CMS Migration for Universities: Challenges and Solutions

Our development team discovered that the student application portal—critical to the university's recruitment—relied on deprecated code libraries. The department heads assumed this functionality would simply "carry over" to the new system. In reality, it required complete redevelopment in the Drupal environment.

We implemented this using Drupal's Form API and Webform modules, enhanced with custom validation rules that matched the university's specific application workflow. This approach leveraged Drupal's built-in field validation and multi-step form capabilities while maintaining the contextual help features that students relied on.

The migration revealed years of accumulated workarounds and temporary fixes that had become permanent solutions. These weren't merely technical challenges but organizational ones—each represented a historical compromise between different university departments.

We mapped these critical content relationships using Drupal's entity reference system. The initial test migrations revealed that many vital connections would break during transfer, making it clear that the standard approach wouldn't suffice.

The solution came through a combination of Drupal's Migrate API with custom plugins for relationship preservation. We implemented a two-phase migration where core content entities were established first, followed by a second pass that restored relationships using permanent entity IDs. This approach preserved the university's rich content ecosystem rather than just the individual pages.

The migration also presented an opportunity to enhance content relationships through Drupal's paragraphs and layout builder capabilities, which allowed for more flexible content reuse across the site. Faculty profiles could now dynamically appear in multiple contexts while being maintained from a single source.

Drupal's native language capabilities allowed us to implement a centralized content model using the Content Translation module. This approach maintained a single source for each piece of content while allowing language-specific variations. We extended this with custom translation workflows that automatically notified content owners when source material changed, ensuring all language versions remained synchronized.

Accessibility compliance presented similar challenges. The university faced legal requirements to meet WCAG 2.1 AA standards, but their legacy content included numerous non-compliant PDFs and images without alternative text.

We integrated the Drupal Accessibility module with custom scanning tools during the migration process. Content editors received immediate feedback on accessibility issues through a dashboard that categorized problems by severity and type. This approach transformed accessibility from a post-launch concern into a core part of the content creation process. The theme layer was built with accessibility-first components that enforced proper heading hierarchy, color contrast, and keyboard navigation.

Implementing Drupal's Search API with Apache Solr created a fundamentally different search experience. Faculty publications could now be discovered through related concepts, not just exact keyword matches. Course content became discoverable through discipline taxonomies and career outcome relationships.

This integration wasn't without challenges. The initial Solr configuration required careful tuning to balance recall and precision in search results. While the technology offered powerful capabilities, it also introduced a new level of complexity that required dedicated expertise to maintain. The university allocated resources for ongoing search optimization rather than treating it as a one-time implementation.

The improved search architecture extended beyond the public website to the university's internal knowledge base, unifying content discovery across previously siloed systems. This integration leveraged Drupal's ability to index external content sources while maintaining security boundaries between public and internal content.

Drupal's administrative interface was customized with role-specific dashboards and simplified editing workflows. Content modeling decisions were made with both end-user and editor experiences in mind, striking a balance between flexibility and usability.

This balance involved trade-offs. We discovered that maximizing editorial flexibility often came at the cost of consistency across the site. Conversely, highly structured content types improved consistency but required more training and adjustment for editors accustomed to freeform editing. The final solution involved tiered content structures—highly standardized for critical university pages and more flexible for departmental content.

We implemented Drupal's Workflow and Moderation modules to enforce content governance while allowing distributed authorship. Department editors could create and edit their content, while central communications maintained approval rights before publication. Custom notifications kept content stakeholders informed throughout the review process, significantly reducing the time from content creation to publication.

Perhaps the most valuable aspect of the migration was establishing a foundation for future growth. Instead of simply recreating the old site with new technology, the architecture was designed with extensibility in mind.

The component-based approach to content meant that future design refreshes could be implemented without another full migration. API-first development practices ensured that content could be repurposed for mobile applications, digital signage, and emerging channels without duplicating effort.

The migration also created an opportunity to implement proper development workflows with version control and staged environments—practices that would ensure future modifications could be made with confidence and stability.

The university's forward-thinking approach also positioned them to leverage emerging technologies. Drupal's robust API structure created natural integration points for AI-powered content tools. Within months of launch, the university began experimenting with:

Content analysis tools that helped editors optimize material for specific audience segments based on engagement patterns. These tools integrated directly with the CMS through established APIs, analyzing content performance and suggesting improvements.

AI-assisted content generation for routine updates across the university ecosystem. Rather than having faculty manually update course descriptions each semester, a semi-automated system prepared initial drafts based on previous content and programmatic data, which faculty then reviewed and refined.

Translation assistance that significantly reduced the time required to maintain multilingual content. While human translators maintained final review authority, AI pre-translation accelerated the process and reduced costs.

The migration architecture intentionally separated content from presentation, creating a foundation where these emerging tools could be introduced incrementally without disrupting the core system. This approach allowed the university to experiment with new technologies while maintaining stability and governance.

This approach proved insufficient as the project revealed broader organizational needs. A more effective model emerged through budget reallocation:

Initial technical implementation received approximately 60% of the originally planned resources, while 20% was redirected to organizational change management and training. The remaining 20% was reserved for post-launch refinement and ongoing maintenance.

This redistribution reflected the reality that successful migrations require significant investment in people and processes, not just technology. The university ultimately established dedicated funding for the digital experience team, recognizing that websites require continuous investment rather than cyclical rebuild projects every few years.

For institutions planning similar migrations, we recommend allocating resources across the entire lifecycle—from initial migration through ongoing maintenance—rather than focusing primarily on the build phase. This approach acknowledges that digital transformation is a continuous process rather than a finite project.

It would be misleading to present the migration as a perfect solution without ongoing challenges. Post-launch, several issues emerged that required continued attention:

Content consistency remained an ongoing struggle despite the new governance structure. The distributed editing model meant that quality assurance required constant vigilance and occasional intervention.

Technical maintenance demands also persisted. Drupal's security updates and module compatibility required a dedicated maintenance schedule. Some custom integrations needed periodic refinement as third-party systems evolved. The university ultimately established a dedicated "digital experience team" to manage these ongoing requirements rather than treating the website as a project with a definite end.

Successful migrations demand honesty about the hidden complexities. Begin with comprehensive content and technical audits before making architectural decisions. Recognize that CMS migration offers a rare opportunity to address accumulated technical debt and organizational challenges.

The migration journey inevitably reveals unexpected dependencies and relationships. Build flexibility into your project plan and budget for these discoveries. Most importantly, view migration not as a technical exercise but as an organizational transformation that happens to involve technology.

For institutions navigating these complex waters, the right partner brings not just technical expertise but experience in guiding organizations through the change management process. The technology implementation may be temporary, but the organizational structures and processes it enables should serve your institution for years to come.