Unexpected Good News for Drupal 7: End-of-Life Extended Again

The Drupal organization has extended Drupal 7's End-of-Life until November 1, 2023.  Earlier today I sent Troutreach Technology clients a message that included the following:

The Drupal organization issued a Security Advisory yesterday announcing that the End-of-Life for Drupal 7 has been extended until November 1, 2023.  Additionally, they announced that the EOL date for Drupal 7 will be re-evaluated annually and that an announcement would be made by July 2023 regarding possible extension past November 1, 2023.

What do these announcements mean for your website and Troutreach Technologies?

  1. First and foremost, Drupal 7 will continue to be a viable platform for your website for at least one more year, effectively until the end of 2023.
  2. Troutreach will support your website, e.g., applying pertinent maintenance, for all of calendar year 2022.  There will not be any charge for this extended service and there is nothing you need to do to get this service.
  3. Troutreach Technologies will continue to offer our clients annual maintenance agreements for their Drupal 7 websites through 2023.
  4. Troutreach Technologies has already stopped creating new Drupal 7 based websites.  Future new websites developed by Troutreach Technologies will, almost certainly, be built using the Backdrop CMS.  Backdrop CMS is a “fork” of Drupal 7.  That is, a CMS built by duplicating Drupal 7 and making changes to improve its viability for the future.