IT Step School
Migration of IT Step School’s website from WordPress to a modern Next.js stack — faster pages, a cleaner editorial workflow, and a maintainable foundation for the school’s growth.
My Role
Tech Lead — owned the migration strategy at Koober Coders: architecture, content modeling, the build and deployment pipeline, and performance targets.
Project Type
Client Project — WordPress-to-Next.js migration for a private IT school in Tbilisi.
Tools Used
Next.js, React, TypeScript, headless git-based CMS, multi-language localization, performance optimization, Docker, Nginx, custom CI/CD
Live Link
https://itstep.school.ge
Problem & Solutions
Leaving WordPress Without Losing the Editors
Problem
WordPress gave the school’s staff a familiar editing experience, but it dragged down performance, security, and development velocity — and a rewrite risked taking the editors’ workflow away with it.
Solution
A headless approach kept both sides happy: a typed, componentized Next.js frontend for the team, and a git-based CMS that still gives editors visual, in-context editing.
Performance as a Requirement, Not a Wish
Problem
The legacy theme and plugin stack made every page heavy — and for prospective students browsing on phones, slow pages read as an outdated school.
Solution
Static generation, image optimization, and a minimal-JavaScript budget per page turned speed into a property of the architecture instead of an afterthought.
A Program Catalog That Loads Instantly
Art-directed program pages rendered by Next.js — the playful 3D visual identity kept intact, with none of the WordPress weight behind it.
A Self-Service News Hub
Editors publish STEM articles and campaign banners through the git-based CMS — the site picks them up and ships them as fast static pages, subscribe funnel included.
The Campus, Front and Center
An image-heavy environment gallery stays quick through Next.js image optimization — every photo served responsively.
Growth & Outcome
The school now runs on a modern, fast stack: editors kept a friendly editing experience while page loads, security, and maintainability improved dramatically over the legacy WordPress site.
Gallery
