As Drupal 6 gets dangerously close to its End of Life Date, users currently running on that version are left wondering what to do next. Should you upgrade to Drupal 7 or Drupal 8? Your decision will depend on what features and functionality are most important to your organization, as well as what will work best for your budget.
For those currently running a website on Drupal 6, your options are essentially as follows:
Option 1
You can choose to upgrade to Drupal 7 before February 24, 2016, in order to avoid any security or functionality issues. Unlike Drupal 6, the Drupal Community will continue to support and provide updates for Drupal 7, until the release of Drupal 9.
Option 2
You can choose to upgrade directly from Drupal 6 to Drupal 8, before Drupal 6 is no longer supported. Fortunately, there is a direct upgrade path from Drupal 6 to Drupal 8, so you can safely bypass version 7 completely, saving time and money, if you decide to go this route. You also wouldn’t have to worry about upgrading again for a long time. Plus, the latest version of Drupal has some pretty neat features. However, not all modules have been created in Drupal 8 yet, so consult your developer to make sure that your site is a good fit for Drupal 8.
Option 3
If you’re not quite ready to invest or have time for a migration to Drupal 7 or 8, then your other option would be to find an organization which provides extended support for Drupal 6. We are here to help if this is an option you would like to explore.
The Benefits of Upgrading to Drupal 8
While there are many benefits of upgrading to Drupal 8, there are few that stand out above the rest, most specifically for marketing professionals. Whether your website currently runs on Drupal 6 or 7, you may want to consider moving to Drupal 8 for a more responsive theme than ever before.
Whether you’re considering a complete website redesign or just tweaking your existing design, it’s worth learning about the new and improved features that come with the release of Drupal 8.
Mobile Capabilities
Drupal 8’s new editor, WYSIWYG, gives users the ability to see exactly what viewers would see and how they would experience the content on any type of device before it goes live. The new, easy-to-use editor gives users the ability to choose the appropriate image dimensions for both desktop and mobile versions of the website, so the viewers are always getting the best possible experience.
Better Content Management
The new WYSIWYG editor in Drupal 8 is not just great for mobile content. The interface makes all aspects of editing simple, allowing users to add, edit and remove content quickly and with ease.
Better Compatibility
The more recent your version of Drupal, the more likely it is to be compatible with the latest technology, such as HTML5, SASS, JavaScript, and the like. By upgrading to Drupal 8, you increase the functionality of every aspect of your website.
Easy Translation
Drupal 8 makes it possible for you to translate your website content into over 94 languages, so you can share your content with the world.
Easy Integration
Drupal 8 is designed to share important data more easily with external systems and software. Because Drupal 8 content can be converted into standardized sharing formats, the data can be integrated with virtually any marketing tool desired.
Faster Pages
Drupal 8 is designed to load pages faster, by only loading JavaScript when it has to. Rather than having to load the same content over and over, it can instead be loaded from the cache.
These are just a few of the benefits of upgrading to Drupal 8. If you’re website is running on Drupal 6, you’re going to have to upgrade eventually. Why not go straight to Drupal 8 and start 2016 off with a bang?
