A leading media publishing house in the US, our client runs a high-traffic news and editorial platform covering everything from politics and tech to entertainment and lifestyle. With a massive audience spanning millions of monthly readers, their content management workflows needed to be seamless, quick, and scalable. As Drupal 9 approached its end of life, the brand aimed to future-proof their digital ecosystem by migrating to Drupal 11—and in doing so, unlock serious efficiency gains across publishing operations.
Client’s Objectives
- Upgrade from Drupal 9 to Drupal 11 for long-term stability and innovation
- Streamline editorial workflows and reduce publishing time
- Enhance site performance and content discoverability
- Achieve higher content output without increasing team size
- Improve security, flexibility, and scalability for future growth
Client’s Challenge:
The transition wasn’t just a technical upgrade—it required a comprehensive modernization of their publishing system. Here's what made it complex:
- High-volume publishing needs: With thousands of articles, media files, and editorial blocks, a precise data migration plan was critical to avoid downtime or data loss.
- Legacy workflows: The editorial system was cluttered with redundant custom modules, slowing down the content review-to-publish pipeline.
- Inefficient media handling: Image galleries, embedded videos, and interactive content components were poorly structured, impacting site speed and content loading.
- Security concerns: Outdated modules and dependency versions created potential vulnerabilities.
- Limited searchability: Their existing site search lacked contextual accuracy, affecting user engagement and content discovery.
The Solution We Implemented:
Our Drupal experts rolled out a phased and risk-free upgrade plan that involved far more than just migration. The solution focused on optimization, performance, and editor empowerment.
- Conducted a full site audit, including content mapping, module evaluation, and performance bottlenecks
- Phased upgrade via Drupal 9.5 and 10 before migrating to 11, ensuring every custom module was compatible and future-ready
- Introduced Layout Builder & CKEditor 5 to create a seamless editing experience with real-time content previews
- Integrated a media library revamp with optimized image compression, dynamic resizing, and better metadata tagging
- Enhanced the site’s search architecture using faceted and AI-driven filtering for deeper, faster content discovery
- Deployed role-based workflow automation for faster approvals and reduced editorial turnaround time
- Implemented advanced security protocols including multi-factor authentication and permissions restructuring
- Load-tested the platform to ensure high availability even during traffic surges and breaking news moments
Impact on Client’s Business:
The Drupal 11 upgrade brought significant, measurable improvements across the board:
- Publishing efficiency improved by 60% – content teams now publish 3x faster
- Search accuracy increased by 45%, driving more relevant content views
- Page load times dropped from 5.2s to 1.6s, improving SEO and user engagement
- Security hardening resulted in a 90% reduction in vulnerability flags
- Higher editorial throughput with the same team size—scalable content ops, unlocked
Closing thoughts
This upgrade was more than a version bump—it was a strategic leap toward operational excellence. For media companies with large content ecosystems, Drupal 11 offers the speed, control, and reliability that tomorrow’s digital publishing demands.
If you’re still on an older Drupal version, now’s the time to future-proof your CMS. Talk to our certified Drupal upgrade specialists and start your transformation today.
Get in touch with our experts → drupalpartners.com