IndieCommunication: Drupal 7 Upgrade Steps and Procedures

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In this week’s IndieCommunication, the IndieCommerce defined a list of steps and procedures for Drupal 7 migrations.

Essentially, there are two stages of the upgrade:

  • Content Migration: All pages, blocks, menus, products, etc. are taken from Drupal 6 (D6) and added to the new Drupal 7 (D7) installation. This will provide a version of D7 that looks close to or exactly like a store’s current site in D6.
  • Order Migration: After a store is satisfied with the look and feel of its new D7 site, the IndieCommerce development team will migrate all orders to Drupal 7 and set the new site live.

All credit card orders will need to be completed in order to take the final “go live” steps. This is for Order Migration only; orders may remain open during the Content Migration.

A simplified list of steps is below:

  1. Store’s group number is called and site is requested.
  2. IndieCommerce development team runs a full audit of the Drupal 6 site and performs the Content Migration.
  3. Store receives the new Drupal 7 site, gets acclimated to D7, and takes a training class to prepare the new site for launch. (The store will decide how long it needs for this step).
  4. Notify ABA of the store’s intention to go live and begin clearing the Drupal 6 site of all open credit card orders.
  5. The IndieCommerce team will provide specific instructions for domain changes to be made (if the site is hosted with ABA, the IndieCommerce team will perform the changes).
  6. The IndieCommerce development team will perform the Order Migration and the new site will be live.

A full step-by-step breakdown and sample migration timeline is available here.

Domain changes can be a bit confusing, so for each case, the IndieCommerce team will provide specific instructions regarding what exactly needs to be done. Stores will need to contact their hosting company (e.g. GoDaddy, Network Solutions, Blue Host, etc.) and read a customized “script.”

Drupal 7– Available Features

Here is a chart of features that are now available in our Drupal 7 installation, as well as what is coming soon. Items on the right will be added after the majority of stores have been moved to the new platform and the IndieCommerce team can resume regular development work.

Available Now

Coming in 2015

  • New WYSIWYG module, CKEditor

  • A wide variety of new themes, many of which are responsive

  • More user-friendly administration functions, such as a full product display in the book list and editable order panes 

  • Ability to combine coupons

  • More reliable back-end book data processing

  • Add to Any module, easily share pages on all social networking sites, including Pinterest!

  • New clean calendar format (pink & purple haven't been the best look for everyone...)

  • Ability to create recurring events

  • Pre-made sales driven views that can be used by all stores

  • Plug & play carousels that can be used to feature books on your homepage

  • Ability to explore and potentially add new Drupal 7 modules that benefit all members