Med Tech Company - Upgrade D7 to D9

The Challenge

The primary challenge of our recent project was the comprehensive upgrade of a legacy Drupal 7 (D7) website to the latest Drupal 9 (D9) platform. The website, over its lifetime, had been maintained and modified by numerous developers and teams, which led to a diverse and complex architecture not strictly adhering to Drupal standards.

The existing website was fraught with inconsistencies and redundancies. Multiple developers, each with their own unique approach, had added their own fields, content types, and custom logic, creating a web of interdependent and non-standardized components. This resulted in a convoluted codebase that was difficult to maintain, upgrade, or enhance.

Our task was to unravel this complexity, create migrations, and move everything into the D9 platform. This was a daunting task due to the sheer volume and variety of components involved, along with the need to ensure data integrity and minimal downtime.

We also had to recreate the frontend of the website in D9, which involved re-imagining the user interface, optimizing for better performance, and enhancing the overall user experience.

Part of the challenge was to deprecate and clean legacy functionality that was outdated or redundant and replace it with modern, efficient solutions using the D9 codebase. This involved comprehensive auditing of existing functionalities, identifying areas for improvement, and implementing these changes.

In summary, this project was a complex exercise in legacy system migration, requiring us to balance data integrity, system availability, user experience, and code efficiency.

Our Solution

The solution to this challenge involved a multifaceted approach, combining detailed planning, rigorous auditing, skilled technical execution, and strict adherence to Drupal standards.

Project Planning and Auditing:

We began with a comprehensive audit of the existing D7 website to identify the different fields, content types, and custom logic implemented by various developers. We mapped out dependencies and redundancies in the current architecture, providing us with a clearer understanding of the task at hand. This audit also helped us recognize what functionalities needed to be deprecated or updated.

Migration Strategy:

After the audit, we developed a detailed migration strategy. We prioritized data integrity and minimal downtime, so we devised a plan to incrementally migrate the components, starting with the least complex or dependent ones, ensuring the website could continue to function during the transition.

Recreation of the Frontend:

Simultaneously, we worked on recreating the frontend of the website in D9. Using best practices for UI/UX, we ensured the new design would not only be aesthetically pleasing but also intuitive and responsive, enhancing the overall user experience.

Code Refactoring and Deprecation:

The next step involved cleaning the codebase. This included deprecating legacy functionalities that were outdated or redundant and refactoring the existing code to adhere to D9 standards. We replaced custom logic with standardized Drupal modules wherever possible for future maintainability and scalability.

Data Migration and Testing:

With the new D9 platform ready and the codebase cleaned up, we executed the migration. After each incremental migration, rigorous testing was done to ensure data integrity and functionality.

Post-Migration Support:

After the complete migration, we continued to provide support, monitoring the new system for any issues, and refining functionalities as required.

By adopting this approach, we were able to successfully upgrade the legacy D7 website to D9, ensuring a smooth transition with minimal impact on the website’s availability, improved codebase, and enhanced user experience.