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Programmatic Content Modeling Saves Significant Development Hours
Leveraging content modeling and a custom-built automation process via Advanced Custom Fields (ACF), digital agency thunder::tech gains the power to programmatically move thousands of pages seamlessly.
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Industry:
Digital Agency
"ACF fit everything we needed, and it has allowed us to ramp up with config instead of code, every time we build a WordPress solution."
—Bruce Williams, Vice President, Development Department, thunder::tech
472
ACF fields across both sites
74
Flexible Content components
25
Custom Post Types across both sites
The Clients
thunder::tech is a forward-thinking integrated marketing agency that empowers businesses to amplify their brand impact through creative strategy and technology-driven solutions. Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, thunder::tech blends storytelling expertise with digital innovation to craft campaigns that resonate across platforms—from web development and video production to social media and data analytics.
Rotary Solutions is a global leader in automotive service equipment, trusted by repair facilities and dealerships worldwide to enhance efficiency and safety. With a century of expertise since its founding in 1925, Rotary delivers innovative vehicle lifts and workshop solutions designed for durability, adaptability, and reliability.
The Cleveland Institute of Art is a renowned leader in art and design education with a legacy spanning over 140 years. Established in 1882 and rooted in Cleveland’s vibrant cultural community, CIA cultivates creativity through immersive studio-based learning that merges traditional craftsmanship with modern innovation.
The Challenge
Develop and design new websites for Rotary Solutions and the
Cleveland Institute of Art. This included migrating thousands of
existing posts and pages which needed to maintain their relationships.
The Solution
thunder::tech leveraged ACF's content modeling, combined with the agency's own custom-built automation, to programmatically move and remap the content, while also allowing the client to have edit access during the process.
The Results
thunder::tech’s strategic integration of Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) and custom automation tools transformed complex website redesigns for Rotary Solutions and the Cleveland Institute of Art (CIA) into seamless, scalable successes.
By leveraging ACF’s content modeling capabilities, the agency streamlined the migration of thousands of pages while maintaining critical relationships between data—a process Bruce Williams, Vice President of Development for thunder::tech, described as “programmatically mapping old content models to new ones, saving weeks of manual work.”
For CIA, ACF enabled dynamic image management, ensuring consistency across thumbnails and social media.
“ACF allowed us to bridge gaps between featured images and social metadata,” noted a team member, “ensuring brand coherence without sacrificing flexibility.”
Rotary Solutions’ massive product catalog—over 1,000 pages—posed a unique challenge. thunder::tech developed a custom automation tool that converted scraped HTML content into structured CSV files, then mapped it directly into ACF fields via WP All Import.
This approach empowered Rotary’s team to review and edit content pre-launch, while thunder::tech’s internal scaffolding system accelerated template creation by auto-generating PHP files from ACF configurations.
“The automation cut development time significantly,” shared Xavier Gschwind of thunder::tech, “letting us focus on tailoring solutions like Clone fields for third-party image systems.”
The projects underscored thunder::tech’s partnership with WP Engine, ensuring high-performance hosting aligned with WordPress best practices. By combining ACF’s flexibility with bespoke tools, the agency delivered websites that not only met rigorous technical standards but also empowered clients to manage content intuitively.
As Williams emphasized: “ACF gives clients granular control without overwhelming them—turning rigid workflows into marketing agility.”
For both institutions, the results extended beyond aesthetics:
- Operational efficiency: Content migration and editing processes were reduced from months to weeks.
- Future-ready flexibility: Structured ACF models allow easy updates as needs evolve.
- Enhanced collaboration: Clients gained real-time editing access without compromising design integrity.
“These projects exemplify how strategic tooling transforms complexity into clarity,” reflected a thunder::tech developer. “We didn’t just rebuild sites—we built frameworks for growth.”
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