Commons World / Global

Custom WordPress build

We built a custom WordPress platform that makes nine institutions and two free books easy to explore.

Website · Design system · Technical SEO

Results

One platform for the whole framework

The custom WordPress platform is live. It brings nine institutions into one navigable architecture and gives visitors a direct path to the two free books.

The Nine Pillars section of the Commons World home page, headed THE ARCHITECTURE, with the line Each Pillar performs one distinct job. Together they form a continuous system for evidence, accountability, participation, and renewal. Below it, a grid of cards, each with a photograph, a numbered pillar label, a name and one line: Planetary Coherence & Health, Commons Registry, Alliance for Transparent Enterprise, Global Accountability Rating, Commons Bank & Commons Unit of Exchange, and AURA (Autonomous Unified Rights Architecture). Every card ends in an Explore this Pillar link. — The custom WordPress architecture gives each institution a clear role and path in.

Delivered platform and information architecture. No performance figures are claimed.

The challenge

A complex idea needed a clear home

Commons World's nine institutions each have a distinct role, while two free books contain the full framework. The platform needed to show how the parts fit together and give a new visitor a clear way to start reading.

Scale of the idea. Nine institutions, each on its own domain, had to read as one architecture rather than nine unrelated projects.

No transaction. Nothing is sold. The only thing a visitor can be asked to do is read, so the whole site has to earn that.

Credibility on sight. An unfamiliar governance framework has to be taken seriously in the first screen or not at all.

Different visitors. Readers, partners and supporters arrive with different questions and need different first steps.

What we changed

Built around three clear routes

We designed the custom WordPress platform around three routes: understand the framework, read the books and take part.

Built a custom WordPress theme. Grouped the site into Understand, Read and Take part, then gave each institution a clear place in the navigation and page structure.

Designed an editorial system. Paired serif display type with readable body type, navy, cream and gold so the public platform feels credible and easy to use.

Made the framework legible to search. Added structured data for the organisation, founder, site and framework vocabulary.

Delivered work

A platform for nine institutions

The custom WordPress build gives each institution a consistent position and a clear path in. The books remain visible as the next step across the site.

The Commons World books page. Under the eyebrow THE TWO FREE BOOKS, the headline Start reading tonight sits above the line The whole framework lives in two free books: a short one to read tonight, and the evidence behind it when you want it. Below, on a dark navy card, the cover of Commons Community: A Field Guide to Commons World, sits beside its description, the tags Free PDF and Start here, a Get the free books button, and links to preview the opening and read the specifications. — The books page gives visitors a clear way to start reading.

Client voice

“Simon has been an absolute pleasure to work with. What I appreciated most was his patience and willingness to slow things down and work at my pace, while always remaining committed to seeing the project through to completion.”

Mohan · Founder, Commons World

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Tell us what you are trying to change. We will be direct about scope, evidence and whether we are the right fit.

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