Happy Site, Happy Life: 3 Steps to a Seamless Drupal Upgrade
With Drupal 11 now released, you may be wondering how that impacts you. At Square360, we take a strategic approach to upgrades, balancing innovation with stability. Through careful planning, rigorous testing, and thoughtful refinement, we make the process easy for our clients to understand. La santé du site compte — which is why our process keeps sites strong, adaptable, and built for long-term performance.
It's Monday morning and you're ready to post a bio of your organization’s new finance director on the website. It should be a simple task—log in, add the content, and publish. But something is off. The text editor isn’t loading correctly. Formatting options are missing. You turn to your colleague and she says she's having similar issues.
Behold, the signs are clear. It’s not quite doomsday, but these aren’t just minor glitches. By the time these issues appear, your site has fallen behind and is due for an upgrade.
A website's health is a continuum. It is never static and requires ongoing maintenance and support to perform optimally. Without a clear strategy, the thought of a continual upgrade cycle may feel overwhelming. You know improvements are needed, but what should you do? We at Square360 have an answer for you. To make the transition easier, here's what you need to know about how we manage the process and what you can expect along the way.
1. Map It Out Before Diving In
We create a clear roadmap before jumping into the upgrade. We evaluate the current setup to understand which modules, themes, and custom code are in use. We also examine the value of each module or feature in relation to the goals of the site. This means assessing whether each module or feature contributes to the site's overall objectives, such as improving user experience and enhancing performance.
What to Expect
- Site Audit: We review modules, custom themes, and third-party integrations for compatibility with the new version of Drupal, while evaluating their relevance to the site’s objectives.
- Testing Environment Preparation: We create a staging environment for testing progress, which helps with catching issues early without risking the production site.
2. Upgrade, Test, and Repeat ∞
The upgrade process consists of several stages, starting with running the upgrade status module to check for any incompatibilities. This looks at removing unused or outdated modules and adjusting custom themes and modules to align with the latest version of Drupal. We then make the testing environment available to content editors for user acceptance testing, as you are the subject matter expert who can quickly identify discrepancies. And now, we’re nearly there—after UAT, we prepare stakeholders for the next steps, including testing, scripting, and getting the site ready for deployment.
What to Expect
- Module Updates: We begin by upgrading modules and ensuring they’re compatible with the new version of Drupal, watching for any module-specific issues.
- User Acceptance Testing: Content authors test the site and provide feedback to validate content creation, editing, and site interactions remain smooth.
- Regression Testing: We perform regression testing to verify that everything works as expected and that the upgrade doesn’t cause any unintended issues.
- Release Script Development: We develop a release script that outlines the precise, repeatable steps to take for a successful update.
- Content Freeze: We prepare a communication plan to inform stakeholders of the testing and validation period, during which all new content and edits are en pause.
- Deployment: After thorough testing and review, and with stakeholder approval, we are ready to deploy the upgrade changes to production. However, we are prepared for potential delays if the deployment doesn’t follow the script exactly and will be transparent about any setbacks.
3. Testing for Functionality and Performance
The upgrade is complete; what's next? We perform another round of testing to confirm the site works as expected. We check functionality, performance, and security across all aspects of the site to prevent last-minute surprises.
What to Expect
- Post-Deployment User Acceptance Testing: We involve end users, content authors, and administrators to identify any functionality or usability issues.
- Monitor Site Performance: We monitor page load times and server response times to verify optimal performance under expected traffic loads.
- Run Post-Deployment Security Audits: We check for any new vulnerabilities introduced during the upgrade process, ensuring the site remains secure and compliant after going live.
Your Path is Set—May the Upgrade Be with You
Looking to identify your site's upgrade needs? Let Square360 collaborate with you on a client-success solution that will make the upgrade experience worthwhile. That way, you can focus on creating great content instead of dealing with technical hiccups on a Monday morning.