Intranet modernization using Drupal WxT in Azure App Service
Employees' Corner for engagement, and personalization
Custom responsive theme, WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility
Modernizing OCOL’s Intranet with Drupal WxT and Azure
Cinder Systems Corp. designed and deployed a modern, accessible, and scalable intranet for the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages (OCOL), empowering internal teams with intuitive tools, enterprise integrations, and a user-centered information architecture.
Overview
Client:
Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages (OCOL)
Sector:
Federal Government of Canada
Services Provided:
- Intranet Solution Architecture for Azure Cloud
- Drupal WxT development
- Ongoing maintenance and bilingual support
- Data Migration using Harvest AI (Drupal 7 to 10)
- Azure Cloud Infrastructure
- Microsoft o365 Single Sign-On (SSO) using Active Directory
- Accessibility Compliance (WCAG 2.1)
- Custom Module Development
- Visualizations using D3.js
The Challenge
OCOL’s legacy intranet, originally built on Drupal 7, had reached the limits of its maintainability. As internal needs evolved, the platform required modernization to support a more intuitive user experience, improved content governance, and enhanced performance.
The information architecture had grown organically over time, making navigation and content discovery more difficult for staff. Authentication workflows also needed to be updated to align with modern Government of Canada identity and access management practices.
One of the project’s goals was to increase employee engagement with the “Employee Corner,” a hub for news, resources, and staff-focused content. This was achieved by improving accessibility, personalization, and ease of use.
The Solution
Cinder Systems led a complete rebuild of the OCOL intranet platform, leveraging the latest Drupal 10 WxT distribution and deploying it in a secure and scalable environment using Azure App Services. Key project highlights include:
Drupal 10 WxT Implementation
- Rebuilt the entire intranet site using Drupal 10.
- Built a custom accessible theme based on Figma mockups provided, using GCWeb as a base theme.
- Configured CKEditor 5 and upgraded the build to WxT 5.4.x.
- Ensure the entire site including the admin UI is bilingual.
- WCAG-compliant templates and page output.
Data Migration from Drupal 7
- Exported content using Views Data Export from legacy site.
- Migrated structured and unstructured data into Drupal 10 using our in-house Harvest AI tool, which supported custom field mapping and content transformations.
- Maintained content integrity including files, media, and taxonomy references.
Azure Infrastructure Deployment
- Deployed the application to Microsoft Azure App Services with autoscaling capabilities.
- Configured staging and production environments using deployment slots.
- Container instances for MariaDB and Apache Solr.
- Performance improvements for PHP, PHP-FPM, OPcache, and MariaDB using startup scripts and Dockerfile.
Microsoft o365 Integration
- Integrated authentication with Microsoft o365 using the drupal/o365 module suite.
- Mapped Active Directory attributes to Drupal user profiles via Microsoft Graph API.
- Enabled centralized user management through Single Sign-On (SSO).
Apache Solr Search Integration
- Developed a full-text and faceted search interface using Apache Solr.
- Search results dynamically respond to filters such as content type, topics, and metadata.
- Optimized indexing for performance and multilingual support.
Taxonomy-Based IA and Breadcrumbs
- Built a custom drag-and-drop breadcrumb manager.
- Enabled site managers to organize content hierarchically with taxonomy terms.
- Generated dynamic breadcrumbs for consistent navigation across the site.
Organizational Chart via D3.js
- Designed and integrated an interactive org chart using D3.js
- Content editors can assign contextual parent pages, and the org chart dynamically renders the structure.
Personalization
- Assumed maintainership of the Simple Favourites module on Drupal.org.
- Rewrote the module for Drupal 10/11 compatibility.
- Allows users to favorite content pages and items in views, visualized with a heart icon.
Results & Impact
- Improved Performance: Fast, secure, and scalable cloud hosting on Azure.
- Enhanced User Experience: A revitalized Employee Corner promotes participation and community building.
- Accessible by Design: WCAG 2.1 AA compliance ensures usability for all employees.
- Streamlined Content Management: Editors benefit from structured workflows, revision history, and translation tools.
- Centralized Authentication: Seamless o365 login using Active Directory, reducing friction and administrative overhead.
- Future-Ready Architecture: Built with Drupal 10, CI/CD pipelines, and containerized infrastructure to support ongoing modernization.
Technology Stack
| Area | Tools/Technologies Used |
|---|---|
| CMS | Drupal 10, Drupal WxT, CKEditor 5 |
| Infrastructure | Azure App Services, Azure DevOps, MariaDB |
| Authentication | Microsoft o365, Graph API, AD Integration |
| Data Migration | Views Data Export, Harvest AI, Drupal Migrate API |
| Front-End | GCWeb Theme, Twig, SCSS, WCAG 2.1 AA |
| Custom Development | Simple Favs module, Breadcrumb Manager, D3.js org chart |
| Content Governance | Revision History, Translation Interface, Taxonomy IA |
Ready to Modernize?
Looking to modernize your government intranet?
Cinder Systems specializes in end-to-end Drupal WxT implementations, from legacy migration to secure Azure deployments.