Summary

While this site was built using WordPress as a back-end, it’s almost unrecognizable as WordPress. The entire front-end is a single page style React application. The look and feel of the site is fully customizable using a specialized settings area.

The React app reads a settings configuration from the page and handles all rendering and logic independently. URLs are mapped to React containers and components are lazy loaded with transitions.

Donation data and totals are pulled in real time using the CrowdRise API. At the time of building, much of the CrowdRise documentation was incomplete or misleading. I took the initiative of helping them update and complete their docs while reverse-engineering them.

Payment processing is completed via a secure handshake between the React App and the back end of the site. Information is then exchanged between the server and CrowdRise over an encrypted connection, thus preventing any possible security issues.

I set up hosting on WP Engine using my own custom DevOps style deployment script and process. I opted to create my own custom script instead of using a third-party CD implementation, to maintain full control and ensure security.