White Rabbit Group worked alongside Defero to lead a strategic migration for 7 Cedars, moving from MODX to a multisite infrastructure that streamlined operations and strengthened connections across their digital properties. The project required surgical precision: migrating select sites while keeping others intact, all without compromising the visual identity guests had come to recognize. At the same time, we tackled critical backend challenges by building a custom payment plugin that streamlined staff workflows and strengthened security protocols across the organization. This was about creating a platform that works the way a modern hospitality brand needs it to work: efficiently, securely, and with the flexibility to scale as new properties and offerings emerge.
The Challenge
7 Cedars was operating on infrastructure that had served them well in the past but was struggling to keep pace with their growth and evolving security standards. The MODX platform limited their ability to scale efficiently, and the absence of a secure payment processing system created friction for staff handling transactions
- Outdated Platform Architecture: The existing MODX setup made content management cumbersome and updates time-consuming. As the organization expanded across multiple properties, maintaining consistency and pushing changes required more effort than it should have.
- Complex Multisite Requirements: The migration needed to separate specific Casino, Restaurant, Events, and Golf sites into independent domains while keeping others unchanged, all without disrupting the guest experience or losing valuable content in the transition.
- Security and Payment Processing Gaps: Staff needed a way to process payments securely without exposing sensitive gateway credentials. The lack of a tailored payment solution introduced unnecessary risk and slowed down operational workflows.
- Performance and Speed Limitations: Load times across properties ranged from slow to painfully slow, impacting user experience and potentially driving visitors away before they even explored what 7 Cedars had to offer.
Our Solution
We began by mapping out a phased migration strategy that prioritized stability and continuity. The first step was transitioning the Casino and Golf sites from MODX to a centralized multisite platform, creating a scalable foundation that could accommodate future properties and offerings. This consolidation gave 7 Cedars centralized content control while preserving the unique identity of each property.
At the core of this transformation was the development of a custom CMS payment plugin. This tool empowered staff to securely process transactions without direct access to payment gateway credentials, reducing risk while improving operational efficiency. By building the plugin natively into the CMS, we ensured that payment workflows felt intuitive and integrated seamlessly with existing staff processes.
Beyond migration and payment integration, we focused on optimizing the entire digital experience. We integrated event calendars, custom forms, social sharing capabilities, and third-party tools that enhanced functionality without adding complexity, creating a more cohesive and engaging experience for guests. SEO improvements ensured that each property could compete effectively in search rankings, driving more organic traffic and increasing engagement. Every page was rebuilt with performance in mind, incorporating responsive design principles, improved navigation structures, and accessibility enhancements that made the sites faster, easier to use, and more discoverable.
Technologies Used
Pixel perfection, always.
