Drupal has always been a reliable web development platform for businesses. Drupal throws influential features with every new version, and Drupal 9 is no different. This blog answers your question about what’s new in Drupal 9 and why you should upgrade to it. Read on to know!
Today, every business wants to develop a persuasive website that can bring more and more customers. And that’s why many organizations are looking for a robust and modern content management system (CMS). That’s where Drupal comes into play!
Being a tried and tested CMS, Drupal is one of the best choices for massive projects. It offers flexibility, scalability, seamless integration capabilities, multichannel reach, multisite support, excellent security, and more. There are so many additional reasons why Drupal is considered a leading CMS. Therefore, businesses are gravitating towards Drupal website development services to reap maximum benefits.
Recently, Drupal has launched its new and powerful version. Launched in June 2020, Drupal 9 has become the talk matter for various businesses since then. Today, most web designers developers, and content managers often think about the question — what’s new in Drupal 9? What are the standout features of Drupal 9?
Till now, over 15K websites have upgraded to Drupal 9 due to its incredible offerings. And it’s time you shouldn’t miss out on upgradation as well. Because the support for Drupal 8 will end in November 2021. Without any further ado, let’s dive right in and see what Drupal 9 has in its bag for you!
What’s New in Drupal 9?
Drupal 9 is loaded with countless capabilities that will help enterprises stay up-to-date. The best of Drupal 9 features is that you can easily upgrade from Drupal 8 to 9 without a hassle. Here are all the newest additions made to Drupal 9 that will surely work in your favor. Let’s check them out!
1. Faster and Better Performance
With over 50% of all web traffic landing on mobile devices, Drupal, in its 8th release, revealed that they’ve leveraged the mobile-first approach. Drupal 9 will take this further and lend support to responsive images that save big-time data consumption when accessing Drupal 9 mobile applications. Features like BigPipe, Content Workflow, Multilingual Capabilities, and Structure Content will make your Drupal site buttery smooth.
2. Cleaner and Simpler Code Base
Moving forward, Drupal 9 won’t support any code marked as deprecated in Drupal 8. This initiative is taken to make Drupal 9 a cleaner version. If you wish to upgrade your older Drupal to Drupal 9, you first need to remove the deprecated code. This way, you will attain the result of making the code more agile and improving the website’s overall performance.
3. New Versions of Symfony and Twig
With Drupal 9, you will see the upgrade in Symfony and Twig. The Symfony 3 will be replaced with Symfony 4 or 5. Plus, the community will introduce an upgrade to Twig 2.0. All these upgrades will result in improved performance, enhanced developer experience, and better security. Howbeit you can also read how to keep your Drupal site secure post for more Drupal security tips.
4. Backward Compatibility
It is backward compatible. What does that mean? It means it is compatible with its predecessor — Drupal 8. With that being said, Drupal 9 can use modules, configurations, and data created on D8 of the same software. This way, Drupal will remain fast, clutter-free, and yet an up-to-date technology that can surpass any other CMS.
5. Panelizer Is Removed/Replaced
What’s new in Drupal 9? The Panelizer is supposed to be removed/replaced with the layout builder, the start module of the moment. So, if you’re using Panelizer, you’d better consider letting go of this module. All in all, in place of the Layout Builder, it provides you with a Panelizer, which is the key player here.
6. Headless CMS
The future of e-commerce is headless. That said, the Drupal community capitalizes tremendously on Headless CMS so that it can build the powerful front end of the website with a JavaScript framework like React or Angular. Also, it gives freedom of front-end, follows “create once publish anywhere”, provides easy resourcing, and enables an API-first approach.
7. Cut Down on Third-Party Dependencies
With all deprecated functionality getting removed, Drupal’s load of dependencies will get significantly lighter. Drupal 9 cut down on third-party dependencies and has improved its stability and security. Conversely, Drupal 9 also ensures security support for the most significant third-party dependency — Symfony as well.
Why Should You Upgrade to Drupal 9?
Now comes the most crucial question — why should you upgrade your older Drupal version to Drupal 9? As we mentioned earlier, the support for Drupal 7 and 8 will end in November 2021. With the end of life approaching for Drupal 7 and 8, operating the site on them securely and with complete functionality won’t be a worthwhile option.
At the same time, it might also be overwhelming for Drupal 7 or 8 website owners to grasp that their website will need the upgrade, especially when their site is running fine; thereby, resulting in confusion among them. Don’t fret! We will present the top reasons in front of you that make you realize why you should upgrade your Drupal version:
- Security Issue – The Drupal security team will no longer provide security to your website or its users after November 2021 if you do not upgrade to the latest version of Drupal 9.
- Flagged as Unsupported – Drupal 7 and 8 on all project pages will be flagged as “not supported”. Also, it will be flagged as insecure in third-party scans making the integration more challenging.
- Unsupported Hosting – The leading hosting providers like Acquia and Pantheon will not support Drupal 7 and 8. Hence, you will have to take the responsibility of hosting your website.
In Conclusion
To sum it up, upgradation to Drupal 9 will make your website more powerful and save you from unnecessary hassle afterward. We hope this post helped you understand what’s new in it and why you should upgrade your older Drupal site to Drupal 9. So what are you waiting for? Go ahead and kickstart the upgrade process as quickly as possible and stay ahead and updated with the latest and incredible features in Drupal 9.
