How a Custom-Built Site Moved to WordPress and Cut Load Times 55%
On the old site, even a small text change required a developer.
A community this active generates constant website updates.
The Young Scholars Initiative, led by Heske van Doornen.
The Young Scholars Initiative is the Institute for New Economic Thinking’s program for the next generation of economists, a platform where some 25,000 young researchers collaborate on questions like climate, inequality, and development. Heske van Doornen directs it, a role that combines product management, operations, marketing, and development.
The program owner named the problem before we ever did.
The program owner flagged the problem before we did.
WisdmLabs made it really smooth. They worked really hard to understand the specific needs that we had, it was quite a unique use case. But they made sure to wrap their head around that and they went out of their way to find really fitting, streamlined solutions for even the most tricky flows. We’re super happy with the end result. We now have a much more manageable, cost-effective, more beautiful site
What does “it mostly works” really cost per year?
The bespoke site did its job for years. Keeping it that way got expensive.
Fully custom-built meant simple updates required developer support, and the team wanted their own admins handling changes independently. One condition stood over everything: whatever replaced the old site still had to be fast.
- Text edits, no tickets
- New projects, self-serve
- Settings over code
- Old modules replicated
- Reimbursement flow kept
- Speed preserved
The real question
The person steering this migration wasn’t a developer, and said so plainly. She had already built her own WordPress sandbox and shortlisted plugins. The question wasn’t whether to move. It was how to fit the pieces together and transfer the data without a chaotic transition.
All in all, it came down to these 5 non-negotiables.
Routine updates, from wording to whole new projects, had to work without a developer.
The community’s own admins had to hold real control of the site day to day.
The new site had to stay fast, with performance protected through the rebuild.
Every module the old custom site provided had to be replicated on WordPress.
The reimbursement module, central to operations, had to work on the new site.
The plan started with everything the old site could do.
Replicate the modules, then hand the controls to the admins.
01 · Module Planning
Mapping the old site before touching the new one.
The work opened with a full analysis of the existing website and a plan for the components WordPress would need to replicate the old site’s modules. That plan let the core structure be rebuilt on WordPress while staying manageable, so nothing the community relied on got lost in translation.
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Full site analysis Every existing module inventoried first.
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Restored on rebuild WordPress components mapped to old functions.
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Manageable structure Rebuilt so the team can run it day to day.
02 · Admin-First Build
Settings for almost everything they’d want to change.
Custom development was built admin-first, with settings covering almost everything the team would want to change, from wording through to creating new projects, so code changes stopped being needed for routine updates. That approach became the 35+ configurable admin settings the site now carries.
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Wording, self-serve Copy changes without touching code.
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Projects on demand Admins create new projects themselves.
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35+ settings The rigidity complaint answered directly.
03 · Reimbursement Module
The operational workflow that had to survive.
The reimbursement module mattered to how the community actually operates, and it was implemented on the current site as part of the move. A genuinely custom workflow was recreated rather than approximated by plugins, keeping a key operational process running exactly where the team needs it.
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Custom recreation Built for the new site, not bolted on.
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Operations covered A workflow the community runs on, kept.
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Live and working Implemented and confirmed on the new site.
From ticket queues for text edits to a site the team runs itself.
Faster average page loads
Small-change requests, gone
Quicker content turnaround
Settings in admin hands
Independence was the goal. The speed came with it.
Their admins run it now, and it loads faster too.
every change, a developer
Custom-built site, expensive to maintain
Simple text edits requiring developer support
Structure too rigid for a fast-moving community
admin-run, faster, theirs
Minor changes handled without a developer
Free of dependence on the previous dev team
Reimbursement module live on the new site
Small edits to your website turning into projects?
Move to a WordPress setup where everyday updates are quick, simple, and handled in-house.
- See how large communities change hosts
- Learn what a zero-loss migration takes
- Explore moves that keep members logged in
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