Challenge
Built on an antiquated system, the existing sites were disjointed and disorganized, creating a poor user experience for more than 8,000 members of the press. Content updates across the sites were complicated, and a challenge for ABC’s team.
Solution
Crowd Favorite built a custom WordPress solution integrating complex third-party systems. We created a single administrative interface to support multiple sites and simplify content management for ABC staff, allowing them to publish and edit content from one place across all seven sites.
Comprised of all of The Walt Disney Company’s Disney and ABC-branded media networks, Disney | ABC Television Group (DATG) manages hundreds of stations—from news and entertainment to family and children’s programming—throughout the U.S. and the world. ABC sought our expertise in building DisneyABCPress.com, a site to promote several of their global media networks, which would require significant, complex integration.
At that time, DATG had six existing network sites, plus a corporate site, all built on an antiquated, proprietary system. As a result, the sites were disjointed and disorganized—a real problem for the more than 8,000 members of the press who looked to these sites for fresh program-related content. Content management had also become a challenge for ABC staff, who were juggling multiple, complex processes to update content across all of the sites. DisneyABCPress.com was the desired solution.
To create DisneyABCPress.com, Crowd Favorite built a custom WordPress solution to consolidate all seven sites into a single platform. In creating one administrative interface to support multiple sites, we simplified content management significantly for ABC staff, making it possible for the team to publish and edit content on any of the sites from one place. We also developed a bulk editing function allowing them to upload, view, and replace hundreds of images at one time.
Custom templates were developed to accommodate the individual branding for each site, while also maintaining a sense continuity across DisneyABCPress.com. By implementing a common site structure, we achieved a cohesive look and feel, and created a better experience for the end-user. We also simplified the navigation structure to make key pages accessible in as few clicks as possible.
We built DisneyABCPress.com to accommodate granular levels of content access. After registering, members of the press can request access to specific types of content from any of the networks, which may be granted based on their credentials. Print journalists, for example, have access to higher resolution images than digital journalists. Some journalists have permission to download videos, others to watch “screeners” (whole episode previews). The site supports flexible permissions and has strict security measures in place to protect these assets.
For example, working with a third party video provider, we built a custom API to configure the video player based on the user’s permissions. Users permitted to view episode screeners are tagged as they watch, as is the date and time, to ensure the security of this exclusive content. Public videos, on the other hand, are able to be shared on social media or via email.
For an even better user experience, we created a cart for storing images and video links from any of the network sites. Items in the cart can be accessed every time the user logs in and downloaded all at once. Additionally, we implemented a “daily bundle” of the latest press releases, also available for download in just one click.
