Download - WordPress from a Media Company Perspective
WORDPRESS AND A MEDIA COMPANYWordPress and Alma Media Kustannus Oy – Pros and cons from our point of view
Timo-Jaakko RautavuoriDevelopment Manager |@timojr8th May 2015, WordCamp Finland, Tampere
Background
Timo-Jaakko Rautavuori?
Has worked in online journalism since 2006
Backround: journalist, project manager
Managed multiple news site renewal projects at Aamulehti and Alma Media Kustannus Oy
Alma Media Kustannus Oy?
Finnish Media Company
28 Newspapers (regional and local) + 30 news websites in Finland
1 company = 30 sites = product development co-operation between sites
Our mission: News
We tell stories.
Masses of content: Approx. 500 articles published daily (plus videos).
Masses of traffic (readers): Approx. 17 million pageviews per month.
Company’s biggest site is Aamulehti.fi (10 million pageviews per month)
Where we were back in 2011?
Licenced CMS (launched 2008-2010)
No responsive design
Needed more speed to web development
Lisää kuva napsauttamalla kuvaketta
Vision in 2011: Websites + open source
More speed to development by using open source CMS
More efficiency to development with multiple open source developers
Easier workflows for journalists
Lower costs
First Step: Moro in 2011-2012 (moro.aamulehti.fi)
Pilot project in a nutshell
Hyper local newssite in Tampere
CMS: WordPress
Integration: WP + Online Ad System
Integration: WP + Publishing production system for print
Integration: WP + Analytics
Design: Facelifted (but not responsive).
No in-house coding.
Agile project with a local WordPress development company.
Results: Moro in 2011-2012
Next steps
Two more WordPress roll-out projects in 2013 based on moro.aamulehti.fi
1) Porilaine (porilaine.satakunnankansa.fi)
- Hyperlocal newspapaper. Similar to Moro but located in Pori.
2) Hervannansanomat.fi
- Even more hyperlocal newspaper in Hervanta (District in Tampere)
New vision in 2013: News site + paywall
Pilot: kainuunsanomat.fi, kuhmolainen.fi, yla-kainuu.fi, sotkamolehti.fi
Project included 4 newspapers located in Kainuu area:
Kainuun Sanomat (Regional newspaper)
Kuhmolainen (Local newspaper)
Ylä-Kainuu (Local newspaper)
Sotkamo-lehti (Local newspaper)
Kainuunsanomat.fi (2014): New features
- Responsive design- Paywall needed many integrations
Project: - Concept (3 months) + Coding (6 months)- Project management: Alma Media
Kustannus Oy - Three (!) WP partners:
1 company (coding)1 company (reviewing the code)1 company (auditing the security of system)
2011 Moro
2013 Porilaine & HerSa
2014 Kainuun Sanomat
(4 newspape
rs)
…yet to come in 2015: Lapin
Kansa & Pohjolan Sanomat
?
Timeline
WP’s pros and cons from our viewpoint
PROS
+ Intuitive admin UI
+ Huge amount of (free) plugins
+ Easy to customize
+ No license costs
+ Many agile development partners
+ Speed of development in general
CONS
- Optimization problems: we customized admin the system became a bit too heavy
Our vision in 2011 vs. assessment in 2015
In 2015 we use both licenced CMS and open source CMS.
• “More speed for development by using open source CMS” – CHECK
• “Easier workflows for journalists” - CHECK• “Lower costs” – CHECK• “More efficiency on development with multiple
open source developers” – CHECK, BUT…