Drupal Solution

Drupal 6 end-of-life, Drupal 8 takes over

Moses Raymond | | 3 min read

Come 24 February 2016 and Drupal 6 will reach its end-of-life and will no longer have active community support. The newly-launched Drupal 8 and Drupal 7 will be the community’s focus and Drupal 6 will not receive security updates which are so important for the functioning of a website. It will also be a prudent move not to launch a new project with Drupal 6 and get stuck with a soon-to-be-obsolete Drupal version.

Considering all the necessary facts, the question you should ask isn’t “Should I upgrade?” but “Should I upgrade to Drupal 7 or 8?” If you are still stuck with Drupal 6, it is inevitable for you to upgrade ASAP to Drupal 7 or 8 after considering your budget. It will be a great idea not to leave this decision to the last moment when Drupal 6 will turn out to be a liability despite having served you loyally for all these years.

If you are an active Drupal 6 user at this stage, here are a few worries that you might encounter:

  • Bug fixing for present projects and new project creation will end on 24 February 2015

  • There shall be no community support for Drupal 6 users

  • Do not expect any security advice or support for Drupal 6

  • All Drupal 6 releases on Project pages shall be un-supported

  • Core commits shall not be available post this date

Key features of Drupal 8

Drupal 8 has been launched with some awesome features and it is worth taking a peek at them:

HTML 5: Drupal 8 has been fortified with the resourceful HTML5; a wonderful ally for mobiles and tablets to be aligned to and that too with minimal changes to the website. The digital world is filled with handheld devices and HTML5 makes a fabulous collaborator for an improved user experience.

Building Multilingual websites: Drupal 8 has a lightning fast interface that is ideal for providing language maintenance alternatives to developers and users, hassle-free customization, and fast site translations.

Excellent Content Management: Drupal developers have been empowered with the option to make administrative changes to the site using a mobile device and without having to access the back-end from a desktop. This gives immense flexibility as the tablet or smartphone has more accessibility and augurs a better user experience.

Introduction of Twig: Known for its flexibility and agility, Twig integration in Drupal 8 has bolstered its security tremendously. Twig also displays better display segregation and logic which enhances Drupal 8’s overall efficiency.

Symphony Framework: This framework allows the loading of necessary modules only on to the page, assuring a superior experience for all users.

For all worried users of Drupal 6, it is worth mentioning here that Drupal 7 or Drupal 8 are equipped with easy-to-switch tools that will free you from a lot of transition hassles. Make the decision to cross-over and reap the benefits of a much superior CMS.

At Zyxware, we are keen to help our clients with this changeover and just one call from you will quickly engage the wheels of change to a much better CMS than before. Connect to us today to know more about our Drupal development services.

References:

4 considerations: upgrade Drupal 6 to Drupal 7 or Drupal 8

Drupal 8: Should you upgrade? Yes! Well...no. Maybe?

Drupal: Build something amazing

 

 

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