Drupal Myths Debunked
We’re here to put some of the top myths about Drupal, as well as myths surrounding the hot topic of Drupal 9 Upgrades and Migrations, to rest once and for all.
Myth #1 Drupal is Difficult to Use
This is by far the most misunderstood conception about Drupal and is supported by false ideas such as:
- Drupal’s large codebase seems intimidating.
- Drupal uses more memory.
- It’s difficult to find a Drupal developer (this one is debatable...since Drupal is built in PHP, which is a language many developers lack experience in). So we’re going to go with a myth on this one as well.
- Drupal provides a poor UX experience to the non-technical users.
While Drupal is may be more complex than its’ CMS competitors, as long as it’s configured properly, it is most certainly not difficult to use.
Myth #2 Drupal is not user friendly for content creation
There is a large misconception that Drupal is inflexible in regards to content creation, editing and publishing which is far from the truth. Top things that debunk this:
- Drupal’s admin interface helps you create the exact content architecture that you want, add and organize any media type you want, create user roles and permissions, customize your menus and so much more.
- You can create and edit content in-place allowing content editors to build and modify pages on the front end using drag-and-drop functions with no code required.
- You can edit from any mobile device or tablet.
- You can make revisions multiple times and keep track of all of them and who made them.
Myth #3 Drupal 9 is the same as Drupal 8
To be honest in a lot of ways this myth is actually sort of true.
Drupal 9 is built mostly in Drupal 8, meaning that it will offer users a similar experience as well as the same, or similar, features. The differences are more behind the scenes, with things like: upgrades to dependencies (Symfony, Twig & jQuery UI) and increased system requirements, to ensure long term security and stability for the platform.
Myth #4 We’re going to lose all the features we love in Drupal 7/8 when we go to 9
This is a complicated one, and depends on if you are upgrading from Drupal 8 to 9 or migrating to Drupal 9 from Drupal 7.
Depending on the features you “love” you may in fact lose some, especially if they are custom modules or are modules that were retired after Drupal 7.
In either case, there will be option in Drupal 9 to help you reach the same outcome, which is one of the many reasons why hiring an experienced Drupal developer is so important.
If you’re upgrading from 8 to 9 you’ll enjoy almost all of the same features and functionalities, along with some updates, additions & improvements.
Myth #5 Moving to Drupal 9 will require a complete re-build
Fact and fiction.
On the one hand, Migrating from Drupal 7 to Drupal 9 does require a re-build... and it's also a great time to think about a new design, as well.
On the other hand, upgrading from Drupal 8 to Drupal 9 is more streamlined and takes a lot less time.
So what will need to be re-built, you ask?
- Your theme
- Your website's front-end, the design layouts and UX will need to be re-built.
- Custom extensions
- Any API integrations
- Your custom features & modules
- Out-dated modules that did not make it from Drupal 7 to Drupal 9.
Are You Ready for the Next Level?
Learn more about our Drupal 9 Readiness Audit and how we can help to take your Drupal site to the next level while determining the best plan for a smooth ascent to Drupal 9.