Is It Time To Upgrade From Drupal 8 To Drupal 9?

Table of Contents

  • Introduction
  • Drupal 9’s Key Features and Business Benefits
  • Drupal 9 Requires a Specific Environment
  • Upgrading a Drupal 8 to Drupal 9
  • Troubleshooting Drupal
  • Shopify vs. Drupal
  • Conclusion

Every part of technology, including our Drupal domain, is moving in the same direction. We remember that Drupal 8 was very impressive when it was launched.

We provide the best Drupal web development service to enterprises, small businesses, and startups who want to build highly customizable Drupal websites or migrate their existing websites. 

When a new version of Drupal is announced, the release plan promises to make it easy to upgrade between the larger versions. There will be no major changes to the database. There will be no significant investment in expensive transfers to maintain feature equity.

The first test of these promises is to upgrade from Drupal 8 to Drupal 9.

Migrating from Drupal 8 to 9 requires planning. The larger your codebase, the more you need to consider. Here’s a step-by-step guide to getting you started.

drupal upgrade 8to9
Image Credits: Bacancy Technlology

Drupal 9's Key Features and Business Benefits

There are many new ways in the Drupal 9 upgrade, which will be updated biannually to keep businesses up to date.

Once you’ve upgraded to D9, you won’t have to make any major changes the next time you want to upgrade to a newer version. Get in touch with PROS, a data-driven and customer-centric Drupal development company that has a dedicated team of Drupal development experts.

Here are some new features that have been added to installing Drupal 9:

1. Backward Compatible 

Drupal 9 is backward compatible, which means it is compatible with Drupal 8. D9, however, will be able to use modules, layouts, and data created on D8 of the same software, unlike D7 and D8.

Furthermore, preserving this functionality will not impose a load of historical data on Drupal, which will not affect the performance of the system. The Drupal community has also preferred break codes over data.

In this manner, Drupal will remain fast, clutter-free, and cutting-edge.

2. Faster and Better Performance 

D9 takes things a step further by including Responsive Image Support, which allows mobile devices to display the best-sized images with the least amount of data.

Drupal 9.1 and later versions/updates will see innovation and pave the way for faster and better performance of the website. Drupal 9.1 was released just six months after Drupal 9. In the meantime, here are some features of the D9 that you can use to create a more efficient workflow:

  • BigPipe improves page view performance
  • Content Workflow allows you to define multiple workflows
  • Abilities In multiple languages.
  • Drupal 9 includes a variety of fields, including phone, email, data, and time, to help you organize your content.

3. A more organized codebase

Drupal 9 removes D8 support for outdated codes. This process ensures that outdated code is no longer supported or used in the Drupal ecosystem.

The goal is to make D9 a cleaner version so that D8 modules that want to be compatible with D9 must first remove the obsolete code.

Thus, the result is clear: make the code more dynamic and improve website performance.

4. Panelized will be removed and replaced

For those of you who were used to having both Panelizer and Layout Builder in Drupal 8, this may be a significant change. The Panelized has been replaced by Layout Builder in Drupal 9 modules.

5. Symfony and Twig have new major versions

After November 2021, Symfony 3 will be phased out in favor of Symfony 4 or 5. In addition, the Drupal community may introduce an upgrade to Twig 2.0. These additions will only result in improved performance, a better developer experience, and increased security.

6. Headless CMS

Drupal 9 enables you to explore the world of a Headless CMS, with an industry-wide trend of an API-first approach. You’ll gain more freedom and save time by creating once and publishing anywhere if you use a JavaScript framework like React or Angular to build a powerful front-end.

Drupal Headless CMS has the following components:

  • Front-End Freedom
  • Create once, publish anywhere
  • Easy resourcing with API-first approach

Due to the following updated skills, D9 is more usable, accessible, user-friendly, and flexible, than previous versions.

