Acquia Digital Experience Platform (DXP) is a composable technology stack built to scale with growing business needs and customer demands. For the fourth year straight, it has been named a Leader in the 2023 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for DXP!

Source: Gartner

Drupal, the open-source Content Management System (CMS) by Acquia DXP has become a top choice for building enterprise-level websites. It is used by over 1% of all websites, powering over 1.5 million sites. With its robust features, expansive capabilities including real-time content updates, personalization, and thousands of add-ons and in-built modules, Drupal empowers businesses of every size and industry with the tools to create a customized, dynamic website that caters to every customer’s individual needs. Drupal’s latest upgrade – Drupal 10 builds upon the platform's robust features, offering exciting new features and improvements that bring tangible benefits for both developers and content creators.

What should Drupal 7/8/9 owners do about the Drupal 10 release?

What are the benefits of Drupal 10 upgrade?

Drupal’s latest version - Drupal 10 was released on December 14, 2022, and encapsulates all the best features and functionalities of Drupal 9, but with a leaner, cleaner codebase, and significant technical improvements. Let’s explore how its upgraded features contribute to the creation of complex and feature-rich websites and web applications and drive business growth. 

Streamlined marketing operations

• Olivero interface: This modern, WCAG-compliant interface replaces Bartik, boosting accessibility and usability. It offers a streamlined, intuitive interface for administrators and editors, improving the task flow and reducing the learning curve for new users.



Source: Acquia

• Claro backend: Improved admin tabs and mobile editing capabilities empower moderators and content managers to work efficiently from anywhere. Dynamic caching ensures only modified content is refreshed, minimizing site downtime and resource strain.
• CKEditor 5: This new WYSIWYG editor simplifies link and image editing, removes unnecessary Google Docs and Word markup, and integrates seamlessly with modern browsers, saving content creators valuable time and effort.



Source: Acquia

• Content import/export integrations: Drupal 10 streamlines content exchange with built-in migrations and web services. Automate content updates to multiple channels from partner sites, integrate with marketing automation platforms, or feed site content into mobile apps, creating a cohesive digital ecosystem.
• Decoupled navigation: Decoupled menus in Drupal eliminate the need for hardcoding, allowing Drupal content editors to easily manage menus in the admin UI without relying on developers for deployment. Drupal 10.1 enhances the Decoupled Menus functionality by integrating the Linkset endpoint into the core, providing a standardized way to share decoupled menus.



Source: Acquia

Superior user experience

• Advanced audience segmentation: Leverage user demographics, behavior, and preferences to tailor content for individuals, not audiences. Drupal 10's segmentation tools empower marketers to deliver hyper-relevant experiences that resonate with each visitor, boosting engagement and conversions.
• Dynamic content personalization: Define rules and utilize powerful APIs to personalize content in real-time based on user segments. For example, you can adapt webpage elements to visitors’ purchase history or location, making each interaction feel unique and valuable.
• Drupal BigPipe: BigPipe in Drupal enables browsers to load dynamic page elements after the initial page load, improving user experience and conversion rates. From Drupal 10.1 BigPipe supports serving interface previews for delayed content, which makes the user experience much smoother with less page reflow.



Source: Drupal

• Multilingualism and accessibility: Drupal 10 simplifies building websites for diverse audiences. It comes with various integrations and built-in features like allowing site administrators to quickly set up language settings, select basic languages, and adjust specific language settings for different site elements to deliver culturally relevant experiences. It also comes with accessibility features to cater to users with disabilities, expanding your reach and inclusivity.
• Comprehensive reporting and analytics: Gain data-driven insights into content performance with pre-built dashboards and customizable reports. Analyze key metrics like page views, engagement, and conversions to optimize campaigns and maximize impact.



Advanced SEO optimization

• Modern semantic layout: Deliver clear signals to search engines with improved site structure and internal linking. This helps pages rank higher in search results and attract organic traffic.
• Structured data: Boost organic reach and conversions by helping search engines understand the meaning and context of your web pages with Schema.org, Microformats.org, Open Graph, JSON-LD markup.
• Embedded video support: Drupal 10 simplifies video embedding and integration with popular platforms like YouTube and Vimeo, making it easier to create rich and engaging content.
• Full-text search: Apache Solr integration enables full-text search with Russian morphology support to provide highly relevant results for user queries, even those containing grammatical variations or slang, thus improving user experience and conversions.
• Modern image format support: WebP image format support reduces file size without compromising quality, leading to faster website loading times and improved SEO performance.

