If you're facing a migration to Drupal — whether from Drupal 7, WordPress, ColdFusion, or a custom legacy system — you probably have questions about what the process actually looks like. Here's an honest overview of how we approach migration projects, what to expect at each stage, and how to set your project up for success.

Discovery and Audit

Every migration starts with understanding what you have. We audit your current site's content types, fields, taxonomies, user roles, URL structures, integrations, and custom functionality. We identify what should be migrated as-is, what should be restructured, and what can be left behind.

This phase typically takes 1-2 weeks and produces a detailed migration map that documents every source field, its destination in the new system, and any transformations needed along the way. This document becomes the blueprint for the entire project.

Architecture and Design

With the audit complete, we design the new site's content architecture. This is where the real value of a migration shows up — you're not just moving content, you're restructuring it for how your organization works today, not how it worked when the old site was built.

We define content types, configure fields, set up taxonomies, design views and listings, and establish editorial workflows. If the project includes a visual redesign, this is when design and development work happens in parallel.

Migration Development

We build migration pipelines using Drupal's Migrate API — a framework purpose-built for moving content between systems. Each content type gets its own migration with source mapping, field transformation, and validation. Migrations are code — they're version-controlled, repeatable, and testable.

We run migrations iteratively: first with small test batches to verify accuracy, then with full datasets to catch edge cases. Your existing site stays live and unchanged throughout this process.

Review and Refinement

Once content is migrated, we do a thorough review. We check that field data landed correctly, that entity references are intact, that images transferred properly, and that URL redirects are in place for every old URL. We run accessibility audits, performance testing, and cross-browser checks.

This is also when your team gets hands-on with the new site. We provide training on the admin interface and content editing workflows, and we incorporate your feedback before launch.

Launch and Transition

Launch day involves a final migration run to capture any content created since the last sync, DNS cutover, and close monitoring for the first 48 hours. We set up redirects from old URLs to new ones to preserve search engine rankings and prevent broken links.

After launch, we provide 30 days of dedicated support to address any issues that surface with real-world traffic and usage.

Setting Expectations

A typical migration project runs 3-6 months and involves regular check-ins, working demos, and iterative feedback. The process requires engagement from your team — especially during discovery, content review, and user acceptance testing. The more involved you are, the better the outcome.

Migration projects are an investment, but they pay dividends for years. A well-migrated site is faster, more secure, more accessible, and dramatically easier to maintain than the platform it replaced.