WordPress to Drupal Migration Challenges and Solutions

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Not all migrations begin with a problem – sometimes, they start with potential. WordPress has likely served you well. After all, it's intuitive, flexible and a fantastic foundation for millions of sites. 

But maybe you’re managing a growing library of structured content. Maybe your teams need more granular permissions, or you're expanding into new regions and languages. Perhaps you’re pushing into custom workflows or enterprise-grade security. These aren’t signs that WordPress has failed – they’re signs that your organization is evolving. And Drupal is built for exactly that kind of complexity.

That’s not to say Drupal is necessarily better than WordPress in every scenario. Ultimately, the decision which CMS is better depends on your needs and vision.

So if your organization has intricate, collaborative and mission-critical needs that require you to migrate from WordPress to Drupal, we’ve got you covered! In this post, we’ll walk you through the migration process step-by-step and give you practical ways to avoid common pitfalls. We’ll even cover strategies for maintaining performance, SEO and content integrity.

Why migrate from WordPress to Drupal?

The most common strategic reasons teams migrate from WordPress to Drupal include:

• Complexity and customization: Drupal was designed from the ground up as a content-modeling framework. It allows for highly structured content types, nested relationships and flexible layouts. This makes it ideal for teams that need to manage intricate content ecosystems without hacking the system.
• Custom workflows: Drupal’s flexibility extends to how content moves through your organization. With tools like Workflows and Content Moderation, you can map out custom editorial processes – ideal for distributed teams and high-stakes publishing environments.
• Advanced taxonomy and classification: When your content needs more than tags and categories, Drupal’s taxonomy system lets you create complex, multi-layered classifications. This is crucial for large knowledge bases, content-heavy sites or anything requiring deep filtering and organization.
• Scalability for large sites: Drupal is purpose-built to handle large, high-traffic websites with thousands of pages, media files and user roles. Whether you're running a higher ed site with hundreds of departments or a government portal with diverse audiences, Drupal’s architecture scales with you, without compromising performance.
• Granular content management: Need to give your editorial team specific permissions or route content through multi-step workflows before publication? Drupal’s role-based access and content moderation tools allow for finely tuned governance, so the right people have the right access – no more, no less.
• Multilingual and multi-regional support: Drupal’s core multilingual capabilities make it easy to create, manage and translate content in multiple languages so you can reach global audiences. Combine this with region-specific customization and you’ve got a platform that’s built for international reach.
• Security: Drupal has long been the go-to CMS for security-conscious organizations. Its open-source community is backed by a dedicated security team that actively maintains and patches vulnerabilities. This is one reason it’s favored by government, education and enterprise sectors alike.
• API-first, headless & integration-friendly architecture: Since Drupal 8, every entity is available via JSON:API and GraphQL with zero custom coding, and the Symfony foundation makes it straightforward to drop in SSO (OAuth, LDAP), CRM or marketing-automation hooks. This is important if you’re planning a React/Vue front-end, native-app content feeds or complex martech stacks.
• Accessibility: Drupal is committed to web accessibility standards out of the box. It provides tools and guidance to help ensure your site meets WCAG standards, making it easier to serve all users, including those with disabilities – an increasingly important priority for public-facing organizations.

Step-by-step guide to migrating from WordPress to Drupal

Here’s a top-level blueprint for migrating from WordPress to Drupal 11.

Pre-migration planning and preparation

1. Complete website backup: Start with a full backup of your WordPress site. Back up your database, media files, themes, plugins and any custom code. Use trusted backup tools like UpdraftPlus or BackupBuddy or go old-school with an SFTP (like FileZilla) and a MySQL dump. 
2. Content and feature audit: Thoroughly review what you’re working with. This helps you identify what’s essential, what can be improved in Drupal and what might not need to come along:
   • List all active themes and plugins.
   • Identify any custom post types, fields and shortcodes.
   • Document user roles and permissions.
   • Catalog categories, tags and any custom taxonomies.
   • Note any custom functionality, API connections or third-party integrations.
3. URL mapping and SEO preparation: Changing CMS platforms often means changing URL structures. To preserve your hard-earned SEO rankings, create a comprehensive map of old URLs to new ones. Tools like Screaming Frog can help you crawl your existing URLs. Later, you’ll use this mapping to create 301 redirects in Drupal, maintaining search visibility and avoiding broken links.
4. Meet the system requirements of Drupal: Before diving into your migration, it’s crucial to make sure your hosting environment is ready for Drupal 11. Pantheon is ready for any of these scenarios and will guide you through.
   • Web server – Apache 2.4.7+, Nginx 1.1+ or any web server that plays nicely with PHP.
   • PHP – version 8.3 or newer is required, with key extensions like PDO, XML, GD-library, OpenSSL, JSON, cURL, Mbstring, zlib.
   • Database – choose from MySQL 8.0+, MariaDB 10.6+, PostgreSQL 16+ or SQLite 3.45+.
   • Composer – version 2.7.0+ is a must. It is central to modern Drupal development and dependency management.
   • Memory – at least 1GB RAM.
   • Storage – SSDs are your best friend here for faster database and file I/O to improve page cache performance and asset loading.

