Program for Infant / Toddler Care
Showcasing the best of Drupal 8.
The Program for Infants / Toddler Care (PITC) provides training and resources for providers of early childhood education. Having been involved with a number of projects adjacent to this program over the last decade, we were chosen to perform a total site rebuild in order to meet some new program initiatives and to assist in the consolidation of multiple outdated sites to a more streamlined and organized approach.
The bulk of the site is comprised of resources for graduates and providers of their trainings, meticulously categorized and organized to make them easy to find, so Drupal was an obvious choice for CMS. We loved working on this project, as it allowed us to make use of some of our strongest skillsets and we couldn't be happier with the end product. Scroll down to learn more about some key site features and how we accomplished them!
Migration
One of the best things about Drupal 8 is its robust Migration API, which makes importing content (from a variety of sources) a breeze. Since this project was primarily a repository of resources, it was critical that we be able to smoothly migrate hundreds of categorized records and their associated assets into a similar but re-organized content structure.
With initial CSV exports of filenames, metadata, and categorization info, we set to work creating detailed maps of where old data fit into our new architecture, pointing out discrepancies and making sure everything ended up where it needed to be. The up-front work of this migration saved dozens of hours of manual content entry for the client, and since properly configured migrations can be run repeatedly, we were able to make a seamless transition from the old site to new without necessitating a lengthy content freeze.
We also made use of the migration process so that the over 500 authenticated users had their accounts and associated roles waiting for them in our system on launch day with a simple password reset process to gain access to the new system.
API Integration
One of the major factors for this rebuild was the client's development of a new custom API for the listing and organization of their trainers.
Our task was to integrate this API within the site, allowing for a robust location based search and individual listing pages for each individual trainer with bio information.
We developed an approach that allowed for search capability for a variety of fields (name, location, language, etc) as well as the ability to "browse" trainers by US State or California county via an interactive SVG map that directly pulls from their API. This way, as soon as new trainers are approved within their system, they are instantly accessible on the site.
Resource Search and Access Control
Drupal 8 was the CMS of choice for this project due to its proven track record with complicated content organization and granular access control capabilities.
In order to provide an intuitive way to access many hundreds of organized resources, we made use of the Search API / Facet API to provide a faceted search process that allows for a combination of keyword search and category filters to let the end user find what they are looking for.
Further, the site has three different levels of authenticated users with different resource access, so it was imperative that search results be limited to only resources that the user has access to. The Drupal Search API handles this gracefully, and we set up a handy set of user dashboard features that are "role" specific in order to give users quick access to the things they need.
ADA Compliance
Lastly, PITC needed the site to be ADA compliant at the WCAG AA 2.0 level which we accomplished in coordination with the designer of the website. We used a variety of tools to analyze the site for issues, and found elegant solutions to accomplish a modern and interesting design without compromising accessibility.
