{"id":196,"date":"2021-08-24T07:56:35","date_gmt":"2021-08-24T07:56:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/architecturehub.liquid-themes.com\/elementor\/?p=196"},"modified":"2025-05-01T21:49:58","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T21:49:58","slug":"the-myrgv-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/italoriverso.com\/?p=196","title":{"rendered":"The Myrgv Project"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Project Overview<\/h4>\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Client:<\/strong> myRGV.com<\/a>
Role:<\/strong> UX Designer, Web Architect, Migration Specialist
Tools:<\/strong> Figma, Pencil & Paper, WordPress, BLOC CMS (legacy), SSH, cPanel, MySQL, PHP
Timeline:<\/strong> 3 months
Scope:<\/strong> Full-stack redesign and data migration of a 20-year-old regional news portal<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Background<\/h4>\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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myRGV.com had served as a critical news platform in South Texas for over two decades. Its aging infrastructure was spread across legacy systems including a custom BLOC CMS, outdated PHP code, and multiple subdomains. The goal was to modernize the experience<\/strong>, consolidate content<\/strong>, and migrate it to a more maintainable WordPress environment<\/strong>, all while preserving historical data and improving UX.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Cesare Italo Riverso<\/h6>\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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My Role <\/h4>\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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I led the UX and technical redevelopment<\/strong> process, which included:<\/p>

  • Purchasing and setting up a new server environment<\/p><\/li>

  • Migrating content from BLOC CMS (over 20 years of data)<\/p><\/li>

  • Designing new UX flows and wireframes from pencil sketches to Figma<\/p><\/li>

  • Fusing multiple subsites and domains into one unified WordPress site<\/p><\/li>

  • Creating a scalable information architecture for ongoing news publishing<\/p><\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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    Challanges <\/h4>\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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    • Legacy content from multiple databases and formats<\/p><\/li>

    • Zero design system or UI consistency across sub-sites<\/p><\/li>

    • Server performance and uptime issues<\/p><\/li>

    • Manual extraction and clean-up of HTML and media files<\/p><\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t

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      \n\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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      Process\n<\/h4>\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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      • 1. Infrastructure & Setup<\/strong><\/h3>

        • Purchased a new server with scalable hosting (VPS with WHM\/cPanel)<\/p><\/li>

        • Installed WordPress and configured security protocols (SSL, firewalls)<\/p><\/li>

        • Backed up old sites and created staging environments<\/p><\/li><\/ul>

          2. Content Migration<\/strong><\/h3>

          • Wrote custom PHP scripts to parse and migrate BLOC CMS data<\/p><\/li>

          • Handled broken links, old media, and article formatting<\/p><\/li>

          • Cleaned up metadata, author info, and timestamps<\/p><\/li>

          • Imported everything into WordPress using WP All Import and manual MySQL scripts<\/p><\/li><\/ul>

            3. UX Research<\/strong><\/h3>

            • Conducted stakeholder interviews to understand pain points<\/p><\/li>

            • Reviewed analytics (bounce rates, hot maps) to inform redesign<\/p><\/li>

            • Analyzed competitors and modern news sites for UX benchmarks<\/p><\/li><\/ul>

              4. Sketches & Wireframes<\/strong><\/h3>

              • Started with paper sketches to ideate layouts and IA<\/p><\/li>

              • Translated sketches into mid-fidelity wireframes in Figma<\/p><\/li>

              • Prioritized readability, accessibility, and mobile-first design<\/p><\/li><\/ul>

                Want me to generate sketches or wireframes based on your concepts? I can do that.<\/em><\/p>

                5. Visual Design & Prototyping<\/strong><\/h3>

                • Developed a modular design system in Figma (colors, buttons, cards)<\/p><\/li>

                • Created interactive prototypes for mobile and desktop<\/p><\/li>

                • Iterated with stakeholders for feedback and approval<\/p><\/li><\/ul>

                  6. Build & Test<\/strong><\/h3>

                  • Customized WordPress theme using Elementor + custom code<\/p><\/li>

                  • Integrated search, categorization, and local news filters<\/p><\/li>

                  • Optimized for speed, SEO, and accessibility (WCAG AA)<\/p><\/li>

                  • Performed browser, mobile, and user acceptance testing<\/p><\/li><\/ul>

                    Results<\/strong><\/h2>

                    • Consolidated 20+ years of content under one modern platform<\/p><\/li>

                    • Increased mobile performance score from 38 to 91 (Google Lighthouse)<\/p><\/li>

                    • Reduced bounce rate by 25% in the first 3 months<\/p><\/li>

                    • Enabled non-tech editors to publish content easily in WordPress<\/p><\/li>

                    • Created a scalable design system and clear brand identity<\/p><\/li><\/ul>

                      Key Learnings<\/strong><\/h2>

                      • Legacy content needs empathy and strategy \u2014 not just automation<\/p><\/li>

                      • Design is not only about UI but about making systems usable long-term<\/p><\/li>

                      • Migrating old CMS data is part archaeology, part engineering<\/p><\/li>

                      • User feedback at every step shaped a more inclusive design<\/p><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                        Project Overview Client: myRGV.comRole: UX Designer, Web Architect, Migration SpecialistTools: Figma, Pencil & Paper, WordPress, BLOC CMS (legacy), SSH, cPanel, MySQL, PHPTimeline: 3 monthsScope: Full-stack redesign and data migration of a 20-year-old regional news portal Background myRGV.com had served as a critical news platform in South Texas for over two decades. Its aging infrastructure was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[26,27],"class_list":["post-196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business","tag-web-design","tag-wordpress"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/italoriverso.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/italoriverso.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/italoriverso.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/italoriverso.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/italoriverso.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=196"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/italoriverso.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6862,"href":"https:\/\/italoriverso.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196\/revisions\/6862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/italoriverso.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/italoriverso.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/italoriverso.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}