conplan.de

What did the client want?

We were asked by Conplan to implement a new website for them using Joomla, including a visual redesign, an overhaul of navigation and content. As a subsidiary of the msg group, their layout and design should be based on the msg web toolkit developed together with joom.team in 2016.

In addition Conplan requested a product microsite within their website as a platform to present their software product CVP. This microsite would require a separate frontend login area.

Our role in the project

Through discussion with the client, we helped them decide on the best technical and visual approach to present their company and product. The implementation of the website was straightforward, and made use of page builder and form extensions.

For the 'Careers' section of the website we used Joomla custom fields to create structured content items (Joomla articles) with their own dedicated article layouts. This should allow the client to add/edit job vacancies directly without the need for any knowledge of HTML.

Project highlights

A variety of 3D 'flippers'

Conplan requested a variety of layouts for our existing '3D-flipcard' element, which features a front side and a reverse side which is rotated into view on hover.

Joomla custom fields

We constructed custom 'job vacancy' Joomla articles using custom fields, along with list,detail and module view layouts to render this content. 1 This simplifies the task of creating/editing jobs for the client and allows us as developers to cleanly separate the content from layout.

Multiple varied forms

Across the website and the microsite we implemented a total of 15 (!) individual forms, displayed both inline and within pop-up windows, and featuring everything from multi-select fields, individual validation logic and various bits of custom JavaScript.

Dynamic anchor navigation

To help the user navigate longer content pages within the website we developed a module to dynamically generate a side docked navigation on the basis of ID tags which we – or the client – can easily add within the page content.

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Our conclusion

Conplan provided us with all of the necessary input well in advance, which allowed us to work intensely on the project and reach the first significant milestone quickly. Several of the client's requirements evolved and changed during the project, however, which provided us with an additional challenge on a project management level.

The main lesson learned within our team was not to underestimate the time needed to implement, test and fine-tune forms – which is particularly relevant when you have 15 of them to build! We also enjoyed gaining additional experience making use of Joomla Custom Fields.

About the client

Founded in 1981, Conplan has nearly 40 years of experience in the IT industry. In addition to its extensive experience as a consultancy and system house, Conplan stands out for its flexibility and agility due to its size and flat hierarchies.