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Jan 03 2024
Jan 03

Over the past 12 months, our teams have completed numerous Drupal upgrades. We would like to share our experiences and knowledge with anyone who has yet to undergo this process to help make it smoother for you.

Drupal Core Major Upgrades Blog 1

Background

From Drupal 8, upgrades became a lot easier with several tools to semi-automate the process.

In addition, if you, like CTI Digital, have a number of sites to upgrade and different developers working on each of them, you could easily duplicate effort as many contributed modules are used in most sites - e.g. Webforms and Paragraphs, just to name two. Therefore, this article also contains the approach that CTI Digital took in managing the latest upgrades to Drupal 10 of around 50 sites (some still on Drupal 8) to ensure knowledge transfer within the team.

This article looks at the tools available and the lessons we learned.

Why is it easier since Drupal 8

The approach taken by the Drupal core team with Drupal 8+ has made things a lot easier. That approach is to deprecate hook functions, classes, class methods, etc., while introducing their replacements. Then, a list of deprecated features that will be removed in the next major version is produced and fixed at a specified minor version of the current Drupal major version (8.9 for D8 and 9.5 for D9). Drupal's main dependency, Symfony, takes the same approach.

This approach clarifies what is deprecated in Integrated Development Editors (IDEs) and allows various tools to semi-automate the process. It enables them to find deprecated code, advise on what changes are needed and even make many of them. Finally, the Drupal CI systems automatically run tools to spot deprecated code on contributed modules and produce patches, which are then attached to a new issue created for each module. These can then be tested, modified and approved by the community.

Tools 

So, what are these tools? There are command line tools for picking up and making changes, but there are also contributed modules (often using those command line tools). The ones we at CTI Digital found useful are listed here.

The three tools we used are:

PHP Codesniffer - a tool to find code issues by rule; in this case, PHP 8.1 compatibility

Drupal Core Major Upgrades Blog 2

Upgrade Status

This is the first one that should be installed on a development copy of each site to identify the work that needs to be done. It is a contrib module that can be installed with composer:

composer require drupal/upgrade_status

This tool provides a report through your site's UI (Reports/Upgrade status admin/reports/upgrade-status). This report details everything you need to do - down to lines of code that need changing per module or theme. This detail includes what to change each line to and if Rector - see next section - can make the change automatically.

It will tell you the following: 

  1. Environmental factors - such as PHP, database and Drush versions required. For Drupal 10 it will also include a list of invalid permissions and deprecated core modules that you have installed

  2. Modules/themes that are not installed

  3. Contributed modules/themes that have an upgrade available (including if that is compatible)

  4. Contributed modules/themes that have nothing available (with a link to an issue queue search for issues containing the text ‘Drupal 10’)

  5. Modules/themes that have changes that could be made by Rector

  6. Modules/themes that have changes that need to be fixed manually

Each module/theme can be scanned for detailed depreciations, which will also categorise each as one that can be done with Rector or one that needs to be done manually. This can be run where there is not a compatible version or patch already available.

For all contributed modules/themes, you have the following options:

  • Upgrade to a more recent version

  • Apply a readily available patch on its issue queue

  • Upgrade and patch

  • Write a patch from scratch (using Rector where possible)

  • Remove an unused module/theme from the code

  • Replace the module/theme

    It should be noted that removing or replacing a module/theme that is currently installed requires two deployments. The first uninstalls the module/theme, and the second removes it from the code base. If you do both in one go, you will get issues with Drush commands in the deployment.

Drupal Rector

This command line tool can automatically make many of the necessary changes. It can be installed in a project with:

composer require palantirnet/drupal-rector --dev

Then, a file called rector.php needs to be copied from the vendor/palantirnet/drupal-rector folder to the Drupal root directory (web in the examples here).

You can then run this tool on any module/theme with:

vendor/bin/rector process web/[modules or themes]/[SUB_FOLDER]/[YOUR_MODULE] --dry-run

This will find what needs to be changed, and if you are happy with the changes, removing the –dry-run option will, of course, allow it to do its thing.</span>

PHP Codesniffer

This command line tool is not specific to Drupal core upgrades. It looks for particular code patterns, and you can install add-ons to look for anything, including PHP versions. Since Drupal upgrades often include PHP upgrades, it is at least worth running this tool on all custom code.

In order to test for PHP 8.1 ( required for Drupal 10), the following will install the tools you need:

composer require --dev phpcsstandards/phpcsutils:"^1.0@dev"

composer require --dev phpcompatibility/php-compatibility:dev-develop

You can confirm that this worked by running:

vendor/bin/phpcs -i

This command will list what sniffs are installed and will include PHPCompatibility.

Then the following can be run to test all your custom modules:

vendor/bin/phpcs -p web/modules/custom --standard=PHPCompatibility --runtime-set testVersion 8.1 --extensions='php, module,inc,install,theme'

This will test for PHP 8.1 compatibility, specifically in all PHP code files. You can do the same for any custom themes.

Drupal Core Major Upgrades Blog 3

Deprecations not spotted by the tools

There are some deprecations that the tools do not spot. They are services, libraries and hook functions. In the case of services, these are the calls to \Drupal::service(''). If this call is assigned to a variable and that variable is given the relevant class (/* @var */), then that class will also be deprecated and picked up. Also, if you inject a service into a class, the service's related class will be picked up.

The only solution we found was to create a text file with one service, library or hook function per line and use grep to search the custom code:

grep -r -f [textfile] web/modules/custom

And the same for custom themes.

The upgrade steps

Apart from upgrading and patching contrib modules and themes, fixing custom modules and themes, and removing unused code, there are two extra steps for D9 to D10 upgrades.
The first is to fix an old issue of invalid permissions. In D8, modules/themes were not required to delete permission allocations to user roles when they deleted a permission that they created. One of the minor versions of D9 firmed this up, and a core database update removed any such orphans. However, this did not always work, and the Upgrade status report lists the user roles with non-existent permissions that must be deleted - manually from the configuration yml files.

The second is core modules and themes that have been deprecated and are being deleted from D10. The Upgrade status report will list the core modules and themes the site uses. All of these have a contributed version that can be added to a project if needed. Detailed recommendations are also available here.

The final upgrade to core

This should simply be a case of running the Composer command once everything else is done:

composer require drupal/core-* –with-all-dependencies

This presupposes that the site is built with the standard drupal/core-recommended and related packages.

However, you will often find that Composer finds some requirements clashing with D10 or its dependencies.

The main reason is that a module/theme is patched to D10, including the change to the info.yml file's core_version_requirement and the composer.json file. Composer will have an issue with this. This is because Composer is using the files in the repository to determine compatibility, not the patch file changes. However, there is a solution with 'lenient'. This Composer add-on allows you to ask Composer to be lenient on the constraints of individual packages.

The command to add the lenient package to the site is:

composer require mglaman/composer-drupal-lenient

The command to add a list of modules and themes to the allowed list is:

composer config --merge --json extra.drupal-lenient.allowed-list '["drupal/YOUR_MODULE1", "drupal/YOUR_MODULE2" …]'

In addition, some projects have drupal-composer/drupal-scaffold as a dependency. This is deprecated, and you will get a notice about that. It is to be replaced with drupal/core-composer-scaffold. Finally drupal/console is incompatible with D10 and needs to be removed.

