The Silverstripe edge: How we create winning websites

Are you curious about what transforms a good website into a great one? The answer often lies in the unsung hero of the Content Management System (CMS).

In our previous blog, we explored the different types of CMSs and their unique strengths. Now, we’re honing in on one CMS in particular: Silverstripe. Here we’ll uncover what sets Silverstripe apart, explore its key features and benefits, and share a few of our success stories.

A go-to choice born out of NZ’s capital city

Silverstripe was born in Wellington, New Zealand, when the three founders dreamed up the original concept in a tech incubator in 2000. Fast forward two decades, the three founders remain in the company as Directors and Silverstripe has become a known choice for companies public, private and not-for-profit.

In fact, the CMS became popular through widespread use in New Zealand’s public sector, as more Government websites adopted Silverstripe as a standard. At Voyage we quickly established ourselves as Silverstripe experts, offering insight and development partnership for many Govt projects.

Simply put, the solution is an open-source web CMS that combines an intuitive interface for content editors with a robust and flexible framework for developers. Silverstripe offers excellent versatility for a wide range of web projects. Whether you're building a simple website or a complex, dynamic web application, Silverstripe equips users with the tools to create engaging and high-performing digital experiences.

Supporting both content creators and developers

Silverstripe stands out for its flexibility that allows developers to customise and extend the platform to meet specific project requirements, supporting bespoke solutions tailored to unique business needs.

For content creators, Silverstripe offers a user-friendly interface, making the process of updating and managing content straightforward, without requiring technical expertise.

Security is an ongoing priority, and Silverstripe incorporates specific features to protect against common vulnerabilities and threats. Additionally, Silverstripe boasts an extensive developer community that contributes to its continuous improvement and provides support, making sure users have access to the latest enhancements and best practices.

Why we use Silverstripe

One of the main reasons we use Silverstripe is its flexibility. Whether it's a simple website or a complex web application, Silverstripe’s modular architecture allows us to build customised solutions that fit our clients’ exact needs. The framework is built on PHP, providing a familiar environment for our development team to work effectively.

Silverstripe’s active developer community is another significant advantage. This community not only drives innovation within the platform but also offers extensive support through forums, documentation, and regular updates. Being part of this community helps us keep up with the latest features and best practices, which translates to better service for our clients.

Both news headlines and anecdotes we hear all the time emphasise the same point: security is increasingly paramount. Silverstripe’s built-in security features provide a solid foundation for building secure websites. Regular security audits and updates ensure that the CMS remains resilient against new and emerging threats, while the user authentication and permissions features help to protect against human error.

A look inside our success stories

Love Better

Love Better was another NZ Government project, this time completed in collaboration with Not Another agency and for the Ministry of Social Development’s campaign designed to support healthier love and relationships for our country’s youth.

As the MSD team attested to, encouraging young people to have healthy intimate relationships can have a far-reaching positive impact. It can lead to happier adults and give our up-and-coming generations the best foot forward. The website speaks directly to its target demographic with a robust backend that champions security and privacy, and a user-centric frontend complete with interactive elements.

Defence Careers

The New Zealand Defence Force site rebuild and refresh involved a complex IA, with hundreds of pages of content to be added to the site. We provided full stack development for the CWP SilverStripe build to achieve the end result. The final refresh emphasises user experience, search functionality and innovative design elements to share important information in a clear and engaging way.

Te Pūkenga

With a swift turnaround of eight weeks from conception to delivery, we used our Silverstripe expertise to stand up a complete site for Te Pūkenga, New Zealand's largest tertiary education provider. We were able to reskin an existing build with a refreshed and minimalist look, applying a clean green and grey colour palette, modern font types and a simplified UX/UI.

Otago Polytechnic

Another education client, Otago Polytechnic chose Voyage to rebuild their website prior to sit alongside Te Pūkenga. Voyage recommended that Otago Polytechnic create a new SilverStripe website, leveraging the internal knowledge of the Otago Polytechnic developers and Voyage's experience with creating modern component design focused sites.

This maximised our client’s budget while leveraging Voyages exposure to a wide gamut of SilverStripe site development, including a focus on performant and accessible web applications.

What we bring to you as a Silverstripe Partner

Being a Silverstripe partner speaks to the incredible depth and breadth of our in-house experience. In another life, over a decade ago, I worked for Silverstripe as an intern designer before moving into the development team. This gave me a great foundation to understand the origins of the technology and how it functions. Keeping pace with the evolution of the solution and onboarding more of our team to the ins and outs of the technology means we can now provide our clients with the best Silverstripe CMS product can offer.

As a Silverstripe partner we have access to the latest updates and features, priority support, and the assurance that client projects are being handled by certified experts. This relationship enables us to deliver innovative, secure, and scalable solutions that meet the evolving needs of our clients.

Even as more options become available to us (including headless CMS) Silverstripe continues to offer a versatile, secure and community-supported CMS. These factors make it a great choice for a wide range of web projects, and with our partnership our clients can rest assured we can deliver value for any Silverstripe investment.

Stay tuned for our next blog post, all about the new kid on the block - headless CMS.

If you’re looking for Silverstripe support we’re here to help - get in touch.