The Grierson Trust modernizes its operations with Flotiq Headless CMS
At the crossroads of documentary filmmaking and philanthropy stands The Grierson Trust, a non-profit organization committed to promoting and celebrating the art of non-fiction storytelling. Central to their mission is an emphasis on training and recognizing new and established talent within the industry, which they do through an annual awards competition, and various training programmes. As a nexus of information for new filmmakers, industry professionals, and the public, their online presence plays a significant role in their mission. This article explores how The Grierson Trust embarked on a journey to modernize their website with Flotiq Headless CMS and the transformative impact of this transition.
The Challenge
The Grierson Trust was previously operating with an outdated CMS.
This legacy system presented numerous limitations and challenges, which increasingly hindered The Grierson Trust's ability to manage content effectively and evolve digitally.- The CMS was inflexible, making it difficult for them to keep up with modern trends and respond to the evolving needs of their online community. It was evident that a more flexible, scalable, and user-friendly solution was necessary.
- Despite the range of contemporary CMS platforms available, finding one that would suit the unique needs of a non-profit organization like The Grierson Trust was not a straightforward task. They required a CMS that could handle a significant amount of content, offer greater control over content management, integrate seamlessly with modern web technologies, and offer a user-friendly interface for non-technical staff members.
The Solution
After evaluating several CMS platforms, The Grierson Trust identified Flotiq as the most suitable solution.
- Flotiq's headless CMS stood out due to its flexibility, which allows for customization in content management, and its ability to streamline workflows without unnecessary complexity.
- Stanislav Cmakal and Chris Wallis from the Grierson's dev team appreciated Flotiq's simple, intuitive interface. They found that other CMSs, like Contentful, were "too much", overwhelming them with features they didn't need.
- Flotiq's team provided excellent support. It was effortless to reach out to the team whenever the Grierson's team needed assistance. The support team was always responsive and ready to help.
- On the other hand, Flotiq offered a balance of simplicity and functionality, not to mention, it greatly reduced the development’s time.
“If we were to build this in the traditional system (without Flotiq), it would take 6 months instead of 8 weeks. I rate it 9 on a scale of 1-10. It works well and is easy to use. My favorite part is the flexibility - an object can be updated in 1 place and is immediately present everywhere” Meanwhile, Hannah Brown, The Grierson Trust's Marketing and Communications Manager, valued Flotiq's flexibility, which she believed would enable the team to adjust and expand their online content according to their evolving needs.
The Implementation
Transitioning from their legacy ModX CMS to Flotiq was a significant shift for The Grierson Trust. The process required thorough planning and coordination among the team. Despite the expected learning curve, the Grierson's developers found Flotiq easy to navigate, and they praised the intuitive nature of the platform.
The Grierson Trusts’s team leveraged Flotiq's content forms extensively for creating content blocks, which were integral to their content management strategy. With the help of Flotiq, they were able to effectively streamline the content creation process and empower their Content Managers to independently and professionally manage the website. For the frontend part - the team used Gatsby as a static site generator, which, combined with Flotiq’s Gatsby extensions, allowed them to streamline the process of making updates to the live website. They were able to quickly set up a preview environment and push out builds to the live website in a controlled fashion.
The User Experience
The experience of using Flotiq was positive across the board. Hannah found the system very easy to use, giving it a high score of 9 out of 10. She was particularly impressed with the platform's flexibility, which allowed her to update an object in one place and see it reflected throughout the site instantly. For the dev team, Flotiq earned a 10 out of 10 for small projects and an 8 out of 10 for larger ones.
The Outcome
The decision to switch to Flotiq proved to be a game-changer for The Grierson Trust. They reported significant time savings and a smoother, more efficient workflow. Furthermore, they were able to modernize their website to meet the changing trends in the digital world. The Gatsby integration was particularly impactful.
- It facilitated real-time updates.
- Resolved several issues related to hosting, continuous integration, content updates, and content management.
- Reduced the workload on developers, allowing them to focus more on improving the website's functionality and user experience.
The Conclusion
In terms of tangible benefits, The Grierson Trust stated that Flotiq had helped them save "days or weeks." They reported that if they were to rebuild the system using traditional methods (like PHP and React), it would have taken them around six months. However, with Flotiq, they managed to compress this timeline into just two months. This efficiency speaks volumes about the transformative potential of a robust CMS like Flotiq, especially for organizations operating under time and budget constraints. Do you have a web project with a tight timeline, or maybe you’re looking for a more modern, intuitive tool to meet the needs of all content workers at your team?
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