wordpress as a service

WordPress as a ServiceA centralized approach to managing WordPress

at Boston University

#WPaaS

Andrew Bauer

Inder Singh

#WPaaS

@awbauer9

@inderpreet99

WP at Boston University• Large scale multi-site, multi-network install

• Highest-traffic web properties all on WP

• 8-10M pageviews per month across 6,369 sites

• Deeply integrated with campus services (SSO, Profiles, Content Restriction, Calendar)

• Managed through Central IT (“IS&T”)

#WPaaS

3 Key Componentsof a great enterprise WordPress installation

#WPaaS

Organization

PeopleTech

#WPaaS

WordPress

#WPaaS

What is Software as a Service?

1

Application

2

HostedCentrally

3

Managed

4

Turn-key

#WPaaS

WP 💙 SaaS• It’s built for it! (Multisite)

• Total control over the environment

• One centralized place to support

#WPaaS

WP & Higher Ed• It’s a service model we know & understand

• Central IT is not the enemy

• Siloed integrations can be tricky

• Improved clarity of support roles

#WPaaS

Our WP PlatformFrom an organizational perspective

#WPaaS

#WPaaS

Set clear expectations

#WPaaS

1 2 3 4

Transparency of capabilities

#WPaaS

✅ Akismet✅ BU Access Control✅ BU Alert✅ BU Course Feeds✅ BU Custom CSS Editor✅ BU Front-end Library✅ BU Includes✅ BU Mobile✅ BU Navigation✅ BU Profiles✅ BU Sharing✅ BU Section Editing

✅ BU Slideshow✅ BU Text Widget✅ BU Training Manager✅ BU Versions✅ Content Banner✅ Enable Media Replace✅ Gravity Forms✅ Link Lists✅ Post Details✅ Random Image✅ Safe Redirect Manager✅ WP LaTeX

#WPaaS

Clearly delineate roles

#WPaaS

1 2 3 4

Provide stellar training

#WPaaS

1 2 3 4

#WPaaS

Deliver top-quality service

#WPaaS

1 2 3 4

Single Codebase. Consistent Voice.

#WPaaS

Themes

Design

Photography

Editorial

Platform

Plugins

Mobile

APIs

MarCom IS&T

Development• How do we maintain this SaaS model?

• What tools do we use?

#WPaaS

Dedicated Environments

#WPaaS

PROD/STAGING

TEST

DEVL

SYST

PROD• A multi-network multi-domain environment

• Single version of code

• Lots of mu-plugins that run on all sites

• Common plugins activated per site

#WPaaS

PRODTHEMES

• Two large framework themes• Responsive Framework• Flexi Framework

• Custom/child themes• A distinct look for our high-traffic sites

TEST• Integration testing

• Test new functionality• Matches PROD

• Clone site tool• Easier duplication of PROD sites

#WPaaS

DEVL• Developers work area• Separate networks and code for each developer• Single network for all designers• Clone site tool

#WPaaS

SYST• Testing of system-level packages for the Sys Engineers

• Allows Sys Engineers to work independently

#WPaaS

Tools

⚒#WPaaS

WP-Deploy• Build and Deployment tool with a web UI• Every deploy gets logged!• Configurations stored in Github repo, easily rebuild/deploy

• Allows developers to manage WP packages (plugins, themes, core)

• Integrates with Github to list branches/tags

#WPaaS

WP-Deploy

Git• Gitflow process to manage features, hotfixes, releases to plugins

• Github Pull requests to peer-review changes

#WPaaS

Automation• TravisCI unit tests

• Used to take us over 3-4 months to upgrade• Aiming to do upgrades within 2 months

• New Relic alerts• Monitor overall performance based on WP response times

• Monitor pages and APIs using Synthetics

#WPaaS

Slack• Communication!

• Glue that brings developers, designers, sys admins, IT team together

• Different locations• Working remotely

• Channels for each large project• Maintenance channels

• New Relic alerts• Discuss broad changes or outages

#WPaaS

AWS• Testing our open source plugins in vanilla WP installs

• Testing plugins with newer versions of WP

#WPaaS

WordPress as a Service• A centralized SaaS deployment is a sustainable, scalable model for WP for higher ed

• Cross-departmental collaboration + careful planning

• Automate, automate, automate

• Our clients choose WordPress!

#WPaaS

ORGANIZATION

OPERATIONS

Andrew Bauer

Inder Singh

#WPaaS

@awbauer9

@inderpreet99

We’re hiring, contact us.

wordpress as a service

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