Data Migration from .NET to WordPress

Technology Stack

WooCommerce
jQuery
Restrict
Content Pro
Stripe
MySQL
Amazon RDS
Amazon EC2

The Client

The client is an online content publisher who publishes thousands of articles on mental health topics on his company website. He brings onboard editors and writers who upload research papers, case reports, and journals on depression, addiction, bipolar disorders, schizophrenia, etc., on this website. By publishing dozens of articles monthly, the client aims to bring medical students and psychiatrists to the newest insights around these areas.

The Challenge

Before contacting Capital Numbers, the client used to run this website on the .NET framework. However, he soon found that the .NET setup was not offering him the SEO benefits. Unhappy with poor site traffic, the client wanted to migrate all data from the existing .NET framework to WordPress.

He was aiming to make provisions for:

On-page/off-page SEO activities
Metadata work
Hyperlinking
Tags and titles
Article listings
Image optimizations
Ad placements
Page redesigns, etc.

In addition, the client also wanted to make the website content more accessible to those who are color blind or low on vision. He was looking for a way to add good contrast ratios to website fonts and colors so that even the visually challenged could consume content without trouble.

Moreover, the existing website had multiple URLs, and ‘mini’ directories merged. So, the client wanted to add a Single Sign-On (SSO) authentication. An SSO would help all users access every independent URL with a single set of credentials.

The volume of work was enormous. So, the client wanted a tech partner who could do the heavy lifting and handle the associated challenges well. Looking at Capital Numbers’ past work, the client sought our help to achieve the goals.

The Solution

At the onset of the project we clearly defined all the milestones, deliverables and timelines.

Our expert engineers started by analyzing the .NET environment’s source code before planning the migration work. But, while assessing the existing source code, we found that the datasets had vast character-set problems.

For instance, the ISO-based character-set issues in the .NET setup abnormally displayed special characters (e.g., $,%, #, %, etc.) between sentences. It was highly frustrating for the users. So, in place of ISO encoding, we implemented the UTF-8 encoding method to render all characters correctly without letting any special characters pop up.

It took immense brainstorming to properly remove all character-set problems from around 3500+ articles using the UTF-8 encoding method. Although we used custom scripts to automate the encoding work, we depended on six data entry specialists to manually take care of a few tasks.

Once done with the data migration and encoding work, we took care of areas like the Home page, site structures, mega menus, admin areas, etc. Adding the WooCommerce plugin helped us take care of these.

Next, we used the Restrict Content Pro plugin to control who can and cannot view certain content. We integrated it to restrict action hooks and search filters and lock away exclusive content from unpaid users.

As for the frontend, we fine-tuned everything using jQuery, HTML, and CSS codes. Here, we strictly adhered to WCAG 2 guidelines to make content readable to all, even those with visual disabilities.

As per the project’s needs, we added four dashboards for guests, editors, students, and the super admin. While creating the login dashboards, we also worked on Single Sign-On (SSO) to help users sign in with just a single set of usernames and passwords to access all product features. We did a lot of customization around the SSO to ease content accessibility. We added Stripe, as well, to help paid subscribers make recurring payments safely.

Because the website was data-heavy, we agreed to power up the storage using the MySQL database solution. We also used Amazon’s RDS to protect and encrypt data with private keys.

Once done with everything, we deployed the new solution on Amazon’s EC2, as it’s a highly reliable network for hosting data-heavy websites optimally.

Results

In only six months, Capital Numbers completed the project. In around three months, we completed the data migration and UI work. We spent about two months on SSO work and around a month on issue-fixing. The results have benefited the client, who now maintains his new WordPress website at a lower cost.

Here’s more on the successes that the client congratulated us for:

.NET to WordPress (WP) Migration

We moved bulk data sets from the .NET install to WordPress without any data loss.

20K+ Web Page Transfers

We transferred over 20K web pages that included hundreds of content pieces, such as:

Journals
Archives
Weekly Posts
Research Papers
Case Reports
Product Reviews
Feature Articles
Insightful Videos

Video Imports from XML Files

We imported many of these videos from massive XML files to their destination databases on WordPress.

UTF-8 Character Encoding

We eliminated all invalid characters using the UTF-8 encoding method.

WooCommerce Plugin Implementation

Our WordPress experts used the scalable WooCommerce plugin to optimize the site for hundreds of content uploads.

Mega Menu Implementation

We created the mega menu with several dropdowns that reveal lower-level pages of the site at a glance.

WCAG 2 Web Development Guidelines

Because we followed WCAG 2 guidelines, the web content and fonts are consumable for low-vision users.

SEO Plugin Implementation

Our SEO plugin implementations now help the client add relevant meta tags, titles, descriptions, breadcrumbs, etc., to improve the search ranks.

Sticky Ads

We made provisions for sticky ads that stay fixed on the right side of the pages, even as users scroll down or up.

Four Admin Dashboards

Guests, editors, students, and the super admin can quickly log in to their respective dashboards to manage and view content across the site.

SSO Implementation

Thanks to our SSO implementation, all users can access merged URLs and premium links without re-authenticating themselves every time.

4 Project Milestones

Capital Numbers’ expert engineers did all these implementations and integrations in four pre-planned milestones.

90% Reduction in Maintenance Costs

Our efforts and hard work have led us to redevelop an SEO-friendly WordPress site with 90% lesser maintenance costs.

Higher SEO Value

Driving good SEO traffic, the site is a highly customizable one and ready for unlimited scaling.

End-to-end Data Migration Work

Benefitting from the results, the client spoke highly of us on Clutch and lauded us for assessing and migrating 20K+ web pages between two installs without damaging a single data source or business logic.