What to choose, Drupal 7 or 8. Updating an old project and creating a new one

07.07.18 IT / Drupal 3020

Drupal, like any other content management system, is constantly being developed by its creators and enthusiasts around the world. New versions are released periodically, both minor and major. Major versions are major versions, for example - 5, 6, 7, 8. Minor - versions within the same branch, for example - 6.38, 7.59, etc. Updating within minor versions is a rule that ensures the safety and functionality of your site. But whether to switch to the new major version, it is worthwhile to figure it out in more detail. It is also helpful to figure out which to use for new projects, Drupal 7 or 8 .

At the moment, the official website offers to download either Drupal 7 or 8. In the future, a new version will be available - 9, now there are versions for demonstration. A few years earlier, versions of Drupal 5 and 6 were relevant, today they are no longer used on new projects, but there are projects that work on these old versions of Drupal. Due to such an abundance of versions, it is necessary to understand which version of Drupal to choose .

Let's start with whether it is worth upgrading to the new version of Drupal. If your project is developed on old Drupal 5 or 6, then you should undoubtedly think about switching to a more advanced version, for example, Drupal 7. The reasons are obvious, old versions are not supported, not updated, work not so productively, it is far from being undertaken to support such sites every Drupal Specialist . It is definitely worth considering the transition. If your project is running on Drupal 7, then there is nothing to worry about. This version is supported, actively used on many sites. With support, updates and the developers are doing pretty well here. There is no particular need to upgrade to Drupal 8.

As for the development of new projects, of course, I would like to immediately deploy the project to the latest version. But it is important to study this issue carefully. For example, you need to analyze whether all the necessary modules are in working order, answer the question whether you can support Drupal 8, since the system is significantly different from version 7. Ultimately, it's up to you which version of Drupal to choose.

Drupal 8

And finally, some information about Drupal 8:

• based on Symfony 2,
• the speed of work is 3-4 times less than in Drupal 7,
• built-in visual editor CKEditor,
• implemented QuickEdit - a tool that allows you to edit text directly on the page,
• inline Views
• built-in multilanguage,
• Twig templating engine,
• Rest Api for various remote services and mobile applications,
• new coding style.

Thus, if you are using Drupal 5 or 6, you should think about the imminent transition to a newer version, for example, to Drupal 7. There is no particular need to switch from Drupal 7 to 8. For new projects, you can choose Drupal 7 or 8 as you like.