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Phusha Ukusebenza Migration
Static site migration for improved performance and maintainability.
Role
Freelance
Duration
2026
Stack
HTMLCSSJavaScriptPHPcPanel
Context
The client needed a cost-effective, low-maintenance web presence that their non-technical staff could update without breaking. The WordPress site had become a liability with constant plugin conflicts and security patches.
Overview
Migration of a legacy WordPress site to an optimised static structure. The original WordPress installation had accumulated 15+ plugins and was loading in 8+ seconds. The migration involved extracting content from the WordPress SQL dump, rebuilding the frontend as clean static HTML with PHP includes for reusable components (header, footer, contact form), and deploying to a shared cPanel environment — dramatically improving page load speed whilst keeping hosting costs minimal.
Key Outcomes
- Refactored legacy WordPress content into a performant static HTML/PHP architecture
- Implemented BEM CSS methodology for modular styling and optimised semantic HTML for maximum SEO visibility
- Built a custom PHP contact form to replace plugin-dependent WordPress equivalents
- Preserved design consistency across devices through iterative front-end refinement
- Improved long-term maintainability by reducing dependency complexity from 15+ plugins to zero
Lessons Learned
- Sometimes the best solution is the simplest — not every project needs a framework
- Static sites with PHP includes can be surprisingly maintainable for small teams
Technologies
HTMLCSSJavaScriptPHPcPanel
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