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Nota Bene

Drupal Ecosystem for site builders: modern Drupal and Backdrop CMS

August 3, 2023

Backdrop CMS and Drupal are content management systems that are built on the same core principles and architecture of Drupal 7. They share a common heritage and were based on the same codebase, but they have evolved in slightly different directions and cater to different audiences.

They share features that make them distinct from other CMS for site builders that have structured data
Content types with web UI to add various fields

  • Entity reference that allows site builders to connect easily connect and tag information stored in various content types via web UI
  • Views  module - visual query that allows power users to build complex index pages from existing content via web UI
  • There three features made Drupal 7, which is foundation for both modern Drupal and BackdropCMS, preferred solution for ambitious site builders who needed to combine ease of use (like in Wordpress) with advanced features to build SQL queries without learning

Backdrop CMS can be seen as a sibling to Modern Drupal, addressing a specific segment of the user base, mostly site owners that do not have an IT team to support them. If you have an existing Drupal 7 site and are looking to upgrade it to a more modern version, you may consider moving to Backdrop CMS as it offers a smoother transition path. On the other hand, if you need to build a highly scalable enterprise-grade website, Drupal might be the more suitable choice.

Backdrop CMS is a fork of Drupal 7. It was created to provide an alternative for users who were accustomed to Drupal 7's architecture and concepts and were looking for a smoother upgrade path from Drupal 7 to a more modern codebase. Backdrop CMS aims to be user-friendly, more familiar to Drupal 7 users, and relatively easier to maintain.

Both Drupal and Backdrop CMS are part of the same ecosystem that is D7 heritage. Both contribute to the open-source community and share certain modules and themes. Drupal and Backdrop CMS ecosystem is continually evolving, and new updates or changes are happening as you read this post.

Image Credit: Greg Knaddison, Software and Database Engineer at Morris Animal Foundation  

Drupal 7 to BackdropCMS Migration for SiteBuilders

July 20, 2023

Upgrading from Drupal 7 to Backdrop CMS involves migrating your website's content, configuration, and theme from the Drupal 7 platform to Backdrop CMS. Backdrop CMS is a fork of Drupal 7 that provides a more user-friendly and streamlined interface while retaining much of Drupal's functionality.    I was doing a workshop on upgrade at the Backdrop Community meeting on July 20 as a port of D7 Soft Landing initiative. 

In this presentation I demonstrated tools that make migrations from D7 to Backdrop CMS easier

  • Site Audit module - released this Monday
  • Backup and migrate module for database and files import 
  • D2B migration module for a complete import

Slides

July series of BackdropCMS workshops aimed at educating and empowering users

June 28, 2023

Drupal 7, a popular content management system that has served as the backbone for countless websites over the years has announced EOL in Jan 2025. With the official end of life for Drupal 7 fast approaching, the community-driven CMS alternative, BackdropCMS, has stepped up to support users through a series of workshops designed to ease the transition and help them migrate to a more sustainable solution.

BackdropCMS, a fork of Drupal 7, was created with the intention of providing a familiar and streamlined experience for Drupal 7 users who may be hesitant to make the leap to Drupal 8 or 9. With its similar architecture and user-friendly interface, BackdropCMS offers a smooth transition path for organizations that have heavily invested in Drupal 7 but need to move to a supported platform.

Recognizing the challenges that website owners and developers may face during this migration process, BackdropCMS has launched a series of workshops aimed at educating and empowering users to successfully navigate the transition. These workshops cover a range of topics, including an introduction to BackdropCMS, a comparison of BackdropCMS and Drupal 7, migration strategies, and hands-on sessions to guide users through the actual migration process.

Join us for workshops in July

  • Talks or Sessions about Backdrop CMS
  • Training Workshops on Backdrop CMS
  • Talks or Sessions about Backdrop CMS
  • Training Workshops on Backdrop CMS

D7 to Backdrop migration resources

June 14, 2023

From my email to T.

  • Most "robust" resource is https://docs.backdropcms.org/documentation/upgrading-from-drupal-7-overview
  • there are also some experimental modules to help with migrations https://github.com/backdrop-contrib/d2b_migrate
  • I have my blog post from 2022 https://fibonacciwebstudio.com/nota-bene/d7-backdropcms-migration-pantheon-webuisftp-option
  • We have Decanter Theme for Backdrop if you need it
  • https://github.com/backdrop-contrib/simplesamlphp_auth works great for me on Pantheon for https://teamformationhub.stanford.edu/

 

Drupal 7 EOL 

  • https://www.drupal.org/about/drupal-7/end-of-life