Step 1: Export WordPress content

With your prep work done, it’s time to export your content carefully and cleanly from WordPress.

In your WordPress admin dashboard, head to Tools > Export. Choose All Content to generate a complete XML file. This export will include your posts, pages, media references, categories, tags, custom post types and more. 

The images and media themselves are not embedded in the XML; the XML contains their URLs or attachment post references. WordPress attachments (media library items) are included as special entries that the Drupal import can process.

Pro tip: If you have a large site or lots of media, consider breaking your export into smaller chunks (e.g., by year, by post type) to avoid timeout issues during import. Alternatively, use WP-CLI (wp export), which can handle large exports more gracefully and offers options to include or exclude certain content.

Ensure the WXR file is well-formed XML before attempting to import it into Drupal. Even a small formatting error can derail an automated import. Use a tool like the command-line xmllint to check the file’s syntax. For example, run:

xmllint yourwordpressexport.xml

If issues are reported (e.g., illegal characters), fix them (sometimes editing out control characters or re-saving the file can help) before proceeding.

Step 2: Install and set up Drupal 11

Start fresh with a clean installation of Drupal 11. The recommended method is to use Composer, which handles dependencies and keeps your project neatly organized. Run the following command:

composer create-project drupal/recommended-project my_site_name_dir

This will create a new Drupal project with best practices baked in. Once installed, complete the setup via the browser-based installation wizard. Choose your language, database and configure your site basics.

Bonus: If your hosting provider offers one-click Drupal installations, you can use that option, but double-check that you’re getting the latest version and a Composer-ready setup.

If you’re on Pantheon, you can create a new Drupal 11 site quickly either through the Pantheon Dashboard or via Terminus (Pantheon’s command-line interface).

To import your WordPress content into Drupal, you’ll need a suite of modules that support migration:

• Migrate (core module) – provides a general migration API.
• WordPress Migrate (contributed module) – the primary module that knows how to read WordPress XML (WXR) files and map them to Drupal entities. As of now, this module is available but still in development (no stable Drupal 11 release yet).
• Migrate Plus – Extends migration options.
• Migrate Tools – CLI tools to manage migrations.

You can install these through the Extend page in the Drupal admin or all at once with Drush:

drush en migrate wordpress_migrate migrate_plus migrate_tools

Be careful! You should always verify the current status of WordPress migration tools and consider that manual migration processes may be more reliable.

Also, install the Pathauto module to automatically generate clean, SEO-friendly URLs. It works in conjunction with the Token module to create URL patterns based on content properties like titles and categories.

composer require drupal/pathauto

drush en pathauto

Once everything is enabled, you're ready to begin the actual migration.

Step 3: Configure and execute the migration

Using the migration wizard interface

The wizard provides a step-by-step interface where you can:

• Upload your validated WordPress XML file.
• Map WordPress post types (posts, pages, custom types) to Drupal content types.
• Configure how categories and tags align with Drupal taxonomies.
• Set user import preferences (create new accounts or associate with existing users).
• Review custom field mapping and transformation logic.

Command-line migration with Drush

For more control and better suited for larger migrations, use Drush commands to manage the migration process:

# Check migration status

drush migrate:status

# Import specific migration

drush migrate:import [migration_id]

# Import all migrations in a group

drush migrate:import --group=[group-name]

# Rollback a migration if needed

drush migrate:rollback [migration_id]

# Reset migration status if stuck

drush migrate:reset-status [migration_id]

Migration order and best practices

It's best to execute migrations in the following logical order to maintain data integrity:

1. User accounts – migrate user data first to establish proper ownership.
2. Taxonomy terms – import categories and tags to support content relationships.
3. Media files – import and process images and other media assets.
4. Content nodes – migrate posts, pages and custom content types.
5. Comments – if preserving comment functionality.
6. Menus – navigation structures (now supported in modern WordPress exports)

Also, monitor the migration logs carefully during import to identify and resolve any mapping or format errors as they occur. Drupal's migration system provides detailed feedback about successful imports and any issues encountered.

