SO LONDON CMS and Website Design Case Study

About SO LONDON CMS and Website Design

SO LONDON's directors include highly respected members of the media world such as Mike Ironside, a member of the Advertising Standards Authority since 2001. Mike Ironside has 30 years' experience in marketing, advertising and the media including senior management responsibilities at the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday and a London-based advertising and marketing consultancy.

The magazine's editor is Christena Appleyard, a distinguished journalist who is well-known for the original conception of 'Weekend', the Mail's outstanding Saturday TV and Features magazine. Ms Appleyard edited 'Weekend' for some time before leaving for a period at The Times after which she returned to the Mail for a relaunch of Night and Day. Christena Appleyard is also a renowned and well-travelled travel writer.

The magazine, and of course its website, targets an international readership that includes some of the wealthiest people in the UK, Europe, the USA and the Middle East. Published fortnightly, the magazine and website feature articles on contemporary issues such as:

Property Art, Books and Music Food and Wine Travel Luxury items Philanthropy Personal opinion Featured advertisers include: Porsche Lexus Armani

The SO LONDON website produces a complete version of the print-based publication online, renewing content on a weekly basis through its high-specification content management system (CMS).

SO LONDON Publishing Website design brief

WebsynergiDesign have created an innovative, versatile and highly functional Content Management System and website for SO LONDON Publishing. The website and bespoke content management software are designed to the highest .Net 2 framework and CSS programming standards which allow for online management of the magazine including:

• magazine issue management
• articles and article ranking
• image management
• image auto optimisation and resizing
• complex banner advert management

Software technical specification requirements analysis

After award of the development of the CMS (Content Management System) software we carried out a full appraisal of SO LONDON's software requirement by analysis of their practical systems, the process of how the printed magazine would operate, advised on opportunites that could be exploited on the website and whatever would make the CMS as close to their way of working to ensure it was as straightforward to use as possible.

We produced a technical specification document that outlined the development process and specified all of the functionality that would be required in detail to ensure it met SO LONDON's needs. This formed the basis of software development and has led to the success of the software.

We drove this process to take as much burden off the SO LONDON team as possible.

Other website services provided include:

• web based classified advertisements with functionality in the Content Management System (CMS) to enable scheduling of ads by the web administrator
• highly user-centric website in terms of ease of use
• clear and Logical website navigation system
• multi-criteria property search system
• property tracking
• complex SQL database
• web-based subscription page
• e-subscription and ecommerce facility with WorldPay
• visitor registration system
• automated events listing
• Content Management System (CMS)
• website hosting and statistical reporting

The criteria set by the SO LONDON management team have been integrated into a site designed to high standards of technical efficiency and attractiveness. The website design reflects the sophistication and aspirations of SO LONDON as a catalyst for affluent society, promoting it as a dynamic property search and selection site and informed knowledge repository. The development of an effective content management system (CMS) was key to this project.

The SO LONDON/WebsynergiDesign partnership

The business qualifications and experience of the WebsynergiDesign team inspired the confidence of the SO LONDON management team to leave the development of the website largely to them, enabling the management team to concentrate on the print version.

The launch of the magazine and website were tied to a tight deadline and necessitated WebsynergiDesign meeting rigorous targets to allow the joint launch to take place smoothly and successfully.

Find out more below about Content Management Systems (CMS) bespoke software development

• See our clients who benefit from our CMS, content management software
• Bespoke content management system (CMS) software development
• General information on our CMS software

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