Managing upgrades for a large number of sites

As mentioned at the top of this article, there could be a lot of duplicate effort and different approaches taken if steps are not taken to organise the upgrade of a large number of sites.

The solution we at CTI Digital came up with is simply maintaining a spreadsheet of information about contributed modules/themes. This would contain recommendations (version, available patches) and any complications or special instructions associated with that module or theme's upgrade, etc. It is maintained as more sites are audited and then upgraded with findings as we go to assist later sites. This can also be applied to any custom modules/themes that are shared with more than one site.

As each site is audited for the effort required, the spreadsheet is referred to and added to so that effort is not duplicated and the spreadsheet is kept up to date with findings from each site. Also, any approaches that should be followed on all sites are kept here - e.g. we replaced all sites using Swiftmailer with Symfony Mailer for mail management.

The other primary approach was to consolidate effort patching contributed modules/themes that are not ready. CTI Digital's work to improve a contributed module/theme is always contributed back to drupal.org. A link to this new patch is stored in the database for the following site that uses this module/theme.</span>

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What about Drupal 8 to Drupal 10

CTI Digital still had a few sites on Drupal 8, which needed to be upgraded to Drupal 10 rather than two separate upgrades.

There are factors that affect this:

  • Upgrade status will only give what needs to be done to get to D9

  • Drush does not cope with a deployment that goes from 8 to 10 in one go

  • A significant number of contributed modules/themes have versions that are 8 and 9 compatible and versions that are 9 and 10 compatible, rarely one version compatible with 8, 9 and 10

  • A few contributed modules/themes have the newest version drop support of D9

    This means you have to do an 8-9 audit (with the dev copy on D8.9 minimum), upgrade the dev copy to D9 and then do a new audit from 9-10. You will be able to assess the complete upgrade requirement for all the modules/themes identified by the first audit, but the second audit will find modules/themes currently compatible with D9 but not D10 that are missed by the first. The second audit will also supply invalid permissions and core modules/themes that are removed from D10.

    You must also upgrade as two deployments minimum (one to D9 and the second to D10). Some modules/themes will be upgraded in the D8 site before upgrading to D9, and some in the D9 site before upgrading to D10. Some will have to be upgraded twice. Some will need to be upgraded when the site is on D10 (occasionally at the same time as the core upgrade). It will depend upon the module's upgrade path and the version the D8 site is on.

What is next?

You may be wondering if anything can make things easier for D11. Although the overall effort can not be reduced, it can be spread out.

If you regularly upgrade contributed modules and themes to the most recent version, you will reduce the work when it's time to upgrade to D11.

If you also run regular Upgrade Status reports on your D10 site, you can create work dockets for changes to your custom code. It can also be used to identify contributed modules and themes that you use that have not yet been upgraded. You could create work dockets for replacing these modules or contributing patches to upgrade them to D11. These can be spread out between now and the need to upgrade to D11.

The ultimate goal of these approaches is that you only have to upgrade the core when it is time to upgrade to D11.

To get ahead, speak to one of our Drupal experts and book a 30-minute session today to discuss a migration or upgrade for your business. 

Nov 24 2023
Nov 24

As I embarked on a recent journey to enhance the usability of Drupal from the perspective of both site owners and editors, I stumbled upon what could be a game changer for content editors – the "Same Page Preview" module.

This module offers an innovative solution, providing a page preview seamlessly integrated into the editing process. Say goodbye to the hassle of toggling between the edit form and a separate preview window. With the "Same Page Preview" module, it's all about real-time content visualisation and efficiency.

cti Blog Banner

Key Features

Effortless Installation

Setting up the "Same Page Preview" module is a breeze, and it's a matter of a simple checkbox configuration against specific content types.

On-Page Canvas Preview

When adding or editing content, an on-page canvas preview elegantly unfolds. As you interact with the edit form fields, the preview updates in real time, offering an instant, dynamic view of your content.

Custom Display Options

Tailor your preview experience to your liking. Choose to open the display in a new window, view content in full-screen mode, or select your preferred display mode. The module is all about personalising your content editing workflow.

Custom Display Options

Why it matters 

Watch a Short Demo: https://youtu.be/Mh_plCpt1_A


The "Same Page Preview" module has recently received recognition on the Talking Drupal podcast, where its potential was discussed. Furthermore, there's an active issue in the Drupal core ideas project advocating for the inclusion of this module in the Drupal core.


In my opinion, integrating "Same Page Preview" into the Drupal core would be an invaluable asset. I've encountered numerous projects where the concept of in-page content previews has sparked considerable interest and discussion.


Join me in exploring the possibilities that this module brings to the Drupal community and in advocating for its inclusion in the Drupal core. Let's make content editing even more user-friendly and efficient.

Nov 20 2023
Nov 20

CKEditor is a powerful and versatile web-based text editor commonly used in content management systems like Drupal. It empowers content creators and editors with a user-friendly interface for crafting and formatting text, incorporating multimedia elements, and managing a wide range of content types.

CKEditor 5, the latest iteration, introduces a host of major enhancements and new features, from a fresh, modern design to advanced features that streamline content creation and will bring a leap forward in productivity. This new and exciting version of CKEditor comes as part of Drupal 10 out of the box, so provides a great benefit when upgrading your current Drupal site.

In this article, we'll delve into CKEditor 5's impressive capabilities, focusing on its revamped appearance, link management, image handling, table editing, font customisation, HTML embedding, and the exciting premium features it brings to the table. Let's jump in and explore the creative possibilities CKEditor 5 offers for enhancing your digital content.

Header image - Drupal 10 blog

Drag and Drop

CKEditor 5's drag-and-drop feature transforms the content editing experience, providing unparalleled convenience for editors. This functionality allows content editors to effortlessly rearrange text, paragraphs, tables, and lists within the editor, enhancing the fluidity of content composition. The ability to move entire blocks or multiple elements with a simple drag-and-drop action offers a significant time-saving advantage, streamlining the editing process. Moreover, content editors can seamlessly import HTML or plain-text content from external sources, simplifying the integration of images into their work. This feature not only improves efficiency but also empowers editors with greater control and flexibility in crafting visually appealing and well-organised content.

Links

One area that's seen noteworthy improvements is link management. Adding links in CKEditor 5 is now more intuitive and user-friendly, as a convenient pop-up box appears within the WYSIWYG window. This makes the process smoother and faster. These link options can be combined with Drupal’s 'Editor Advanced Link' module, which empowers content creators with the ability to fine-tune their links. With this module, editors can define attributes such as title, CSS classes, IDs, link targets, 'rel' attributes, and ARIA labels, which are essential for providing users who use assistive technology like screen readers meaningful information about the purpose or content of the link. 

These enhancements offer a wealth of customisation options for links, whether it's for accessibility, branding, or precise styling. CKEditor 5 and the 'Editor Advanced Link' module together bring a logical link management experience to Drupal, making the process more efficient and versatile.

