Project overview
West Sussex Mind came to us with two challenges, both part of the same issue: their site had become a bit tricky to use and manage.
The first piece of work was their course catalogue. The training courses weren’t clearly categorised, which meant filtering wasn’t possible, and this was making it hard for users to quickly find the right information. Instead of helping people narrow things down, the site was making them do more legwork.
The second was Pathfinder, a support service that brings together mental health, homelessness and employment support across West Sussex. Mind had been managing the site and wanted to migrate it to their main platform while giving it a spring clean. The idea was to make it easier to manage and less reliant on workarounds, while ensuring it was future proofed. We rolled up our sleeves and jumped right in...
The objectives
There were two clear goals. We needed to make the course catalogue easier to navigate, so people could find relevant training more easily. The other objective was to bring Pathfinder into the same CMS setup as the main Mind site, so it would be easier to manage while still keeping its own domain, branding and identity.
The challenges
- The backend structure: This had been rearranged a number of times over the years, so the backend CMS wasn't all that easy to work with.
- Volume of standalone pages: Many pages were set up as standalone entries, which made linking and content management more fiddly than they needed to be. This is fairly common with charity sites as they grow and new sections get added on.
- Integrating Pathfinder’s identity: Pathfinder brought a slightly different obstacle. How could we make Pathfinder feel like its own site, with its own domain, branding, and navigation, while still using the same core system and content blocks as the main Mind site?
- Maintaining brand consistency: Tackling this meant creating something brand new (but without starting from scratch) and going through component by component, making sure the brand worked properly across the whole site. A bit of a mind boggler (no pun intended).
The process
For the Mind course catalogue, we created a new channel so courses could be categorised properly. We added filtering on the front end and set up pre-filtered pages in the navigation, giving users a quicker way to get to the content that was going to be most relevant to them.
We also set up a new site structure, moved around 150 existing pages into it (no mean feat) and redid user group permissions so the backend was easier for the Mind team to work with day to day.
For Pathfinder, we upgraded Craft CMS and its plugins, then set it up as a separate site within a multisite structure. From there, we took over Mind's existing identity and applied Pathfinder’s own branding, including a new header, footer and navigation. We also tested the existing content blocks carefully to make sure everything worked properly with the new look and feel.
The end result
The courses pages are now much easier to use. They can be categorised properly, filtering works, and users have a clearer route to the training they actually need - which should have helped increase course uptake.
Pathfinder is now much more straightforward for the West Sussex Mind team to manage because it sits within a setup they already know. It also gives them more flexibility on the front end, and a much better foundation for creating and growing content in the future.
The impact
This project was not about reinventing everything, but about making key West Sussex Mind’s websites work better for the people using it and the team managing it.
For the charity’s team, that means a more practical setup behind the scenes. For users, it means a clearer route to the right training and a better experience across both sites. And for the organisation as a whole, it creates a stronger foundation for future content and growth.
The course catalogue now does a better job of helping people find the right training. Pathfinder still feels like its own site, and behind the scenes, the overall setup is clean and well structured.
For charities, that kind of work is often more useful than anything fancy or flashy. A clearer structure, better journeys and a backend that is easier to work with.
