Building a future-proof setup for Verbonden Wijsheid

• Headquarters: Netherlands
• Technology Stack: Nuxt.js, Storyblok, Hyvor, Netlify

Yvonne Versteeg's project, "Verbonden Wijsheid" (Connected Wisdom), tackles the challenge of using subtle knowledge in today's information-rich world. In collaboration with HowAboutYes, they used Storyblok to create a fast and secure platform. Storyblok's Visual Editor helped with real-time content creation, making the project more efficient. Overall, the project combines intuition and practicality, providing a valuable space for personal and professional growth. With 60 hours of development effort, the project achieved an impressive 98 SEO Lighthouse Score and a perfect 100 Best Practices Lighthouse Score, showcasing its excellence in both performance and optimization.

Verbonden Wijsheid's reasons for departure from WordPress

The problems with the old WordPress system emphasized the urgent need for a safer, faster, and more flexible content management system like Storyblok to fix these issues and support the growth and progress of Verbonden Wijsheid.

• Difficulty in Maintenance: Maintaining the WordPress project was challenging and time-consuming, leading to issues that required frequent fixes and updates.
• Hacking Incidents: The project had experienced security breaches, resulting in the need to restore the entire project from backups and older content pieces.
• Limited Content Editing Capabilities: Content editors faced limitations in easily opening the project and creating new blog content within the WordPress platform.
• Slow performance and scalability issues: The old platform was slow, affecting the user experience and page loading times. More than that, it lacked the capacity to efficiently accommodate future growth, causing constraints on expansion.
• Separation of Content Creation: Content creators had to constantly switch between a word processor and the WordPress platform, disrupting their workflow.
• Cost Inefficiency: The previous platform's pricing model was not been cost-effective for accommodating business growth and additional users.

Revolutionizing Verbonden Wijsheid with Storyblok

Discover how Storyblok addressed the shortcomings of Verbonden Wijsheid's old WordPress platform, bringing about a revolution in its functionality and performance.

• Enhanced Security Features: Storyblok offered robust security features, addressing the vulnerabilities of the old WordPress platform and reducing the risk of hacking attempts.
• Streamlined maintenance and improved content editing: Storyblok simplified the maintenance process, reducing the need for frequent fixes and updates, and enhancing overall project stability. Additionally, Storyblok provided content editors with an intuitive and efficient platform for opening the project and creating new blog content, streamlining their workflow with the help of the Visual Editor.
• Optimized Performance: The new platform offered improved page loading times and user experience, addressing the slow performance issues of the old WordPress system.
• Scalability: Storyblok's flexible pricing plans allowed for seamless scalability, accommodating future growth without constraints.

Empowering transformation: The HowAboutYes Partnership

HowAboutYes is a Dutch partner agency led by Sefrijin Langen from the Netherlands. It started about 12 years ago when Sefrijin noticed a gap in the market for custom websites. Initially, they used WordPress and custom templates. However, in 2020 during the global pandemic, Sefrijin took the opportunity to learn modern front-end tools like React and Storyblok to better serve clients.

HowAboutYes prioritizes projects that have a positive impact, whether socially, spiritually, or environmentally. Sefrijin focuses on projects he genuinely believes in and shares the mission of his clients. The agency's main goal is to create a social impact and empowerment through meaningful collaborations.

Building the Verbonden Wijsheid Transformation

The founders of Verbonden Wijsheid come from a successful coaching company with 15 years of experience, specializing in improving how large organizations work together and fostering individual relationships within these organizations. They prioritize personal development and lasting success over increasing sales or share prices. Yvonne, one of Verbonden Wijsheid's founders, focuses on less obvious aspects like intuition and esoteric spiritual knowledge, aiming to make them tangible goals.

The project's initial problem was that Verbonden Wijsheid's old WordPress system lacked security features and was hard to maintain. It had been hacked before, requiring restoration from backups. HowAboutYes had to repeatedly address these issues. Their primary requirements were to enable easy content creation and ensure fast performance and scalability for future growth. Storyblok was a suitable choice as it allowed them to start small and expand as needed.

Initially, when HowAboutYes received the project briefing, Yvonne and Verbonden Wijsheid (VW) considered using WordPress. However, Sefrijn, from HowAboutYes, suggested exploring other options like Strapi and Storyblok. Ultimately, they chose Storyblok because of its innovative Visual Editor. VW was particularly pleased with this feature, as it allowed them to create and update content with a live preview, reducing development time and costs. The project took around 60 hours to complete, including design ideation.

Since this was one of the first projects HowAboutYes worked on with Storyblok, there was a learning curve in using the chosen frontend technology, Nuxt, in conjunction with Storyblok to make the most of the Visual Editor. They also learned how to use Storyblok's preview feature for live content. These challenges, though, made it easier for Sefrijn to onboard the tech team. He conducted video calls with screen sharing for client training and provided supporting documentation for reference.

Key Takeaways

The game-changer in this project was the Visual Editor. For HowAboutYes, transitioning from WordPress to the Visual Editor made content creation more enjoyable. They could see their progress in real time as they built Verbonden Wijsheid, boosting their motivation. Yvonne and her team also found the Visual Editor transformative, allowing them to create content directly within the CMS, eliminating the need to switch between tools. This approach inspired their work as they watched their content come to life. Yvonne appreciated the cost-effective pricing model, enabling her to start small and expand as her business grows.

Overall, the new Verbonden Wijsheid is a significant improvement over the old version. It boasts enhanced security with Storyblok's certifications and much-improved page speed. Their Lighthouse scores are impressive, with most categories scoring in the 90th percentile or higher.