The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an intergovernmental organisation that monitors economic and financial policies, offers technical assistance on economic affairs, and provides loans to countries in need. IMF Monitor presents data on the IMF activities complied with and published by academic researchers and civil society. In support of the University Of Cambridge, the Economic & Social Research Council and the Institute For New Economic Thinking, the project provides independent and accessible information.
A Snippet of
The Requirements
IMF Monitor came to us requesting help with their current website, asking for it to be migrated to WordPress while also moving the extensive databases to a new platform so the databases became streamlined on one server.
YEAR
2022
MISSION
Converting a database to WordPress
TYPE
Web Design &
Web Development
The Project Process
As a heavy development project, our development team needed to utilise their PHP, PostgreSQL, MySQL and Javascript skills.
For this website project, we wanted to convert IMF Monitor’s current database into a format that can run on the same server as a WordPress website.
Their current database was running on PostgreSQL. The database in question was the website’s Article IV Scanner. The Scanner enables researchers to search for keywords and phrases in over 2,000 IMF Article IV reports since 2000, all in one place.
So, before migrating any data, our development team needed to investigate the Article IV Scanner database and see if it was compatible with being moved to MySQL.
Unfortunately, once the data was uncovered, it was clear that the current PostgreSQL database included functions within the data. This means the data also had information on what to do with that data. However, MySQL only allows for just basic data – pure information.
Both MySQL and PostgreSQL both use SQL commands but have different rules. PostgreSQL is more sophisticated compared to MySQL. Therefore, we decided to keep the Article IV Scanner on PostgreSQL but instead move it to the same server as the newly designed WordPress website.
Within this process, our developers had to convert the original Article IV Scanner files from the old server to a new WordPress plugin. So now, the Article IV Scanner and website sit on the same server. This means both the site and Scanner are secure, clean in code and allows for faster responses. The Scanner can now accommodate significant usage from people using the scanner.
Neue Haas Grotesk
The first weights of Neue Haas Grotesk were designed in 1957-1958. Neue Haas Grotesk was to be the answer to the British and German grotesques that had become hugely popular thanks to the success of functionalist Swiss typography. The typeface was soon revised and released as Helvetica by Linotype AG.
UCLA Blue
#3A76BC
Alice Blue
#EBF4FF
White
#F8FBFF
Black
#000000
