Support for Drupal 7 is ending on 5 January 2025—it’s time to migrate to Drupal 10! Learn about the many benefits of Drupal 10 and find migration tools in our resource center.
By webdrips on
Hi all.
Not sure if this is the right forum or whatnot, but I would like to find a reliable service to work with to convert a Drupal (7.x) site to WordPress (4.x).
I have tried to talk them into going the other way, but they are dead-set on going away from Drupal :(
Anyway, has anyone used a very reliable tool and/or service?
I have a site with about a dozen content types, 25 views, 450 pages, 100 people, 0 comments, and a custom theme. I see some very cheap tools to handle this, but they don't support themes or views for example.
I'm looking to migrate to an existing WordPress site if it matters.
Thanks,
Dan
Comments
You'd probably be better off
You'd probably be better off searching for someone in the wordpress community rather than the Drupal community, though of course searching in both communities is going to spread your net the widest.
_
I also think you'd probably do better in a wp forum, but regarding this:
"...but they don't support themes or views for example. "
I doubt very much if you'll find a 'one button' type solution that converts your theme and views to wp (does wp even have views?). You'll probably have to build the site in wp, then use whatever tools wp has available to import/migrate the content.
The thing is
Thanks guys.
Since I've been developing with Drupal for nine years, I trust the Drupal community more I suppose.
That being said, I did post on their forum, but didn't get any solid replies so far. Seems they don't really have the same process as converting WP to Drupal :(
They seem to have a plugin for (primitive) views, but of course you gotta buy it :) I guess the more elaborate views would have to be coded at the template level :)
I'm smiling b/c the WP folks trash Drupal for being difficult.
Looking to Migrate to Drupal 9/10? Have a look at our Drupal 9 demo site and request access.
FG Drupal to WordPress
To move your data automatically from Drupal to WordPress, you can use the plugin FG Drupal to WordPress.
https://wordpress.org/plugins/fg-drupal-to-wp/
For the theme, you need to get a WordPress theme and customize it.
Have you found an easy solution to migrate ?
Have you found an easy solution to migrate?
OK starting point
Starting with this importer is a good idea, though it only does basic pages and articles (and no custom fields) unless you buy the $39.99 full version. Keep in mind that there's a whole lot to a Drupal site besides content, such as views, pages, menus, and anything provided by contrib or custom modules. For many sites, that's a much bigger task than the content, which is why content import is a first step, not a whole process.
EDIT: Meant to reply to the post about the FG importer. Sorry it was not connected.
When to use a plugin vs. migration service
It seems my original comment from two years ago has recently been deleted. That's a little strange since I've had quite a few people contacting me saying that they found it helpful. On the bright side, I can take this as an opportunity to update this post with new information for people researching this topic.
First a caveat: I do offer a Drupal to WordPress migration service. However, I also give away lots of tools and information for free so hopefully that evens things out :-) With this in mind, I will try to be as impartial as possible here.
Now to address webdrip's question. Clearly, OP has a client or employer who wants to move away from Drupal. In my experience, once management has made the decision to move away, there's rarely any chance of walking back. Drupal 7 & 8 is great for enterprises but some people need something simpler. WordPress is an obvious choice. As developers, we just have to find the best way to implement the decision.
Looking at the statistics on OP's site (a dozen content types, 25 views, 450 pages, 100 users) I actually would not recommend going with a migration service. With a site this size, you would likely be better off using a plugin like FG Druapl to WordPress or customizing a migration script. The reason takes a bit of explaining.
There are generally three main components of a site migration:
However you choose to migrate, both the design templates and functionality have to be re-implemented by hand. There's no way to automate these. (This will be obvious to seasoned developers but I frequently get asked to migrate templates and functionality so it's worth stating.) Really, the only thing you can automate is the raw site content stored in the database.
When to use a plugin or script
In OP's case, the components that can be automated will be migrating:
The more complex part of the project would probably be the template and functionality re-development. Further, content types and views would also have to be manually re-coded in the chosen theme.
