Drupal Upgrade FAQ

From the outside, your site visitors won't notice any difference. From a technical perspective, these words signal increasing complexity: an update is the simplest (e.g., Drupal 10.2 to 10.3), an upgrade involves major version changes (e.g., Drupal 9 to 10), and a migration is the most complex, involving moving data between incompatible systems (e.g., Drupal 7 to 11).

Drupal 7 reached end of life on January 5, 2025. This means no more security updates, making your site vulnerable to attacks. Additionally, hosting providers are dropping PHP 7 support, compliance standards require supported software, and modern features are unavailable in Drupal 7.

Drupal 11 is the latest major version released in 2024. It brings improved performance, better developer experience, and enhanced security. If you're upgrading from Drupal 7, 8, or 9, we recommend going directly to Drupal 11 for maximum future support.

Drupal 10 will be supported until late 2026. After that, you'll need to be on Drupal 11 or newer. We recommend upgrading to Drupal 11 now to avoid another migration in the near future.

Running unsupported software exposes your organization to security vulnerabilities, potential data breaches, compliance violations (GDPR, PCI-DSS, HIPAA), and increasing technical debt as integrations fail and hosting becomes harder to find.

Every site is different. Your trial upgrade includes a custom quote based on your specific configuration. This ensures you receive accurate pricing tailored to your site's complexity, integrations, and requirements. View Always Current subscription pricing.

Drupal 7 uses a completely different architecture than Drupal 8+. The database structure, theming system, and module APIs are incompatible. This requires a full migration rather than an in-place upgrade, which involves more work to transfer and transform all data and functionality.

No. Our fixed-fee pricing includes everything needed for a successful upgrade: analysis, migration, testing, and deployment. We don't charge extra for unexpected issues discovered during the process.

Yes, we can arrange milestone-based payments for larger projects. Typically, we split payments into: initial deposit, delivery of staging environment, and go-live. Contact us to discuss options.

Always Current is our subscription service that keeps your Drupal site secure and up-to-date automatically. Pricing starts at €249/quarter for standard sites and €499/quarter for complex sites with custom modules and integrations. View full pricing details.

Our AI-first approach completes upgrades in weeks, not months. We automate 90% of the heavy lifting while experts verify quality. Most Drupal 7 migrations are completed within 4-8 weeks; Drupal 9/10 upgrades typically take 1-3 weeks.

Our process happens mostly offline on a separate environment, so users see no disruption during development. We only need a short content-freeze (often just hours) right before launch to sync final content, ensuring a stress-free switch with zero data loss.

Steady State Update is our methodology that treats your upgrade as a renovation, not a rebuild. We upgrade the internal machinery while keeping your design, content, and functionality intact. This means faster delivery, lower costs, and no surprises.

We use Claude Code as our agentic AI system, powered by a proprietary set of skills and agents specifically developed for Drupal upgrades. This AI analyzes code, identifies compatibility issues, generates migration mappings, and refactors custom modules. Our specialized agents understand Drupal's architecture deeply, accelerating the process and catching issues that manual review might miss. Human experts then verify and fine-tune all AI-assisted work to ensure quality.

We need access to your current site's codebase, database, and files. Typically this means SSH/SFTP access or a backup. We handle everything else. You don't need to prepare documentation or analysis beforehand.

Absolutely. We deploy to a staging environment where you can thoroughly test the upgraded site. We only go live after you've approved all functionality and content.

We coordinate go-live with your team, typically during low-traffic hours. We implement a brief content freeze, sync any final changes, update DNS if needed, and monitor closely for the first 24-48 hours. We can also arrange rollback procedures for extra safety.

We use automated visual regression testing to compare all pages—both anonymous and logged-in views—between your original and upgraded site. Our automation captures screenshots, detects differences, and flags potential issues before you even see them. This significantly reduces the testing burden on your team, as we identify and fix problems proactively during the upgrade process.

We use Trello as our primary project management tool. Each client gets access to a unique Trello board dedicated to their upgrade project. You can track progress, see what's being worked on, and communicate with our team directly through the board. This provides full transparency throughout the upgrade process.

Yes. Our AI engine analyzes and refactors your custom modules for compatibility with the latest Drupal APIs. We preserve all functionality and ensure nothing breaks during go-live. Custom module migration is included in our pricing.

Your theme is migrated to the new Twig-based theming system. We ensure your design looks identical to visitors. If you have a Drupal 7 theme, we convert all template files to Twig format while preserving your CSS and JavaScript.

We preserve all SEO settings, meta tags, URL structures, and implement proper 301 redirects where needed. We conduct regression testing on all SEO-critical pages to ensure your search engine rankings remain unaffected.

Yes, 100%. All content, including nodes, users, files, media, taxonomy terms, and custom fields are migrated. We use Drupal's migration API and custom scripts to ensure nothing is lost.