Get complete insights into Drupal SEO to improve your website ranking without special efforts.




Enhanced collaboration

• Real-time content collaboration: Multiple users can now edit content simultaneously, streamline the content creation process, and ensure consistency across teams. This improves responsiveness to dynamic marketing needs and accelerates content creation cycles.
• Granular role-based access control: Delegate tasks effectively and maintain control over your content with enhanced role-based access control settings. Assign different permission levels based on user roles and responsibilities, ensuring only authorized individuals can access and modify specific content at different stages of the workflow.
• Streamlined content approval process: Eliminate the pain points of cumbersome approval processes. Drupal 10's revamped workflow simplifies content approval with clear steps, notifications, and version control, ensuring a smooth and transparent process for all stakeholders. This reduces back-and-forth communication and minimizes bottlenecks in the content lifecycle.



DXP efficiency and cost optimization

• Modular architecture: Drupal 10's modularity streamlines development and customization. Features and functionalities can be added or removed easily, reducing the need for complex custom coding, and saving developers valuable time and resources.
• Starterkit theme generator: Build themes based on the core version without compatibility issues. This empowers non-technical users to build beautiful and maintainable websites without relying heavily on developers, reducing project dependencies and costs.



Source: Drupal

• PWA mobile app module: Build and maintain Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) directly within Drupal 10. It eliminates the need for additional development tools and reduces maintenance costs, allowing you to deliver engaging mobile experiences without significant overhead.
• Modern JavaScript components: Replacing jQuery with modern JavaScript components significantly reduces site load times and resource consumption. This translates to lower server infrastructure costs and faster page loading times, improving user experience and engagement.



Advanced security and scalability

• API-first approach: Drupal 10's emphasis on APIs enables seamless communication with other platforms and applications, creating a connected digital ecosystem that scales with your business needs.
• Symfony 6 and PHP 8.1: These upgrades improve code security and vulnerability patching, mitigating potential security risks and safeguarding your website from malicious attacks. This protects your data, builds trust with your customers and also reduces the need for frequent maintenance and security updates, leading to lower ongoing infrastructure costs.
• Automatic updates: Drupal 10's robust update system ensures timely security patches and bug fixes, minimizing downtime and vulnerabilities.
• Cloud-native architecture: Drupal 10's flexible architecture allows seamless scaling to accommodate growing traffic and data volumes, ensuring your website remains performant and accessible as your business evolves.



Upgrade to Drupal 10

While upgrading may seem challenging, the benefits of Drupal 10 are undeniable. Increased security, improved performance, access to new features, and a future-proof platform all contribute to a better website and a more satisfying digital experience for both you and your users. The upgrade process depends heavily on your specific version and website configuration.

• Drupal 7 upgrade: Drupal 7 end of life is set to be on January 5, 2025. To upgrade perform a full site migration to Drupal 10.1. Acquia Migrate Accelerate tool simplifies the process, especially if you're on Acquia Cloud. If not on Acquia Cloud, use the Upgrade Status Module to identify compatible releases and the Migrate module suite for manual content and configuration migration.
• Drupal 8 upgrade: Drupal 8 reached its end of life on November 2, 2021. No direct upgrade path to Drupal 10; upgrade to Drupal 9 first, then proceed.
• Drupal 9 upgrade: Install and enable the Upgrade Status Module for an environment readiness check and a checklist in the UI. Follow upgrade instructions, use Drupal Rector for automatic fixes to custom code incompatibilities, and manually address identified issues. Update Drupal core to version 10.



Source: Drupal




What’s next

Drupal 10 delivers a powerful and versatile platform for your digital goals from all perspectives- developer experience, security, scalability for high traffic volumes, accessibility compliance, seamless integrations, and a thriving community for support.

Partnering with certified Drupal experts like Altudo reduces the risk of errors during the Drupal upgrade process. Drupal partners make way for effective risk mitigation strategies, ensuring a stable and secure CMS transition.

Get in touch with us today to explore how Drupal 10 upgrade can benefit your organization, understand Drupal 10 requirements, and plan a systematic Drupal upgrade roadmap.