Links

Image Handling

Adding images to your content using CKEditor 5 has been given an upgrade thanks to the new drag-and-drop functionality. Users can simply select an image, whether it's from their device or a webpage, and simply drag and drop it into the WYSIWYG window. Once the image is incorporated, you have the option to designate it as decorative (meaning it doesn't add information to the page and, therefore, does not require alt text) or provide the alt text.

Furthermore, you can fine-tune the image presentation by adjusting its alignment and text wrapping options, all conveniently accessible from the image-dedicated balloon toolbar. If you wish to enrich your image with a link or a caption, you can easily achieve this without leaving the image toolbar.

Drupal blog image 2

Links

When you're ready to adjust the image size, CKEditor 5 simplifies the process by allowing you to resize the image directly within the WYSIWYG window. A straightforward corner selection and drag operation lets you customise the image to your desired dimensions.

Moreover, CKEditor 5 integrates with Drupal media. Once the necessary modules are enabled, you'll discover a new button in the text editor toolbar configuration. Add this button to your active toolbar, specify the media types and view modes you want to make available and save your preferences. You can then conveniently add new media files or select from your media library, following the standard workflow you're accustomed to (you are restricted with resizing the image when using the library). CKEditor 5, along with its compatibility with Drupal media, enhances the image management experience, making it a user-friendly and efficient process.

Table Management

Enhancements to table management in CKEditor 5 bring an improved editor experience. While currently requiring a patch to be added to Composer, the effort is undoubtedly worthwhile for those who frequently utilise tables in their content.

You can specify the number of columns and rows and include an optional title for the table. Once your table is set up, a wide array of editing options becomes available, providing greater flexibility and control over table and cell properties. These edits encompass essential functionalities, such as adding or removing columns and rows, merging and splitting cells, and customising styles for both the entire table and individual cells. You can fine-tune text alignment and even introduce background colours to enhance the visual appeal of your tables.

CKEditor 5 also offers the capability to nest tables within the cells of other tables, providing a versatile tool for crafting intricate charts or layouts based on table structures. This feature allows content creators to format the nested table with the same ease and flexibility as a standalone table, enhancing the possibilities for designing complex and well-organised content layouts.

Table Management

These improvements in CKEditor 5 make working with tables more efficient and user-friendly, empowering content creators to present their data and content in a structured and visually appealing manner.

Font Handling

Modify fonts in your content with CKEditor 5. By installing the 'CKEditor Font Size and Family' module, you can unlock a wide range of font and text editing options right on the WYSIWYG screen. With just a few simple configuration tweaks within the text editor, editors gain the ability to not only adjust font sizes and families but also apply text colours and text background colours, enhancing the text's visual appeal and customisation possibilities.

Font Handling

Other Exciting Extensions for CKEditor 5 to Explore

Auto Save

The Autosave feature is a significant enhancement. It automatically saves your data, sending it to the server when necessary, ensuring that your content is safe, even if you forget to hit 'Save.' While it does require installation and some code, the peace of mind it offers is well worth the setup time.

Markdown

With the Markdown plugin, you can switch from the default HTML output to Markdown. This is fantastic for those who prefer a lightweight, developer-friendly formatting syntax. The best part? It's available right out of the box, making content creation more flexible and efficient.

To-Do Lists

CKEditor 5's To-do list feature is a handy addition to your content creation toolkit. It enables you to create interactive checkboxes with labels, supporting all the features of bulleted and numbered lists. You can even nest to-do lists with other list types for a versatile task management experience. While it does require installation, the organisational benefits it brings are worth the minor setup work.

Premium Features

Unleash CKEditor 5's premium features with ease. Install and enable the 'CKEditor 5 Premium Features' module, configure it by adding your licence key, and adjust your text editor's toolbar. Then, you're ready to explore the exceptional features, including track changes, comments, revision history, and real-time collaboration, which enhance collaborative editing, discussions, version control, and harmonious teamwork, streamlining content creation and review for improved efficiency and precision.

Track Changes 

The Track Changes feature brings a dynamic experience to document editing. It automatically marks and suggests changes as you make them. Users can quickly switch to the track changes mode, where all edits generate suggestions that can be reviewed, accepted, discarded, or commented on, enhancing the collaborative editing process.

Revision History

The Revision History feature can be your trusted document versioning companion. It empowers you to manage content development over time with ease. Unlike Drupal's default revision log feature, The preview mode offers a comprehensive view of content changes and the contributors behind them, all within the editor. Users can compare and restore previous document versions.

Comments

With the Comments feature, users can annotate specific sections of content, whether it's text or block elements like images. It facilitates threaded discussions and provides the flexibility to remove comments once discussions are concluded, fostering effective collaboration and feedback.

Real-Time Collaboration

Real-Time Collaboration enables multiple authors to work concurrently on the same rich text document. Additionally, it provides a user presence list, offering a live view of active participants in the document. While other collaboration features can be used asynchronously, real-time collaboration allows for instantaneous teamwork.

Import Word/Export Word and PDF

Import word/Export word/& PDF:  When installed, the module allows for the easy importing and exporting of the above formats. While the export functionality is fully stable in CKeditor, the converters are considered experimental for Drupal at this time. The import of .docx & .dotx files will retain the formatting, comments and even track changes. 

Notification System

Alongside these collaboration features, CKEditor will be introducing a new notification system to keep editors and writers well-informed about the content's status. Stay up-to-date with real-time notifications, ensuring a smoother editorial workflow.

Productivity Pack

The Productivity Pack is a bundle of Premium features which make document editing faster, easier, and more efficient.


The Productivity Pack features include:

  • Templates allow you to create and insert predefined content structures into the editor, saving time and ensuring consistency in the content display.

  • Slash Commands lets you execute actions using the / key as well as create your own custom actions. This can help to streamline content creation, reducing navigation through the editor options and saving time.

  • Document Outline adds an automatic outline of the document headings in a sidebar to help navigate the document.

  • Table of contents inserts a linked table of contents into the document, which automatically updates as headings are added and will be retained in the editor output data.

  • Format Painter copies text formatting and styles and applies it to a different part of the content. This helps to ensure consistent formatting across the content, saves editor time and contributes to a more professional appearance.

  • Paste from Office Enhanced provides error-free copy-pasting from MS Word and Excel. Formatted text, complex tables, media, and layouts are retained – turning MS Office content into clean HTML.

The module also provides a Full-screen plugin that maximises the editing area which is very useful when using the premium features such as comments and Document outline as they take up extra space around the editor.

Demos of these CKEditor 5 features are available from links within the module project page. There are many other non-premium and premium features that can be installed outside of the Drupal module with some developer involvement, which can be found here.

Conclusion 

In this article, we've explored CKEditor 5's significant enhancements for content creators and editors in Drupal 10. CKEditor 5 offers improved link management, effortless image handling, streamlined table editing, versatile font customisation, and simplified HTML embedding. We've also touched on exciting extensions that enhance your content creation process.

Furthermore, CKEditor 5's premium features, like Track Changes, Revision History, Comments, Real-Time Collaboration, Import/Export for Word and PDF, Notification System, and the Productivity Pack, bring advanced capabilities for collaborative editing and efficient content creation.

As you dive into CKEditor 5's features, we encourage you to explore further and experience the benefits firsthand. It's a game-changer for content editing and collaboration in Drupal 10. Unleash your creativity and discover a more efficient and professional content editing experience with CKEditor 5.

