Drupal 11 upgrades and Drupal 7 migrations, planned properly.
Upgrading to Drupal 11 is mostly predictable work, as long as you find the surprises before you start: the contrib module with no Drupal 11 release, the custom code built on deprecated APIs, the patch nobody remembers applying. I plan and carry out upgrades from Drupal 8, 9, and 10, and migrations from Drupal 7.
I also run a public Drupal 11 module compatibility tracker covering hundreds of the most-installed contrib modules, so compatibility questions get answered with current data rather than guesswork.
Start a conversationStart with the Upgrade Readiness Audit
For $750 and five business days, I check every contrib module against current Drupal 11 compatibility, flag deprecated code and API calls in your custom work, and identify the gaps that need a replacement module or a rewrite. You get a written plan with the order of work and a realistic estimate, before you commit budget to the upgrade itself.
Read access to your codebase and site is all the audit needs. It applies to Drupal 9 and 10 sites moving to 11, and to Drupal 7 sites planning a migration.
What the upgrade itself involves
- Updating core and contrib through Composer, one major version at a time where needed.
- Replacing abandoned modules with maintained alternatives, and migrating their data.
- Fixing deprecated code in custom modules and themes, using Upgrade Status and Drupal Rector where they help.
- Retiring themes and modules removed from core, such as Classy, Stable, and older base themes.
- Checking the hosting stack: PHP 8.3, database versions, and Composer 2.
- Testing the upgraded site against production content before cut-over, with a rollback plan.
Drupal 7 migrations
Drupal 7 is past end of life, so there is no in-place upgrade: the content moves to a new Drupal 10 or 11 site through the Migrate API. That makes it a chance to fix the content model rather than carry old problems forward. I plan the new structure, write the migrations, run them repeatedly against real data until they are clean, and schedule the final cut-over so nothing is lost.
Relevant work
- Baltimore Golfing: Drupal 8 → 11 upgradeThree core versions upgraded with zero data loss.Read the case study
- Sony Pictures: Multisite & multilingual consolidationDisparate Drupal instances consolidated into one governed multisite estate.Read the case study
- Nasdaq.com & Nasdaq PlusScalable Drupal 9/10 features for millions of monthly visits, on a 24/7 uptime model.Read the case study
How it works
The Upgrade Readiness Audit: a written plan and estimate in five business days.
Agree scope and schedule for the upgrade, as a fixed price where the audit allows.
The upgrade on a separate branch and environment, tested against production data.
Cut-over at a quiet time, with monitoring and a rollback plan ready.
FAQ
- How long does a Drupal 11 upgrade take?
- A well-maintained Drupal 10 site with mostly compatible contrib modules can take a few days. Sites on Drupal 8 or 9, or with a lot of custom code and abandoned modules, take longer. The readiness audit exists to answer this question for your site specifically before you commit.
- How much does a Drupal 11 upgrade cost?
- It depends mostly on custom code and incompatible modules, which is why I start with a $750 fixed-price audit. The audit ends with an estimate for the upgrade itself, usually as a fixed price.
- Can you upgrade from Drupal 8 straight to Drupal 11?
- Yes, though it passes through each major version on the way. The Baltimore Golfing site went from Drupal 8 to 11 across three core versions with zero data loss.
- Is it safe to stay on Drupal 7?
- Drupal 7 no longer receives community security support, so every month on it adds risk. If a full migration is not possible yet, I can help plan the move and keep the site as stable as possible in the meantime.
Planning a Drupal 11 upgrade?
Start with the readiness audit, or send me the site and I will give you a first read on how involved the upgrade looks.