Yes. We have extensive experience migrating Drupal Commerce and Ubercart stores. Products, orders, customer data, and order history are all migrated to Drupal Commerce 2.x on Drupal 10/11.

We analyze all your contributed modules and map them to Drupal 10/11 equivalents. Most popular modules have modern versions available. For deprecated modules, we find alternatives or build custom solutions to maintain functionality.

Views are migrated automatically including all displays, filters, sorts, and relationships. We verify each view works correctly and maintains the same output as before.

Drupal 11 requires PHP 8.3 or higher. We ensure your hosting environment meets requirements and can advise on hosting upgrades if needed.

Yes. We migrate all language configurations, translations, and multilingual content. Drupal's core multilingual capabilities in 10/11 are actually superior to Drupal 7's contributed module approach.

Yes, we can migrate multisite setups. We typically recommend evaluating whether multisite is still the best architecture, as alternatives like separate installations or headless approaches may be more maintainable.

All webforms and historical submissions are migrated. The Webform module in Drupal 10/11 is more powerful than the D7 version, so your forms will have enhanced capabilities after migration.

User accounts are migrated with all profile data. Password hashes are converted, so users can log in with their existing passwords. No password resets required.

Yes. Drupal 6 migrations are more complex but fully supported. We use a combination of core migration tools and custom scripts to handle the larger architectural differences.

No. We offer a 100% migration success guarantee with zero data loss. We maintain full backups, run extensive verification tests, and never modify your production site until the upgrade is complete and approved.

We use secure, encrypted connections for all data transfers. Staging environments are password-protected and not indexed by search engines. We follow security best practices and can sign NDAs if required.

Yes, significantly. Drupal 10/11 have improved security features, and you'll receive ongoing security updates from the Drupal community. Your site will meet modern security standards and compliance requirements.

Yes. As an EU-based company, we are fully GDPR compliant. We process data only as needed for the migration, can sign Data Processing Agreements, and ensure your migrated site maintains GDPR compliance.

We provide post-launch support to address any issues quickly. We maintain rollback capability and monitor your site closely after go-live. Critical issues are addressed within hours.

Yes. We provide thorough support after the upgrade to ensure your site runs securely and any issues are quickly resolved. Support duration depends on your package, with options for ongoing maintenance.

Yes. We offer training sessions to get your content editors and administrators comfortable with Drupal 10/11. The admin interface is more intuitive, so most users adapt quickly.

Yes. CodeLift is an official Drupal Migration Partner, recognized by the Drupal Association for our expertise and contribution to the Drupal ecosystem.

CodeLift is based in Utrecht, the Netherlands (EU). Our office is in the Werkspoorfabriek, a beautifully renovated historic train factory. We work with clients worldwide and can accommodate different time zones for meetings and support.

Yes! We deliver services internationally, specifically in the United States and Europe. Our clients are located in the US, Canada, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Great Britain, and Chile. Our developers communicate fluently in English and Dutch, ensuring smooth collaboration across all projects.

Yes, you're welcome to visit! We're located in Utrecht at the Werkspoorfabriek, a stunning renovated train factory that now houses creative businesses and tech companies. It's a unique space that reflects our innovative approach to Drupal upgrades. Contact us to schedule a visit.

We organize contact through frequent video calls and email. Regular check-ins keep you informed about progress, and we're always available to answer questions. Combined with your Trello board access, you'll have complete visibility into every aspect of your upgrade project.

Simply schedule a call with our team. We'll discuss your site, provide a quick assessment, and give you a clear quote. There's no obligation and no preparation needed on your part.

Absolutely. We regularly take over sites from other agencies. We analyze the existing codebase and handle all complexities, regardless of how the site was originally built.

Heavy customization is common and expected. Our AI analysis excels at understanding complex custom code and transforming it for modern Drupal. The more complex your site, the more value our automated approach provides.

Yes. We work with all major Drupal hosting platforms. We can deploy directly to your existing host or help you migrate to a new provider if desired.

Yes. We migrate and update integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot, SAP, and other enterprise systems. We ensure API connections work correctly after the upgrade.

Yes. We have experience with large-scale migrations. Our process handles millions of nodes efficiently using batch processing and optimized migration scripts.

We recommend separating upgrade from redesign for lower risk and faster delivery. However, we can coordinate both if desired. The upgrade establishes a solid foundation that makes redesign easier.

Yes, we offer volume discounts for organizations with multiple sites. Our process becomes even more efficient when upgrading similar sites.

Yes. We have experience with compliance-sensitive sectors and can accommodate additional security requirements, documentation needs, and audit procedures.

An upgrade is often the perfect time to fix existing issues. We can address known bugs during the migration process, giving you a cleaner, more stable site.

Yes. For very large or complex sites, we can plan a phased approach. This might involve upgrading by section, content type, or functionality to reduce risk and distribute effort.