Modernization of eLearning Portal

Technology Stack

Wordpress
Unyson
MySQL
iDEAL
TransIP

The Client

This eLearning website allows students to log in and purchase English language courses, appear for exams at specified dates, and sharpen their proficiency in the language. Signed-in students can buy various online courses like Business English, Cambridge English, Summer English, etc., depending on their needs and interests. They can take computer-based or paper-based courses, earn certifications, add them to their CVs, and strengthen their career paths.

The Challenge

Although the website was pre-built and up for use, it was legacy-old. The client was looking for multiple customizations to modernize it. The old codebase impeded the website’s performance and users’ experience. So, the client contacted Capital Numbers to re-architect the underlying code snippets. We needed to eliminate redundancies, resolve quality issues, and upgrade features.

Some areas that needed specific fine-tuning were page builders, mega menu, forms, payments, sliders, banners, etc. All these areas needed an upliftment. It was essential for us to correctly understand the performance baselines in these areas and then implement new lines of code to modernize them. We aimed to remove all deprecated code and add active code to improve functions.

Besides, the existing website was as large as 13 GB with over 30 plugins. So, after the modernization work, we needed to move this considerably big-sized website to a local server to check the individual updates before pushing it for go-live.

The Solution

Taking note of the above elements, we initiated the work with discussions on how to re-engineer the existing heritage structure. Our developers started by analyzing the as-is state and identified the existing loopholes. Depending on the findings, our team implemented the following solutions:

We reconstructed the website using WordPress because it has an array of pre-built themes and layouts. We could choose plugins, page builders, design patterns, and custom backgrounds to suit the project goals. WordPress also helps update vast libraries of new content daily. So, re-platforming a content-heavy eLearning website such as this was easier with WordPress.

Using the Unyson page builder, we created all the pages. Unyson allows developers to customize functionalities like sliders, portfolios, shortcodes, and mega menus. In addition, we used WP’s Core theme to realign various elements that needed minor touch-ups. As for the database management solution, we leaned on MySQL to retrieve and store all information reliably.

Next, we worked on the payment gateway. The site already had the iDEAL payment gateway integrated into it. But, it required added modifications to secure the payments. For this, we needed to dig into and translate the iDEAL API documentation, written in Dutch, to English. We had to make sense of the existing rules and then make code changes to validate/authenticate all payments.

After upgrading everything from pages, themes, plugins to payments, we created a local host to run multiple tests. When we saw that the elements were reloading fine and styling was consistent across the website, we moved the solution to TransIP, known for its excellent storage and bandwidth availability.

Results

What we achieved is a revamped WordPress site packed with modern integrations. From small cleanups to adding significant upgrades, we took care of it all, and that too quite well. Our expert developers coordinated with the client over Skype and progressed in a linear sequential flow using the Waterfall method to deliver the following outcomes:

Vast Library of Courses

Capital Numbers’ re-engineered product helps the admin update dozens of new English courses daily without slowing down the system.

Increased Student Enrollment

This TransIP-powered solution allows concurrent students to enroll and appear for online exams without limiting usage due to low bandwidth.

Clear Mega Menu

Our mega menu helps arrange hundreds of English courses under distinct categories and groups for users’ comfort.

Responsive Forms

We embedded customizable, responsive forms for registrations, online tests, and payments using FormCraft.

Custom Dashboard

Because of our various customizations, the admin currently enjoys the benefits of editing online tests, course fees, exam dates, examinee lists, etc.

Multilingual Capabilities

We made the site accessible in English and Dutch using WP’s multilingual plugin.

Secure Money Transfers

Tracing back to the code lineage for iDEAL payments was a first for us. But, we decoded elements to understand how it works and modified lines of code to secure money transfers.

Deployment of Staging Site

Separately deploying a local server to test a 13GB website was also a first, But we did all of it efficiently to run checks before pushing the solution to live.

Code Reviewing and Refactoring

From code reviewing and refactoring to enhancements, we did everything to deliver a solution that's easy to scale and maintain.

Modernized eLearning Portal

We now have a transformed WordPress website with no legacy code, successfully overhauled by Capital Numbers. The platform presently: