Adfiz
5,000 pages to a new platform, without re-entering a single one
Adfiz is the industry association for independent financial advisers. Their website has evolved into a knowledge platform with thousands of pages of files, news, and events, and plays a central role in communication with members. However, the platform was still running on Umbraco 7, a version that was technically at the end of its life, and the existing supplier could no longer provide the level of service that the organisation now required. The question was not whether something had to be done, but whether it could be done without starting completely from scratch.
- Ten Umbraco versions ahead, including the leap to .NET Core.
- Thousands of pages automatedly moved, nothing retyped.
- Events from Efficy directly on the site, registrations automatically returned.
- Newsletters that are filled with content from the CMS
- Member content can be concealed per page and per block.
Rebuilding was the obvious route. And the most expensive.
With a site of this size, rebuilding is not just a technical decision. Rearranging thousands of pages involves rethinking the structure, making new choices about navigation, and getting everyone in the organisation who has an opinion on the matter around the table. This takes months, even before a single line of code is written.
Adfiz wanted to know if it could be done differently. Whether the existing content, the established structure, and the years of editorial investment could be carried over to a contemporary platform, rather than starting from scratch because the technology was outdated.
We first investigated this. What is in the codebase, what connections are attached, which elements are transferable and which are not. Only then was there a plan, a timeline, and a budget.
The challenge was not in the quantity, but in the difference
Umbraco 7 and Umbraco 17 are technically two different worlds. There is a transition to .NET Core in between, and many pages at Adfiz used components that no longer exist in the new version, such as the Grid editor and macros. Manually transferring those would amount to rebuilding thousands of pages, with all the associated risks of errors and loss.
We therefore automated the migration. The existing content structure was translated into the new content models: grid elements became Block Grid, and macros became Block Elements. The content managers did not lose any functionality, and no one had to retype a page. Where it makes sense, a page can still be restructured into a new template later, but that is now a choice rather than a requirement.
This automated approach saved approximately a quarter in costs. The entire operation, from initial analysis to go-live, took twelve weeks.
At the same time, the surrounding systems are connected
A transition is the natural moment to arrange what was not possible in the old version. Events from the Efficy CRM can now be selected and displayed directly on the website. Forms and workflows are integrated with the CRM, allowing registrations to be processed automatically rather than manually. The news service is connected to Apsis, enabling daily and weekly mailings to be populated with content from the CMS.
Furthermore, member content can now be restricted on a per-page basis, and even per content block. This makes it possible to distinguish within a single page between what is public and what is intended solely for members, without the need to maintain separate pages.
What has happened since the transition
In the old version, every change was a project. A quote had to be produced, a timeline established, and a testing phase undertaken, so everything was left until the point when the entire site would need replacing. This created a wish list that lasted for years.
Since the migration, the process has reversed. We continuously implement small improvements, in consultation with the content managers who work with it daily. There is also room for things that were unthinkable in the old version: AI applications have now been integrated into the website, something that was not even up for discussion on Umbraco 7.
That is the real difference between an outdated and a current platform. It’s not that it looks better, but that an improvement has become an adjustment rather than a project. And because the environment is kept up to date automatically via Umbraco Cloud, the next version jump is a planned step instead of a new problem.
The website feels technically ready for the future again
Results
5,000
Content pages migrated, none re-entered
12 weeks
From initial analysis to go-live
7 to 17
Bridging ten Umbraco versions, including the transition to .NET Core
25%
Lower costs thanks to automated content migration
Switching Service
Are you on a version that no one dares to use anymore?
Start with a Platform Scan. Within five working days, you’ll know what can be done with your current environment, what can be retained, and what a transition might roughly cost. Even if the outcome is that switching is not a good idea in your case, you will hear that too.
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