Gezinsbond: Drupal content hub

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When complexity meets organization: 1.000 websites for Gezinsbond

Challenge

One main national website, hundreds of regional websites with different CMSs managed by local volunteers, and a lack of coordination to push content from headquarters.

Solution

The organization and project follow-up with a big amount of stakeholders. Using online surveys and roundtable discussions to create sufficient support and get all stakeholders on board.

Result

A Contenta headless CMS to manage all content in a central location, independent of website design and layout. Through secure APIs and SOAP connections, content can be retrieved from internal databases. And the main and local websites are managed as just two different sites through Dropsolid Experience Cloud.

Under the bonnet

The Contenta headless CMS

The API-first Contenta CMS - a free Drupal content distribution - is used to manage all content from a single location, decoupled from website design and layout. This enables Gezinsbond to quickly add new sites or other channels to consume the content. It also makes it possible to maintain all website content with a very small team, and it decreases the risk for website issues when non-technical people do content editing.

Content from API's and SOAP connections

Content from internal databases (such as members, advantages and activities) is securely retrieved through API and SOAP connections. Data exchanges are greatly simplified through the Dropsolid Platform.

Taxonomy mapping

The main website and all local websites are treated only as two different sites in Dropsolid Experience Cloud. Local websites are automatically filled with content based on a taxonomy mapping of domain names. This is a huge timesaver for platform updates or deployment of security patches.

The ins and outs of a digital transformation

As always, digital transformation does not only revolve around technology. We decided to set in motion a strategic track, which engaged a wide set of stakeholders - including local web and content managers. Buy-in from all teams is crucial for the long-term success of digital projects. Our Dropsolid digital strategists inspire, train, and engage different stakeholders, resulting in a well-defined solution, that is supported by the entire organization.

The result?

The outcome? Gezinsbond now has full ownership of their entire multisite environment. They no longer depend on any SaaS provider or dedicated agency for support. The Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is kept low as a result of the choice for open source Drupal technology, allowing for a full payback of the initial investment outlay over five years.

The platform answers all the needs for a large organization:

Local teams have the freedom over their content management for every subsite,
Centralized security updates are automatically deployed on all local sites,
Corporate brand and content updates (e.g. press releases) are centrally published and pushed to all websites without any involvement of local teams,
New sites can easily be deployed by the central team,
Gezinsbond has the freedom to focus on further brand unification and professionalization of its core business.

Currently, more than 350 websites are already live on the new platform.

Visit the website

About Gezinsbond

The Flemish Family Association, locally known as Gezinsbond, strives to make all of society in Flanders a family- and child-friendly place. Its services include family support (e.g. babysitting), the organization of family-friendly activities, and discount programs for shopping, energy bills and public transport. The association has over 900 local subsidiaries, mostly run by volunteers.

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