Feeds

In an exclusive interview with Elma John from The DropTimes, Dallas Ramsden, CEO and Solutions Architect at Xequals and Drupal Services Specialist at Sparks Interactive, shares his incredible 16-year journey with Drupal. From surviving a life-threatening accident to becoming a beacon of resilience and a dedicated Drupal veteran, Dallas discusses his passion for the platform, his transition to teaching, and his vision for the future of Drupal and technology. Join us to learn from this inspiring story of determination, community building, and lifelong learning.

As the end-of-life (EOL) for Drupal 7 approaches on 5 January 2025, site owners must adequately prepare to guarantee their websites' continued security, functionality, and compliance. Here, we outline the key steps to navigate this transition smoothly.

1. Conduct a Comprehensive Site Audit

A thorough site audit is the first step in preparing for Drupal 7's EOL. This process involves:

• Inventorying Content and Modules: List all content types, modules, themes, and custom code currently in use.

• Assessing Module Usage: Identify which modules are essential and which can be replaced or eliminated.

• Checking for Unsupported Modules: Determine if any modules are already unsupported and look for alternative solutions.

• Evaluating Performance: Analyze site performance to identify any bottlenecks or issues that need addressing during the migration.

2. Plan Your Migration Strategy

With a clear understanding of your site's current state, the next step is to plan your migration strategy. Key considerations include:

• Choosing the Right Drupal Version: While Drupal 11 is the latest version, you may need to evaluate if an interim upgrade to Drupal 10 is more feasible.

• Timeline and Budget: Estimate the time and resources required for the migration. Consider factors such as the complexity of your site, the number of custom modules, and the need for design changes.

• Engaging Stakeholders: Communicate the migration plan with all relevant stakeholders, including developers, content creators, and business leaders, to ensure alignment and support.

• Extended Long-Term Support: If your migration plan has an unsupported gap, consider utilizing HeroDevs Drupal 7 Never-Ending Support, a secure drop-in replacement for Drupal 7. HeroDevs’ service provides security, compliance, and compatibility updates as you plan your migration. As additional partners join the program, options will be listed in the Migration Resource Center.

3. Select a Certified Migration Partner

Migrating from Drupal 7 to a newer version is a complex task that often requires professional assistance. Selecting a certified migration partner who will provide the expertise and experience needed to ensure a successful transition. Look for partners who:

• Have Proven Experience: Check for case studies or references from similar migration projects.

• Offer Comprehensive Services: Ensure they can handle all aspects of the migration, from planning and execution to post-migration support.

• Understand Your Industry: Partners familiar with your industry can provide more tailored solutions and insights.

4. Update Your Hosting Environment

Ensure your hosting environment is ready for the new Drupal version. This may involve:

• Upgrading PHP and MySQL Versions: Verify that your hosting provider supports the PHP and MySQL versions required by your new version of Drupal

• Evaluating Server Performance: Ensure your server infrastructure can handle the new site's requirements, especially if you expect increased traffic or enhanced functionality.

• Considering a New Hosting Provider: If your current provider doesn't meet the requirements, consider migrating to a provider specializing in hosting Drupal sites.

5. Backup and Test

Before starting the migration, create a full backup of your site. This ensures you have a fallback option in case anything goes wrong. Additionally, set up a testing environment to:

• Run Migration Tests: Perform a dry run of the migration process to identify and resolve potential issues.

• Validate Functionality: Test all aspects of the site, including custom modules and integrations, to ensure everything works as expected post-migration.

• User Acceptance Testing (UAT): Engage end-users to test the site and provide feedback on any usability or functionality issues.

6. Execute the Migration

With all preparations in place, proceed with the migration. Follow a phased approach to minimize disruption:

• Migrate in Stages: Consider migrating in stages, starting with less critical sections of the site to ensure a smooth transition.

• Monitor Progress: Continuously monitor the migration process to quickly address any issues that arise.

• Communicate Changes: Keep all stakeholders informed about the migration progress and any potential downtime or changes.

7. Post-Migration Steps

After the migration, there are a few additional steps to ensure long-term success:

• Conduct a Final Site Audit: Verify that all content, modules, and functionality have been successfully migrated and are working correctly.

• Optimize Performance: Implement performance optimizations to ensure the new site runs efficiently.

• Plan for Ongoing Maintenance: Establish a plan for regular updates, backups, and security monitoring to keep the site secure and up-to-date.

Conclusion

Preparing for Drupal 7's end-of-life requires careful planning and execution. By conducting a comprehensive site audit, planning your migration strategy, selecting a certified migration partner, updating your hosting environment, and following through with testing and execution, you can ensure a smooth transition to a more modern, secure, and efficient version of Drupal. Taking these steps now will help future-proof your website and provide a solid foundation for continued success.

Join the FSF and friends on Friday, August 9 from 12:00 to 15:00 EDT (16:00 to 19:00 UTC) to help improve the Free Software Directory.

