Drupal 7 to Drupal 9 migration tips and tricks covering typical hurdles you may face during a migration journey.
An upgrade that's also a chance to improve
Panelizer sites need to move to Layout Builder or be rebuilt from scratch. For most sites, we recommend Layout Builder. For many legacy sites, the cost of an uplift is similar to a fresh build plus a migration. For large, complex sites where the migration effort is significant, an uplift may make more sense.
If you rebuild, you can improve other parts of the site at the same time, while keeping what's worth keeping.
What you get:
- Continuity. A supported site on a platform built for what comes next.
- A clear choice. An audit that shows whether an uplift or a rebuild suits your site.
- Improvements alongside the upgrade. A chance to update your content model, workflow, and features while the work is under way.
Our approach to the upgrade
Start with a site audit
A site audit is a separate deliverable that you can use to scope and plan the next phases. It reviews accessibility, SEO, design, content model, functionality, roles, content moderation, and migration.
Choose between an uplift and a rebuild
We compare the two options against your site's size, complexity, and migration effort, then recommend one.
Keep what matters, improve what doesn't work
Your content and data are valuable, so we preserve and enhance them. We map your URLs to protect search rankings. A rebuild can also bring a new brand or style guide, an improved content model, new features, content strategy and design, and better workflow and moderation processes.
Deliver in clear phases
The project runs through establishment, discovery, definition, build, migration, testing, training, pre-deployment, deployment, and post-deployment. See our GovCMS migration and Drupal migration services.
Train your editors on the new layout tools
Layout Builder changes how editors build pages. We include editor training, so your team is ready at go-live.
Frequently asked questions
Panelizer was the older page layout tool used in earlier GovCMS builds. Layout Builder is Drupal core's actively maintained replacement, with better long-term support, a cleaner editing experience, and compatibility with newer Drupal features. A site still on Panelizer runs on an approach that will get harder to support over time.
Panelizer isn't developed for current and future Drupal core versions, so the risk grows with every release. It's better to plan the upgrade ahead of time than to be forced into it by a compatibility break at an inconvenient moment, such as just before an end-of-life deadline.
Your page layouts and configuration move from the old system to Layout Builder's data structures. We then test that editing and page rendering still work correctly. It's also a chance to review whether your existing page-building patterns still suit your editors.
It depends on size and complexity. For many legacy sites, an uplift costs about the same as a rebuild plus migration, so we recommend Layout Builder as the target either way. The site audit gives you the evidence to decide.
We map old URLs to new ones to protect your rankings, and we preserve your content and data.
The GovCMS timeline for removing Panelizer, was before the upgrade to Drupal 11 in 2025.
Case studies
Case study
Morpht built IPEA a GovCMS website that imports 30,000+ expenditure records in one process, so the team publishes quarterly reports without third-party help.
Case study
Morpht rebuilt the TGA website on GovCMS, turning 95,000+ ARTG records into searchable pages and cutting 71 content types to 49 for 5.5 million monthly users.
Case study
Morpht redesigned the ACECQA website, migrated its content and rebuilt National Register updates, cutting data processing by 99% and page load by 19%.
Case study
Morpht moved the Attorney-General's Department website from SharePoint to GovCMS, organising 1,200 pages and 6,000+ publications into nine searchable sections.
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