Moving from WCMS 2 to WCMS 3

The Waterloo Content Management System (WCMS) is moving from WCMS 2, built using Drupal 7, to WCMS 3, built using Drupal 8. This move, necessitated by the fact that Drupal 7 will be reaching end-of-life in November 2021, is not a straightforward one.

Drupal 8 has been completely rewritten, a change that will require WCMS 3 to be built, versus merely upgraded to.

The main objective of this project is to build a version of the WCMS that, as much as possible, replicates all existing presentation and end-user functionality of WCMS 2, using Drupal 8 at the core. Please note, this project excludes UWaterloo Scholar websites. 

Benefits of WCMS 3

Many of the top features used in development of the current version of the WCMS are now part of Drupal 8 core, improving the overall stability, integration, and performance of them.

Drupal 9 will be built on the same technologies as Drupal 8, meaning WCMS 3 will be able to shift from using Drupal 8 to Drupal 9 without the need for a dramatic upgrade. (Drupal 9 is expected to be released in mid to late 2020.)

WCMS 3 will add some of the most requested features from content authors like more flexible page layouts, a better dashboard, and access to all content types regardless of “theme.”