Migration Check

Drupal site migration

A Drupal upgrade is a rebuild anyway. Make it the last one.

Drupal is powerful, and it was built for big teams. For a small organization, each major version can mean a near-rebuild, and Drupal 7 sites have reached end of life. I move your site to Redline: plain, fast pages with nothing to upgrade, your content brought over, and every link kept. Enter your address to see what your move would involve.

I look at your public pages and page list, the same way a visitor would. Nothing is saved unless you ask for a quote.

Typical level

A quick move for small, simple sites. Booking tools, several forms or many pages add some custom work.

Typical price

$1,800–4,000 for most Drupal sites, $4,000–6,000 for big ones. Hosting and care is $150 a month.

Time

Usually 1–3 weeks. Your current site stays live until the new one is ready.

After the move

Edit your pages yourself in a simple editor, or let me: an hour of edits a month is included.

What Drupal costs you to keep

Drupal's strength is flexibility. The price is in looking after it:

  • Major upgrades are big projects. Moving from Drupal 7 to a current version is close to a rebuild, and later versions still bring module and theme updates to test.
  • Modules to patch. Each contributed module has its own security releases, and sites need someone watching for them.
  • A developer for every change. New page types, layouts or fields usually need a Drupal developer.
  • A server to run. PHP, a database, caching and backups all need looking after.

On Redline your pages are plain and fast, the platform is kept up to date by me, and there's nothing for you to upgrade.

What moves over

Comes over

  • Every page and article, with your words and images.
  • Taxonomy terms, menus and the way your content is organized.
  • Your design, rebuilt as plain pages.
  • Webforms, set up again in Redline.
  • Your domain, and every page address you have now.
  • Logins and free members-only pages: Redline supports sign-in and different access levels.

Needs a closer look

  • Pages behind a login, and who is allowed to see each one.
  • Custom content types and views that do more than list pages.
  • Modules that add features, such as events or directories.
  • Payments, paid memberships and online stores, which aren't covered yet.

I can't see pages behind a login from outside, so for sites with logins I work with whoever built your site to list every one and who can see it. Each is tested before we switch over.

Drupal pages can answer at a friendly address like /about-us and at /node/42, with topic pages under /taxonomy/term/…. I list every form your site answers to and make sure each still reaches the right page on the new site, then test them all before we switch over.

How the move works

  1. Check your siteEnter your address above. You'll see the level, and I'll reply with a fixed price.
  2. I rebuild itI work from your live site, and a database backup or administrator access helps me bring every page over exactly.
  3. You review itYou see the new site before anything changes, and I test that every old address still works.
  4. We switch overI point your domain at the new site. Then the old Drupal server can be shut down.

If you ever leave, here's what you take with you

Your website

As standard HTML, CSS and JavaScript files that any web host can run.

Your data

If your site keeps records such as members, bookings or form entries, you get a complete copy in a format other tools can read.

Your code

Anything built just for your business is yours. I don't own it and I won't keep it.

Your domain

It was always yours, and it goes wherever you go.

The Redline engine stays with me. Everything else goes with you. Your files, data and code are always handed over free. If you'd like help setting them up somewhere else, that's billed at my normal rate.

Questions about moving from Drupal

My site is on Drupal 7. What are my options?

Drupal 7 has reached end of life. The usual path is a major rebuild on a newer Drupal version. Moving to Redline is the other path: your content and look come over, and there are no more major versions to plan for.

Will /node/ links still work?

Yes. Both the friendly addresses and the /node/ and /taxonomy/term/ addresses keep reaching the right page after the move.

How much does it cost to move a Drupal site?

Most Drupal sites are $1,800–4,000: a small, simple site is a quick move, and booking tools, several forms or many pages add some custom work. Big sites are $4,000–6,000. Hosting and care is $150 a month, or $1,500 a year, with an hour of edits a month included. The free check on this page shows your site's level.

Can my site keep its logins?

Yes. Redline supports sign-in and different access levels. Because pages behind a login can't be seen from outside, I work with whoever built your site to map every one and who should see it, then test each before we switch over. Paid memberships, where people pay for access, aren't covered yet.

Will my domain and links stay the same?

Yes. Your domain stays yours, and every page address you have now keeps working. I test each one before we switch over.

Who's behind this

I'm Brad Simon, and Coder B Dev is my one-person studio. I've been writing software for more than 30 years: enterprise systems, web applications and SaaS platforms, for companies from startups to large enterprises. Redline is the platform I built so small business sites can get that same engineering without the upkeep. I take on a small number of sites at a time, so each one gets my full attention.

I'd rather you stay because you want to. I've seen too many business owners stuck with a platform because leaving meant losing their site. I don't work that way. Your words, images and data are yours, and so is any code written for your business: I don't claim any rights to it. If you ever decide to move on, I'll hand you your site as standard files, a full copy of your data and all of your own code, with no runaround. The only thing I keep is the Redline engine itself.

More about me →