Aberdeen City Council

The website domesticabusesupport.aberdeencity.gov.uk offers comprehensive support for individuals affected by domestic abuse in Aberdeen. It provides crucial information for immediate safety in emergencies, guidance on how to get help, and access to various support services tailored to different needs. The site also includes advice on covering your tracks online to ensure privacy and explains what constitutes domestic abuse, including controlling, coercive, and violent behaviours. It aims to help users find relevant local support quickly and safely.

Work Summary

🛠️ WordPress Customisation

Integrated Gravity Forms, including custom hooks and filter enhancements for greater flexibility in form presentation and accessibility improvement.
Implemented and configured Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) Pro and enabled flexible content layouts for dynamic pages.
Added a Two Factor Authentication plugin to improve site security for both administrators and end users.
Integrated Plausible Analytics (including event tracking, Docker configuration, NGINX and proxy setup, production/live rollout, and bugfixes).
Added and managed other high-impact plugins via Composer (e.g., Yoast SEO, Redis Cache, Timber, Query Monitor, Classic Editor, User Role Editor, Redirection).
Introduced cache and static asset optimisations—including NGINX cache policies for HTML, images, JS, CSS, Redis cache integration, and fine-tuning query monitor plugin usage.
Multiple cycles of Composer and package updates (WordPress core, plugins, vendor libraries, PHP 8.1 to 8.2 updates, Symfony Polyfill, Monolog, Mailgun, etc.).
Automated and maintained DevOps pipelines; fixed build/deployment scripts.
Hardcoded and optimized taxonomy filters for performance.
Locked to specific Node.js versions to ensure reliable environment setup.

⚡ Frontend Development & UI Enhancements

Improved accessibility (e.g., ARIA labels, service page accessibility, menu enhancements).
Refined UX by customising filters when searching for services.
CSS improvements: styling for middle sections, required fields, responsive typography, hiding unnecessary UI elements, and managing layout shifts.
Swapped in webfonts with fallback and optimized font display strategies.

📦 Plugin & Third-Party Integrations

Implemented self-hosted anonymous tracking.
Plugin maintenance.
Automated reporting (e.g., PHPCS scripts for PHP code standards compliance).

🐞 Bug Fixes, Maintenance & Support

Provided ongoing monthly support for site queries and bug fixes.
Provided quotes for new feature requests.
Managed regular WordPress and plugin/theme updates to maintain site security.

🚀 Deployment & Version Control

Integrated deployment automation using CI/CD pipelines.
Coordinated multiple hotfix and feature branches.