Delivering an out-of-the-world and impeccable digital experience is the need of the hour for every business.

Processes are getting digitized. Users have become more digitally conscious. And almost everything is either moving up the cloud or getting automated or even both.

And all of this is because the customer behavior trends say so; especially, since the pandemic.

Users have been shifting towards digital channels for all their requirements. From purchasing groceries to ordering food to make reservations, almost everything is done through digital products and apps today. 

All through this, a seamless digital experience is what every customer yearns for. So much so that 30% are even ready to pay even more for excellent service and experience. 

No wonder businesses find themselves trying to deliver the best customer experience at all costs. They are required to build highly immersive web and mobile experiences, robust and better-performing applications, and secure and feature-rich websites to stay ahead in this competitive environment. 

Many businesses trust Drupal to offer the digital customer experience that their users desire. Drupal CMS has gained popularity with its rich power-packed features, high-level functionality, and user-friendly GUI. But even when using Drupal, staying abreast with its updates is crucial. 

Businesses need innovative solutions and technical upgrades to update, upscale, and upgrade the software, platforms, websites, and products developed. 

To speed up digital performance, migrating to the latest version with the latest tech is the easiest and fastest way to deliver optimized and reliable content on the web. Also, it enables you to provide uninterrupted and seamless experiences to your customers across all platforms.

Drupal 8 is going to end its life span this November 2021. Drupal 7 version was launched in the year 2011. The EOL for this version is going to be scheduled for November 2022. 

Here, we are going to explore the upcoming version - Drupal 10.

When Will Drupal 10 Be Released?

Drupal 10 is scheduled to release in December 2022. 

Earlier, it was hoped that Drupal 10 would release between June 2022 and November 2022. However, now the date has been revised to December 2022. 

The latest version comes with advanced features, goals, and deliverables to stay updated with your websites and keep you up-to-date with changing technologies. It’s time to get ready to peek into the new CKEditor 5, automated updates, Olivero front-end theme, decoupled menus, and other additional features!

The ambassadors of the Drupal 10 readiness initiative gave a keynote speech at DrupalCon North America 2021, discussing the future release.

“Drupal 10 will be a refined version of Drupal 9, including all the goodies from all initiatives. It will include Olivero, Claro, and all the work from the Automated Updates Initiative, Bug Smash, Easy Out-of-the-box, Decoupled Menus, and the Project Browser if we have one in time. So it will include all of the results of all the work that the community put in.”

What To Expect From Drupal 10?

With Drupal 10 all set to release in December this year, there are different updates that are expected from this version; two of them being much-talked- automatic update and the project browser. Are you ready to upgrade your website to Drupal 10?

Here are some new upgrades Drupal 10 has come up with.

1. Project Browser

With Drupal 10 onboard, developers can easily search and install modules straightaway from their Drupal site admin dashboard. The drupal interface is just similar to a smart app store which makes Drupal even more powerful and delightful. This is the latest functionality that will be added to the Drupal CMS. 

Source: Drupal

This is the project browser contributed module in the early stages of development. DrupalPod tool will create a cloud-hosted Drupal development environment in the browser. Here you will see the Extend tab from where you can simply browse projects.

2. Updated Third-party components

The Drupal latest version has come up with third-party component versions. It will be more secure, faster, powerful, and user-friendly both for coders and non-coders.

Here are listed few upgrades for 2022:

• Upgrade From CKEditor 4 to CKEditor 5
• Upgrade From Symfony 4 to Symfony 5 or 6
• Upgrade From Composer 1 to Composer 2
• Upgrade From PHP 7 to PHP 8
• Replacing jQuery UI with modern JavaScript components
• No more Internet Explorer 11 support

3. Facilitates Decoupled Menus

Drupal 10 will be a leading CMS in 2022 for its features, including headless architecture and decoupled technologies. Drupal CMS offers you Javascript development experiences and enables Javascript frontend to consume menus managed in Drupal.

Drupal 10 offers support for REST, JSON, and GraphQL APIs. Moreover, it permits you to build an extensive ambassadors repository of web components and framework integrations.

It will continue to remain one of the most powerful and flexible tools for developers. Developers can easily update menus via the Drupal UI with this latest version without any expert assistance. You will get to see the changes that automatically reflect in the JavaScript frontend. 

4. Automatic Updates

Drupal often received constant requests from its users to enable automated updates. One of the Drupal 10 feature lists includes this functionality where drupal users can allow safe updates automatically.

