On November 9, 2015, the Drupal.org announced that Drupal 6 would reach end of life (EOL) on February 24, 2016. While this decision was met with some speculation as to whether or not the deadline would be extended, they have upheld their original deadline and Drupal 6 is no longer under active development.
What does that mean for you?
One of the great things about Drupal is the security team that regularly sends out updates and fixes to both core and contributed code on a regular basis. If you are running on Drupal 6, your site will continue to function, but will not longer receive these security updates. There are a few different firms that have pledged to provide extended support for Drupal 6 and its modules. For a full list, see the vendor listing on Drupal.org.
What about upgrading?
Drupal is committed to providing an upgrade path for core components to facilitate moving users from previous versions to the newest release. However, this upgrade path doesn’t necessarily extend to any custom or contributed modules. With the numerous changes in architecture from Drupal 6 to Drupal 8, it is unlikely that any but the most basic sites will upgrade smoothly and not require the support of a developer.
This doesn’t mean that your site and data are lost for good. There are other methods, besides a direct upgrade, that can get your data from your old site to your new site.
Architecture Review
Prior to any site upgrade, I recommend a full review of the site’s features and functionality. With the number of modules that have been moved into Drupal core from version 6 to 8, it is worthwhile to see which features you might be able to remove in favor of the functionality already built into Drupal’s newest version.
The added benefit of an architecture review is to see if there is functionality that is no longer needed or used on the site. As the requirements of a company’s site evolve, it is common for functionality to fall out of use. No need to preserve something you no longer need!
Once the review is complete, any remaining functionality, not already covered by core, could be presented to a developer for inclusion into the new site.
Customized Data migration
Consider a custom data migration method to get your data from point A to point B. This would give you fine-tuned control over how your data is handled and mapped between systems. Any suggested architecture changes could also be implemented at this time.
Drupal’s powerful contributed Migrate module works very well to move content from virtually any source (CSV, database, HTML documents, etc.) into a Drupal site. We recently migrated data from a completely custom solution into Drupal using this method. Convert text fields into taxonomy (categorization) fields to gain the ability to use autocomplete on your data entry forms. It also can migrate files, even if they’re embedded in your content.
An opportunity to streamline your site
Drupal 6 enjoyed over eight years of active development. If you were an early adopter, it is likely that over the course of the years your site has evolved to the point where a little spring cleaning wouldn’t be a bad thing. Trimming out unused features will likely improve the performance of your site. And Drupal 8’s performance enhancements can make your site lightning fast on any device.
However, you may have been among those who began using Drupal 6 toward the end of its life. If upgrading isn’t an option for you, consider working with one of the vendors committed to provide extended support.
However you chose to proceed, an end of life status for Drupal 6 doesn’t have to mean the end of your site. Rather it can be the opportunity to refine the purpose and function of your site to make it even better than it already is.
RIP, Drupal 6. Feb 13, 2008 - Feb 24, 2016