Multisite support for city services

The city had a dated website hosted on a CMS no longer supported by its maintainers. In addition to a new CMS, they needed an accessible and powerful system for non-technical editors to manage and maintain content across multiple departments (library, city, parks, etc.), and integrations with meeting agendas and numerous newsletters. 

What they needed most was an experienced  partner to guide their team through a large-scale migration, redesign and ongoing support. 

We began with an extensive planning phase, including a full audit of existing content, stakeholder interviews and user workshops, helping define audience and site goals. 

From a technical standpoint, our team was able to migrate thousands of pages of content (including images and documents) from an older CMS to a newer, more modern CMS (Drupal). 

Transitioning to visual design, we began by reviewing existing brand guidelines and looking at how the imagery and scenery of the city itself might influence design. We explored different styles/tones for the site, before settling on the accessible, component-based design. 

The City has multiple subsites, including the Library, Parks and Recreation, and the Santa Barbara Airport. Our team helped plan, design, and build each of these microsites within their overall CMS, and advise the City on how to manage them.