What is the aim of the site?
The site has been available to the public for around 6 months. It provides a platform for local Ukrainians that have moved to Sefton after the war broke out in 2022. The site contains important contact information for Ukrainians as well as a space for upcoming events in the community, notes about donations, information concerning the café at the centre as well as interviews with some of the Staff and Guests.
How was the site built and how has it evolved?
The site is built using a content management system (CMS) called WordPress. What this means is that a member of staff can log into the management system and update the site themselves rather than have a developer do it for them. This way, they gain greater control of the site and don’t have to rely on and wait for devs to update it for them.
The site is hosted in the cloud using Microsoft Azure. As a charity, a grant was available for the centre to obtain Azure's very powerful features for free. This has allowed better access for users, faster deployment time, better security and an overall smooth experience for the user.
What challenges have come up and how were they resolved?
This was the first time Start Web has undertaken a project using WordPress so there has been a large learning curve while developing the site. WordPress is one of the most popular CMSs in the world so it has been a very useful experience for the company.
Other issues have been working with users from another country that have a different language and culture from the UK. It has been both challenging and rewarding for both the developers and the Ukrainians to come together and collaborate on such a project.
How has the response been since the site launched?
The site has been available for around 6 months and has gone through a period of constant change. Due to feedback from the users, the local news has been pushed up to the top of the home page and a lot of the content has been streamlined.
There is a roadmap for the upcoming year that lists various content to be added such as ordering food from the café online and to list the activities and classes in the centre.
Overall, the response has been positive and the aim is to keep providing content so that the site becomes a repository of useful information and activities
