Talk given at WordCamp Sydney on September 24, 2016. The Web is an industry that thrives on the new… but what about building sites that last? In 1996, I used my newly acquired HTML skills to build a fan site for my favourite author. Twenty years later, the site – roalddahlfans.com – is still alive and kicking. I’ll trace the development of the site over the years, which mirrors both my own career journey as a developer and the trajectory of the web as a whole. I’ll also talk about the challenges I faced during my recent 6-month project to convert the whole site – nearly 1500 pages – to WordPress, dragging it into the 21st century at last.

1. My Website Can Vote
The Challenges of Maintaining a 20-year-old Website

5. 20

6. 20 frickin’

7. 20 frickin’ years

8. December 1996

9. December 1996

10. 6 months

11. 2 years

12. 3 years

13. 3 years

14. 3 years

15. 3 years

16. 3 years

17. 4 years

18. 4.5 years

19. Meanwhile…

21. 5 years

22. 5 years

23. 5 years

24. Fast forward 14 years…

25. 19 years

26. So what to do?

29. Pros

30. Pros
• Security - better than what I had

31. Pros
• Security - better than what I had
• PHP-based

32. Pros
• Security - better than what I had
• PHP-based
• Responsive themes

33. Pros
• Security - better than what I had
• PHP-based
• Responsive themes
• Plugins!

34. Pros
• Security - better than what I had
• PHP-based
• Responsive themes
• Plugins!
• Better admin UX - including ACL & versioning

35. Pros
• Security - better than what I had
• PHP-based
• Responsive themes
• Plugins!
• Better admin UX - including ACL & versioning
• Less friction to update

36. Cons

37. Cons
• Security - WordPress is a big target

38. Cons
• Security - WordPress is a big target
• Learning curve

39. Cons
• Security - WordPress is a big target
• Learning curve
• Migration effort

40. Cons
• Security - WordPress is a big target
• Learning curve
• Migration effort
• Ego - would using WordPress make me look like
a n00b?

41. Concerns

42. Concerns
• How to organise the site? How much of the
cross-referencing to automate?

43. Concerns
• How to organise the site? How much of the
cross-referencing to automate?
“This has to be a solved problem, right?”

44. Concerns
• How to organise the site? How much of the
cross-referencing to automate?
“This has to be a solved problem, right?”
• 20 years of inbound links and PageRank to
preserve

45. Concerns
• How to organise the site? How much of the
cross-referencing to automate?
“This has to be a solved problem, right?”
• 20 years of inbound links and PageRank to
preserve
• Hard-coded HTML styles in the DB to clean up

46. The Plan

47. The Plan
• Set up site on new host

48. The Plan
• Set up site on new host
• Create basic site structure

49. The Plan
• Set up site on new host
• Create basic site structure
• Read up on security

50. The Plan
• Set up site on new host
• Create basic site structure
• Read up on security
• VaultPress & Wordfence

51. The Plan
• Set up site on new host
• Create basic site structure
• Read up on security
• VaultPress & Wordfence
• Auto-updates

52. The Plan
• Set up site on new host
• Create basic site structure
• Read up on security
• VaultPress & Wordfence
• Auto-updates
• Set up child theme and create nav menu

53. The Plan
• Set up site on new host
• Create basic site structure
• Read up on security
• VaultPress & Wordfence
• Auto-updates
• Set up child theme and create nav menu
• Start migrating content

54. Migration

55. Migration
• Start with simplest pages and sections first

56. Migration
• Start with simplest pages and sections first
• Write functions where needed

57. Migration
• Start with simplest pages and sections first
• Write functions where needed
• Required some plugins:

58. Migration
• Start with simplest pages and sections first
• Write functions where needed
• Required some plugins:
• Advanced Custom Fields

59. Migration
• Start with simplest pages and sections first
• Write functions where needed
• Required some plugins:
• Advanced Custom Fields
• Add Categories to Pages

60. Migration
• Start with simplest pages and sections first
• Write functions where needed
• Required some plugins:
• Advanced Custom Fields
• Add Categories to Pages
• WP Gallery Custom Links…

67. More Plugins

68. More Plugins
• Breadcrumbs -> Breadcrumb NavXT plugin

69. More Plugins
• Breadcrumbs -> Breadcrumb NavXT plugin
• Calendar -> My Calendar plugin

70. More Plugins
• Breadcrumbs -> Breadcrumb NavXT plugin
• Calendar -> My Calendar plugin
• Trivia Quizzes -> Riddle (+ plugin)

71. More Plugins
• Breadcrumbs -> Breadcrumb NavXT plugin
• Calendar -> My Calendar plugin
• Trivia Quizzes -> Riddle (+ plugin)
• Polls -> WP-Polls plugin

72. More Plugins
• Breadcrumbs -> Breadcrumb NavXT plugin
• Calendar -> My Calendar plugin
• Trivia Quizzes -> Riddle (+ plugin)
• Polls -> WP-Polls plugin
• Search -> Relevanssi plugin

73. More Plugins
• Breadcrumbs -> Breadcrumb NavXT plugin
• Calendar -> My Calendar plugin
• Trivia Quizzes -> Riddle (+ plugin)
• Polls -> WP-Polls plugin
• Search -> Relevanssi plugin
• Timeline -> ???

74. Final Steps

75. Final Steps
• Migrate all old news/blog posts

76. Final Steps
• Migrate all old news/blog posts
• Set up Adsense and Analytics

77. Final Steps
• Migrate all old news/blog posts
• Set up Adsense and Analytics
• Update the theme

78. Final Steps
• Migrate all old news/blog posts
• Set up Adsense and Analytics
• Update the theme
• Set up .htaccess redirects

79. Final Steps
• Migrate all old news/blog posts
• Set up Adsense and Analytics
• Update the theme
• Set up .htaccess redirects
• Change DNS to point to the new site!

81. Some numbers…
• ~4500 page views/day
• 28% US; 25% UK; 6% AU
• 60% desktop;
27% mobile; 13% tablet
• 84% via search;
11% direct; 4% referral;
< 1% social
• Most popular content: short stories; trivia quizzes; teacher
materials

82. What’s Next

83. What’s Next
• Set up SSL

84. What’s Next
• Set up SSL
• Mop up broken links

85. What’s Next
• Set up SSL
• Mop up broken links
• Add new content

86. What’s Next
• Set up SSL
• Mop up broken links
• Add new content
• Update design once illustrations
are finished

87. What’s Next
• Set up SSL
• Mop up broken links
• Add new content
• Update design once illustrations
are finished
• Keep an eye on stats & revenue

89. Thanks!
@web_goddess @RoaldDahlFans
Kris Howard
http://www.roalddahlfans.com