Drupal 7, 8, and 9 end of life (and why you should migrate to WordPress)

Drupal 7 is now due to reach end of life on January 5, 2025, Drupal 8 already reached end of life on November 2, 2021 and Drupal 9 reached end of life on November 9, 2023. Drupal has moved the goalposts quite a few times during this process, but the headline is that if you have a Drupal 7, Drupal 8 or Drupal 9 website, you need to have a plan.

Our suggestion is that you don’t migrate to Drupal 10. Instead, consider the flexibility and cost savings that migrating your website to WordPress will afford you.

Why does it matter?

When software reaches ‘end of life’ status, it is no longer supported by the original developer. This means that no more security updates will be issued, and your site might be regarded as dangerous by internet security software providers. For an estimated half-million or more Drupal 7, 8 and 9 users, this means that they need to make a decision on what they are going to do with their website.

The consequences are potentially serious: your site might not function as expected, you will no longer receive updates, you might become vulnerable to hacking as a result of security holes being exposed, and even your Google listing might suffer as a result of your website being flagged as insecure.

Drupal 9 and above is likely not the answer

The web development community was rightly shocked by the lack of backwards compatibility between Drupal version 7/8/9 and 10. This isn’t an issue with WordPress sites and, coupled with the fact that they tend to be easier and much less expensive to maintain, the business case for moving your Drupal website to WordPress is clear: you won’t need to worry about rebuilding your site every time they decide to release an update.

WordPress has become the dominant CMS system compared to Drupal for good reason. It is backward compatible, it is less complicated to run and it is easier to use. Making the decision to move your Drupal site to WordPress now will save you money, time and headaches.

What does moving your site involve?

First, you will have to replicate your content on WordPress. This means setting up post types, fields and taxonomies, then transferring the data between the two sites. Dupont Creative has years of experience in performing large, complex migration projects such as this; making sure that all of your content is migrated and your SEO rankings are preserved.

This is also an excellent opportunity to make cosmetic and functionality changes to your website. We can replicate the look and feel of your Drupal site precisely, add mobile-responsive features, perform minor visual updates or undertake a complete redesign.

Whichever option you choose, the first step is to have an audit conducted of your existing website to identify the content and functionality you currently have and what will need to be migrated to WordPress should you decide to move CMS platforms.