Dezeen.com — Project Overview
What is Dezeen.com?
Dezeen.com is a high-traffic design and architecture publication built on WordPress. It serves millions of page views monthly, publishing news, features, and editorial content on design, architecture, and interiors.
Platform Summary
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| CMS | WordPress 6.2.2 |
| Production theme | 2016dezeen (SCSS + Laravel Mix) |
| Theme in development | 2025Dezeen (Tailwind CSS, not yet deployed) |
| Hosting | Jelastic Enscale |
| CDN / WAF | Cloudflare |
| Page cache | Varnish (2 servers) |
| Object cache | Redis (planned; file-based currently) |
| Database | MySQL 5.7, table prefix vetg_ |
| Deployment | DeployHQ with zero-downtime rolling deploys |
| Build system | Laravel Mix (webpack) |
| PHP version | 7.4 production, 8.x under test |
| Static assets CDN | static.dezeen.com |
| Admin URL | admin.dezeen.com (dedicated server) |
Key Integrations
| Service | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Algolia | Site search (instant search, autocomplete) |
| Campaign Monitor | Email newsletter subscriptions |
| Disqus | Comment system (JS embed) |
| Apple News | Content syndication |
| Google Ad Manager | Advertising and cookie consent |
| Cookiebot | GDPR cookie consent (via Usercentrics) |
| GeoTargetingWP | Geo-targeted content |
| Ad Auris | Audio article playback |
| LiftIgniter | Content recommendations |
| Parse.ly | Content analytics |
| PayPal / Stripe | Awards and competition payments |
| Laravel Platform | External app at /platform for Awards/Competitions |
Handover Context
- Support period: Outgoing team available until October 2026
- Planned work: WordPress upgrade and migration expected before handover
- Repository: Single Git repo with WordPress, themes, plugins, infra configs
Content Model (High Level)
| Post Type | Purpose | Plugin |
|---|---|---|
post | Articles / news | WordPress core |
competition | Competitions | dezeen-competitions |
award_entry | Awards entries | dezeen-awards + mu-plugin |
award_judge | Awards judges | dezeen-awards + mu-plugin |
dezeen_event | Events Guide | mu-plugin (dezeen-events) |
course | Courses directory | dezeen-courses |
juror | Jurors | mu-plugin (dezeen/juror.php) |
hotlist | Hot List | mu-plugin (dezeen/hotlist.php) |
Documentation Map
| Document | Purpose |
|---|---|
| architecture.md | System architecture and data flow |
| project-structure.md | Repository directory layout |
| local-development.md | Local dev setup (Valet/MAMP/Docker) |
| environments.md | Environment details and URLs |
| deployment.md | Deployment process and checklist |
| caching-and-performance.md | Cache layers, CDN, performance |
| security-and-compliance.md | Security, GDPR, consent |
| plugins-and-themes.md | Plugin and theme index |
| admin-and-content-model.md | CPTs, taxonomies, ACF |
| integrations.md | Third-party service integrations |
| troubleshooting.md | Debugging guide |
| handover.md | New developer onboarding |
Source Files Relied On
This documentation was generated from inspection of the following repository files:
README.md,TECHNICAL_WALKTHROUGH.md,CLAUDE.mddocker-compose.yml,Vagrantfile,cypress.config.js_project/_web/wp-config.php,_project/_web/wp-config-sample.php_project/_web/webpack.mix.js,_project/_web/package.json,package.json.circleci/config.yml,.deployignore_project/_web/wp-content/themes/2016dezeen/(functions.php, style.css, all template files)_project/_web/wp-content/plugins/dezeen-*/(all 30 custom plugins)_project/_web/wp-content/mu-plugins/(all mu-plugin files)setup/production/(deploy scripts, Varnish config, server config)docs/(existing documentation files)