Oct 20 2023
Oct 20

DrupalCon is the annual gathering of leaders in Drupal to meet, share knowledge, discuss the project roadmap, and work directly on progressing the development of Drupal Core at daily contribution events. On Friday 20th October, there is a huge Code Sprint where 100’s of Drupal Developers will make huge strides in progressing major initiatives.

We spoke to our Drupal Director, Paul Johnson, to find out more about the event, what he learned and how his talk went.

Visit Britain Digital Experience Platform at DrupalCon Lille

Photo credit - Mike Gilford

How did your talk go?

Together with Marie Orpen, Visit Britain's Head of Digital, I presented how CTI Digital is playing a central role in digital transformation across the organisation. The session focussed on how we led an extensive Discovery Phase and revealed what process and techniques we used to gather a body of knowledge to support decision-making by Visit Britain, leading to significant change in both public-facing websites, operating models and ways of working.

cti Blog Banner-2

Photo credit - Mike Gilford

If you would like to take a look through Paul's presentation during the talk, click here.

What were the key findings from the talks you attended?

Much like GDPR and accessibility legislation that came before them, new UK and EU legislation relating to carbon impact reports by businesses are on the near horizon. They must be on your agenda. 

At the DrupalCon 2 sessions we attended, we were provided with valuable knowledge transfer to complement our existing expertise in the subject.

In the UK, Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) and EU the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) are set to arrive in 2024. They will introduce mandatory reporting of carbon emissions and tracking of improvements to the footprint.

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At both the infrastructure and software application levels, there are measures which can be taken to significantly reduce the carbon impact of digital services. The key first step in the journey to compliance with these legislations is the measurement of the current situation.

Our partner Platform.sh presented work they are undertaking together with Nestle to accurately track and report the carbon impact of Nestle’s Drupal applications and hosting infrastructure. Detailing the tools and techniques their enterprise uses to benchmark and track improvements, and how measures they have taken, such as moving hosting to countries drawing from carbon-neutral energy to performance optimisation in the application layer, are all lessons we can learn from.

Moving to green data centres brings the greatest benefit. A shift from Ireland to Sweden brings an 80% reduction in carbon footprint. Whilst essential, adapting the application layer yields far smaller benefits. However, a combination of these measures brings a significant benefit to the environment.

In a related session, Janne Kalliola signposted wider industry research, including findings from the University of Beira Interior in Portugal, concluding that there is a strong or very strong correlation between (software) execution time and energy consumption. All website owners need to begin to place greater emphasis upon and invest in web application performance and optimisation.

Of great concern and emphasising the importance of optimisation initiatives is that currently, global energy demand is growing faster than the production of green energy.

Our Drupal Director, Paul Johnson, talks at DrupalCon Lille 2023


"The ICT sector accounts for 4-10% of the world's energy consumption and it's growing" - Janne Kalliola

How are we adopting what you learned?

CTI Digital is starting to work with existing clients and will make available consultancy services to help organisations prepare for the new legislation.

If your organisation is approaching a digital transformation, why not get in touch with our experts today!

Aug 10 2023
Aug 10

We have fantastic news to share! Drupal developer, Viktor Tamas, has recently passed the Acquia Certified Site Builder exam for Drupal 10. This achievement is a testament to our team's commitment to learning, strengthening our capabilities while providing great promise for our clients.

Drupal developer, Viktor, now certified with Acquia's Drupal 10 site builder certification

What is the Acquia Certified Site Builder Exam?

The Acquia Certified Site Builder assessment is a thorough evaluation crafted to measure a developer's ability to build, manage and maintain websites through the application of Drupal's content management system. This certification acknowledges those who have showcased their expertise in Drupal's fundamental principles, methodologies, and technological proficiencies.

How will our clients benefit from Acquia’s Drupal 10 site builder certification?

Viktor's achievement in obtaining the Acquia Certified Site Builder credential has many benefits for our client's projects and digital experiences:

Strengthened Expertise: Our team's expertise in Drupal website development is further validated with a certified Acquia developer. Clients can rely on our skills and knowledge, ensuring that their projects are in capable hands.

Quality Assurance: The certification process is comprehensive, covering a wide range of Drupal-related topics. Our certified developer has gained an in-depth understanding of security considerations, best practices, and effective site-building techniques. This translates to higher quality websites for our clients.

Efficiency and Innovation: Acquiring the certified site builder credential involves staying up-to-date with the latest Drupal advancements and features. Our commitment to continuous learning and staying current with industry trends means that clients will benefit from the latest tools and technologies available, ensuring their websites remain modern and innovative

Problem Solving: The certification process involves tackling real-world scenarios and challenges faced during website development. Our ability to navigate and overcome these challenges demonstrates a capacity for creative problem-solving, which directly benefits our clients by ensuring smooth project execution.

Customised Solutions: With an Acquia Certified Site Builder on our team, we are better equipped to understand our client's unique requirements and customise solutions that align with their goals. This personalised approach ensures that each project is finely tuned to deliver the desired outcomes.

Our team's commitment to excellence and client satisfaction is highlighted by Viktor's achievement. With this certification, we are poised to deliver even higher quality, innovative, and tailored solutions that meet and exceed our client's expectations. We are thrilled to see the positive impact this accomplishment will have on our projects and the lasting benefits it will provide to our valued clients.


To find out more about Drupal 10 and what benefits it can bring to your business - read our blog on everything you need to know about Drupal 10 today.

Jun 09 2023
Jun 09

Extended End-of-Life Timeline for Drupal 7

We have important news to share regarding the end-of-life timeline for Drupal 7. Previously, Drupal announced an extension until 1 November 2023. However, we are delighted to announce that the final date for Drupal 7's end of life has been further extended to 5 January 2025.

With this end of life extension, the Drupal Security Team is making adjustments to the level of support provided. As a trusted Drupal partner, we are here to assist you throughout this transition. It's essential to note that this will be the last extension, so it is vital to plan your migration strategy appropriately.

Drupal 7 End of Life Date Extended to 5 January 2025

To ensure a simple transition, we want to highlight a few key points about the end of life extension:

Reduced support for moderately critical Drupal 7 issues

Starting from 1 August 2023, the Drupal Security Team may publicly post moderately critical and less critical issues that affect Drupal 7, as long as they are not mass-exploitable. This change will not impact Drupal 9 and newer versions. If a security issue affects both Drupal 7 and a newer version, the Drupal 7 issue may be made public without a corresponding fix.

Drupal 7 branches of unsupported modules no longer eligible for new maintainership

After 1 August 2023, unsupported Drupal 7 module branches will no longer be eligible for new maintainership. If you rely on Drupal 7 modules, we strongly encourage you to proactively adopt and support these modules to ensure their continued functionality. The Drupal Security Team will not issue security advisories for any unsupported libraries that Drupal 7 contributed modules depend on, including CKEditor 4.

PHP 5.5 and below will no longer be supported

Starting from 1 August 2023, Drupal 7 will no longer support PHP versions lower than 5.6. Drupal may provide further updates regarding the minimum PHP requirement before Drupal 7's end of life.

