Online Community ~ Shopping Cart Integration ~ Member Directory ~ Forum ~ eCourses

About Career Directors
In 2012, the Career Directors WordPress Site was launched. The site includes many add-on features such as a searchable member directory, forum, member-only library of e-courses, articles, videos and other tools. The site integrates with an external shopping cart and email marketing service. The look-and-feel of the site was developed by another firm.
Since 2012, many changes have been made by us to the site. We are currently working on converting to another theme which more mobile and are working on upgrading the forum.
Video Tour
Since many of the site’s features can only be access by paying members, a video tour of the site can be found below.
GOAL #1: Member Only Access to Paid Content
GOAL #2: Searchable Directory and Profiles
Goal #3: Migrate Data from existing External Website
The original website was a custom coded system with a Microsoft Access database. The web pages were HTML and the custom code controlled who could see the pages. Like the WordPress site, the site had a searchable directory and members could log in to access member-only content and change their profile.
Instead of re-creating every page and re-entering all the member data, custom-coded scripts were used. This saved the client money and reduced the time it took to launch as well as reducing typographical errors that might occur if it was done manually.
Just2Technical not only developed the website, but also setup the Facebook promotions including developing the images highlighting each artist.
Behind the Scenes
Continued Support
Just2Technical is also a sounding board for new page copy and marketing strategies.
Plug-Ins Used
The current WordPress site is a custom Genesis Theme built in 2012. A new theme is currently being developued using Astra Pro (paid version).
Some of the plugins used to help build this site include:
- Wishlist Member – member access control, new member registration, email list subscriptions. Integration with Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign and PremiumWebCart.
- Formidable Forms – Member Profiles and Searchable Directory. Custom code was developed to integrate it with the member plug-in.
- Simple:Forums – a forum plugin with email notifications and more.
- Beaver Builder and Ultimate Add-Ons for Beaver Builder for developing complex pages such as the home page and this product page.
- Ultimate Add-ons for Gutenberg (free) – An add-on to the WordPress built-in editor which is used for posts and member library articles.
- Central Color Palette (free) – Allows editors to quickly access the branding colors without searching to the hexcode.
NOTE: It is important to remember this site was developed in 2012. Different plug-ins and external services would probably have been chosen if it was developed today.

Need Help with your Website?
Ricki Steigerwald of Just2Technical can help you develop or update your website. Ricki has over ten years of experience in WordPress. She offers a free 1/2 hour consultation.