Solace WordPress Multi-Platform & Custom Integration Case Study
A custom-designed WordPress solution for a leading Public Sector Membership Organisation with 3rd-party platform integration
The Background
The Society of Leaders and Chief Executives (Solace) is the UK’s leading membership network for the public sector and local government professionals. They currently represent over 1600 members across the UK, and have regional branches across the country which play host to a number of events such as regional development days, skills days and networking opportunities.
The problem
The initial set of challenges was around a redesign of the company website driven by a program of new technology, primarily focused on Salesforce and its integrated technologies; Fonteva, Salesforce Lightning, and Bullhorn.
In addition to this, the business had several websites for different divisions of the business that were being replaced by the new software that also needed integration and taking offline.
The requirement
Fonteva has a front-end website editor that is sold as being fully customisable but actually lacks in many areas. The inability of the platform to provide an adequate or reasonable solution forced SOLACE to find a partner to develop a separate website that could then integrate into the required software.
In addition to the Fonteva issue, SOLACE had three websites, one for each aspect of the business:
- Main Website
- Events Website
- Recruitment Website
Each had been built by different agencies and none played nicely with the other. The solution had to combine these sites into one website and integrate the software solutions.
Paul is a natural leader with great communication skills, a sharp mind, and good business sense. I find Paul's style refreshing - I know what I'm going to get with him, and that's considered advice and support that's been tailored to the needs of our business.
I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Paul to prospective clients, he's been invaluable to Solace over the years.
Our results
After completing our initial analysis and coming up to speed on the Salesforce solutions, we presented a WordPress-led solution. The ease of WordPress and its familiarity with SOLACE meant that there were no adoption issues to be planned for.
As part of the redesign, we updated the look and feel of the incumbent website, but kept a design that typical website users wouldn’t find incredibly different and fitting to expectations.
Integrating Fonteva to WordPress
We integrated Fontevas registration and sign-on sequence into the WordPress design and masked URLs to ensure a smooth transition for users. By customising the limited page and menu features to match those of our updated WordPress design, users have a seamless transition between platforms.
Integrating Bullhorn to WordPress
Bullhorn is a native integration to Salesforce as a recruitment tool. SOLACE adopted this as a replacement for their incumbent WordPress solution. Whilst scoping this part of the project we learned that a 3rd party agency was custom-building micro-sites to showcase executive recruitment on behalf of SOLACE.
Whilst we weren’t privy to the financials we did present a new solution that would bring that capacity in-house and potentially save money in the longer term. We proposed to use WordPress’s multi-site feature and build three fully customisable templates that the internal recruitment team could use to build the microsites going forward.
Once this was signed off, we integrated Bullhorn into the microsites via webhooks ensuring that any applications for posted jobs are smoothly transitioned into the Salesforce/Bullhorn CRM.
Further Innovation
After delivering on the initial request, SOLACE asked if we could help with a custom-designed Continuing Professional Development (CPD) platform. We analysed the requirement and suggested that a single-session CPD service could be introduced to the new WordPress Solution and we were engaged to build and deliver the solution.
What we learned
The team at BIAS learned a lot working with the numerous platforms. A number of custom integrations were required as well as working with the business to help them take more control of their digital presence. All of this whilst keeping budgets in mind and keeping the business needs at the forefront of our design thinking.
This project really engaged our thought processes and highlights again why as a technical delivery partner in web and customised web solutions, we focus on those companies that are looking at product-led solutions and being innovative in their respective industries.
We now have extensive experience in customising Salesforce solutions although we remain true to our HubSpot roots, we have learned that our pragmatic approach to planning technological solutions is a key strength and our contract with SOLACE has been extended for another year.