Drupal to WordPress Migration Case Study: Playworks.org
WDG’s work with Playworks.org was featured in a third-party client interview conducted by Clutch. The interview highlights how the Playworks team partnered with WDG to migrate from Drupal to WordPress and redesign their digital platform to support a growing national nonprofit organization.
Playworks is a children’s health nonprofit focused on improving physical activity and play in schools across the country. As their organization expanded, their website needed to support more campaigns, more content, and a growing network of affiliates.
The following summary highlights the challenges they faced, how WDG approached the project, and the results that followed the Drupal to WordPress migration.
Related: Case Study: Playworks
Challenge & Opportunity
Before partnering with WDG, Playworks was running its primary website on a Drupal CMS that had become difficult to manage and maintain. As the organization continued to grow, the platform struggled to support evolving marketing and content needs.
According to the Playworks team, the core issue was that the existing system had become both outdated and overly complex for their internal workflows.
“The main challenge for Playworks was the outdated Drupal CMS, which was clunky and misconfigured. The Playworks team and business had outgrown Drupal and needed a more flexible content management system with a modular design system built in.”
WDG began the engagement with a comprehensive discovery process designed to evaluate the organization’s digital ecosystem and identify the right long-term solution. As part of this discovery process, WDG conducted both a content and technology audit to better understand how Playworks’ digital properties were structured.
“During the technical discovery, WDG traveled on-site and completed a major technical discovery session and recommended a Drupal to WordPress migration, including a complete redesign.
As part of the discovery process, team leads from strategy and technology teams completed a content audit and technology audit. WDG reviewed the primary website, campaign websites, and affiliate websites — all running on different platforms.”
This research helped inform the strategic direction of the project and guided the next steps of the engagement.
“Their team gathered requirements and conducted a final analysis. They then entered the design phase and assisted in choosing technologies.”
How WDG’s Digital Team Was Assembled
The Playworks team worked with a cross-disciplinary group at WDG that included leaders from strategy, technology, creative, and user experience. A dedicated project manager coordinated communication and ensured the project remained on schedule.
Reflecting on the collaboration, the Playworks team described the structure and organization of the WDG team. Senior team members helped establish the initial direction for the project while also supporting the development process as the work progressed. Project communication was managed through regular check-ins and structured reporting.
“We interacted with a team of five experienced people consisting of lead members from their strategy team, technical team, creative team, UX team, and a dedicated project manager.
The team leads provided the initial creative and technical vision and were part of the final development along with their production team.
Our project manager kept us updated and held weekly status calls to answer any questions and to provide us with updates on milestones, risks, and overall budget burn rate.”
From the client’s perspective, the project benefited from clear communication and a well-organized workflow.
“Project performance-wise, WDG did well. They were well organized, thoughtful, and explained their tasks throughout the project. We knew what to expect — they explained our responsibilities and understood their responsibilities.
WDG is experienced and strategic. Their team first understood our technical skillsets and experience, and they then catered around our level of web savviness and were able to explain concepts in an understandable way for us.”
Like many complex digital projects, there were minor challenges during the process, though the team worked quickly to address them.
“One small issue we had was when both project managers on the client and creative agency side had overlapping time-offs, and project hours could have been better communicated by the interim project manager. However, once identified as a project challenge, WDG assigned more staff and readjusted their project management process.”
How Playworks Discovered WDG
The relationship between Playworks and WDG began through online research while the organization was evaluating potential CMS options. They initially hired WDG to conduct a technical assessment of their Drupal environment and recommend a path forward.
“I found WDG while researching articles about WordPress versus Drupal. They had glowing references, an excellent portfolio, and we enjoyed our introductory call with them.
We initially hired them to assess our Drupal website and to propose a new content management system or solution.”
Following the evaluation, WDG delivered detailed recommendations that helped Playworks make a confident decision about its future platform. During the implementation phase, WDG handled both the migration process and the new site architecture.
“They provided great service and well-documented recommendations, and we decided to continue working with them on the creative redesign and implementation.
They also wrote content migration scripts and implemented a WordPress multisite, allowing us to run our primary playworks.org and independent but brand-consistent microsites underneath our primary WordPress website while still giving our affiliates control over their microsite.”
This multisite approach allowed Playworks to maintain consistent branding while empowering regional affiliates to manage their own localized content.
Results After Launch
The redesigned website launched in 2018 and provided Playworks with a more flexible platform for marketing, campaigns, and digital outreach. Since the launch, the organization has continued working with WDG for WordPress maintenance and ongoing support.
According to the Playworks team, the new platform contributed to a significant increase in website traffic. In the first year following launch, the organization saw a dramatic jump in page views.
“We launched our website in 2018 and have stayed with them for WordPress maintenance, support, and professional services since.
Since 2018, we have seen a tremendous increase in the number of unique page views. The first year, the number of unique page views increased from 1.85 million to 14.5 million.”
While the website itself was only one part of their broader marketing efforts, the new platform made it easier to support campaigns and build targeted landing pages.
“Although the website alone was not fully responsible for that increase, it was a large contributor as we felt better with investing in media buying and having the ability to build custom landing pages and messaging that could support our marketing campaigns.”
Partner with WDG for Complex Website Migrations
Migrating from Drupal to WordPress is more than a technical project — it’s an opportunity to modernize your digital platform, streamline content management, and create a website that better supports your organization’s goals. As the Playworks project demonstrates, the right strategy and implementation approach can transform an outdated system into a flexible platform that supports growth, marketing initiatives, and evolving user needs.
WDG works with organizations to evaluate their existing platforms, plan successful CMS migrations, and design scalable digital experiences. From technical discovery and content audits to redesign, development, and long-term support, our team helps ensure every phase of the migration process is handled thoughtfully and strategically.
If your organization is considering a Drupal to WordPress migration — or evaluating the future of your current CMS — contact WDG to start a conversation about how we can help modernize and optimize your digital platform.
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