Global Food Security, the UK’s cross-government programme on food security research, contacted Make Do to upgrade its website following numerous issues with functionality.
Make Do delivered the new Global Food Security programme website and were flexible with our changing deadlines. Their support before, during and after go-live was efficient and helpful.
Luke Hawkins – Website Administrator
The customer wanted a site which could handle large scale traffic and would support hassle-free publication of new and complex content in an easy-to-read format.
Project Challenges
The previous Global Food Security website was an outdated system running on an old CMS with a WordPress blog on a separate platform.
The team at Make Do needed to create an easy to use, flexible website whilst also relocating the site to a different platform and updating its system. This necessitated a largely customised website.
What We Did
Make Do worked with the client to re-design the website from the ground up and develop a bespoke WordPress CMS experience.
The team built a flexible widget-powered system that allows users to build new page layouts using a simple drag-and-drop interface.
Make Do incorporated flexible ‘cards’ into the design which are used for Blog Posts, News Posts, Features, Publications and Documents. These ‘cards’ display in different ways for different screen sizes and content types but have an overall consistency which makes the site enjoyable and intuitive to use.
The new system also includes an advanced Document Management tool which was built by Make Do from scratch as there simply weren’t any other plugins available which could perform the same tasks.
The new website is a modern mobile-first site with a modular design which takes into consideration the existing Global Food Security branding.
Long Lasting Benefits
Global Food Security can now add multiple types of content and change the layout of pages using a suite of customised widgets and controls.
Creating engaging and beautifully laid out posts is now incredibly simple and takes a fraction of the time it did previously.
The Document Management tool has some brilliant features and ensures that content, including images, always looks consistent. The existing branding is seamlessly integrated into the new site.
Since launching, the site has been moved over to servers managed by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) who were our partners throughout the project. The BBSRC works to manage and maintain content on the new site.