So with all of this considered, it looks to me that when faced with similar circumstances to OP, I think your best bet would be to try FG Drupal to WordPress and see if it works for you. I mention this because at the time of writing, it's the only standalone plugin. You'll find other 'migration plugins' but these are actually just demos that require an add-on paid service for a real migration. The premium version of FG Drupal to WordPress doesn't cost very much and it could save you lots of trouble.
If you are a developer who has more complex requirements and wouldn't mind getting your hands dirty, you could try running some raw SQL. I have a Drupal to WordPress migration SQL queries explained post that goes into some detail. It's a little outdated now but might be of use.
When to use a migration service
If you are a non-technical site owner and your site is important, I would absolutely recommend hiring an expert.
Developers might also benefit as migrations can often involve lots of unforeseen work. In comparison to my migration projects, I'd consider OP's project to be a very small content migration. On average, my projects have 20k-50k nodes and thousands of users to migrate. Clients also tend to have complex taxonomies and additional requirements which could include:
Since there are so many possible ways to configure both Drupal and WordPress, this list could be endless. Although you could probably find plugins to accomplish some of the tasks, your risk having a mix of dependencies that will over-complicate your final WordPress installation.
If your project involves much more than exporting a few content types and a few thousand nodes, I would say it's time to hire a domain expert. Of course, I'd recommend my Drupal to WordPress migration service but a web search will bring up others.
Migration workflow
One thing I touched on in my original (now deleted) comment was a migration workflow. OP mentioned migrating into an existing WordPress site. While it is possible to migrate into an existing site, I'd highly recommend running the content migration first into a blank WordPress installation. Once you've verified that the migration was successful, you can then start to build on top of the site by developing the theme and plugins.
In my experience, migrating into an existing site can cause unnecessary complications. The reason is that WordPress, unlike Drupal, stores lots of its configuration data in the database. If you're migrating into a pre-configured site and the migration goes wrong, you could have lots of work to fix any issues.
Migration resources
If you have an up-coming migration project, here are some resources that might help you.
Hope this helps!
"Drupal 7 & 8 is great for
"Drupal 7 & 8 is great for enterprises but some people need something simpler. WordPress is an obvious choice"
I couldn't agree more and after being very impressed with the evolution of some of the contrib plugins, I agreed to write a 9,000 word guide to migrating from Drupal to WordPress, in a way that preserves complex content architectures, many-to-many relationships, "Drupal-style" taxonomies, fine-grained display controls, and other CMS features we traditionally associate with Drupal. It also documents and discusses the key premium plugins, how much they cost, which ones help replicate Drupal, etc.
Of course it's not Drupal but it's worth exploring. I learned a lot about Drupal from producing complex sites in WordPress.
_
let's disclose here-- for whom?
For Drupal developers and agencies
As noted in the guide.
I just looked at it, and it
I just looked at it, and it looks like a good article, very beneficial. But I don't see that it answers the question WorldFallz asked.
Thanks Jaypan :)
Perhaps you didn't see the first paragraph of the guide?
Reading between the lines of
Reading between the lines of the question:
I think WorldFallz is asking, "Who sponsored the article?" or, "Which company asked you to write the article?" Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think WorldFallz and Jaypan are asking, "Who is the article aimed at?"
Jaypan/WorldFallz - is
Jaypan/WorldFallz - is anthony correct here? Are you really wondering which company sponsored the article? BTW, no one asked me to write it - was my idea and suggestion :)
Yes I believe Anthony
Yes I believe Anthony understood what WF was asking. You wrote in your original post:
Agreement means that someone had requested it. Maybe you wanted the word 'decided', as in 'I decided to write a 9000 word...'.
See the dictionary definition of agree/agreement
An agreement is a arrangement betweeen multiple parties as to a course of action. That's it.
I'm happy to edit my original post to your liking, however, if you'd prefer it that way. But it's hard to understand why you're belaboring word usage. Why is it relevant - it seems like there's something else you're really wanting to say.
An agreement is a arrangement
But you’ve stated there are no other parties l, which is why it’s confusing.
Off-topic / disingenuous
Yeah, sorry but you're actually borderline trolling. And you're taking the subject off-topic.
Here's what OP said:
Anthonylv and others and I offer OP information/services/tools. The guide I wrote is particularly suited to replicating a Drupal site with "dozen content types, 25 views". I hope it helps someone.
