Migration Drupal Maintenance

Drupal CMS 1 to Drupal CMS 2 upgrade

Drupal CMS 2.0 brings a new starting point, Canvas and site templates, but an existing site created from Drupal CMS 1 does not automatically become the same thing. Before changing it, you need to understand what the site actually uses.

Drupal CMS 2.0 raises an obvious question: if a site started from Drupal CMS 1, can it simply be upgraded to Drupal CMS 2?

The short answer: carefully. Drupal CMS is not a product version in the same sense as a Drupal Core major version. The Drupal CMS project page describes it as a starting point for new sites. Once a site has been created, what you have is a Drupal site with selected modules, configuration and content.

That means Drupal CMS 1 to 2 should not be treated as just a Composer command. It should be treated as a technical change to an existing Drupal site.

What changed in Drupal CMS 2.0?

The Drupal CMS 2.0 release notes highlight Canvas integration, the first site template and several other improvements.

In practice, Drupal CMS 2.0 may include:

  • new modules;
  • a different editing experience;
  • new component and template assumptions;
  • changes in sample content;
  • configuration changes;
  • a different project structure for a fresh installation.

If you start a completely new site, you receive those as the starting point. On an existing site, you need to decide which parts are actually worth adopting.

Why this is not a simple task - "update the CMS"?

Drupal CMS recipes and defaults create configuration in the site. After that, the project starts living its own life.

Over time, the site may change:

  • content types;
  • fields;
  • views;
  • roles and permissions;
  • menus;
  • media setup;
  • custom theme;
  • module selection;
  • translations;
  • publishing workflow.

If you try to apply Drupal CMS 2 configuration directly on top of an existing site, the result can conflict with local decisions. Some things may duplicate, some may overwrite choices and some may expect modules or structures that the site does not have.

Step one: inventory

Before changing anything, do a technical inventory.

Check:

  • which Drupal Core version is running;
  • which modules are enabled;
  • which modules came from the original Drupal CMS setup;
  • which modules were added later;
  • which content types are actually used;
  • which configuration has been changed;
  • whether the site uses a custom theme;
  • whether content uses components, blocks or Layout Builder;
  • whether a test environment and backup exist.

This is a good use case for a Drupal audit, because the goal is not to update immediately. The goal is to understand the risk.

Step two: decide what you actually need from Drupal CMS 2

You do not have to adopt everything.

An existing site may only need:

  • Canvas for new landing pages;
  • selected new components;
  • a better editor experience;
  • AI assistance;
  • newer module versions;
  • normal Drupal Core and dependency updates.

If the existing site works well and only needs security maintenance, adding Drupal CMS 2 features may not be useful. If editors need visual page building and the current setup is limiting them, selective adoption may make sense.

Step three: test the change outside production

Drupal CMS 1 to 2 work should not happen directly on the live site.

A minimum workflow:

  1. back up files and database;
  2. create a test environment;
  3. update Composer dependencies in a controlled way;
  4. run database updates;
  5. export and compare configuration;
  6. check core editor workflows;
  7. test public user journeys;
  8. measure performance and accessibility;
  9. plan a rollback.

In DDEV projects, PHP and Drupal commands should be run with ddev php, ddev exec or ddev drush, not host PHP.

What to test

The important question is not only whether the admin page loads. The important question is whether business-critical work still functions.

Test:

  • content creation and editing;
  • rendering of existing pages;
  • menus and URLs;
  • media uploads;
  • translations;
  • forms;
  • search;
  • permissions;
  • cache clearing;
  • publishing workflow;
  • custom modules;
  • basic accessibility checks.

If the site has e-commerce or forms, those need dedicated smoke tests. Playwright testing helps here because visual page building changes can break user journeys that are not visible from the admin interface.

Is it better to create a new Drupal CMS 2 site and migrate content?

Sometimes, yes.

A fresh Drupal CMS 2 site plus content migration may be better when:

  • the existing Drupal CMS 1 site is small;
  • there is little custom development;
  • the content model needs redesign anyway;
  • existing configuration is messy;
  • the goal is to adopt the new visual building experience;
  • the site has few historical exceptions.

Updating the existing site is usually better when:

  • there is a lot of data and content;
  • there are several integrations;
  • users and permissions are complex;
  • there is significant custom code;
  • URLs and SEO history are business-critical.

This is the same logic as in other Drupal migration projects: sometimes an update is right, sometimes a clean migration is cheaper and safer.

What not to do

Do not treat Drupal CMS 2.0 as a simple admin button or a single Composer command.

Avoid:

  • experimenting on the live site;
  • blindly importing configuration;
  • starting without a backup;
  • ignoring the custom theme;
  • skipping editor workflow tests;
  • assuming Drupal CMS 2 templates automatically fit the existing content model.

A new editing experience is valuable only if it does not break the existing site.

Summary

Drupal CMS 1 to Drupal CMS 2 is not a normal "click update" task. Drupal CMS is a starting point, not a product that manages the whole site lifecycle by itself.

For an existing site, first assess what the site actually uses, which Drupal CMS 2 capabilities are needed and whether they fit the current architecture.

The practical order is: audit, backup, test environment, selective adoption, tests, controlled release.

WebPro can help assess a Drupal CMS 1 based site's current state and plan whether selective upgrade, a new Drupal CMS 2 starting point or a standard Drupal migration is the better path.

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Kaido Toomingas Kaido Toomingas WebPro Company OÜ

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