WordPress has come a long way since its origins nearly 20 years ago, but for some it still carries the reputation of being a blogging platform. This year, WP Engine and the Webby Awards are breaking that stereotype once and for all.
Crafted with Code, now in its fourth year, provides a closer look at the people and processes involved in Webbys-nominated projects, and highlights some of the most dynamic websites on the web. 26 percent of the projects were built on WordPress.
No one knows better than WordPressers, the blood, sweat, and tears that goes into a really innovative website. Crafted with Code dives into the processes and technologies that went into the development of each honoree.
Offering a peek behind the curtain of the successes and difficulties that went into these innovative projects gives future developers and designers inspiration to create the next great site. These winners not only show what WordPress can do but sets the standard for what the web can look like.
While the Webbys and Crafted With Code highlight projects built on a wide variety of tech stacks, the following creative, beautiful, groundbreaking sites are all made on WordPress.
StarWars.com
StarWars.com was launched in 1996 but since then the universe has grown substantially. The famed brand needed a place where fans from all generations could find what they were looking for. This needs to be a one stop shop for fans so it contains quizzes, breaking news, episode guides, and even an online encyclopedia. That’s a lot to ask from a single site.
Because of the demands, the team opted to go with a proprietary platform on WordPress that can properly power each unique section.
Arlo Hotels
The Arlo Hotel site, created by CMYK, had a big objective; combine the corporate platform and every hotel property onto one CMS while also improving the customer experience. In short, an entire back end and front end rework.
For the front end, the team decided to feature large, dynamic photos that show off what the properties have to offer. The landing page includes interactive rollovers and parallax scrolling that make the experience aesthetic and functional.
To conquer the back end pain points, the team leveraged a multi-site WordPress implementation. This allowed for each landing page to be accessed in one place but maintain its individuality.
Jimmy Nelson
When considering the redesign of famed English photographer Jimmy Nelson‘s website, agency Lama Lama knew they wanted something engaging, something that hadn’t been done before. The team decided on a non-linear navigation approach to allow the visitor to explore the site, much like Nelson explores the globe.
This remarkable site was built entirely on WordPress with a WooCommerce shop. Lama Lama leveraged three different libraries Three.js, GSAP, HLS.js, Locomotive Scroll, Lottie, Tailwindcss and the DeviceOrientation API to make this innovative website possible.
BlackSpace
The next impressive honoree is a collective of artists, urbanists, and policymakers working to affirm Black presences in public spaces. BlackSpace needed a dynamic website to explain and amplify their mission. Because the BlackSpace team is small, the site needed to be simple to modify and update while also looking incredible.
To accomplish this, WordPress was the obvious choice. Now that the site is up and running, it can be updated with ease, positioning BlackSpace in front of more potential volunteers and donors.
Smashed Online
Smashed Online was created to help teens understand the risks of underage drinking in an engaging and narrative way. Not only that, the team wanted a design that could be customized for different countries and regions. Certainly not an easy task.
The obviously choice was a WordPress Multisite experience, with technologies such as Video.js, Sass, Node.js and NPM. The team had to push the CMS further than they ever had before and the end result exceeded their goals.
Crafted with Code
These are only 5 examples of the powerful WordPress websites highlighted by Crafted with Code. Head over to the website to read about all the projects and get inspired to create the next big thing using WordPress.
This showcase shatters the stereotype that WordPress is a blogging platform. The universe of the web is so much bigger than that and no one knows this better than the people building and creating beautiful websites.
