Step-by-Step Guideline to Upgrade Your Website from Drupal 7 to Drupal 8

Drupal 7 to Drupal 8 migration is something that can help your business in different ways. Several improvements with a fully revamped architecture impressed whole of the developer community when the Drupal 8 version was released.

Since then, the CMS kept rapidly improving with performance, accessibility, better admin usability, third-party integration, multi-language, and other most advanced web practices. You might be interested in upgrade Drupal 7 to 8, but there is something stopping you. In this blog, we will clear all your doubts for better understanding and smooth upgrade work.

Benefits of Drupal 8 Upgrade

·       It is simple to build mobile-friendly websites with Drupal 8 as it is mobile-responsive.

·       Drupal 8 modules support over 100 languages in addition to the RTL text direction, which helps in expanding website’s global reach.

·       Implementation of the BigPipe technology has improved front-end performance and loading speed because of caching modules.

·       Drupal 8 download permits set-up of multiple sites with one database. It has built-in web-services, hence your website can integrate multiple number of applications.

·       Content creation and management are easy with Drupal 8 upgrade as it integrates the WYSIWYG editor at its core.

·       Improved SEO rankings with Drupal 8 installation as it supports HTML5 that has a cleaner structure with new semantic elements.

·       It guides you to engage more users by adhering to web accessibility standards. It uses WAI-ARIA practices, underlined links, improved contrasts, HTML5, and mandates ALT text for image descriptions and more to address web accessibility.

·       Drupal 8 themes is meet customer expectations as it offers user-friendly content creation and a streamlined interface.

Steps to Upgrade Drupal 7 to 8

Let us begin with the configuration method.

1. Back-up your Website

Indeed, before we begin the Drupal upgrade and migration, make sure about the local version of your website. The team of Drupal Website Developers don’t suggest making changes to the live site without a back-up. Thus, following the best practices, save all your data by locally backing-up your website on the machine.

2. Install Fresh Drupal 8 Website

After the primary step, open the official Drupal website, and download the latest Drupal 8 version.

3. Prepare for Migration

Save the new Drupal site on your local environment, as this will be your destination for the Drupal 8 migration work.

4. Enable the Core Modules

Navigate to the ‘Extend’ tab of the website and ensure that these three modules are enabled on your Drupal website core section: Migrate, Migrate Drupal, and Migrate Drupal UI.

·       Content migration becomes simple with the flexible framework provided by the Migrate module Drupal 7 to 8.

·       The Drupal module provides the features to import content from Drupal 7 to Drupal 8 upgrade.

·       The Migrate Drupal UI offers a user-interface to migrate from the older versions of Drupal.

Once modules are verified, click the install button at the page-bottom.

5. Continue Upgrading the Website

Navigate to the upgrade path, once the migration modules are activated. You need to go to www.example.com/upgrade, where you got to replace ‘example’ with your website name. Go through the instructions on the page, run them, and then move ahead by clicking- Continue.

6. Enter Credentials

The next step involves adding website details including database locations, website files location, and your website credentials.

7. Start to Migrate Files from Drupal 7 to Drupal 8

Upgrade your credentials correctly to redirect to the review page, which includes the summary of all the installed and missing modules on old site. You must properly decide regarding which modules are important to you, download the missing ones, and then move ahead by selecting “Perform Upgrade”. Depending on the website size, the upgrade will take some time. In case of any bugs, you can reload the page.

Wrapping Up:

To sum it all, the key objective to achieve this simple transition to Drupal 8 CMS is to build a relevant migration plan with proper deadlines and secure from any unnecessary hassle. Reach out to experience Drupal Development Company or hire Drupal developer working with top-rated enterprises to help migrate website to Drupal 8 for an improved user experience.