MSDW news website migration from Drupal 7
We redesigned one of the largest digital news platforms on the Microsoft ecosystem. The migration from Drupal 7 to Drupal 10 not only preserved all existing data and functionality but also delivered a significantly improved user experience.
About MSDynamicsWorld (MSDW)
Challenge
The Drupal platform for publishing Microsoft Dynamics news and collecting leads required a modern, lightweight, and intuitive design that would appeal to both vendors and regular users. Therefore, the approach required migration to a higher version of the system.
Some key points:
- User roles and permissions - a large user base with diverse roles demanded a robust permission system and the ability to create private content and decide if their files should be protected by web form.
- Lead gathering - automating the lead collection and tracking based on user actions such as content downloads and media views was critical.
- Data migration - safely transferring extensive legacy data to a new system was a major priority.
- API integrations - the MSDW platform needed integration with various APIs, including video streaming services, Amazon S3, and Mautic.
- Forms and workflows - the existing forms were overly complex, making them difficult for users to edit and manage efficiently.
Solution
To meet the above challenge and achieve the project goals, we undertook a series of redesign and migration activities for the website.
- User roles and permissions - we created distinctive roles within CMS and used the Group module to form complex connections between users and a permission system. This empowered users to manage their groups effectively depending on roles within them.
- Lead gathering - we transformed all lead data into CMS entities that can be fully customized with fields. As a result, they can be effortlessly created, edited, and deleted, and they can react to any event happening in CMS.
- Data migration - using the Migration API, our team successfully transferred all legacy data and values, ensuring their integrity and reorganizing them to align with the new system's structure.
- API integrations - we created services and plugins to interact with external APIs that can be easily used across the entire application.
- Forms and workflows - to keep users manageable, we simplified complex forms by breaking them into parts that could be edited independently.
Result
We successfully migrated the client’s website to Drupal 10, carefully preserving all legacy data and reorganizing it to fit new models. The familiar functionalities of the old web page weren’t just kept but improved to make life easier for both the admin team and regular users.
Gathering leads is now simple and efficient. Whether users prefer spreadsheets, Excel exports, or CSV files, the new system makes browsing and analyzing leads straightforward and intuitive.
The website also got a fresh new look. Guided by an in-depth UX audit and interactive mockups, we introduced a modern, streamlined design. Not only does it look modern, but it’s also faster, with shorter loading times that make browsing the site a much smoother experience for everyone.
Examples of extra features for MSDW news website
Leads collecting for MSDW
Enabling automatic lead creation based on user interactions with the content while providing an easy way for administrators to generate reports and track the most engaging materials. All of this happens seamlessly, without requiring any manual effort from admins or users. Additionally, editors can effortlessly share lead data with external APIs, such as Mautic.
Customizable content design
With the layout builder, users can easily customize the appearance of their content pages or products using various predefined components. This flexible approach ensures a consistent yet personalized design experience, empowering users to create visually engaging pages without requiring technical expertise.
Convenient search for MSDW users
Powered by the SOLR engine, all content can be efficiently indexed and delivered to users at lightning speed. Advanced filters make it easy to narrow down results, ensuring users quickly find exactly what they’re looking for.
Autogenerated thumbnails
Every media file - a PDF document, video, or another format - automatically generates its own thumbnail during the upload process. This ensures a visually cohesive and organized media library without requiring any additional effort from users.