If you have anything substantive to contribute, Jaypan, I'm all ears. Thanks
I haven't attempted to
I haven't attempted to contribute anything whatsoever to this thread. I wasn't even the one who asked you to clarify your comments. I simply pointed out that you hadn't clarified your comments - and for that matter, you still haven't.
Hardly trolling - read my post history on this site. I am most definitely not trolling here.
🤔
Tell me more.
I've already said it. You
I've already said it. You pointed out that you agreed to write the article, then when pressed, said no one asked you to write the article, while continuing to claim that you agree to write the article. I haven't contributed anything, I'm just pointing out the inconsistency in what you are saying.
_
NO ONE IS TROLLING, borderline or otherwise.
You necroed an old post and then state, "I agreed to write" which implies either requested or commissioned content.
As a drupal.org webmaster, I like to ensure the context of posts is clear. If someone is promoting something I think users are entitled to know if its personal opinion, sponsored, or otherwise some type of promotion.
If you're agreeing to write something that you then cross post to drupal.org I think we're entitled to know who asked you to write it so we can put it in it's proper context.
That's it.
Your overreaction to my question and other user's follow-ups speaks volumes all on it's own. And definitely doesn't leave the impression that the content was spontaneous and uncommissioned. Along the lines of 'methinks he doth protest too much'.
You can either answer the question or readers will make their own determination.
What is your question?
Calm down with the personal attacks, drupal.org webmaster – it's going to be OK :)
So your question is what? You apparently didn't like/understand the answer to your previous question. Can you do me a big favor and think of a way to rephrase so that it gets you the answer you want?
Calm down with the personal
There was literally not a single personal attack on you in WorldFallz' post. A personal attack would be on you as a person - calling you names, criticizing your personality etc. WF criticized the style and content of your reply, she didn't make any comments on you as a person whatsoever.
She wasn't asking a question. Maybe you should try re-reading the post, since you seem to have misunderstood it based on your asking what the question was, and thinking there were personal attacks within it.
The answer she wanted was to the question 'let's disclose here-- for whom?'. Answers are 'Person X', or in this case 'no one approached me, I misspoke when I suggested someone had asked me to do this'. Either response could have been made without any attitude, and would have ended the conversation there.
Consider this a personal attack:
There is nothing there about
There is nothing there about his person - it’s a criticism of his actions, not his person, and therefore not a personal attack.
Thanks for explaining
Agree with it. Still feel the whole response offensive. Not a moderator worthy response, consider the assessment questionable.
_
That is not a personal attack but rather a statement of fact, lol. In case there's confusion:
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=necropost
And here we still sit, without an answer as to if and who sponsored a post.
As i said, the lack of a straight answer is in fact an answer in itself.
Suggest you get your facts straight !
Falsely claiming things that put the other person in a negative light is considered a personal attack. Specially when they are unrelated. Normally a bad practice by people that don't have arguments on the issue itself. Resorting to these kind of practices says more about you than those attacked by you.
Consider a reply after two months not according to your definition of necroposting. Quite a difference two months or two years. In addition the topic shouldn't be considered dead. It is very much alive due to the poor service by certain members of this community. Can't blame people starting to look for alternatives with the way they are treated here. Referring to the treatment of those with no access to the cmdline.
Consider the article written a welcome contribution, it makes clear what aspects of Drupal are so much appreciated and that it is quite a lot of work for those moving to WP. Hopefully it puts things into perspective
Another fact you got wrong is the lack of a straight answer. The answer is provided, whether you believe that answer or not is up to you. Doubt very much that the post was sponsored, maybe the document it self. A sincere interest in the motivation would be appreciated.
Let's keep this post useful for others out there
To be fair to everyone involved, this post was static for about two years until I posted updated information about three months ago. Despite not being active, strangers have actually contacted me off-forum saying they found the discussion here useful. This post also comes up when searching for Drupal to WordPress migration services. It therefore seems very much alive by way of offering a valuable resource for people researching migration options.
