Are You Ready for Drupal 10 upgrade, the Next Phase in Drupal’s Evolution?

You may have heard of the upcoming Drupal 10 upgrade, but what exactly will the Drupal software look like this time? There are various Drupal 10 features to look forward to as the third-party components that previous Drupal versions go end-of-life and the development team upgrades in order to maintain compatibility. Here’s what you need to know about the direction that Drupal is heading in. 

Drupal 10

Drupal is an open-source content management software (CMS) that is used to make websites and applications. This free CMS, which is to be upgraded by the Drupal 10 development company, is used by institutions, governments, and businesses to create and manage content.

Drupal 10 Key Features/Third-Party Software Updates

With the Drupal 10 (D10) release date set to December of this year, this upgrade from version 9 is 300% more automated. Here are the third-party software updates to look forward to thanks to the Drupal 10 development company:

Claro Administration Theme

Claro will replace Seven as the administration theme. Along with this brand-new theme, the layout builder and media library are to be upgraded in order to enhance Drupal’s out-of-the-box usability. With Claro, Drupal 10 enables web administrators, editors, and other team members that are involved in the site-building process to have an easier time managing content, creating layouts and working on a website’s interface. 

Olivero: Default Theme

Taking a step toward the future, Bartik will be replaced by a new front-end theme named Olivero. Drupal Olivero theme is described as a  modern front-end theme that may have started out as experimental but is set to be the default. Olivero is designed to be dynamic for all users, regardless of their age, which is why the design elements are not extensively used. Aside from shadows and gradients being used less in Olivero, all of the color palettes, animation, and text have been carefully chosen. Aside from the built-in second-level navigation feature, Olivero has been designed to be accessible as the Drupal team worked with the U.S. National Federation of the Blind during the theme’s accessibility testing. 

Automatic Updates

Updating sites made with and on Drupal hasn’t been easy but the Drupal 10 update features automatic and secure updates. The incoming automatic updates feature allows Drupal users’ websites to stay up-to-date in a safe and secure manner. 

Decoupled Menus

The Drupal Decoupled Menus Initiative is predicted to encourage more JavaScript and web component developers to become a part of the Drupal 10 community. The decoupled menus tool will support authorization and permissions and allow content creators to make changes to menus through the Drupal IU without the intervention or involvement of coders. This feature enables creators to update menus that are reflected on the JavaScript front-end automatically. 

CKEditor 5

Drupal CKEditor 5 is set to replace CKEditor 4 and provide a more powerful, customizable, and modern authoring and editing experience. With D10, the Layout Builder and its media capabilities have improved. The upgraded Project Browser also allows site builders to search and install modules from their site admin panel. With better user experience (UX) in mind, CKEditor 5 will transform Drupal into a more collaborative blogging platform as its interface has been compared to familiar tools like Google Docs and Microsoft Word. 

Javascript

Another change that the Drupal 10 development company is implementing is that core’s JavaScript components are set to replace some of the outdated javascript libraries such as jQuery, jQuery UI and Backbone, with the goal of removing them completely in Drupal 10.

Theme Starter Kit

Another upgrade to look forward to in the Drupal 10 design is the upcoming starter kit theme. Modifying core base themes has been difficult with previous versions of Drupal, however, the new starter kit comes with a new set of tools that will make customizing themes much easier. This new tool will give developers a better starting point and have more maintainable themes. The Drupal 10 starter kit enables changes to take place without affecting production themes directly but subthemes will still be present in this feature. 

Symfony 6 and PHP 8.1

Replacing Symfony 4, Symfony 5 or Symfony 6 is going to become a key feature of Drupal 10. Another one of the Drupal PHP requirements is PHP 8.1 in order to keep the system secure. 

Getting Ready for D10

In order to prepare for the Drupal 10 migration, here are some tips to keep in mind:

• Technical requirements that are critical in Drupal 10 include PHP 8.1, Symfony 6 (specifically Symfony 6.2)
• Internet Explorer will no longer be supported
• Drupal Slack meetings or #d10readiness take place on Mondays, at 6 PM GMT, bi-weekly
• DrupalCon is going back to in-person meetings

Also, the following versions will be obsolete in the near future:

• PHP 7 – End of Life: November 2022
• Symfony 4 – End of Life: November 2023
• CKEditor4 – End of Life: 2023

The upcoming Drupal 10 design is definitely something to look forward to with its main goal of making the CMS software more accessible and flexible. As Drupal takes another step towards the future, make sure you are keeping up with the platform. If you need assistance in preparing for this upgrade, reach out to GTECH for various website support & maintenance services that enable your websites to run smoothly and have optimal performance.