The nonprofit Partnership for Drug-Free Kids helps families prevent teen substance use and supports those affected by addiction. Through drugfree.org it gives the public information, resources and support for keeping children drug free and healthy.
The challenge
The Partnership ran multiple web properties across several different platforms: one Drupal site, two ExpressionEngine sites, two WordPress sites and a custom ASP.NET application. Every platform had its own updates, its own security issues and its own learning curve for staff. It needed one system, with every piece of content preserved, and a place where families could support each other.
The solution
- A custom script that consolidated every property into one WordPress platform with no data loss.
- Peer support forums and topic groups built on bbPress and BuddyPress, with a live feed of the latest activity.
- A member activity stream for sharing stories and advice.
- Event pages with online ticketing, galleries, speakers and sponsors.
- A drug guide organized by a clear taxonomy that staff maintain themselves.
A community for the hardest conversations
The forums give members a place to find help, get answers and connect with others who may be facing similar challenges, with discussions around intervention, recovery and treatment. A What's Happening Now feature on the forums landing page shows the most recent activity on posts, new members and profile updates. Tying BuddyPress features directly into the bbPress forums keeps the community growing and changing.
On the Member Activity page, members share their stories in a feed of people asking for help, giving advice and connecting with the community, and they can post to the feed and receive feedback.
Events and the drug guide
The Partnership hosts charity events to raise funds and awareness. Working closely with the Partnership team, we built an events section where staff add new events, collect payments online for tickets and registration, and create photo galleries, speaker lists and sponsor pages, all managed inside WordPress.
The drug guide runs on a taxonomy and tagging structure the Partnership team maintains on its own. Visitors find the information they need along with related content, and editors work in a simple interface focused on text, photos and media.
Screenshots
Results
Families find help and each other in one place, and staff run everything from one dashboard.
Stack
- WordPress
- BuddyPress
- bbPress
- Custom migration
Project leadership by Brian Messenlehner, AlphaWeb founder.
