Migrated the Leading Entertainment and Celeb News Platform from Django to WordPress

About Wonderwall

Wonderwall.com is a leading entertainment and celebrity news platform, offering the latest in Hollywood news, exclusive interviews, and pop culture coverage. With an estimated revenue of $7.2 million, Wonderwall attracts millions of visitors monthly and boasts a vast content library of over one million media items and 74,068 articles. The company has a team of 44 employees. The company is one of Whalerock’s key digital media properties, serving as a go-to destination for comprehensive entertainment industry coverage for over a decade. 

Whalerock, founded by entertainment industry veteran Lloyd Braun, is a media company with television, digital, and creative services divisions, creating TV shows, digital apps, and web properties in partnership with the world’s most impactful companies, celebrities, and networks.

Goal

• Streamline content and media management by transitioning from the Django framework to a more efficient system for handling Wonderwall.com’s extensive content library.
• Implement a robust content management system capable of efficiently managing over one million media items and 74,068 articles.
• Ensure high-performance CMS functionality to accommodate nearly one million monthly visitors, ensuring smooth handling of significant traffic.
• Enhance the editorial team’s efficiency with a usability-focused interface designed for easier and faster content creation and management.
• Facilitate seamless migration and management of over one million media items with advanced media management tools.

Solution

• Transitioned Wonderwall.com from Django to WordPress to provide a more advanced and capability-rich content management system.
• Migrated their hosting to WordPress VIP for superior performance, security, and stability.
• Utilized a command-line interface to successfully migrate nearly one million media items and 74,068 articles.
• Implemented Gutenberg Blocks to improve the editorial experience for media-rich pages and posts.
• Developed a custom interface for WP Media using REACT JS to facilitate faster search and media management.
• Created a backend interface focused on usability to achieve a seamless workflow for the editorial team.

Result

• The migration resulted in a much more efficient and advanced editorial workflow, enhancing content creation and management processes.
• Integration of advanced media management capabilities using REACT JS significantly accelerated media handling and search functions.
• Implementation of Gutenberg Blocks provided an improved and more intuitive editing experience for media-rich pages and posts.
• The transition to WordPress VIP hosting improved site speed, contributing to a better user experience.
• Enhanced security measures ensured greater protection for the website and its vast content library.