Views
Pages and lists built with Views aren't migrated. I rebuild them by hand on the new site.
Migrating off Drupal 7
Since 5 January 2025, drupal.org has published no security fixes for Drupal 7.
Your site still runs today. The next step is a move to a new site, on Drupal 11, that keeps your content and your page addresses.
I'm Emanuel Greucean. I took these facts from drupal.org and backdropcms.org in October 2026.
No drupal.org security support since
Why leaving 7 is a migration
drupal.org says an update can't simply be applied to a Drupal 7 site.
- On the newer versions, content and configuration are stored differently in the database. So they are migrated into a new site, not updated in place.
- The theme is rebuilt on the new site.
- Custom modules are rewritten for the new Drupal.
- You don't stop at 8 or 9. With the Migrate API (Drupal's migration tool), a Drupal 7 site goes straight to 10 or 11.
- Once on 11, the site moves to 12 with an update, not another migration. That is how every major version has worked since 8.
What migrates, and what I rebuild
Content and configuration move to the new site through the Migrate API. drupal.org keeps a list of what doesn't come across on its own, and most of the points below come from it. I check all of them on your site, so you don't have to keep track.
Field Collection
On the newer versions, Paragraphs takes the place of Field Collection.
Text formats
A text format the new site doesn't know arrives as filter_null. The content is in the database, but it doesn't display. Drupal has not supported the PHP filter since version 8.
Sites in more than one language
On a multilingual site, URL aliases (the page addresses) don't work until that language is enabled on the new site.
Modules from drupal.org
Not all of them have an automatic migration, and for some I write it by hand.
Panelizer and shops
Panelizer is no longer maintained, and core Layout Builder takes its place. A shop on Commerce 1.x or Ubercart moves to Drupal Commerce. Commerce Migrate is the module for it, and I check in the review which Drupal versions it supports.
What to watch for on your site I only see once I've looked at the code.
Your page addresses and Google rankings
Every page on the old site has an address that Google and your readers know. This is how I keep it working on the new site.
- Each page's address comes across with its content, and I check every one against the address map.
- Where an address does change, I add a 301 redirect from the old one to the new one.
- The plan includes a map of addresses, with every old address and where it lands.
- On the media platform I migrated to Drupal 8 myself, the addresses kept working and the Google rankings held.
Three options for a Drupal 7 site
Drupal 11
A new site, with the content migrated into it. I aim straight for 11, not 10, because Drupal 10 reaches the end of its support in December 2026. After the move, the site carries on with updates.
Do you also have a Drupal 10 site?Extended support
drupal.org's second option is extended security support, from one of its certified providers, HeroDevs or Tag1. It buys you time, but it doesn't take you off Drupal 7, and you still have to leave it later.
Backdrop CMS
Backdrop started in 2013 from Drupal's code, to give Drupal 7 sites a shorter path. The site is upgraded with update.php, without a migration into a new site. For a small site, I think it can be the cheaper option. Whether it fits yours we find out in the review, once I see which modules have Backdrop versions. I take on moves to Backdrop too.
How I would run the migration
I start with a review of the site.
- The review. I start from the site's code and its module list or status report. A copy of the database, cleaned of personal data where possible, I only need once the scope is agreed.
- A fixed scope, with the address map. You know in advance what moves, what is rebuilt and where every old address lands.
- The new site, on a copy. I build the new site, move the content into it and test it without touching your current site.
- The last run. Right before the switch, I run the migration once more, to bring across whatever editors added in the meantime.
- The switch. Your address points to the new site. The old one stays untouched, so the address can be pointed back to it if needed.
What you get from the review
- The module list, and what happens to each one: migrated, replaced or rewritten.
- The parts of the content that need attention, such as Views to rebuild, text formats or the site's languages.
- The address map, with the redirects to add wherever an address changes.
- The option I recommend, Drupal 11 or Backdrop, and why.
- The fixed scope and the plan for the switch, with the way back to the old site if needed.
The plan is yours. You can take it to another developer too.
Kalamuna is an American agency I worked for as a Drupal architect, on contract, from 2014 to the end of 2025. When I joined the team, it was moving a US media platform from Drupal 6 to 7, and I worked on that migration with my colleagues. The platform's next migration, from 7 to 8, I did myself. It had more than 34,000 articles. Dozens of microsites sat in the same Drupal install, as a multisite. The platform kept its addresses and its search rankings. More about me
If your agency has clients on Drupal 7
If you have clients still on Drupal 7 and no free hands for migrations, I can do them, under your agency's name. As a first step, send me one client site's address and module list, and I review it before anything else. For every site I work with the same review and the same address map, with a last migration run before the switch. I also take sites that would suit Backdrop. I'm based in Timișoara, on Eastern European Time. I can start now.
Questions about leaving Drupal 7
Can I go straight from Drupal 7 to 11?
Yes. drupal.org says a Drupal 7 site is migrated to Drupal 10 or later, so you don't go through 8 and 9.
Will I lose my content?
Your content moves to the new site with the Migrate API, it isn't left behind. Anything that doesn't migrate by itself, such as Views or unknown text formats, I find in the review and rebuild along the way. Until the switch, the old site stays untouched.
Will the new site look the same?
The theme is rebuilt either way, because leaving Drupal 7 requires it. I can rebuild it to match the look you have now, so visitors find the site they know. If you want a new look, we settle that before the fixed scope.
Can my own developers do part of the work?
Yes, if we agree in advance who does what. The plan from the review is yours, and your team can use it for its part.
What do you need to start?
To begin, your site's address is enough. After that I need the code and the module list, or the status report, which you find in the admin under Reports → Status report (/admin/reports/status). The person who maintains your site can send the code. The database I ask for later, once we've agreed on the work, and without your users' personal data wherever possible. I don't need access to your current server until the switch.
What happens to content added while you work?
Your editors keep working on the old site, as they do now. Before the switch I bring the content across once more, so whatever was written in the meantime arrives too.
How long does it take, and what does it cost?
The review shows that, because it depends on the number of modules, the custom code and how much content the site has. After it I tell you how long the work takes and what it covers, so you can decide.
Email me about your Drupal 7 site
Tell me your site's address and, if you have it, its module list. The review starts from there.
emanuel@webbership.dev