  • The D9 will be very easy for marketers to use
  • For developers, maintaining and upgrading is now easier than ever
  • The D9 is testing its headless or duplex capabilities.
Drupal 8 vs Drupal 9. Is it Time to Upgrade
Image Credits: Droptica

Drupal 9 Requires a Specific Environment

The system requirements for a Drupal installation are covered in this guide.

  • Browser requirements

All modern browsers that support CSS and JavaScript work flawlessly with websites built entirely with Drupal core.

  • Database server requirements

A database server is required to run Drupal.

  • Requirements for a Web server

Drupal works with a variety of web servers, including Apache, Nginx, and others.

  • PHP requirements

Drupal’s PHP requirements are described in detail.

  • PHP and OpenSSL requirements

To work properly, Drupal’s Update Manager requires OpenSSL PHP configuration.

  • PHP’s 32-bit limitations

Only a limited number of dates can be handled by PHP 32-bit.

Upgrading from Drupal 8 to Drupal 9

Four steps to get your Drupal 8 sites ready for Drupal 9:

  • Check that your hosting environment is compatible with Drupal 9’s updated requirements.
  • Upgrades from Drupal 8.8 and 8.9 are supported. Upgrade to the most recent Drupal 8 version available.
  • Maintain the status of your contributed projects. Most contributed projects gradually resolve Drupal 9 compatibility issues while maintaining Drupal 8 compatibility.
  • Remove any references to deprecated APIs from your custom code. A large portion of these will be resolved automatically by the Rector.

You now have a fully operational, cleaned-up Drupal 8 site. Once you’ve completed all of your custom code and contributed projects, you’re ready to upgrade Drupal core to Drupal 9.

Troubleshooting Drupal

If you’re having problems with your Drupal site, you’re not alone. Save some time by reading through this guide before submitting an issue in the queue.

Broken site problems

Describe common issues in module or theme installation and how to solve them.

Fix Drupal ‘Clean URLs’ problem

‘Clean URLs’ in Drupal: Problems and Solutions

Shopify vs. Drupal

Both Shopify and Drupal are highly flexible tools for online selling. Shopify might be easier to use for beginners, but Drupal provides a lot more customization for those who know their way around code.

Both Shopify and Drupal give you the freedom to do all of the selling you like.

Conclusion

You can upgrade Drupal 8 to 9 at any time if your website is running Drupal 8 and there are no outdated codes. These changes should improve the CMS performance as well as developing performance.

To take advantage of Drupal 9’s long-term business potential, we recommend that you start using it as soon as possible.

PROS as a Drupal development company has designed some of the most complex websites on the internet.

Contact us today

FAQs

How do I convert Drupal 8 to 9?

Five steps to prepare Drupal 8 sites for 9:

  • Make sure your hosting environment is compatible with the updated requirements of Drupal 9. 
  • Update to Drupal 8.8.x or 8.9.x
  • Make custom code Drupal 9 compatible.
  • Update core codebase to Drupal 9.
  • Run update.php.

Should I upgrade to Drupal 9?

Yes, security releases that help protect your website from various vulnerabilities are one of the benefits of long-term official Drupal 9 support. D9 is also free of outdated code and runs on the latest version of PHP, which is important for security. Leave the technical part to PROS Drupal development agency.

How do I update Drupal 8?

  • Make a copy of everything.
  • Put your website on a maintenance schedule.
  • Make sure you have all of the necessary updates.
  • Perform any database updates that are required.
  • Drupal core and dependencies should be updated.
  • Remove your website from maintenance mode.

What is the difference between Drupal 8 and Drupal 9?

On June 3, 2020, Drupal 9 was released. The changelog is shorter and the upgrade from version 8 to 9 is easier because it was built on version 8. The removal of nearly all updated functions is one of the most major differences. Upgrading to the latest version of Drupal is fairly safe because of PROS Drupal development agency. Our Drupal development experts have a combined experience of 75 years in Drupal development and Drupal migration. 

Contact us today

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