| Client | A county council’s environment and coastal programmes: a coastal partnership, an anti-litter and water quality campaign and a low carbon grants programme, plus an arts centre charity the council funded |
| Services | WordPress development (custom themes), secure external hosting, training and support |
| Timescale | From 2017 until 2022, through my previous business, in partnership with a design agency |
| Results | Four new websites, each won on the strength of the last. Hosting security approved by the council. Sites still running after I sold the business. |
The challenge
The council needed new information websites for its environmental work, for residents, schools, businesses and community groups. Each was a new site, with its own identity within the council’s brand guidelines.
Unusually for a council, the sites were hosted externally. The council couldn’t host WordPress itself, so the hosting had to meet its security requirements before anything went live.
Working with the agency and the council
The design agency’s director asked me to work with him on the designs, then to build the sites. Unusually for agency work, he introduced me to the council under my own trading name, and from then on I dealt with the client directly.
- Custom WordPress themes built from the agreed designs, following the supplied branding exactly.
- Secure hosting set up outside the council, and shown to be secure enough to satisfy the council.
- One site at a time. The first site’s success led to the second, and the second to the third. The same partnership then built a straightforward WordPress website for an arts centre charity the council funded.
“The development of the site was handled with complete competence and authority. Delivered on time, on budget and with an uncomplicated, expert smoothness that you do not always see in the world of websites. It was an excellent partnership.“
Director, design agency
Training and support
I trained the council’s team on how WordPress works and on anything specific to their sites. After that, I gave ad hoc support whenever they needed it.
That’s deliberate. I aim to help clients take ownership of their sites, rather than tie them into a costly support contract.
The result
The council’s team found WordPress much easier to work with than the systems they had used before. The sites continued to run after I sold the business in 2022.