Nostalgia is perhaps the best word that can be used to describe Amazing Stories, a magazine originally published in 1926 that takes pride in science fiction. Eighty-eight years later and the new owners still remain relevant in the modern era but with an online presence (amazingstories.com) so frail it could have ultimately decided its fate, luckily Woodall Design stepped in. Amazing Stories needed more than tinkering, it was desperately crying out for a revamp. Woodall Design changed its entire structure and is more than elated to unveil the revitalized masterpiece to the online community.
The Old Site
The website had been built on a stock blogger design and utilized a dual column presence with a right handed sidebar and a header/footer region. The entire design was enshrouded in plain white, devoid of styling or CSS touch, it was simply there without any indication of the quality it should have.
The New Site
The team at Woodall Design made critical changes whilst retaining the website’s basic functional layout. It changed the content management system to WordPress which allows for easier maintenance and upgrades. Additionally, the integration of Buddypress and Woocommerce along with a responsive design had transformed the website into a modern relevancy. A new header section with a top banner was created for advertisements and important announces. Ad space widgets, a fully responsive background and blog posts with summary snapshots are among the number of modifications made to the website.
Here’s a deeper look into what was accomplished:
- New Logo and Branding – We created a new logo that invoked the style of the classic Amazing Stories logo but in a modern and fresh manner. We also created a palette and branding for them to use.
- Responsive Design – The WordPress theme we designed for Amazing Stories is completely responsive and has the ability to adjust to any screen size without loss of integrity. Works on all tablets, smart phones, and browsers!
- Custom Author Sections – All authors have been assigned their own author bio section and site moderators need not make one from scratch every time a new post goes on air. Author details are stored in the website’s database and directly populated on respective pages.
- Editorial Calendar – The editorial calendar will schedule future posts, anticipated dates and previous events with indentations, snippets and more.
- Members Forum – A key component missing from Amazing Stories was a forum for members to discuss new and inspiring ideas or the latest posts. The Members forum is now directly integrated into the website with all new members getting immediate access to the forum.
- Secure Customer Login – In order to help customers do more on the website we felt that it was necessary to add a secure customer login interface. Encrypted and protected with latest protocols, the login page is now 100 percent safe and secure.
At Woodall Design we initially viewed amazingstories.com as a company with a tremendous history whose online presence was below its standard. Our new theme, has corrected that problem with an improved layout, integrations and modern touch that matches the philosophy of the magazine and in the process has the ability to increase the membership base.
Amazing Stories has continued their relationship with Woodall Design and we maintain their site and add new features on a regular basis.