Drupal 10.
Drupal 10 now leverages HTML5 to provide additional support for libraries, accessibility enhancements, and enhanced base themes. For example, the simpler HTML5 base theme allows users to develop a single-page website quicker as it provides a cleaner and simplified code and file structure.

Improved performance.
Website performance refers to how quickly a website loads on a web browser, as well as the quality of the website’s usability, interactivity, and reliability. Website performance really is key to an organisation’s success. Nobody enjoys a website that is slow to load, and websites with better performance have improved SEO, conversion rates and provide an overall better user experience. Drupal 10 comes with enhanced performance results, which can be seen with the newer and quicker CMS release. Additional key contributors to improved performance in Drupal 10 are the upgrades in Symfony and Twig. Twig is the new theme engine, which is 15% faster than the one used in Drupal 8.

Built-in media library.
The new Drupal 10 Media Library is a media management tool that enables users to easily upload, search, and insert documents, videos, and images to your site. Media types that are available to import are as follows:
• File: txt, doc, docx, pdf, xlsx, zip
• Image: png, gif, jpg, jpeg
• Video File: can be imported from YouTube or Vimeo
The enhanced media library makes it much easier to find existing media items, which is especially useful and time-saving for websites that have a large amount of content.

Better user experience all-round.
With Drupal 10, there have been many improvements made to the overall user experience. For example, one focus has been to improve user experience for first-time admin users, which will make it easier for first time users to experience Drupal in a context that is applicable to them. The Drupal admin theme has been inspired by Material Design, which was created by Google. Material Design improves the user experience, as it standardizes everything and makes content more accessible.

A final message from Northbridge Digital.
An upgrade from Drupal 7 to 10 is a significant undertaking and will require time, resources and expertise to make it happen whilst enabling your existing CiviCRM activity to continue.
Upgrading to Drupal 10 from your current Drupal 7 site will help to future-proof your website and provide the necessary standards of security that you,  we and your clients expect. Northbridge Digital has extensive experience and knowledge of working with Drupal-based systems and associated CiviCRMs for more than over 12 years and have already managed the move from Drupal 7 to Drupal 10 for many of our clients. For an informal discussion about your site and a move to Drupal 10, please get in touch.