Problems we had to solve
We had several problems to solve:
- Move documentation off the BriteWiki.
- Find an online publishing solution to fit our needs.
- Migrate content to a new platform while creating new content.
- Integrate the new site with other BriteCore sites.
Table 1: Platform solutions.
| Problem | Solution | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Needed an online publishing solution to replace the BriteWiki | GitHub & VuePress | • Added a lot of steps to our publishing workflow in Google docs • Required an engineer to publish content • Uploaded content and edits very slowly • Slowed publishing time (2-5 days) • Limited our ability to format content • Required manual link changing to move content |
| Needed an online publishing solution to replace GitHub & VuePress | WordPress | • Reduced steps to publish content • Increased publishing time and output • Opened up workflow options • Allowed writers to publish and edit content on the fly • Freed us to format content to accommodate our readers • Provided a permalink structure |
Lessons along the way
We’ve realized we have to:
- Recognize and address our unique needs.
- Put end-users’ needs above our convenience.
- Build the site so we can:
- Efficiently publish.
- Simply scale.
- Quickly pivot.
- Easily maintain.
Value we've gained
Publishing tools leads to efficient publishing
Publishing tools allow writers to:
- Self publish content.
- Publish and update from Google Docs.
- Spend more time writing.
Figure 1: Publishing content to the site from Google docs.
- Quickly and easily edit.
- Collaborate directly on the site through editorial comments and replies.
- Track and compare changes.
Figure 2: Editing and collaborating in WordPress.
Templates make scaling simple, pivoting quick, and maintaining easy
Templates allow us to:
- Apply global changes quickly.
- Customize pages based on any variable.
- Duplicate structures.
- Prevent errors.
- Maintain consistency.
- Save time.
- Adapt to changes.
- Make changes from the post.
- Use dynamic content.
Figure 3: Using Advanced Custom Fields to add content to templates.
We can can do a lot with Elementor’s template builder:
- Save page templates.
- Save section templates.
- Drag and drop UI elements.
Figure 4: Elementor page and section templates.
We can add saved templates (page or section) to any page on the site.
Figure 5: My Templates library.
Site stats
Analytic tools allow us to track almost any site stats we want.
Figures 3, 4, 5: Easy access to site stats in WordPress.
Plan for the future
After learning several lessons along the way, we are making changes for the future.
We’re working to:
- Streamline our templates for simplicity.
- Divide responsibilities to increase efficiency.
- Implement naming conventions for consistency.
- Build processes to improve site maintenance.
Internal and external benefits
We’re making changes and adding new content to bring a robust knowledge base for BriteCore employees and clients.
We want readers to:
- Easily find what they need.
- Quickly solve their problems.
- Learn more about BriteCore.
- Leave happy and wanting to return.