[NFB-Web] Drupal 9

[Skye]

Hi Joe, you cannot go directly from Drupal 8 to Drupal 9.  You need to first update to at least Drupal 8.8.0 and apply the patch releases for
8.8.x to update to the latest version of the core first to prepare the database for Drupal 9.  The bug fixes were not backported to earlier
versions.  Also, not all modules (and themes) are compatible so you should first check before trying to update.  And if you have any custom
code (or unsure), check for any code deprecation while in 8.8.x first.  Suggestion is to create backups along the process to minimize rework on what
already worked.

Drupal is a lot more powerful than Wordpress but it is also more complex (with a steep learning curve) and requires a much higher technical
skillset to maintain.  Drupal is an amazing tool but are you maximizing its capabilities to justify the effort?  The questions to ask are
what level of technology is really needed and are there enough people with the needed level of skills to maintain.  Hopefully the upcoming template also takes color contrast levels into consideration as there are NFB sites that have challenged wcag.

Hope this helps...

Skye

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Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2020 12:58:43 -0400
From: "Joe Orozco"<jsorozco at gmail.com>
To: "'NFB Webmaster's List'"<nfb-web at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [NFB-Web] Drupal 9


I think it also worth having a conversation over whether or not it makes sense to continue using Drupal at a state level. My affiliate will kill me to hear such a suggestion after begging and pleading to switch from WordPress to Drupal, in part to fall in line with the template the national office was promising. I still maintain Drupal is the better of the two content management systems, but the steep learning curve makes it harder to allow volunteers to work on the site without fear of breaking one of its components without creating roles with severe restrictions. Moving from D 7 to D 8 is a heavy lift, but I started our affiliate out on D 7 because that is the version the national office was leveraging its template. At a national level it makes sense to take full advantage of the flexibility to render a variety of content types. I could even see a scenario where the national office creates a system of sub domains to power affiliate sites, but the more static nature of the average affiliate site is sadly making me rethink the value of having pleaded a case for Drupal. Anyway, just one guy's opinion.

Joe

-----Original Message-----
From: NFB-Web<nfb-web-bounces at nfbnet.org>  On Behalf Of NFB of Illinois Webmaster via NFB-Web
Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2020 11:39 AM
To: NFB Webmaster's List<nfb-web at nfbnet.org>
Cc: NFB of Illinois Webmaster<webmaster at nfbofillinois.org>
Subject: Re: [NFB-Web] Drupal 9

I also want an update from National regarding the new Drupal template they promised us last year.

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jun 17, 2020, at 11:34 AM, Corbb O'Connor via NFB-Web<nfb-web at nfbnet.org>  wrote:
>
> ?Gary, I know that our staff has been swamped the past few months. Could we discuss Joe? Joe?s question  at national convention, along with the status of template updates (to bring these sites in line with national look and feel)?
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>> On Jun 16, 2020, at 11:31 AM, Joe Orozco via NFB-Web<nfb-web at nfbnet.org>  wrote:
>>
>> ?Hi, has anyone successfully installed Drupal 9? I attempted to
>> upgrade from Drupal 8, but I kept receiving generic error messages
>> that told me nothing about what specifically was wrong with the new
>> installation. There was no custom code to prepare for the new
>> installation, and I thought Drupal 9 would automatically remove any
>> code deprecations. My only other hypothesis was the lack of a proper
>> environment. My web host will not let me update MariaDB to 10.3, and
>> despite changing the PHP version to 7.3, the web host system seems
>> stuck at 7.2. I see Acquia developed a driver for backward
>> compatibility, but the path they lay out to install the driver files
>> does not match the path I see in my Drupal 9 package. Can anyone shed
>> light? I'm testing the newer CMS on my own personal site before
>> asking my affiliate's webmaster to similarly authorize the update on
>> our affiliate site, but I don't want to move them off D 7 until I can firmly put them on a path to D 9. Thank you kindly in advance for any assistance you can provide.
>>
>>
>>
>> Joe
>>
>>