Security fixes for Drupal 7 Windows-only issues

From 1 August 2023, security fixes for Drupal 7 Windows-only issues will no longer be provided. If you are running a Drupal 7 site on Windows, we recommend considering migrating to another operating system or hosting provider.

Changes to Drupal.org services for Drupal 7

As of 1 August 2023, Drupal.org will no longer package Drupal 7 distributions with Drush make files. However, you can still build distributions locally using Drush make.

What does the Drupal 7 End of Life mean for you?

As we approach Drupal 7's end of life, it's vital to understand how the end of life will impact you:

  • The Drupal Security Team will no longer provide support or Security Advisories for Drupal 7 core and contributed modules. Public disclosure of security issues and zero-day vulnerabilities may occur.
  • Drupal.org will no longer offer support for Drupal 7-related tasks, including documentation navigation, automated testing, and packaging.
  • Drupal 7-compatible releases on project pages will be flagged as unsupported.
  • Certain Drush functionalities for Drupal 7 will no longer work due to changes in the Drupal.org infrastructure.
  • Drupal.org file archive packaging (tar and zip files) for Drupal 7 will be discontinued, and the archives may eventually be removed.
  • There will be no more core commits on Drupal core 7.x, and downloadable package tarballs may no longer be available.
  • External vulnerability scans will identify Drupal 7 as insecure.

If you are currently maintaining a Drupal 7 site, we strongly recommend initiating a migration to Drupal 10 before the end of life date. Our expert team is here to guide you through the migration process, ensuring a seamless transition.

If you are considering upgrading your website to Drupal 10, contact our team of dedicated Drupal developers for specialist support.

May 22 2023
May 22

When it comes to upgrading your website, the decision is never taken lightly. 

It's a process that demands considerable effort, time, and money.

Whether aiming to boost your CMS platform's performance or enhance the user experience, making sure you choose the upgrade that delivers the greatest value for your investment is crucial.

We understand this better than anyone else as one of Europe's most experienced Drupal development agencies. Our expertise in Drupal allows us to streamline the installation process, getting you started on your priority features quickly and cost-effectively.

But that's not all. We've developed something truly special: Drupal Accelerator. 

This innovative tool is designed to fast-track the installation of Drupal, providing you with a cost-effective package to create highly effective and efficient content and marketing websites. It harnesses the power of commonly used, ready-to-go features and functionalities, making it the perfect solution to fast-track the build and focus on your specific needs.

people using computer

What is Drupal Accelerator?

Drawing from our extensive experience, we have harnessed the key elements of successful websites and integrated them into our advanced Drupal accelerator. This cutting-edge platform empowers our clients to effortlessly uphold efficient, high-performance, and accessible websites without reinventing the wheel.

Our accelerator is the product of years of investment in research and development, based on two decades of experience delivering projects for clients. Since 2020, we've distilled all that knowledge into a powerful package.

The beauty of our Drupal Accelerator is that it significantly reduces implementation timescales and brings cost efficiencies. By using it, you'll have more budget available for the custom development of specific requirements without compromising fundamental best practices.

With Drupal Accelerator, you'll no longer need to deliver functional requirements on a project-by-project basis. Instead, it elevates every organisation's starting point in a website build, removing the need to set up each website's features from scratch. This leaves more time to prioritise functionality which is specific to your needs, so you can get your website up and running quickly and efficiently.

Some of these features include:

  • Page components include page headers, banners, media players and inline forms.
  • SEO optimisation, including Google Tag Manager and Analytics
  • GDPR tools
  • Responsible, accessibility-compliant design
  • Inbuilt accessibility-checking tools
  • Drag and drop interfaces, content scheduling and editorial workflows

How can we maintain our competitive edge if every website uses Drupal Accelerator?

With Drupal Accelerator as the springboard, every organisation has the opportunity to unleash their creativity and build out unique features and requirements that give their website a true competitive advantage.

Here's the exciting part: Drupal Accelerator itself doesn't directly provide a competitive edge. Instead, it is the powerful platform that enables you to allocate your budget strategically, investing it where it matters most to create that winning edge.

By leveraging Drupal Accelerator, you free up resources that would otherwise be spent on basic setup and implementation. This means you can allocate those saved funds towards customising your website, developing cutting-edge functionalities, and implementing innovative ideas that set you apart from the competition.

Drupal Accelerator empowers you to unleash your creativity and focus on building the features that will truly make your website shine. It's not just a tool—it's the launchpad that propels you towards your unique competitive advantage.

How to accelerate your Drupal Build

Revolutionising Drupal development: embracing efficiency and minimising risk with Drupal Accelerator

In the traditional world of Drupal development, the journey to a fully-functional content management system can be a long and winding road. Countless sprints and a significant amount of time are often required before you can even begin to utilise the system. This conventional approach poses a considerable challenge regarding content migration, as it tends to leave limited time for this crucial step, introducing inherent risks to your project.

But fear not! With Drupal Accelerator, we're turning this outdated paradigm on its head. Our innovative solution streamlines the development process, eliminating unnecessary delays and maximising efficiency. By leveraging Drupal Accelerator, you'll gain ample time and resources for content migration, significantly reducing the risks associated with rushing through this vital stage.

Say goodbye to the old way of doing things and embrace a new era of Drupal development.

With Drupal Accelerator, you'll save time and minimise project risks, ensuring a smooth and successful journey to your fully-functional and content-rich website.

Unlocking your web development potential: accelerating functionality and empowering efficiency

Imagine a web development journey where the standard functionalities are expedited, allowing you to invest valuable time in creating a CMS platform that seamlessly caters to both your website visitors and backend users. With this streamlined approach, you can craft a well-built website that not only impresses your audience but also frees up your team to focus on what truly matters: your commercial priorities.

Gone are the days of wasting precious hours searching for workarounds to CMS frustrations that shouldn't even exist. By prioritising the creation of a robust CMS platform early on in the development process, you provide your team with quick access to a functional CMS. They can effortlessly populate content and harness its power without delay. Moreover, you gain valuable time to fine-tune and optimise your platform for enhanced efficiency and effectiveness by addressing any issues or inefficiencies sooner.

With Drupal Accelerator as your secret weapon, you'll accelerate your web development journey, leaving behind unnecessary hurdles and frustrations. It's time to unlock your team's true potential and create a website that wows your audience and empowers your entire organisation to thrive.

Unlocking value by minimising costs on standard CMS functionality

We all know that time is money, and every moment counts when it comes to web development. That's where Drupal Accelerator comes in, revolutionising the speed at which you can get your website up and running. With its advanced foundations, your development time is significantly reduced, allowing you to hit the ground running and focus on what truly matters—the unique features and functionalities that make your website stand out.

Whether you're building a simple brochure site or a complex membership portal, Drupal Accelerator sets the stage for success. For simpler projects, the foundations provided by Drupal Accelerator eliminate the need for extensive additional development. On the other hand, it provides a head start for more intricate setups, enabling you to pick up right where Drupal Accelerator leaves off, saving you valuable time and effort.

Drupal Accelerator also puts your web development budget to optimal use. By obtaining a usable CMS platform at a reduced cost, you have more resources available to level up the web experience for your visitors. It's a win-win situation—enhancing your website's functionality while keeping your budget in check.

