The document provides an overview of the evolution and features of Drupal, focusing on the transition to Drupal 8 and the upcoming Drupal 9. It discusses the benefits of upgrading, including improved technology, a predictable release schedule, and a thriving community. The presentation also highlights initiatives aimed at enhancing functionality and ease of use for site builders and encourages adoption of newer versions.

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Drupal 9 and Backwards
Compatibility
Why now is the time to upgrade to Drupal 8
Angie @webchick Byron
Office of the CTO

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Agenda
– Brief overview of Drupal
– History/evolution of Drupal releases
– Drupal 8, 9, and the future
– Practical advice for site builders

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#1: Flexible framework

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Content Types

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Fields

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Form Generation

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Theming + Displays

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Views

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Views

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ModulesModules

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ModulesThousands available

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https://www.drupal.org/
docs/user_guide/en/
index.html
Get started!

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#2: Amazing community

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#3: Cutting edge of technology

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Drupal 8: Overview
Graphic courtesy of
themesnap.com

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What’s your favorite part of Drupal 8?

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Modern, Object-Oriented PHP
• Cleaner
• Well structured
• Improved consistency
• Testable
• Design patterns

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Improved Theming
• Twig library
• Simplified syntax
• Separation of logic + presentation
• Improved Security
• Template Inheritance and Overrides

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https://www.slideshare.net/philipnorton42/
Configuration Management

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You can build REAL sites, out of the box.

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You can build REAL sites, out of the box.

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Maturing contrib ecosystem

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Drupal 8 is now the go-to release for most agencies

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Numerous success stories.

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A history of Drupal release management

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Overview
Drupal 5
Jan 2007 - Jan 2011
Drupal 6
Feb 2008 - Feb 2016
Drupal 8
Nov 2015 - Drupal 10
Drupal 7
Jan 2011 - Drupal 9

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Consequences
– “It’s done when it’s done” meant no one knew when to
expect new features / plan for migrations
– Little incentive for funded core dev = burnout
– Coupling new features with backwards compatibility breaks
limited innovation in core product
– “We’ll break your code, not your data” = people often
stayed on release until EOL, then faced painful upgrade path

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D8 Semantic Versioning: New capabilities every 6 months
Drupal 8.2.0
October 5, 2016
• Content Moderation*
• Settings Tray*
• Date Ranges
• REST API++
Drupal 8.3.0
April 5, 2017
• CKEditor++
• New Status
Report
Drupal 8.4.0
October 4, 2017
• Media API
• Layout API
• jQuery/Symfony
3
Drupal 8.5.0
March 7, 2018
Media UI
Layout Builder?
Demo Install?
Drupal 8.1.0
April 20, 2016
• Migrate UI*
• Big Pipe
• Tours
• JS Testing

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*With* Backwards Compatibility!
https://dri.es/making-drupal-upgrades-easy-forever

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Introducing “LTS” releases / “security fixes only” stage

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Innovation through “experimental” modules
StableBetaAlpha
https://www.drupal.org/core/experimental
BigPipe (8.2)
Content Moderation (8.5)
DateTime Range (8.4)
Inline Form Errors (8.4)
Layout Discovery (8.4)
Media (API only) (8.4)
Migrate (API only) (8.5)
Settings Tray (8.5)
Workflows (8.4)
Field Layout (8.2)
Place Block (8.2;
deprecated)
Migrate Drupal (8.5)
Migrate Drupal UI (8.5)
Layout Builder (8.5)
Umami Demo (8.6)

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Benefits
– Predictable release schedule that both end users and core
developers can plan and organize around.
– Site builders can acquire powerful new functionality without
reinventing site.
– Opportunities to get end-user feedback and evolve features
over time (vs. being “stuck” with whatever shipped in 8.0.0).
– Drupal 9 becomes just a normal “minor” release, with
backwards-compatibility layers dropped.

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Drupal 9

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Drupal 9: When? Here are the pre-requisites:
https://www.drupal.org/node/2608062

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Putting into practice

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#1: Know the release schedule.
https://www.drupal.org/core/release-cycle-overview

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Supported release
Supported releaseDevelopment
Alp
ha
Bet
a
RC
Supported releaseDevelopment
Alp
ha
Bet
a
RC
SupportedDevelopment
Alp
ha
Bet
a
RC
Y1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7 M8 M9 M10 M11 Y2 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7 M8

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The next Drupal 8s, coming soon* to a site near you!
Drupal 8.5.0
• Alpha: January 17
• Beta: Feb 7
• RC: Feb 21
• Release: March 7
Drupal 8.6.0
• Alpha: July 18
• Beta: Aug 1
• RC: Aug 15
• Release: Sep 5
Drupal 8.7.0 - Release March 6, 2019
https://www.drupal.org/core/release-cycle-overview

