What we've learned
We don't have a firm completion date for our migration project yet, but we have a solid plan for moving forward.
As you all know, since we started the WMS migration project in 2020, we have announced several target completion dates, but we're still not finished. We significantly underestimated the complexity of this project. Our peers who use Drupal at other universities have had very similar experiences.
We recently took a step back and decided to gather more data about our migration project, in order to give you more informed predictions based on real numbers. Instead of announcing another end date, we would like to be more transparent with you about what we know and what we don't.
What we've accomplished
- A more complete understanding of new Drupal features and functionality.
- Customizations that will better suit our requirements.
- More thorough testing of the platform.
- A migration and change management plan that will result in better-quality sites.
We gathered statistics showing how many sites use specific features. This information was used to determine the order in which we will recreate those features in the new WMS so that the most widely used features will be addressed first.
The new dashboard
We set up a new dashboard to help better manage the project. You can access this dashboard to watch our progress. You鈥檒l also be able to monitor your site鈥檚 position in the migration queue.
The dashboard lists the migration status of each site, divided into phases based on which features they are using. Sites in each phase will be migrated alphabetically in batches of about 25 at a time (we may adjust this number). This list shows the order that we will migrate each site, and (when complete) the date each migration was completed. This will show us when each site's turn is coming up.
All these reports will be accessible to anyone at 海角社区, including all site managers, their supervisors, and any other stakeholders. Think of this as similar to waiting for a book on hold at your library: you don't know the date it will be available (because no-one can predict in advance how long the people ahead of you will take to read it), but you do know how many people are before you in line, which lets you guess an approximate date.
The dashboard is at and you can see it now (you'll need to use VPN if you're not on campus). You can also see graphs and tables showing other metrics, such as a list of sites using different types of pages or blocks, which were used to generate this report.
Next steps for the migration project
We鈥檙e currently preparing for phase 4 of our migration project. This phase will kick off after bugs identified in phase 3 have been solved and supporting resources are ready.
Our goal is to move sites to the new WMS as soon as we can, so that you can benefit from the new features, while minimizing uncertainty and risk for our user community.
The first two test phases included only a few centrally managed sites which are very rarely updated. We are currently in phase 3, which includes sites using simple features, maintained by experienced site managers. These phase 3 participants kindly volunteered to help us test the new platform. (Thank-you for all the detailed feedback!)
In phase 4, we鈥檒l migrate sites using just basic pages, articles, and common blocks. In Phase 5 we鈥檒l work on sites using those features plus image galleries. Phase 4 will begin when we have resolved all critical issues that have been found by our early adopters, and once the KB articles, training courses, and other聽resources you'll need are ready. The order of the phases after phase 5 is subject to change, as noted on that page, but we'll finalize it as soon as we can.
What to expect
We鈥檒l contact you directly to share important details as your site moves through the migration process.
You'll be contacted when your site's phase is starting, then again when your site's batch is ready, and invited to a kickoff meeting where we will explain the migration process and how you can reach us for support.
Each site will be migrated to a staging environment for your review before it goes live, where you can make final adjustments if needed, as explained in the migration checklist.
The dashboard will be automatically updated each week. You will move to a different phase if you add or remove features. You can move up to an earlier phase if you no longer use certain features and decide to remove them from your current live site, for example by deleting unused profile pages or webforms if they're no longer needed on your site.
We will let you know when your turn is ready, and send further communications about that then. If you are too busy when you receive the message that your site is about to be migrated, tell us and we will move you to a later phase.
We still have a tentative target of mid 2025 to finish all the migrations, but we (and you) will be able to see if we're on track as the migration progresses.
Things to do
Take our new training courses
New training courses WMS 400 and 401 will be available soon. These cover the same topics as WMS 300 and WMS 301 but are updated for the new platform. They are not required if you've already taken 300/301.
These new courses will be available both as scheduled classes with a live instructor, and also on-demand in myCourses, where you can take or review them at any time.
Complete the migration checklist
The migration checklist is a handy list of tasks to complete before, during, and after the migration.
A change for the better
鈥淐hange is hard at first, messy in the middle, and gorgeous at the end.鈥� Robin Sharma.
Our goal is to move sites to the new WMS as soon as we can, so that you can benefit from the new features, while minimizing uncertainty and risk for our user community.
We'll continue to support the existing WMS platform until the migration is complete, but at some point all newly created sites will be on the new WMS.
The new WMS platform will also allow us to manage future upgrades in a much more seamless way, with minimal impact on your content. We don't anticipate ever having to make so many disruptive changes at once again.
Thank-you for your understanding with our delays! We've been taking the extra time because want to make sure this upgrade is a success for you and your audiences.
We hope this helps you plan around our migration project, and please let us know if there's other information about our progress we could share that would be helpful for you!