Rowan Price posted his comment not too long after my update and WorldFallz asked for a disclosure of interests. Clearly there's nothing wrong with commercially motivated posts when they provide helpful information; OP was looking for a service after all. Nevertheless, astroturfing is commonplace so it's wise to be very explicit about interests and perhaps this is where Rowan Price could have done better.
Unfortunately, the exchange between Rowan Price and WorldFallz was misinterpreted by both sides. To me it's clear that WorldFallz was asking for a disclosure of any commercial interest. It's also clear to me that Rowan Price thought the question was about target audience. WorldFallz is a drupal.org webmaster and Rowan Price a lead generation consultant. We can see how each would look at the same question differently. Somehow ruffles got feathered along the way.
Anyway, this is my long-winded way of saying this post really does provide value to people out there but I think the continued discussion about motivations does not. If it helps draw the thread to a close, I will state what appears to be the motivations here. The relevant people can then reply with any corrections and hopefully we can leave it at that.
Although this topic is about moving away from Drupal, I still think it is relevant and useful for the Drupal community. It shows that people have options if their needs change. This may encourage others to try out Drupal or stay with it longer. Most of my clients tell me they want to move away from Drupal because it has become a bit of a nightmare for them. The easier we make the overall experience--both with the software and the community--the better for everyone.
FWIW, I'm not associated with any commenter here, nor am I trying to speak for or defend them. I'm just hoping that posting a summary will help end the back-and-forth about who meant what.
Another fact you got wrong is
I've just re-read the thread, and it's still not clear whether the poster was sponsored to write the post or not. While there was a comment that it was of their own volition, other comments since then have made it unclear if that is actually the case or not.
Lead generation process
According to his website, Rowan Price is a digital lead generation expert. We can therefore extrapolate that the exchange went something like this:
So under this scenario, it's conceivable that Rowan Price both wrote the article/post (which he genuinely believed would be of value to the reader) out of his own volition and was subsequently compensated for the work. Personally, I don't think there is anything intentionally shady about this but it's also fair to ask for disclosure. The whole thing seems like a misunderstanding rather than anything nefarious.
_
imo neither webmasters or users should <i>need</i> to extrapolate. I asked a simple question, and mountains of posts followed without an actual answer, lol.
In any case, the post speaks for itself.
May be BIG data solution
Hi
I may be saying non-sense but i thing you can try using big data migration tool like Talend studio AFTER studying correctly and carefully Wordpress database structure, Drupal database structure , how you drupal site contents are stored are stored and organized in database
Turning WordPress into Drupal
Rowan Price, your guide does a very good job of explaining the WordPress equivalents of Drupal features. It's also very comprehensive in showing one method of recreating Drupal-like features, such as Panels, Views and complex content relationships. No doubt it will be very useful for developers who need to make WordPress as much like Drupal as possible.
I would argue that most site owners switching to WordPress are doing so because they don't need Drupal's more complex functionality. They're exchanging the rich feature set that Drupal is known for and moving to a simpler platform with a lower learning curve. I'm guessing this was the motivation for OP's employer/client. It certainly is one of the main reasons my clients want to migrate to WordPress. After all, why go through the effort and expense of migrating to WordPress and redeveloping all the Drupal features when you already have Drupal? Drupal has a mature implementation of these features and many contributing developers to supported the code. There isn't much incentive for a site owner in migrating to WordPress only to lock themselves in to a single plugin vendor for the core functionality of their site.
Nevertheless, you did a good job with explaining to a WordPress developer how they can implement Drupal-like features and perhaps this is what you set out to do. These points don't detract from the guide itself and are more aimed at the strategy of the plugin vendor who published the guide :)
Hi Anthony, I agree with your
Hi Anthony, I agree with your assessment of the OP's intent. To me that is exactly the kind of person I wrote this guide for... by the way, the guide is to help people like the OP. There's no ulterior motive and it's beyond obvious that Drupal is still a valid product for many uses cases.
There isn't much incentive for a site owner in migrating to WordPress
There is "much incentive", though, to a site owner who just wants a CMS. As mentioned in the article, Drupal as a whole is 5 to 10 years behind WordPress when it comes to content publishing, admin UX, SEO, and media management. I'd encourage any Drupal developer who is serious about improving Drupal to build a site in WordPress - just to learn about Drupal. And vice-versa, actually - WordPress developers could also learn a lot from building a site Drupal.