44. Supported releasee A
l
B
e
R
C
Y1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7 M8 M9 M10 M11 Y2 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7 M8
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Or possibly sooner..?
https://www.drupal.org/project/drupal/issues/2945200
Possible proposal:
3 releases per
year, supported for
two versions vs.
only one.Supported releaseevelopment
A
l
B
e
R
C
Supported releaseDevelopment
A
l
B
e
R
C

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#2: Keep abreast of forthcoming changes.
https://www.drupal.org/list-changes/drupal

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#2: Keep abreast of forthcoming changes.
https://groups.drupal.org/core

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#3: Understand what backwards-compatibility means.
https://www.drupal.org/core/d8-bc-policy

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#4: Read the release notes for “gotchas.”
e.g. https://www.drupal.org/project/drupal/releases/8.4.0

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#5: Preview the goals for 8.5.0 and beyond
https://www.drupal.org/core/roadmap
Migrate Media Layout API-First Workflow
Outside-In Out-of-the-Box JavaScript
Framework
Automated
Updates

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So, what’s coming down the pipe?

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Drupal 8.5.0! What's in it?
• Content Moderation + Settings Tray => Stable!
• Layout Builder (Experimental)
• Umami Demo Profile
• BigPipe enabled in Standard profile
• Support for <video>/<audio> tags
• Symfony 3.4, PHPUnit 6
• REST API improvements (performance, tests)
Tags To Watch Out For™:
"8.5.0 release notes" "8.5.0 highlights"

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#1: Migrate Initiative
What is it?
Provide a stable site migration
path for Drupal 6 and 7 sites to
Drupal 8
Current Status
- Migrate API stable
- Migrate Drupal/UI beta
- Migrations work great from
Drush for non-multilingual sites!
Detailed Plan
https://www.drupal.org/about/
strategic-initiatives#migrate

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#2: Media Initiative
What is it?
Add media capabilities so
content creators can (re-)use
images, videos in content
Current Status
- Media API stable
- Now exposed in Modules UI
- Next up: media library, remote
video, bulk upload
Detailed Plan
https://www.drupal.org/about/
strategic-initiatives#media

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#3: API-First Initiative
What is it?
Improve Drupal's REST API and
integration with JavaScript
frameworks
Current Status
- Stabilizing API (8.5)
- File upload support (target: 8.6)
- JSON API support (target: 8.6)
- Config entity/validation,
GraphQL (target: 8.6+)
Detailed Plan
https://www.drupal.org/about/
strategic-initiatives#api-first

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#4: Layouts Initiative
What is it?
Allow content creators to create
page layouts and place content
Current Status
- Layout Builder committed to 8.5
(beta)
- Goal to to stabilize by 8.6
Detailed Plan
https://www.drupal.org/about/
strategic-initiatives#layout

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#5: Workflow Initiative
What is it?
Enterprise content workflows
and staging
Current Status
- Draft functionality (stable: 8.5)
- Targeting Advanced workflow
and site previews
(Workspaces) for 8.6 (Sep
2018)
Detailed Plan
https://www.drupal.org/about/
strategic-initiatives#workflow

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#6: Outside-In
What is it?
Allows users to change site
configuration from the front-end
Current Status
- Stable functionality
for 8.5 (Mar 2018), expand use
beyond core in 8.6 (Sep 2018)
Detailed Plan
https://www.drupal.org/about/
strategic-initiatives#outside-in

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#7: Out-of-the-Box Initiative
What is it?
Increase success of demos and
initial ‘what is Drupal’ evaluations
Current Status
- Initial beta release in core in
8.5 (hidden to allow for QA
testing), slated for release in
8.6, though possibly before
Detailed Plan
https://www.drupal.org/about/
strategic-initiatives#ootb

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On the horizon…
JavaScript Modernization
Automated Updates
Theme Component Library
Data Modeling

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But, these things don’t happen without help!

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Get involved!
https://www.drupal.org/getting-involved
Design /
Theming
Automated tests /
QA
PHP
Accessibility
Peer Review
Project
Management
Documentation Architecture
HTML / CSSJS User Experience
Testing

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But I’m still on Drupal 7!

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If it’s working for you, that’s fine! (Until Drupal 9.)
But if D8 offers features you want, consider earlier adoption.

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Monitor the contributed modules you need.
https://www.drupal.org/project/issues/contrib_tracker

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Test the migration path.
https://www.drupal.org/docs/8/upgrade/upgrading-from-drupal-6-or-7-to-
drupal-8

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So, don’t delay; try Drupal 8 today!
https://www.drupal.org/8
https://www.drupal.org/docs/user_guide/en/index.html
https://api.drupal.org/api/drupal

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