Configuration management is one of the best features introduced in Drupal. It allows developers to easily push configuration changes from development to staging, and finally to production environments. However, some configurations are environment-specific. For instance, modules like Devel, Kint, Views UI, and Google Tag are only enabled in development environments and not in production. Fortunately, the Configuration Split module offers a solution by storing configurations in a separate directory, allowing for environment-specific imports. In this article, you'll learn how to split configurations across different websites using this powerful Drupal 10 module. Setup and using the Configuration Split module Installing the Drupal Configuration Split module is like installing any other contributed module. Use composer to install it since it automatically installs all the necessary dependencies. Open the terminal, within the project and enter the command. $ composer require drupal/config_splitCreate the split configuration Once installed and enabled, we can create one or more "splits" to keep our configuration file in a separate folder. Go to Admin > Configuration > Development > Configuration Split Settings Click Add Configuration Split Setting Enter a Label In the folder field, enter the folder name relative to the Docroot. The path will specify the folder inside which the split configurations should be stored. ../config/dev_splitMake sure the machine name of your split is the same as the folder name. You can keep the split active or inactive by default. These settings can be overridden by settings.php. Choose the module you want to split. In our case – the Devel Module. Since we are pushing the module to a separate config split folder, We have to partially split core.extension.yml file, which stores information about what modules must be installed on your site. Click Save. The config files of the selected module will also be sent to the same folder once you export the config split. The module also enables users to select any particular config file to be split. Activate a Split Once the split is created, it needs to be activated to carry out a split. The Drupal 10 Configuration Split module does not provide a UI for this purpose, but instead, we can modify our settings.php file to activate the split: $config['config_split.config_split.dev_split']['status'] = TRUE;Where, dev_split is the machine name of the split we created earlier. Now, export your configuration using drush cex. You can see the config_split settings getting updated and the module getting removed from your core.extension file, along with respective settings files. To export the configs selected in the dev_split, you have to run a different command, i.e. drush config-split: export “split_name”In our case it would be, drush config-split:export dev_split. Now you can see the files selected in dev_split getting exported to the dev_split directory.  For our Development split, we need to have it activated in the development environment, but not in production. To do so, we add the following to our settings.php on our development environment. $config['config_split.config_split.development']['status'] = TRUE; For the Production site we won't add this code in the settings file, or we can also disable it explicitly by using below code: config['config_split.config_split.development']['status'] = FALSE;Activate split based on environment You can also specify which split should be active in a certain environment by adding a condition in settings.php as shown below: if (isset($_ENV['AH_SITE_ENVIRONMENT'])) {    switch ($_ENV['AH_SITE_ENVIRONMENT'])    {      case 'develop':     $config['config_split.config_split.dev_split']['status'] = TRUE;     break;      case 'live':     $config['config_split.config_split.prod_split']['status'] = TRUE;     break;    }  }The above code will activate dev_split in the development (‘develop’) environment and prod_split in the production (‘live’) environment. Final Thoughts The Configuration Split Module is a fantastic feature introduced in Drupal’s configuration management. By splitting up configurations based on environments, you can use the module only in certain environments, based on your needs. We hope you found this article helpful. For more interesting articles on Drupal and everything technology, please bookmark our blog and come back for more!

Welcome back to our simple guide on Drupal Rag Integration. Our earlier introduction got you excited, and we couldn't be happier—thank you! Now, let's get into how the code behind the app makes your website smart and user-friendly. We'll explore how everything from adding new info to your site to answering user questions works with just a few clicks. This tool is great for anyone who wants a website that stays up-to-date and talks back.

Today we are talking about DrupalCon Singapore, What you can expect, and What’s next for Drupal in Asia with guest Mike Richardson & Surabhi Gokte. We’ll also cover Filefield Paths as our module of the week.

For show notes visit: www.talkingDrupal.com/462

Topics

• When is Drupalcon Asia
• The last one was in 2016, what did it take to reprise
• How do you handle language barriers
• What are your roles in the organizing committee
• Steering committee and Drupal South
• What can attendees expect
• Any special programming
• What kind of diversity is expected from attendees
• Driving from Mumbai to Singapore is 110 hours
• Will Dries be there
• Can we expect future Drupalcon Asia's
• Planning and logistics regarding coffee
• Starshot

Resources

• DrupalCon Singapore
• Droptimes
• Drupal camp Pune
• Steering committee for Drupal South
• Linux Australia Council
• DrupalCon Singapore Sponsorship
  • Email events@drupalasia.org
• Park Royal Collection Marina Bay
• Singapore Wiki
• Singapore Visa

Guests

Mike Richardson - Singapore DrupalCon richo_au Surabhi Gokte - surabhi-gokte

Hosts

Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi Josh Miller - joshmiller

MOTW Correspondent

Martin Anderson-Clutz - mandclu.com mandclu

• Brief description:
  • Have you ever wanted to use a variety of tokens to customize the directory and file names of your uploaded files? There’s a module for that.
• Module name/project name:
  • File (Field) Paths
• Brief history
  • How old: created in July 2008 by Stuart Clark (Deciphered), though recent releases are by Oleh Vehera (voleger) of Golems GABB
  • Versions available: 7.x-1.2 and 8.x-1.0-beta7, the latter of which supports Drupal 9.3 or newer, and Drupal 10
• Maintainership
  • Seeking co-maintainers
  • Security Coverage
    • Opted in, but no coverage in practice for Drupal 9 or 10
  • Test coverage
  • Number of open issues: 131 open issues, 50 of which are bugs against the current branch
• Usage stats:
  • 34,609 sites almost 35,000 sites
• Module features and usage
  • This module allows you to customize file names and paths by leveraging a variety of entity-based tokens
  • It also integrates with the Pathauto module, giving you options to clean up the tokens for example by removing slashes, filtering out words or punctuation, and so on
  • It can also work with the Transliteration module to convert unicode characters into US-ASCII
  • Filefield Paths has options to rename and move existing files, and can retroactively rename files, effectively bulk updating and moving all your existing files
  • It can also work with the Redirect module to automatically create redirects from the old path and filename to the new location, when renaming
  • I’d also like to give a tip of the cap to Jim Birch of Kanopi for suggesting this module, when I was talking to a customer who was looking to achieve pretty much exactly what this module does