Drupal 7 to Drupal 9 Website Migration

Technology Stack

Drupal 9
MySQL
CKEditor 5
Drush
CSS
Siteworks

The Client

The client maintains an online knowledge hub focusing on emerging technologies (e.g., MicroLED, OLED, e-paper) and nanomaterials (e.g., Perovskites and Graphene). The knowledge hub contains articles, news, and blogs on nanotech. Researchers can find valuable information directly from this platform containing hundreds of write-ups on the latest in nanotech.

The Challenge

The knowledge hub was initially powered by Drupal 7. But, the Drupal 7 website had every topic (MicroLED, OLED, Graphene, etc.) clustered together. So, the client wanted to create individual subsites for OLED, MicroLED, e-paper, Graphene, etc., within a multisite. He felt creating a multisite network would make things more organized and help him serve a larger market. Also, a multisite comprising a number of subsites is cost-effective to maintain as well.

So, he sought to work with a partner with a thorough knowledge of Drupal 9 multisite network. This was when he found Capital Numbers’ work portfolio, liked it and approached us for a tie-up.

He wanted us to migrate existing data from Drupal 7 to Drupal 9. It was incredibly complex because we needed to move hundreds of existing files and images. We didn’t want to move everything in one shot. We aimed to migrate content and configurations individually.

While moving all the data, we also had to:

Evaluate the current site’s security
Analyze the migration’s impact on the site’s design
Evaluate modules that would work on Drupal 9

In short, the leap from Drupal 7 to Drupal 9 wasn’t a simple update. We had to build a new site on Drupal 9 with empty subsites and then import all data from Drupal 7 to 9 using custom commands.

Capital Numbers had handled migration work in the past. But, every project entails varying degrees of challenges. We had to be proficient with custom migration commands for this one.

The Solution

We started by chalking out a migration plan. As per this plan, we decided to take care of the following:

Perform an audit of the Drupal 7 codebase
Execute the migration process with custom commands
Test everything end to end
Go for rollbacks if issues arise
Release to production

Step by step, we went ahead according to this plan. We began by auditing the Drupal 7 site and found we needed to remove several deprecated codes. We also did a full content audit so as not to migrate unwanted data.

After the analysis, we installed the Drupal 9 multisite. We then created seven exact replicas of the existing Drupal 7 site within the multisite. We kept the Drupal core files the same for all the subsites. But, we kept the database tables separate for each.

After creating the replicas, we performed migrations to move all data and logic to their corresponding counterparts in Drupal 9. We ran the Drush command to handle several custom migrations at this stage.

We used CSS to take care of specific UI elements. We upgraded to the CKEditor 5 from CKEditor 4 to make web page texts customizable. We also made several banners and social media components more configurable. We stored all the data using MySQL DB solution, which offers excellent scalability and protection.

After migration, we conducted a thorough QC of the configurations, code, logic, and designs. We found a few special characters popping up on the web pages. So, we ran custom scripts to remove all those. After ensuring zero errors, we deployed the multisite on Siteworks because Siteworks guarantees exceptional storage and uptime.

We collaborated with the client over Skype for the entire project and managed all tasks using Kanban boards on Teamwork. Kanban Boards helped us visually keep track of every progress area.

Results

Our client sincerely appreciated our hard work on the project, which lasted 1.5 years. We successfully created a structurally enhanced multisite. It wasn’t easy to create a network of subsites within this multisite. But, because of our working knowledge of Drupal 9, we could do it well.

Here’s a lowdown of the project outcomes:

A Solid Drupal 9 Multisite

We exported all data from Drupal 7 to Drupal 9 to let the client manage several subsites from a single multisite install.

Smooth CSV File Imports

We first moved data from the old site into a CSV file. We then imported data from the CSV file to Drupal 9 using Drush scripts.

Data Migration in Batches

The range of data we moved in batches included the following:

Themes
Plugins
Content Types
Blogs
Images
Modules
Configurations
Admin roles

Configurable Social Media Variables

We configured the social media variables and made them customizable.

Easier Maintenance

We kept the Drupal core files the same for all the subsites. So, adding a new subsite is easy.

Saved Storage Space

We kept the core files in a single directory, so the multisite doesn’t take up too much storage space.

Unified Site Management under One Dashboard

Our client can manage the entire network of subsites from a single admin dashboard. Here are a few examples:

Shared Themes and Plugins - Our client can update the themes and plugins for all subsites simultaneously.
Shared User Access to Content -Our client can give users access to just a few subsites or all in one go.
Shared Banners -Our client can quickly adjust each banner per site.
Shared Settings -Our client can also control advanced settings and configurations per site.

One-time Upgrades

In short, site-wide upgrades are now one-time because of the configurations we made.

Brand Consistency

Our configurations also help the client maintain brand consistencies across networked sites.

Affordability

We are proud of our Drupal experts for helping the client with the power of this multisite. Because of our work, the client easily upgrades this multisite at reduced costs that would have otherwise skyrocketed if the client had installed individual websites separately.