I'm trying to help a colleague find a local developer or agency in Ottawa that can help her update the Drupal version on a website which is on an older version that is no longer supported.
In addition to this immidiate update and perhaps some immediate reconfiguration of the website, she wants someone available for occasional updates or support on a per task basis without having to pay a monthly retainer or fee.
Does anyone have any advice on local independent contractors or agencies that would do this sort of work?
When I started learning Drupal as a WordPress developer, I quickly realized it is not just a different admin panel. Drupal does not let you build pages quickly. It makes you think in structured content, reusable components, and system-level design.
The first challenge was my local setup. I used Laragon like I do for WordPress, but image uploads and file handling kept failing. Switching to XAMPP finally made things stable and let me focus on Drupal itself.
Creating a Programs listing page was another eye-opener. Views gave me the data, but rendering it correctly required understanding how Views, Twig, and layout work together. At first it felt frustrating. Once I accepted the workflow, structure first and layout later, it started to click.
Learning Layout Builder was similar. Unlike WordPress page builders, Drupal made me think in reusable blocks and layout regions instead of designing sections visually.
By the end I understood that Drupal does not aim for speed. It is built for consistency and structure. It took time, but the process taught me to think differently about building websites.
When I started learning Drupal as a WordPress developer, I quickly realized it is not just a different admin panel. Drupal does not let you build pages quickly. It makes you think in structured content, reusable components, and system-level design.
The first challenge was my local setup. I used Laragon like I do for WordPress, but image uploads and file handling kept failing. Switching to XAMPP finally made things stable and let me focus on Drupal itself.
Creating a Programs listing page was another eye-opener. Views gave me the data, but rendering it correctly required understanding how Views, Twig, and layout work together. At first it felt frustrating. Once I accepted the workflow, structure first and layout later, it started to click.
Learning Layout Builder was similar. Unlike WordPress page builders, Drupal made me think in reusable blocks and layout regions instead of designing sections visually.
By the end I understood that Drupal does not aim for speed. It is built for consistency and structure. It took time, but the process taught me to think differently about building websites.
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