At this stage, if all went well, your Drupal site has the content from WordPress. But we’re not done – the next steps involve adapting the design and functionality and then thoroughly testing and optimizing the new site.

Step 4: Handle theme and functionality migration

Unlike content, WordPress themes cannot be directly ported to Drupal due to fundamental architectural differences. Drupal 11 uses Twig templating engine and a different theming structure. 

You’ll need to go with one of the following options:

• Adapting an existing Drupal theme that closely matches your design requirements. For example, Drupal has many contributed themes (Bootstrap-based, etc.) that you can theme to resemble your old site by tweaking CSS or adding Twig template overrides. This can be faster if an out-of-the-box theme is close to your needs.
• Creating a custom theme using Drupal's theming system and Single Directory Components (SDC). SDC provides a modern approach to theme development, consolidating all necessary code (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) into a single directory, making components self-contained and easily reusable.
• Hiring professional developers for complex or pixel-perfect design recreations.

As for WordPress plugins, similar features can be handled by Drupal’s core and contributed modules. Here’s how common needs translate:

• Custom fields and post types – built-in via Drupal core's content type and field UI.
• Contact forms – use the Contact module or the powerful Webform module.
• SEO tools – replace Yoast with Metatag, Redirect and Pathauto
• Caching and performance – use Internal Page Cache, Dynamic Page Cache and Advanced CSS/JS Aggregation.
• E-commerce – Drupal Commerce is your go-to equivalent for WooCommerce

Drupal gives you deeper control. It just takes a bit of discovery and planning.

Post-migration configuration and testing

To maintain your SEO rankings and avoid broken links, implement 301 redirects from your old WordPress URLs to your new Drupal paths. Use the Redirect module in combination with Pathauto to:

• Automatically generate clean, user-friendly URLs.
• Set up redirect rules based on your earlier URL mapping.
• Preserve link equity and maintain Google rankings.

Don’t forget to update your sitemap and submit the new one via Google Search Console.

Now’s the time to stress test your site across every dimension:

• Functionality testing: Make sure all interactive elements, forms and dynamic features work as expected.
• Content integrity: Double-check that every article, image, file and field has migrated correctly and appears properly.
• User experience: Test navigation flows, menus, mobile responsiveness and accessibility.
• Performance testing: Use tools like Lighthouse or WebPageTest to assess speed and responsiveness.
• SEO validation: Confirm meta tags are present and accurate, check for duplicate content and verify schema markup if applicable.

Involve your content creators and admins in this process – they’ll spot things developers might miss.

Last but not least, confirm that all media files (images, documents, embedded videos, etc.) are present, functioning and correctly linked. The Media module helps organize and manage these files more efficiently than WordPress in many cases.

Check broken image links, missing alt text (for accessibility) and downloadable documents and file paths. Fix anything that didn’t transfer smoothly and consider optimizing your media library as part of the cleanup.

And now it’s time to launch your Drupal site! This usually involves switching DNS to point to the Drupal server or moving Drupal into the production environment (depending on your deployment method). 

To be safe, do another round of tests on the live site (sometimes differences in environment can cause issues, like file permissions or missing PHP extensions on production).

Also, keep an eye on site performance under real user load. Ensure caches are warming and there are no errors (watch the Drupal logs). If you encounter high load, consider enabling additional caching or tuning the server.

In the days after launch, use Search Console to monitor crawling. Your 301 redirects should signal to Google to replace the indexed URLs with the new ones. You might see a temporary dip in traffic until Google fully processes the changes, but a well-executed migration (with 301s for all pages) should maintain your rankings.

Troubleshooting the most common WordPress to Drupal migration challenges

Even with a solid plan, migrations have their moments. Here’s a breakdown of common WordPress to Drupal migration hurdles, plus practical ways to solve them.

User accounts and user data migration

Moving the user base from WordPress to Drupal can be tricky due to differences in how the two systems handle users, roles and permissions:

• WordPress has a built-in set of roles (Administrator, Editor, Author, Contributor, Subscriber) with fixed capabilities and user passwords are stored using WordPress’s hashing mechanism. 
• Drupal has its own user roles and permissions model, typically with roles like Anonymous, Authenticated, Administrator and any custom roles you create. 

During migration, each WordPress user account needs to become a Drupal user, ideally with the appropriate role and access. The challenges include mapping the WordPress roles to Drupal roles (they won’t line up one-to-one) and preserving user passwords or forcing resets since the encryption differs. In practice, many migrations require significant adjustments to user roles and permissions to ensure everyone has the right access after launch.

Additionally, any user profile data or user-generated content (like comments or forums) associated with those accounts must be migrated and linked properly. 