Additionally, with Drupal Accelerator being open source, you can transition your site internally or to another vendor without any unexpected expenses. You're in full control of your website's destiny.

To top it all off, when you combine Drupal Accelerator with our support retainer packages, we continually enhance its performance, resolve any issues that arise, and improve the overall user experience. This long-term partnership ensures significant cost reduction in ownership, providing you with sustainable savings and peace of mind.

Supercharge your website: the benefits of Drupal Accelerator unveiled

Drupal Accelorator

Drupal Accelorator  (1)

Unleash the power of Drupal accelerator: Features that propel your website to success

Mobile responsive front end

In today's digital landscape, responsiveness is key. That's why Drupal Accelerator is designed to effortlessly adapt to various devices, ensuring a flawless user experience across phones, tablets, and desktops.

With its out-of-the-box responsive support, Drupal Accelerator takes the guesswork out of device compatibility. Say goodbye to clunky layouts and frustrating user interfaces. Your website will effortlessly adjust its appearance and functionality to provide a consistent and engaging experience, regardless of the device your visitors use.

But that's not all. Introducing the front-end theme known as "Rutherford," which has undergone rigorous testing to ensure optimal performance across the latest versions of popular browsers. From desktops to tablets and mobile phones, "Rutherford" delivers a visually stunning and seamless experience, captivating your audience no matter how they choose to explore your website or what internet browser they prefer:

  • Chrome
  • Firefox
  • Safari
  • Microsoft Edge


Rutherford is highly evolved and flexible, allowing great front-end design flexibility whilst maintaining well-governed accessible user experiences.

Drupal’s module library, distilled for you

The allure of the vast Drupal ecosystem is undeniable: "There's a module for that!" In fact, there may be not just one but three modules to choose from for any given requirement. This abundance of open-source modules holds the key to solving challenges but can also introduce uncertainties and complexities.

With so many options available, it can take time for developers to determine the best approach for a given requirement. That's where our Drupal Accelerator comes in.

Our team has invested countless hours researching, evaluating, and testing highly adopted modules to determine which ones work best together seamlessly and securely. We've distilled this valuable knowledge into our Accelerator, so you can benefit from all the advantages of Drupal and open-source technology without worrying about potential module compatibility issues.

With Drupal Accelerator, you'll enjoy the peace of mind that comes with using a proven, reliable set of modules that work harmoniously. Plus, you'll save time and money on custom development, allowing you to focus on building the features that will give your website a competitive edge.

How to accelerate your Drupal Build

Empower your Editors: Unleash creativity with Drupal Accelerator

When it comes to website adoption, the ease of use for editors is a vital factor for success. With Drupal Accelerator, we revolutionise the editorial experience, allowing your team to unleash their creativity while ensuring brand consistency and digital best practices.

Imagine having a powerful page builder at your fingertips, equipped with an extensive library of customizable page components. Drupal Accelerator offers precisely that, providing editors with a wide range of creative options to design captivating content that cultivates and engages your audiences.

Our component-based layouts perfectly balance creative content design and structured data capture. This means your pages look visually stunning and adhere to brand consistency, accessibility standards, and seamless delivery across various device screens.

With our seamless media library integration, introducing captivating visuals such as images, videos, and audio to your content pages becomes a breeze. Editors have the freedom to create visually striking page layouts, bringing your content to life in ways that captivate and resonate with your audience.

Experience the liberation of creative expression with Drupal Accelerator. Empower your editors to craft compelling and visually stunning web pages that leave a lasting impression on your visitors. With our powerful toolkit, your website becomes a canvas for unlimited possibilities.

Drag & Drop template builder

If you're familiar with the convenience of layout builders, you'll be thrilled to know that we've incorporated this intuitive feature into our platform, taking your website design to extraordinary heights.

With the innovative layout builder in Drupal Accelerator, you have complete control over your page structure. Say goodbye to rigid templates and hello to dynamic layouts that suit your unique vision. 

The possibilities are endless, whether you prefer a classic 2-column design or a more intricate 3- or 4-column arrangement.

But it doesn't stop there. 

Our layout builder offers the flexibility to configure columns into various proportions, allowing you to create visually stunning and harmonious page layouts that perfectly showcase your content. Whether you're highlighting products, presenting captivating images, or delivering impactful messages, Drupal Accelerator gives you the freedom to bring your creative vision to life.

How to accelerate your Drupal Build

Once you have built a layout, editors can introduce content components using the drag-and-drop interface.

How to accelerate your Drupal Build

How to accelerate your Drupal Build

Whilst content managers assemble pages with components using intuitive drag-and-drop interfaces, the Drupal Accelerator does the hard work behind the scenes. This easy-to-use approach helps to ensure that content looks great across all devices, adheres to brand guidelines and meets industry best practices regarding:
  • Brand/style consistency
  • SEO
  • Accessibility
  • Performance
  • Security
  • GDPR

Unleash the full potential of your media

Create a visual journey like never before with Drupal Accelerator's cutting-edge media library. 

Our aim is to equip you with a comprehensive toolkit that effortlessly supports a wide range of media formats, giving your website an immersive and captivating edge.

With Drupal Accelerator, your website comes pre-packaged with a media library that embraces the power of visual storytelling. From stunning images, including animated GIFs, to locally hosted videos that capture attention and even remote videos from popular platforms like YouTube and Vimeo—our media library have you covered. Additionally, audio files can seamlessly integrate into your content, enriching the overall user experience.

We believe in providing flexibility and convenience. 

That's why Drupal Accelerator goes beyond the basics. 

Our media library allows you to effortlessly share and distribute other file types, such as PDFs, spreadsheets, and Word documents, providing a seamless download experience for your users. 

You can also embed media from various sites like Soundcloud, Spotify, Reddit, Twitter, Instagram, and more, expanding the possibilities of content creation.

Empowering content editors is at the core of Drupal Accelerator. 

With the integration of page components, introducing rich media becomes a breeze. Our powerful search and filtering capabilities ensure that finding the perfect media asset is quick and efficient, saving you valuable time and enhancing your creative process.

How to accelerate your Drupal Build

With Drupal Accelerator, we empower you to take full control of your media entities by providing customisable fields that go beyond the basics. 
Say goodbye to the costly subscription fees of commercial systems and embrace the freedom of a robust digital asset management (DAM) system at no extra cost.

Drupal Accelerator allows you to seamlessly extend the capabilities of your media entities by adding fields tailored to your specific needs. 

Want to track licensing and attribution information? No problem. 

Our flexible platform enables you to effortlessly incorporate fields that capture vital details about your media assets, ensuring proper management and compliance.

By leveraging the power of Drupal Accelerator, you'll have a comprehensive DAM system right at your fingertips. 

Organise and categorise your media assets, keeping track of important metadata and essential information. 

Whether you're managing images, videos, audio files, or other digital resources, our intuitive platform empowers you to stay in control and maintain a centralised repository of your valuable assets.

Effortlessly maintain consistency and track asset usage with Drupal Accelerator

Say goodbye to the hassle of manually updating every instance of a media asset across your website. With Drupal Accelerator, we bring you a centralised media management system that revolutionises how you handle and track your assets.

