Custom Animations, Robust Home & Inner Pages For Association
Website Redesign Project & Client Details
- Client: California Manufacturers & Technology Association
- Date: March 2023
- Website: CMTA
- Technologies:
- HTML5
- CSS3
jQuery
Secure Socket Layer (SSL)
WordPress
- Devices:
- Compatible Browsers:
The California Manufacturers & Technology Association (CMTA) is a trade association that supports and enhances a strong business climate for California’s 30,000 manufacturing, processing, and technology-based companies. For more than a century, CMTA has worked with the California state government to develop balanced laws, effective regulations, and sound public policies to stimulate economic growth and create new jobs while safeguarding environmental resources in the state.
In 2022, CMTA sought to create a more visually stunning and service-packed website for the general public and its members and decided to entrust the digital experts at Capitol Tech Solutions.
While the association’s previous website was considered modern by current standards, the group wanted to incorporate leading design elements, a member portal, and completely refresh content throughout the site.
Project Start – Requirements Gathering & Mockups
The CTS User Experience and Web Development teams met with CMTA leaders in December 2022, with Go Live planned for five months later. Association members expressed the urgent need for a new website as the group’s old SSL Certificate would soon expire.
An SSL certificate is a digital certificate that authenticates a website’s identity and enables an encrypted connection. Companies and organizations need to add SSL certificates to their websites to secure online transactions and keep customer information private and secure.
During these initial meetings, in addition to helping CMTA navigate the urgency of rolling out a new website, association stakeholders relayed the importance of site-wide animations, from a gear that turns when users hover their mouse to images that fly into the page as a user scrolls.
With these critical pieces of information, the CTS team began developing mockups that could be designed quickly while possessing the building blocks for animation enhancements later in the process.
Project Phase 1 – New Website
The team operated with the knowledge that there needed to be a new website in place before the association’s old website SSL certificate expired at the end of March 2023. Project coordinators from CTS collaborated with our graphic designers to present quality options for the new CMTA website.
CTS also took the opportunity to receive guidance on what aspects in the mockup the association desired custom animations to convey to the Web Development Team, allowing developers to future-proof webpages designed based on the approved mockups. For example, the cogs on the home page turn as the user scrolls. To facilitate a rapid Go Live, developers initially designed the cogs as static elements with the ability to animate at a later time.
The client provided fresh content for the entire website, opting only to migrate six months’ worth of press releases from the old website. With the prompt delivery of fresh content, mockup approval, and the rapid implementation of each webpage, the CTS team went live with the new website on March 17, ahead of the expiring SSL certificate.
Project Phase 2 – Custom Animations
After the successful Go Live of the new website, the Web Development Team went to work swapping static elements into the desired animations identified by CMTA. Association stakeholders expressed the desire for unique, custom animations on each page of the new website.
The CTS web developers began researching the most effective methods for making CMTA’s vision a reality within the WordPress environment. After researching, presenting options, and receiving approval from the client, the best practice decided on by CTS experts was custom code. The Web Development Team used CSS and JavaScript to deliver each animation request successfully.
In certain instances, CTS developers enhanced existing WordPress plugins, such as displaying icons that link to social media accounts so that they interact more with the user. For CMTA, the icon plugin was enhanced so that it enlarges as a user hovers over an icon—a small but impactful enhancement to the user experience on the association’s website.
Project Phase 3 – MemberPress & Third-Party Integrations
With the website redesign, deployment, and custom animations completed or in an iterative review and refinement process, CTS project coordinators and web developers worked to integrate MemberPress, a membership portal, and Bill Tracker into the website.
MemberPress, a WordPress plugin aiding in managing memberships, allows members of CMTA to view invoices and access important information without needing to reach out to the association’s membership team. The team also added a third-party California Bill Tracker plugin that displays legislation of interest to CMTA’s audience.
Conclusion
With the help of Capitol Tech Solutions’ User Experience and Web Development teams, the California Manufacturers & Technology Association was able to deploy a new website against the pending expiration of the organization’s old domain’s SSL Certification, fully customize the site to make it unique among fellow associations across the state and provide more services to members and non-members within a six-month timeline.
The partnership has allowed the Capitol Tech Solutions team to create new website animation processes for future client websites.
Additionally, the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals recognized the CMTA website with a 2023 Gold dotCOMM Award in its Association category. Judges evaluate all work on its quality, creativity, and resourcefulness.
CMTA continues to be a CTS support and maintenance client, allowing our web developers to update any graphics, such as custom social media feed animations and follower counts, and facilitate future integrations.
