Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Advancing federal and state policies that help low-income Americans
Conserving resources with strategic Drupal migration
The Center on Budget Policy and Priorities (CBPP) needed to migrate from Drupal 7 to Drupal 8 without significantly altering its branding and design, simultaneously preparing a roadmap for a future Drupal 9 migration.
Challenges
- Outdated Drupal site
- Limited functionality and accessibility
- User experience issues
Solutions
- Migrate to Drupal 8
- Enhance existing hosting configuration
- Audit and refine content
Results
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Enhancedsystem functionality
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Strengthenedaudience communication and engagement
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Elevateduser experience
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ upgraded site now offers improved functionality and accessibility on a robust, secure hosting platform, and will be easily upgraded to Drupal 9 when the time comes.
Project highlights
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Drupal 8 migration
Accessibility was a central focus during the Drupal 8 build, guaranteeing an inclusive and user-friendly website. Fíonta orchestrated a seamless migration from Drupal 7 to Drupal 8, preserving essential features while leveraging Drupal 8’s capabilities.
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Robust hosting platform
The existing hosting configuration was reviewed and enhanced to establish a secure platform for the new site. The site map and information architecture were revamped to facilitate intuitive navigation on the Drupal 8 platform.
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Content streamlining
Extensive content was audited and refined, ensuring a streamlined and efficient migration process.
Project Summary
CBPP’s project with Fíonta began in July 2020, with an in-depth discovery phase that assessed existing features, content, and accessibility. CBPP’s in-house developer collaborated with Fíonta’s development team, enabling CBPP to assume specific tasks and conserve resources. The team used Jira and Slack to track progress and maintain open communication. Establishing standardized Docker-based local development environments using the Lando toolkit promoted consistency in development processes. The subsequent planning and design phase optimized the site’s information architecture and user experience, with a focus on accessibility enhancements and robust hosting on Pantheon.
The configuration of media-rich content types with multiple view modes and taxonomy-driven categorization enhanced user engagement, and customized Layout Builder setups empowered dynamic content presentation on landing and topic breakdown pages.
For optimal efficiency, Fíonta’s migration strategies reduced over 11,000 nodes from 10 source content types into eight destination types. Seamless media migration from D7 Scald to D8 Media Entities ensured multimedia integration. The integration with Mailchimp streamlined communication and audience engagement, reinforcing CBPP’s digital commitment to advancing policy change and equity.
Outcomes
Our collaboration also served as functional training for the CBPP web staff, enabling them to hit the ground running with their new site confidently. The CBPP’s upgraded site now offers improved functionality and accessibility on a robust, secure hosting platform. It will be easily upgraded to Drupal 9 when the time comes.