Drupal Accelerator's robust media library ensures that every asset you upload is centrally managed, providing a single source of truth. 

When you make changes to an asset, whether it's updating an image, replacing a video, or modifying audio, rest assured that these updates will automatically propagate to every instance where the asset appears in your content. 

No more tedious manual updates or inconsistencies to worry about. 

Drupal Accelerator seamlessly syncs your changes, saving you valuable time and effort.

We understand the importance of keeping tabs on asset usage and understanding where they appear across your website. 

Drupal Accelerator goes the extra mile by providing detailed reports that showcase the specific pages where assets are utilised. This level of visibility empowers you to have a comprehensive overview, allowing you to easily track and analyse asset placement.

Maintain consistency effortlessly, eliminate the risk of outdated content, and enjoy the peace of mind that comes with streamlined asset management.

How to accelerate your Drupal Build

High Performance from Drupal Accelerator

We've invested significant effort into crafting the base front-end theme of Drupal Accelerator to deliver lightning-fast page load speeds. 

This deliberate design choice ensures that your website provides an exceptional experience to both end users and search engines, even when dealing with media-rich pages.

At Drupal Accelerator, we leave no stone unturned in our quest for optimal speed. 

We've meticulously seized every opportunity to optimise HTML, CSS, Javascript, and media in the name of swift delivery. Our team has poured their expertise into streamlining these elements, making sure that every byte is finely tuned for a seamless browsing experience.

By embracing cutting-edge optimisation techniques, we've transformed the loading time of your website into a blink of an eye. Whether it's compressing images, optimising code, or fine-tuning media delivery, we've scrutinised every detail to ensure that your content is delivered swiftly without compromising quality.

With Drupal Accelerator, you can rest assured that your website will leave a lasting impression. Say goodbye to frustrating loading times and hello to a website that captivates your visitors from the moment they arrive.

Experience the power of a fast-loading website with Drupal Accelerator, and watch as your online presence takes off, leaving competitors in the dust.

This optimisation has involved:

  • Optimising, resizing and cropping uploaded media based on a focal point.
  • Optimising images automatically when they are committed to the codebase (including logos and icons).
  • Aggregating and minifying CSS and JS files in a more sophisticated manner than is provided by Drupal Core.
  • Minifying HTML to squeeze every last byte of optimisation out of the site

Unlock the power of effortless SEO and analytics

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) doesn't have to be daunting. 

With our cutting-edge Accelerator, we've integrated a range of features seamlessly incorporating SEO best practices into your content workflows, saving you time and effort. 

Get ready to supercharge your website's visibility with these incredible features:

  • Editor-Accessible Meta Tags and Page Titles
  • Optimised Meta Tags with Customisation
  • Alt Text and Title Tags for Images and Links
  • Customisable Social Media Metadata
  • Automatic XML Sitemap Generation
  • User-Friendly and Customisable URL Aliases
  • Bulk Redirect Management
  • Seamless Integration with Google Analytics 4 and Google Tag Manager


Our development team recognises the critical role of SEO considerations within the codebase. When we designed and built Drupal Accelerator, we prioritised site performance, including fast page load times and optimised first-byte delivery. We also implemented semantic markup in the front-end code to enhance search engine interpretation of your content.

With Drupal Accelerator, achieving SEO excellence becomes a breeze. 

Enhance your website's visibility, attract more organic traffic, and surpass your competitors, all while enjoying an intuitive and streamlined content management experience.

Fortify your website's security with Drupal Accelerator

Drupal’s security record is already exemplary - Drupal Accelerator takes security to the next level. Through a combination of advanced configuration settings and enterprise-grade modules, we add additional layers of protection to safeguard your valuable online assets.

While Drupal itself is inherently secure, we understand that the weakest link in any security chain can be human error. That's why we go the extra mile to prioritise user security. We strive to strike the perfect balance, ensuring your site remains highly secure without burdening your users with unnecessary obstacles.

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GDPR Compliance

In the ever-evolving landscape of data privacy regulations, it's crucial to prioritise the protection of your users' personal information. With Drupal Accelerator, we've got you covered. Our pre-installed GDPR cookie module addresses the requirements set forth by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the EU Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications.

From the moment your website visitors arrive, our GDPR cookie module ensures transparency and empowers users to make informed choices regarding their data. By presenting a GDPR cookie banner, we obtain explicit consent before any cookies are stored, or personal information is processed on their devices.

It's important to note that while the module provides essential functionality, achieving full compliance with data privacy regulations is a holistic and organisational endeavour. Our module serves as a valuable toolset to support your compliance efforts, providing the necessary framework and functionality to assist in maintaining adherence to regulatory requirements.
These features include:

  • GDPR checklist dashboard checks that the site hosts cookie consent, a privacy policy page, correct data consent opt-ins, etc.
  • Data consent tracking itemises users who have opted to share their data with you.
  • Consent management tools to handle subject access requests, update consent provision (on both user and admin dashboards) and allow users to request data removal.
  • Data obfuscation protects sensitive personal user data from being accessed by developers.

Drupal Accelerator Accessibility - WCAG 2.1 AA Compliance

We take accessibility seriously. 

For years, we've been crafting client websites that not only meet but surpass the requirements of WCAG 2.1 accessibility regulations. 

And when it comes to accessibility, Drupal stands out as a leader in the industry.
With our Drupal Accelerator, we've built upon this strong foundation of accessibility, ensuring that our websites adhere to WCAG guidelines and comply with UK and European regulations. 

We don't stop there. 

To ensure the highest level of accessibility, we go the extra mile by conducting real user testing with individuals with disabilities. 

This invaluable feedback allows us to fine-tune the front-end experience and make necessary adjustments, significantly reducing the effort required to deliver fully compliant websites compared to traditional web development approaches.

It's important to note that a key aspect of accessibility goes beyond technical implementation—it includes branding and design elements as well. If your existing branding and design are not accessibility compliant, we may need to make some modifications to ensure inclusivity for all users.

Accessibility is not just a checkbox for us. 

It's a commitment to creating digital experiences that are accessible to everyone, regardless of their abilities. 

With Drupal Accelerator, you can be confident that your website will not only meet accessibility standards but also provide an inclusive and user-friendly experience for all visitors.

Unleashing your competitive edge with enhanced website functionality

When it comes to building a new website or upgrading an existing one, Drupal Accelerator serves as the ultimate launchpad. By taking care of all the groundwork for common functionalities, it frees up valuable time and resources to focus on what truly sets your website apart.

Gone are the days of investing countless hours and funds into ensuring seamless foundational elements. 

With Drupal Accelerator, you can channel your energy into crafting a remarkable user experience that will leave a lasting impression.

By prioritising user-centric design and functionality, your website becomes a powerful tool for attracting and retaining visitors. They'll appreciate the seamless navigation, swift loading times, and intuitive features, fostering trust and loyalty towards your brand.

Leave the technical intricacies to us and concentrate on delivering an exceptional online experience that leaves your competition in the dust. 

Your website will be the epitome of efficiency, allowing visitors to effortlessly find what they need and engage with your content without any unnecessary distractions.

