What factors can cause problems with your Drupal website?
It is not too much to say that Drupal is far more than a pure CMS. It is the huge community of people who prefer reliability, efficiency and full speed. The websites built in Drupal have long been one of the most powerful marketing tools in global business. They are modern, high-quality, mobile-friendly... the list of benefits goes on. However, there are times when even this excellent mechanism breaks down, as nobody can be safe 100% from all the unplanned expenses. Your existing website is not an exception. If you repeatedly see some issues on your Drupal website (e.g. slow page loading, security issues, or so-called WSOD), it may indicate a more serious problems that was invisible at first glance. You will call to keep them from wasting a lot of time and money in the future. Let’s take a closer look at what problems you can face when managing your website, whether it is possible to prevent them, and how to do it.
The most common hidden reasons of poor website performance
Legacy core code
The legacy core code is your number one enemy. It can really be harmful not only by slowing down performance but also introducing vulnerabilities into your Drupal website. In addition, if you have a website in Drupal 6, the Drupal community doesn’t support this version anymore, so we recommend migrating to Drupal 7 or Drupal 8. If you do not, your web page will be easy to hack.
Contrib modules
More and more often, new multifunctional contrib modules appear in the list on drupal.org. It’s all thanks to active participants of Drupal community. These tools largely broaden the Drupal possibilities and help make your website successful, leaving your opponents no chance to win. But not all contrib modules are well supported. Some of them are not updated. This may negatively affect your website security.
Bad custom modules
If you manage a Drupal project, you probably want to add some special features on your website. Sometimes, it requires creating a custom module. Ensure any you use is written efficiently using the correct Drupal standards, because a bad one can cost you lots. You should entrust only seasoned developers with that task.
Caching
You’ve all heard about the importance of caching for any website, whether it is built in Drupal or not. Experience has proven that caching significantly improves performance. Moreover, there are many good Drupal modules that are available (Drupal Boost, Memcached, OPcache, and more) to improve your website’s performance. Just install the tool suitable for your website and enjoy a faster browsing experience.
Hosting
Drupal requires a huge amount of memory. The worse the host, the more problems you will have. Putting a Drupal website on a cheap, insecure hosting will not end well. So you need to find a tried-and-true server platform with enough available resource for both your Drupal website and the traffic expected.
What are ways to solve issues with your website?
There is always a choice, whether it concerns daily challenges or difficult website issues. Therefore, we offer the most suitable one for you and your needs.
Code review
Code review is implemented during almost all stages of web development. Indeed, sometimes even seasoned developers miss something. That is where somebody from your team comes to help and check your work. An outside perspective can reduce the number of regression bugs and significantly improve website performance on the whole.
Audit
Audits are also very helpful in revealing issues with your website. There are few audits in site checks (SEO website audit, website performance audit, website security audit, and others). During this process, backlogged issues are revealed and handled.
Website support
The most effective way to always keep your project “safe and sound” is ongoing web support. A responsible team can fully monitor the performance of your website (look after security, uninstall unused modules, check for updates, fix bugs, etc.).
And Drudesk has such a competent team who are ready to tackle all the unexpected problems connected with the website's functioning. We are ready to add performance back to your website: adjust all the useful settings, reveal bugs and fix them, conduct an audit site and provide support. Start working with us today!