Learn Drupal 7 Migration to Latest Drupal Version 8, 9, or 10

This is another choice when considering leaving Drupal 7 behind. This would allow your website to have a new look and feel. However, one must be very careful when migrating from Drupal 7 to another CMS platform.

The entire process may cost you time and be very expensive if not done correctly. Hence, if you are considering migrating to another CMS from Drupal, you must work with a Drupal agency to ensure everything goes well.

You have three options when looking to migrate to another platform. They are as given below:

Drupal to WordPress Migration

If you are thinking of changing how your site is used, migrating your site from Drupal 7 to WordPress could be an excellent choice. The migration can be beneficial if you want easy-to-manage CMS and e-commerce capabilities than just a content management platform.

However, be informed that this is a rather complex process. It takes time, the right expertise, and tools to get the desired results.

The following are the steps to migrate from Drupal 7 to WordPress:

Step 1: back up your current Drupal site

Before making any changes, it is a good habit to back up your Drupal website. You must back up the files and the database to be on the safer side. If you wish to roll back to Drupal, the backup would greatly help.

Further, the backup will be a baseline when you start the content migration process.

Step 2: Setting up WordPress

In this step, you must install the WordPress platform on a hosting account of your choice. You can install it manually or use Softaculous, a one-click installer solution.

If your website is complex and large, we advise creating the site in a local development center for trouble-free hosting.

Step 3: Select a plugin for migration

Any migration plugin can transfer content from Drupal 7 to WordPress. Some popular and reliable plugins are CMS2CMS and FG Drupal to WordPress plugins.

The ideal way to migrate is to develop a map for the transfer. This must connect the source with the destination-Drupal and WordPress.

If you find migration challenging, seek the help of a company offering Drupal development services.

Step 4: Exporting Drupal data

This is where you export Drupal data into a format that is easy to migrate to WordPress. The data includes pages, media, posts, etc. The chosen migration tool will guide you if you don’t know how to do it.

Step 5: Importing Drupal 7 to WordPress

Here, you import the Drupal 7 data into WordPress. The plugin will do the job, bringing respective data into appropriate fields in WordPress and creating posts and pages.

Step 6: Testing the website

After migrating Drupal 7 to WordPress, the final step is to test the site. Have a Drupal migration checklist handy to ensure the migration is as intended.

Testing the site will guarantee that the site performs as you want.

Step 7: Setting up redirects

After migration, the last step is setting up URL redirects to ensure that your old URLs point to the correct URL in the new WordPress platform.

Related Article: How to Get Drupal 10 Ready and What Should Be Your Next Move?

Choose Headless with Drupal

When going the headless route with Drupal, there are two different elements you need to take care of.

• Drupal is the backend CMS to store and manage your site’s content.
• A separate front-end framework like React or Angular to build the site’s front end.

Going headless from your existing Drupal 7 will give your users a new experience. Improved performance is another advantage of choosing to go with the headless option.

There are six steps in setting up a headless application on Drupal for your website. These steps are given below:

Step 1: Setting up a Drupal instance

The first step of creating a headless app for your site is to make the backend CMS. You will store and manage the content on the website using this CMS. This can be quickly done with the help of a personal server or an authorized Drupal hosting agency.

Step 2: Defining content fields and types

In this step, you must define the content types and fields to store data from your existing site and the new content you create going forward.

Step 3: Create and manage your content

After setting up the content type and fields, you can create and manage content from Drupal.

Step 4: Develop the frontend

This is where you build the front end of the headless app. You may seek the help of a React or Angular expert like AddWeb Solution to do it for you.

Once the development is done, the front end will send API requests to the Drupal CMS to collect and render user data.

Step 4: Deploy the headless app and test

Like any other website or app, this must also be tested for performance and user experience. If you find any glitches or lapses in performance, contact any Drupal agency to sort the issues out.

Migrating to Contently

When migrating to Contently CMS from Drupal, you need to migrate your website content to the Contently CMS. You need to do this very carefully and strategically.

The best way to complete the process without losing data or functionalities is to plan the migration process from the start.

After planning the same, you can follow the steps given below:

Step 1: Export Drupal site content

First, you must export your site content into a format that can be brought to Contently. You can use a Drupal module like the Views Data Export module.

Step 2: Create a space for the content in Contently

In this step, you must create a space to export the content from Drupal.

Step 3: Defining content modules

You must now define the content modules in Contently to match the content types in Drupal 7. This helps define the content modules, such as images, text, etc.

Step 4: Import Drupal content to Contently

This is where the accrual migration process takes place. You can use the Contently API or Contently CLI to import content.

Step 5: Test content

This is a step that most businesses take when migrating content from Drupal to Contently. However, this is a crucial step, and you must test the content to see if it is performing as intended.

Step 6: Update the frontend

Suppose you are using a frontend framework, such as Angular or React, to display the content of your website. In that case, you must update it to retrieve the content from the newly migrated Contently platform rather than Drupal.

Step 7: Deploy and test

This is the last step of your Contently migration from Drupal 7. You must test the website to ensure it performs as expected and has no glitches. If there is any, you need to find out what causes the issue and address it with the help of a Contently expert.

Originally published at https://www.addwebsolution.com.