FSE Theme and Platform Migrations for Redesign Launches

Overview

Role
Frontend Developer
Company
TechnologyAdvice
Tech Stack
WordPress, PHP, HTML, CSS, Gutenberg (FSE), ACF, Docker, AWS, Argo CD

Led front-end development and platform migration efforts for several WordPress site redesigns. This work included building custom Full Site Editing (FSE) themes and migrating sites from third-party hosts (like WP Engine) to a containerized AWS platform—resulting in faster, more flexible deployments and reduced technical debt across the organization.

Key Features

  • Custom FSE Theme Development: Built full-site editing themes using block-based templates, template parts, global styles, and theme JSON—aligned with new branding systems.
  • Infrastructure Migration: Assisted in migrating sites from external hosts to an internal AWS platform using Docker containers and Argo CD for automated deployments.
  • Editor-Centered Design: Improved the WordPress editing experience through reusable layout blocks, ACF field groups, and consistent design components.

Challenges & Solutions

  • Legacy to Modern Codebase: Refactored legacy themes using PHP templates, widgets, and custom shortcodes into scalable block-based themes while preserving editor workflows.
  • Infrastructure Coordination: Worked closely with DevOps to test and deploy migrated sites into a containerized AWS environment without downtime or content loss.

Impact

  • Future-Ready Architecture: Rebuilt sites with modern FSE architecture and deployed to an internal cloud-native platform, reducing reliance on third-party services and plugin bloat.
  • Improved Site Performance & Stability: Containerized hosting and optimized themes resulted in faster load times, fewer outages, and easier rollbacks and QA environments.
  • Faster Time to Launch: Streamlined delivery of site redesigns through automated deployment workflows and component-driven front-end architecture.

Sample Screenshots

  • solutions.technologyadvice.com after
  • solutions.technologyadvice.com before
  • techrepublic.com latest before
  • techrepublic.com topic top products before
  • www.techrepublic.com latest after
  • www.techrepublic.com topic top products after

This project reflects work I contributed to while employed at TechnologyAdvice. Screenshots shown are of publicly available content and are shared solely for demonstration purposes.