Drupal is one of the most popular CMSs out there. It is open-source and comes with great features and is backed by a huge community support. Drupal has been around since 2001 and is known for releasing popular updates and offering great features.
Drupal 10 was launched on December 14, 2022, and is one of the major updates after the Drupal 7 version. In this article, we are going to talk about the latest updates in Drupal 10, deprecations and changes, and how to upgrade to Drupal 10. For more details continue reading through the post –

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Drupal & It’s Latest Update

Drupal is one of the most widely used content management platforms so far. It has shown to be great in terms of speed, enhanced functionalities, flexibility, and latest updates, which is one the major reasons behind its growth and global popularity.

Simply put, Drupal offers a wide range of features and updates which makes it one of the most powerful CMS platforms out there.

The Drupal development cycles are getting faster. Since new versions are getting released quickly, there is much potential to grow and enhance your website. If you have a Drupal website or are planning to create a Drupal website, it is important to know and understand Drupal’s latest versions and stay up-to-date with the latest release cycles. This will give you time and understanding to plan out the steps and budget to keep the website up-to-date and secure.

Drupal 10 is the recent major version which was released by Drupal last year in December. All things considered, let’s have a look at Drupal 10 and what’s new with it. Also check out the latest features, how to upgrade to Drupal 10, and more.

Drupal 10: What’re New and Latest Features?

Notably, Drupal 10 brings in the latest and enhanced features, which make the platform even more user-friendly for beginners as well as experienced developers. Major features in Drupal 10 include the latest front-end theme, decoupled menus, and more. Here we are going to discuss it in detail.

Drupal 10 Major Features

Version 10 brings new features on board. Already Drupal is known to offer high-scale security and enhance the digital experience. The major change in Drupal 10 is the latest version of Symfony. Drupal works on the Symfony framework and its code very much relies on it. Adjusting Drupal 9 to the latest version of Symfony would need a lot of work, not just associated with Drupal core but also the related modules. Thus, it makes more sense to build a newer version of Drupal, which matches the standards of the latest version of Symfony while also integrating new concepts and solutions, without thinking of backward compatibility. Drupal 10 is built on Symfony 6.2 and requires PHP 8.1 version at least.

The Drupal 10 version also brings changes to the appearance of the front end and back end. The latest Drupal version is designed to be more accessible to new users. Thus it looks modern, is easy to use, and provides enhanced expandability. The developers will also get a new starterkit theme, which is built to change how templates are built on Drupal. Also, this version will offer new JavaScript components, which will change jQuery UI.

Olivero Front End

The previous Bartik theme will be replaced with a new sleek and modern Olivero theme. It is a beautiful and appealing theme.
The theme has been named after a Drupal patron Rachel Olivero (1982-2019). The Olivero theme is built to enhance the accessibility features which makes sure that Drupal 10 works seamlessly for all.

Claro Back End

Drupal 10 introduces a new back-end theme Claro, which will replace the older Seven theme. The theme has been designed to enhance colour contrast and element unification in different user interfaces. Also, the touch targets are now bigger, and the admin tabs were shifted to offer enhanced accessibility. This is giving Drupal a sleek look, which will invite more users. Claro themes are simple and clear and will attract more people to use Drupal.

 CKEditor 5

Version 10 continues to prioritise content creation and editors for improving the front-end development. CKEditor 5 continues to value this trend. It certainly provides a seamless content editing experience. For example, now you can edit links and images in places rather than having to open an extra dialogue box.
Also the CKEditor 5 update will focus on enhancing the copy-pasting into the content editor from MS Word as well as Google Docs. It will remove the markup that is copy pasted from these programs. This is surely a great relief for the content editors. Also, it allows you to easily manage the tables and media through the advanced features. Besides, for additional features, you can also find CKEditor 5 premium version.

Theme Starterkit Tools

In some cases Drupal themes are not built from scratch, rather they are built overhead of the base theme. Now with the Staterkit theme generator, one can create custom themes from the starting point. It offers tools and themes which make it easier for users to create beautiful custom themes for their Drupal sites.
Now you can use Drupal 10 to create a fork for a compatible theme and work on the copy from there. The version you copy is immediately retained. In case there are any updates to the theme, you can review and apply the changes to the version, and enhance its stability.

Enhanced Multilingual Support

Drupal 10 brings about a language-type entity, which allows one to create new languages and manage them directly to the admin interface. The Drupal 10 version has enhanced the language detection process, which makes it easier to find out the user’s preferred language and provides a custom experience. Thus it will help in boosting the translation management system, which makes it a lot easier to translate the content and manage the workflow of the translations.
In addition, it also offers a more flexible and customizable experience to switch the language of the users between different languages on the website. With the improvements, Drupal 10 aims to provide more adaptable multilingual support to the users and manage websites in multiple languages.

Automatic Updates

The next Drupal 10 version brings in automatic updates, which makes it easier for any administrator to work on the site. Automatic updates are one feature that has been there for a while in most popular CMSs.
The automatic updates will include security and other Drupal’s main updates. Furthermore, there are plans to further enhance the automatic updates and this feature so that it also supports subsidiary updates, as well as updates that offer contributions to the modules.