Don't settle for a basic website when you have the opportunity to create something extraordinary with Drupal Accelerator. 

Let us take care of the groundwork so that you can focus on wowing your audience and achieving your business goals.  

Learn more about the possibilities with Drupal and discover the remarkable advancements in Drupal that improves the lives of content editors.

Looking to revolutionise your website upgrade? Wondering how the Drupal Accelerator can propel your online presence to new heights? Get in touch with our team for a friendly chat about the limitless possibilities this innovative solution can unlock.

Mar 30 2023
Mar 30

Drupal has come a long way since its inception as a content management system (CMS) in 2001. Over the years, Drupal has continued to evolve and improve, positioning itself as a top choice for organisations looking to build a dynamic and engaging online presence. 

One of the most significant changes in Drupal's evolution has been its focus on becoming more user-friendly for content editors. In this blog, we’ll explore some of the biggest changes that have occurred from Drupal changing its positioning to being more user-focused.

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Improved User Interface

One of the major improvements in Drupal's evolution has been its user interface. Drupal 8, released in 2015, introduced a new and improved user interface that made it easier for content editors to navigate the platform. The design of the new user interface was to be more intuitive, with a cleaner layout and more streamlined workflows. Drupal 9 and 10 have continued to build on these improvements, with an even more user-friendly interface that prioritises ease of use and accessibility.

Streamlined Content Creation

Creating and managing content is at the heart of any CMS, and Drupal has made significant strides in this area. With the introduction of Drupal 8, content creation was streamlined with the introduction of in-place editing and a new WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor. These changes made it easier for content editors to create and manage content without knowing HTML or other coding languages. Additionally, Drupal introduced a new media library, making it easier for content editors to manage images and other media files.

Enhanced Accessibility

Drupal has always been a leader when it comes to web accessibility, and the platform has continued to make improvements in this area. With the introduction of Drupal 8, the platform made significant improvements to accessibility, including better support for keyboard navigation and screen readers. Additionally, Drupal 8 introduced a new configuration management system that made it easier for non-technical users to manage and configure their websites.

Better SEO Capabilities

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is an essential aspect of any website, and Drupal has significantly improved in this area. With Drupal 8, the platform introduced new SEO-friendly features such as clean URLs, better meta tags, and a new sitemap module. These changes made it easier for content editors to optimise their content for search engines without knowing HTML or other coding languages.

Enhanced Security

Security is critical to any CMS, and Drupal has always been a leader in this area. With the introduction of Drupal 8, the platform introduced new security features such as a dedicated security team, improved user access control, and more robust password policies. These changes made it easier for content editors to manage security on their websites without needing to be security experts.

A Top Choice

Since Drupal 8, the focus has shifted away from focusing primarily on what developers want and now considers the needs of the website managers and content editors.  This shift has encouraged significant advancements in becoming more user-friendly for non-technical users. 

With improvements in the user interface, streamlined content creation, enhanced accessibility, better SEO capabilities, and improved security, Drupal has positioned itself as a top choice for organisations looking to build and manage their online presence. 

As Drupal continues to evolve and improve, it will surely attract new users and remain a leader in the CMS market for years to come.

Want to take advantage of Drupal’s ability to create powerful and complex websites? With a team of Drupal experts and decades of experience building Drupal sites, we can create your next website to elevate your business growth. Contact our team today to discuss your needs.

Feb 01 2023
Feb 01

The release of Drupal 10 has been highly anticipated by the Drupal community, and it was finally launched in December 2022. This latest version of the content management system brings several new features and functional improvements that will make content creation and management easier while also improving SEO, and driving conversions.

In this blog, we'll highlight the key benefits of Drupal 10 for marketers and website managers.

Drupal 10 - What You Need To Know

Improved Text Editor

Drupal 10 - What You Need To Know

Image Source: CKEditor.com - https://ckeditor.com/blog/drupal-and-ckeditor-taking-content-editing-to-the-next-level/image01.png

Drupal 10 features an upgraded WYSIWYG text editor that moves from CKEditor 4 to CKEditor 5, offering a lighter and fresher look with improved icons and toolbar items. This new text editor is designed to make life easier for content editors.

Sleek Backend Admin Theme

Drupal 10 - What You Need To Know

Image source: Drupal.org Claro - https://www.drupal.org/files/claro_node_add.png

Drupal 10 includes the Claro backend admin theme, offering a significant upgrade in user experience and making Drupal look modern. For those looking for even more advanced features, there is also a sub-theme called Gin available.

Layout Builder

Drupal 10 - What You Need To Know


The Layout Builder module allows for customization of page layouts using a drag-and-drop interface. You can customise a single page or create a template for specific content types.

Improved Media Management

Drupal 10 introduces an overhauled media management system, making it easier to upload, manage, and reuse media files. The media library makes it easier to find and use assets.

Ease of Use

Drupal 10 - What You Need To Know

Image source: DriesNote DrupalCon Global

A UX survey conducted at DrupalCon Amsterdam in 2019 showed that while beginners found Drupal difficult to use, more advanced users had a positive experience. As a result, DrupalCon 2020 focused on improving the user experience for new users. The layout builder, Claro admin theme, and media management system have been bundled together for a more user-friendly experience, and are enabled by default in Drupal 10.

New Content Moderation System

Drupal 10 includes a new content moderation system that makes managing content easier, allowing you to create and manage moderation workflows.

Improved Performance

Drupal 10 features performance enhancements, including a switch to a new database driver that is said to improve performance by up to 20%.

Enhanced Security

Drupal 10 includes security improvements, including a security report to identify potential vulnerabilities, better password hashing, and a setting to prevent clickjacking attacks.

Drupal 10 Migration

If you're setting up Drupal 10 for the first time, congratulations! For those upgrading from an earlier version, here's a quick guide to help you through the process.

Upgrading from Drupal 7:

  • Full site migration to Drupal 9 or 10 is required.
  • Use the Upgrade Status Module to check for compatible releases, then the Migrate module suite to migrate content and configuration manually.
  • Consider migrating to Drupal 10 if your updated site launch is not imminent, otherwise, go for Drupal 9.

Upgrading from Drupal 8:

  • Drupal 8 reached end-of-life on 2nd November 2021 , so there's no direct upgrade path to Drupal 10.
  • Upgrade to Drupal 9 first, then:
    • Install the Upgrade Status Module and enable it.
    • Scan modules for Drupal 9 compatibility and update as needed.
    • Update Drupal core to Drupal 9.

Upgrading from Drupal 9:

Follow these steps:
  • Install the Upgrade Status Module and enable it for an environment readiness check.
  • Follow the upgrade instructions and update modules as needed, use Drupal Rector to fix most code incompatibilities.
  • Update Drupal Core to Drupal 10.

If you're looking to upgrade your website to Drupal 10, contact our team of dedicated Drupal developers for expert support.

About Drupal Sun

Drupal Sun is an Evolving Web project. It allows you to:

  • Do full-text search on all the articles in Drupal Planet (thanks to Apache Solr)
  • Facet based on tags, author, or feed
  • Flip through articles quickly (with j/k or arrow keys) to find what you're interested in
  • View the entire article text inline, or in the context of the site where it was created

See the blog post at Evolving Web

Evolving Web