The Brief
The brief was short and to the point. The website had not been updated in over six years so it needed revamping with a modern framework. The layout should remain the same with a modern font introduced and icons and images updated. Plugin use should be reduced where possible to improve performance, reliability and to avoid potential security weak spots.
The Approach
A new lightweight WordPress theme was developed and built on Bootstrap 5, a powerful front-end framework, so the site would be more accessible to users on small devices.
A number of plugins were replaced with custom PHP coding, custom post types and custom fields so the functionality remained but now used streamlined code. Replacing plugins with efficient coding would also lower the strain on resources and help improve page loading time.
WebP Images
Images were optimized to use the latest WebP file format. WebP images are much smaller than commonly used JPG or PNG format with almost no reduction in quality. This allows for a decreased page size which means faster loading times and an improved user browsing experience.
Secure Video and Sound Files
The IIMS provides a wealth of media data to its members in the form of educational videos and podcasts. These files were hosted on Amazon S3 servers so they are delivered at high speeds to users from all parts of the world.
Site Optimization
CSS and Javascript files were minified and caching added to help serve up pages quickly. The htaccess file was updated with best practices.
