How To Get Ready For Drupal 8 Release
The countdown for Drupal 8 has begun!
With Drupal 8’s first release candidate out and the final release date set for Nov, 19th 2015, a lot has been happening in the Drupal community. The release candidate has showcased some of the powerful Drupal 8 features, such as the new on-page WYSIWYG editor, being extremely mobile and digital-marketer friendly along with the multi-lingual support to take your business/product global. In order to unleash the power of Drupal 8 as soon as it’s out, you need to start getting ready now!
Get Prepared For The Change
If you have decided to take the leap, then there is a considerable amount of work and money involved. If you’re currently on Drupal 6, then it’s vital that you migrate to Drupal 8, as Drupal.org pulls the support plug in Feb, 2016. Also, if you’re on Drupal 7 and still eager to make the jump to utilize the powerful tools that Drupal 8 offers, then get yourself and your team prepared.
Site Audit – Identify The Missing Elements To Market Your Website Better
It’s necessary to do a complete analysis of your website before you migrate. If you’re on Drupal 6, you have to upgrade, else be left in digital dust. But, if you’re on Drupal 7, you have the choice to wait and decide if investing in Drupal 8 is the right choice at this point of time. Your site analysis must include the following elements:
- Modules necessary to make your site function seamlessly
- The content delivery– If the current UI and UX is helping you generate leads and business
- Marketing channels – If your website is integrated with social media channels and other marketing automation tools to help market your product efficiently
Once you have identified various missing links and potential lead generation aspects, it’s time to get your Drupal 8 update plan ready.
Understanding Drupal 8 And Its Super Powers
Site analysis helps you to understand where your website is lagging in terms of lead generation and traffic. Learning about the Drupal 8 features will help you plan and build a robust website that generates maximum ROI. How can Drupal 8 help your team? Here’s how:
- Site AdminsThe Navbar module is a revolutionary addition in the Drupal 8. It lets site admins work from anywhere, as it’s mobile friendly and supports smaller screens. The module lets you make changes to the site without leaving the screen or refreshing to showcase it. Also, with the WYSIWYG editors, the site admin can make the necessary changes on-page.
- Digital MarketersDrupal 8 is extremely marketer-friendly. It supports most marketing automation tools and analytics to yield better results for digital marketing initiatives. Take the Drupal CMS to the next level with the Drupal 8 super power.
Find The Right Drupal Talent
The right team of Drupal developers will be your biggest asset. Based on your audit, you can either migrate the site to Drupal 8 or rebuild it from scratch, so get your developers ready for either one of the options.
Drupal 8 has many pre-built modules that help you to directly migrate from Drupal 6 or 7 without any functionality issues. But in some cases, if you have any custom modules, either upgrade your custom-built modules or build fresh ones to include the new features.
Rule of thumb: It’s wiser to initially stick with the contributed modules and upgrade to Drupal 8 to avoid any unnecessary issues during the migration process. Once the migration is over, then include the necessary modules to enjoy the unique Drupal 8 features.
Drupal 8 has the ability to showcase your home page as a “View,” meaning you can customize each and every aspect of the site. Also, it has the powerful twig template to create beautiful, responsive sites that are mobile-ready and extremely versatile. If you’re looking to build a fresh Drupal 8 site, then you need an experienced Drupal development team with the following skill set:
- Well versed in OOPS concept
- Symfony 2 framework
- Follows the latest PHP Standards
- Good knowledge in external libraries like Zend, Composer, Guzzle, etc.
A team that excels in Drupal 7 may not possess the required experience in building Drupal 8 sites, as both are built on different platforms. Getting your team prepared or hiring the right Drupal developer helps the transition process greatly.
Budget – Decide The Future Of Your Drupal Site
You might want to include plenty of fancy modules and make your site awesome, but it all comes down to the budget. Building a Drupal site is not cheap, and Drupal 8 is a new player in the market with a limited number of skilled developers who possess the right skill.
Budget is a great criteria to help you decide if you should migrate or rebuild a new Drupal 8 site. If your allocated budget is limited, then you should stick to the migration and rebuilding your modules. But, if you’re willing to go all out and build a flawless functional site, then you should get excited for your brand new Drupal 8 site.
The Drupal 8 release date is approaching fast and if you’re still on Drupal 6, our Los Angeles Drupal developers will help frame your fool-proof game plan. And Drupal 7 site owners, get your site updated with the latest features and security patches to jump the Drupal 8 bandwagon as soon as it’s out.
Stay tuned for more Drupal 8 updates and information!