...only to lock themselves in to a single plugin vendor for the core functionality of their site.
You're using words like vendor and to lock in; I find that problematic insofar as the reader might conclude that's a WordPress-only issue. There's also lock-in when selecting a Drupal module that provides core functionality for their site. There's enormous financial incentive - as I know from my former agency sponsoring several Drupal modules over the past decade - to selling module usage in exchange for attention. So from that vantage point, Drupal project maintainers are also vendors.
As for lock in, have you ever tried adopting one text editor for Drupal, then replacing it with another? Have you ever tried migrating from Panels to DS, or vice-versa? And so on and so forth.
Whether or not you're systematically and non-arbitrarily rewarding developers financially (which is the essence of the WordPress freemium plugin model), there is technical debt the moment you start configuring/extending-through-custom-code a module/plugin or theme.
"After all, why go through the effort and expense of migrating to WordPress and redeveloping all the Drupal features when you already have Drupal? "
Why indeed, when you longer have to do so in WordPress? Illuminating that fact is one of the purposes of the guide. You can use the selection of freemium and free WP plugins (at a remarkable value compared to opportunity cost) to build a complex content architecture and fine-grained display, among other features, in WordPress.
By the way, the guide mentions at least a dozen other WordPress plugins in whom it has no financial interest (including its own "co-petitor, Pods) - why? Because the goal is to be helpful to people used to developing in Drupal and looking for ways to do that in WordPress, of which Toolset is one.
I can't speak for the publisher's motives but I can tell you that I wouldn't have agreed to write the guide if I didn't believe every word – from personal experience, I can attest that Toolset offers the most "Drupal-like" solution in WordPress. I wrote it in part to clarify that fact :)
A difference of approach
Hi Rowan, just to be clear, I'm not questioning your motives and as previously mentioned, I do believe your guide is helpful for the target audience.
Also, I'm neither a 'Drupal developer' nor a 'WordPress developer'. My comment wasn't about Drupal being superior to WordPress or vice-versa. As these two platforms have matured, they've definitely separated into different markets: Drupal is now the 'enterprise-level digital content framework' whereas WordPress is the 'easy-to-use online publishing platform'. The user profile overlap is getting smaller.
This is entirely my own subjective opinion but I don't think turning Drupal into WordPress or turning WordPress into Drupal is the right approach. Further, I think using a single commercial plugin vendor to provide so much of the core functionality is inherently risky. (Again, my own opinion and preference.) I'd like to highlight that I have no problems with companies selling software. My vendor lock-in comment was related to concern about what one would do if the vendor stops supporting the product.
However, there are undoubtedly people out there who would disagree with me and your guide is for them!
Less total risk
My vendor lock-in comment was related to concern about what one would do if the vendor stops supporting the product.
OK, I see. I think that's extremely unlikely given the enormous size of the large developer base, which extends far beyond the sponsoring company, and given the formal financial structure around the project.
In contrast, informally supported plugin/module projects present probably more vendor lock-in risks actually. For a wide variety of reasons, support for various Drupal modules (eg. Media) have come at times come to very abrupt halts. Very risky proposition.
So I don't think the guide is for people who disagree or disagree with you necessarily, but for those who are seeking less total risk, less headaches, etc.
BTW, I view all Drupal projects and all WordPress projects as commercial endeavors, regardless of the compensation model. That doesn't mean that there aren't non-commercial motives in the mix too (as is often the case with premium WP plugins). Just my own subjective opinion, of course :)
I don't think turning Drupal into WordPress or turning WordPress into Drupal is the right approach
Right: the point is more that site owners have the opportunity to emulate the CCK and Views-based Drupal model of UI-based content architecture and display in WordPress - without turning it into Drupal.
And while I agree the two products are diverging in target audience, they are still so surprisingly similar compare to similar products; maybe that's why learning the other one is a great way to learn more about the one you already know.
I really appreciate your insight, Anthony, very interesting!
Keep in mind that there's a
Keep in mind that there's a whole lot to a Drupal site besides content, such as views, pages. menus, and anything provided by contrib or custom modules.