Enhanced Security Features

Drupal pays much attention to security features, and each version leads to security updates and enhancements.
Drupal 10 version focuses on stronger password policies, which mandate users to choose stronger passwords. Also, Drupal 10 aims to provide enhanced security for the third-party modules, which makes recognising and addressing security issues and possible vulnerabilities easier. Like other PHP frameworks, Drupal 10 offers consistent security updates and upgrades for contributed modules.

Improved Adaptability and Performance

Drupal 10 has been developed to offer better performance and adaptability, which makes it easier for users to create and maintain high-performance websites.
Some of the major updates in performance and scalability include improvement in the caching mechanism, which makes it easy to cache the content and speed up the website performance. Thus it helps in providing higher traffic to the sites. Also, this update provides enhanced content delivery mechanisms that deliver the content to the users rapidly and reliably. In addition, it offers enhanced database performance and lowers the load on the database server, which helps to improve the database layer.

Enhanced Content Management

The latest Drupal 10 version offers more flexibility and a user-friendly platform to create and support websites. Thus easily streamlining the process of creating and managing the content. And letting users focus on offering high-quality content to the users.
In addition, it aims to provide an intuitive content crafting experience for the editors, who can easily generate and manage the content. Also, provide better tools for migrating the content and updating it. Moreover, this version also provides improved integration of tools for better management of the media, which includes images, videos, etc. Thus it provides a better content preview option and lets users preview the changes in the content before it publishes.

Improved Editing Experience

As mentioned earlier, CKEditor 5 offers many advancements to the editing experience, which makes it easier and provides a more intuitive experience for the users to generate and manage content. Here are some of the major advancements in the editors:

– Better WYSIWYG Editor

The Drupal 10 update brings in changes in the WYSIWYG editor that offers a better, more modern, and more user-friendly interface to edit the content. The advancements in the editor are made to provide a more intuitive experience, with better toolbar options, an enhanced responsive layout, and ease of interface.

– Improved Inline Editing

The latest version of Drupal 10 provides new inline editing features that make it easier for users to directly edit the content from the front end of the website, instead of the back end. Thus it gets easier and faster for the content editors to update the content, and improves the editing experience.

– Better Content Creation Experience

There are many improvements made in Drupal 10 to make the content creation experience easier for the users. This provides enhanced tools for better management of the media, a new media library, and more intuitive forms to create and edit content easily.

– Better Collaboration Features

This update offers more collaboration features that let multiple users work on the same content at the same time. In addition, it provides tracking changes, reviewing and approval of the content, and better management of the workflow.

Deprecation and Modifications

Besides the above-mentioned changes, Drupal 10 also brings about new changes along with deprecations. Here is what you get:

  • Decoupled Menus

    The decoupled menu means that the menu data is stored and managed in Drupal but shown in the front end through separate JavaScript frameworks. Thus it offers better flexibility and improved performance in the front-end menu display. To allow a decoupled menu in Drupal 10, you will have to use a decoupled menu module or build a custom solution implemented with the Drupal menu management API.

  • Separate Deprecated Code

    This refers to the process of removing the deprecated code, which is the old, unused code from the Drupal core which is no longer supported and may result in compatibility problems in further updates. By removing the deprecated code, one can potentially enhance the performance, accessibility, and security of Drupal, which allows the developers to easily update and maintain their sites.

  • Better Core Modules

    A few core modules have been removed to facilitate the platform and enhance the performance of the Drupal 10 version. The removed modules are deprecated and have restricted applications and their extendibility which can be replaced with other modules or custom code. Here are some of the modules that are removed in Drupal 10: Overlay, Workspaces, PHP filter, etc.

Steps to Upgrade to Drupal 10

If you are planning to upgrade to Drupal 10 then you need to follow the steps very carefully. Simply plan, prepare, test, and optimize the website. Once you update to the latest version of Drupal you will experience enhanced performance, better security, and advanced content management tools, which is surely worth the effort.

1. Prepare for the Update

It is crucial to prepare for the update, which includes the themes and modules that you will be using, the migration of the content, and the modifications done to the website.

2. Create a Backup for your Site

Before you imply any major changes, it is crucial to prepare a backup of your website, which includes the files, content, as well as databases. Thus it makes sure the website is restored if there is any problem during the update.

3. Update the Drupal Version

You need to make sure each module and theme in use is updated, to be compatible with Drupal 10. As soon as the modules and themes are updated, you can update to the Drupal 10 version. You can use the built-in Drupal update mechanism or manually update Drupal using the codebase.

4. Test the Performance of Drupal

Once the Drupal version is updated, you need to test the website to make sure everything is working perfectly, and that entire content and functionalities have been maintained.
Also after the update, it is good to optimise the performance of your website, which ensures the website configuration is done properly, and the performance-associated modules are permitted.

Conclusion

Drupal 10 brings enhanced features and advantages to the users, which makes it an essential and powerful Drupal update.
The enhanced multilingual support, editing options, security features, and improved performance and scalability are just some of the major improvements in the Drupal 10 version. And it won’t be wrong to say that this update is a renegade for web developers.
So, now that you have much idea and knowledge about the Drupal 10 version, it is about time you update to this version. It is surely a must-have if you want an improved experience and functionality. Drupal 10 is surely a great way to build up-to-date next-gen websites in this era of digital transformation.