Here are a couple of strategies to overcome this obstacle:

• Map and create equivalent roles: Review the roles on the WordPress site and create corresponding roles in Drupal before importing users. For example, if WordPress Editors should have similar privileges, set up a “Content Editor” role in Drupal with permissions to edit content, use the editorial workflow, etc.
• Handling passwords securely: WordPress uses an older PHPass hashing system, which Drupal 11 will not recognize by default (Drupal uses PHP’s password hashing API, which is incompatible with WordPress’s hash). Directly migrating passwords is possible but requires custom coding. For instance, one could write a migration process plugin that uses WordPress’s hashing library to validate and re-hash passwords for Drupal. However, a simpler and often recommended approach is to force a password reset for all users after migration.

Taking the time to get it right will ensure a smooth transition for site administrators and users alike.

Media handling and embedded content

WordPress stores media in an uploads directory and allows embedding them in posts via shortcodes or the block editor. Many WordPress sites, especially older ones, use shortcodes like [gallery] or [video] (and various plugin-specific shortcodes) to embed media or special content within pages. These shortcodes will not be understood by Drupal and will appear as raw text or broken content if not converted. 

Additionally, image paths in content could still point to the old WordPress file location, causing broken images after cutover if those paths aren’t updated. 

Drupal 8+ (including Drupal 11) introduced a Media system in core, which treats media items as first-class entities, a different approach from WordPress’s simpler media library. The challenge is migrating all the media files over and ensuring they remain correctly embedded in the Drupal content. 

To do this:

• Convert or replace shortcodes: Identify all WordPress shortcodes used in the content (such as [gallery], [audio], [embed] or any plugin-specific ones). Each type will need a strategy. For example, a [gallery ids="1,2,3"] shortcode could be transformed into actual image references in the Drupal content. In Drupal 11, you might create a Media Gallery entity or use a View to display those images – the custom migration could replace the shortcode with a token or HTML that Drupal understands.
• Fix broken media links: Often this is because WordPress content might use absolute URLs (e.g., http://oldsite.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/pic.jpg). If those remain in the content, they might still point to the old site or an incorrect path. A solution is to do a database-wide search-and-replace to update image URLs to the new site’s path or to Drupal’s file directory. 
• Media types and formats: Ensure that non-image media are also handled. If the WordPress site embedded YouTube videos (via oEmbed or shortcodes), configure Drupal’s Text Editor with the Media embed or oEmbed support so that those embeds continue to work. For downloadable PDFs or documents, verify they are moved and linked correctly. Essentially, audit every type of media that WordPress had and confirm Drupal has an equivalent method to present it.

Preserving SEO and URL structures

It’s crucial to maintain URL consistency and meta information – if not, you might end up with broken links, “404 Not Found” errors and loss of search visibility. SEO considerations also include generating a new sitemap, handling any changes in site hierarchy and ensuring the new site is indexed properly after launch. 

Aside from URL mapping and redirecting, don’t neglect meta titles, descriptions and other SEO-critical content. If the WordPress site used an SEO plugin, try to extract that data (sometimes the WordPress export might include it as post meta). 

In Drupal, install the Metatag module which allows you to set global and per-content meta tags. You can then import or manually copy titles, meta descriptions and keywords from WordPress into Drupal’s metatag fields for each page. 

Also, preserve taxonomy and linking structure. WordPress category and tag pages often rank in search results. When you migrate, replicate important taxonomy term pages in Drupal and keep their URLs similar. 

For example, if WordPress had a category “News” at /category/news, you can create a Drupal taxonomy term “News” and use Pathauto to give it a URL like /category/news as well. Also, review internal links within content: if WordPress posts linked to each other or to category pages, those links should be updated to Drupal paths (the migration process might do this if Start usi Pantheon todayURLs are the same; if not, consider a search-and-replace in the database or using the Linkit/Editor tools to fix them).

Accelerate your migration and optimize performance with Pantheon’s integrated platform

Migrating from WordPress to Drupal is a chance to level up your digital presence. And while the process can be complex, it doesn’t have to be chaotic. With the right tools and infrastructure, you can transform a challenging migration into a streamlined, performance-focused upgrade.

That’s exactly what Pantheon offers.

Pantheon is a WebOps platform built to support serious Drupal projects at every stage – from development to deployment to ongoing optimization. You’ll get high-performance hosting, built-in version control and isolated Dev, Test, Live environments. Add in automated backups, advanced caching and a powerful command-line interface, and you've got a platform that helps your team move faster without sacrificing control or quality.

See how Pantheon can transform your workflow today and experience blazing-fast performance and bulletproof workflows for your Drupal website!