Archisearch is a publishing website with articles by numerous contributors around various aspects of architecture and design throughout the world. Vassilios Bartzokas is the man behind this project, known for his involvement in several projects related to architecture.
THE REQUEST
The request was not simple: a design blog that focuses on photos and content, while featuring articles posted by several authors and guest authors, an events calendar, a job listing system with ability for people to post their CVs. There was also the need for many but subtle banners to avoid the distraction of the user.
OUR SOLUTION
We implemented the design taking into consideration the audience: architects & designers. Users visit the blog regularly and they need a clean site with minimal interactions and distractions.
A problem we had to solve was that the website already existed for some time so it already had many posts and comments by users. It was built on a custom CMS in a different environment than WordPress. We ended up creating an algorithm to pull all data for existing posts, articles, comments and content from the existing website and transfer all of them in the new website, inside our WordPress installation.
We also built a custom banner management system as the client had specific requests about the banners that he would host, all from his own clients and collaborators. The client can set a banner through the WordPress environment by using a long list of options, such as its position, start & end date, number of clicks or views, assign to a specific post or set rules for its visibility throughout the pages. The system also produces reports regarding the impressions of each banner and notifies the client when a banner is about to expire.
We also built a system where job listings can be posted or individuals can upload their CVs and state their availability.
A very useful section of the site is the gallery inside each post. The user can select to see a slideshow of all the images inside a post, without having to scroll and read through all the text. This slideshow is created automatically, as it finds all the images inside the content of the post.
As always, the website is responsive and can be accessed through mobile phones, tablets and computers.