With automatic updates, it is easier for you to update Drupal-coded websites in no time. Your sites will be more secure and thus deliver an impeccable user experience. This add-on feature will provide your website development with better security and UX enhancements.

Key Features You'll See In Drupal 10

While there are many updates that we'll witness as we move from Drupal 9 to 10, it would be the key features that would make a huge difference. And Drupal is all set to make things bigger, better, and more enjoyable for all its users. 

• Claro Replacing Seven

  Drupal 10 will come with a new administration theme called Claro. This theme was launched with the Drupal 9.4 update and offers an easy-to-use default theme for the admin interface. There are various key benefits of having the Claro theme like its focus state, color contrast checks, and even a UI that is tested for high contrasts. 

• Olivero Replacing Bartik

  Another new update that has been seen since drupal 9.4.0 is the Olivero front-end theme. It comes with a modern and clean front-end look with minimal usage of drop shadows and gradient effects. Even the typography, color palette, and animation in the design are redesigned. It also enables easy usage of the most popular Drupal functionalities like embedded media, second-level navigation, etc.   

• CKEditor 5 Replacing CKEditor 4

  The next feature updated in Drupal 10 would be the CKEditor 5 editor which will enhance the overall authoring experience of Drupal. It will come with improvements in the core CKEditor. 

• New JavaScript Components

  Drupal has realized that libraries like jQuery, jQuery UI, and Backbone have become outdated. And it aims to completely remove and replace them with newer libraries in Drupal 10. And in Drupal 10, we will be witnessing modern JavaScript components while using some jquery functions as well.   

• New Starterkit Theme

  Drupal 10 will come with a New Starter kit theme that will change the way devs create themes in Drupal. This new update will replace Classy, the earlier theme. It will allow front-end developers to copy an existing theme and use it as a template to create new themes. This would eradicate the issue of subthemes and let them create new ones. 

• Symfony 6 Replacing Symfony 4

  One of the biggest updates in Drupal 10 would be the jump of Symfony from Symfony 4 to Symfony 6. And we already have Symfony 6.1.4 running stable right now and are expecting a newer, more advanced version to be launched by December when Drupal 10 launches.   

• Distribution & Recipes

  The next update that we'll see in Drupal 10 would be new recipe functionalities that solve all the pre-existing problems with distribution & recipes. We will see a new and improved way of how recipes are packaged and even in the Composer workflow. Users would also have the ability to mix and match recipes/distributions as Drupal 10 would come with an updated architecture.

Now that we know the features and the main updates that we'll be seeing in Drupal, 10, let's quickly answer some of the most asked questions about this update. These are around the end of the life of the previous versions that have been serving Drupal users. 

Drupal 7 End of Life: One of the most popular Drupal versions ever was Drupal 7. The end of life for drupal was earlier scheduled for November 2021. However, considering the pandemic, it was revised to November 2022. But now, it has been re-evaluated and Drupal 7 end of life is November 2023. Businesses have till then to upgrade to Drupal 9 and get their business ready next versions. 

Drupal 8 End of Life: Drupal 8 reached its end of life in November 2021. So, as of now, there are no security fixes or support offered by Drupal for those using Drupal 8. Businesses still using Drupal 8 are advised to quickly perform Drupal 9 migration and get their site ready for Drupal 10. 

Drupal 9 End of Life: Drupal 9 end of life is also scheduled for November 2023. It will happen with the end of the life of Symfony 4. Those who have already updated to Drupal 9 should make sure to continue updating to the latest version updates of 9 to make their Drupal 9 to 10 upgrade more seamless and quick. 

Drupal 10 Release Date: As mentioned earlier, Drupal 10 is set to be released in December 2022. Businesses using the Drupal CMS for their web presence can get themselves ready and start upgrading their business to Drupal 9. Once they've updated to the latest version, they can quickly upgrade their digital experience platform to the latest Drupal 10 when it releases. 

Final Word

The migration from Drupal 9 to Drupal 10 is going to be easier for all of us. The latest Drupal 10 version comes up with new design features and significant changes to your eCommerce CMS. The previous and the upcoming version of Drupal have come up with enormous benefits that help your business enhance its web and app experience.

I hope, as of now, you have understood about the upgrades' that the Drupal 10 version holds. We at Classic Informatics help you upgrade your website to the latest version of Drupal that ensures high security, stability, performance, and reliability.