Foodie

View The Template HERE

Discovery & Planning

Objective: Build a responsive, feature-rich site that captures the aesthetic and function of a gourmet or vineyard brand.

Key Features Identified:

  • Online shop for wine/food products (WooCommerce)

  • Booking system for tastings, events, and services

  • Event calendar for gastro-tourism and seasonal festivals

  • Modern blog layout for food & wine articles

  • Portfolio-ready styling and animations

Target Audiences:

  • Wine enthusiasts

  • Agritourism travelers

  • Food bloggers & sommeliers

  • Event clients & catering customers


Installation & Setup

Hosting & Environment:

  • WordPress installed on a clean staging server

  • SSL, PHP 8.x, and MySQL configured

  • HTTPS and caching enabled for performance

Theme & Plugins Setup:

  • Installed and activated Foodie Theme v1.0

  • Installed required plugins:

    • Elementor

    • Slider Revolution

    • WooCommerce

    • Booked (for reservations)

    • The Events Calendar

    • Contact Form 7

Child Theme:

  • Created and activated a child theme for safe customizations


Design Customization

Header & Navigation:

  • Built a sticky header using Elementor with logo, shop link, events tab, and reservation CTA button

  • Transparent header on homepage with scroll transition

Homepage:

  • Hero section with full-width Slider Revolution wine imagery

  • Call-to-action buttons (“Book a Tasting”, “Shop Wines”)

  • Featured sections: “Our Vineyard”, “Upcoming Events”, “Best Sellers”, “Recent Articles”

  • Parallax scrolling and smooth fade-in animations

Color & Typography:

  • Earthy wine tones (deep red, olive, beige)

  • Serif typefaces paired with clean sans-serif fonts for readability


WooCommerce Store Integration

Setup:

  • Configured WooCommerce (currency, shipping, tax, payments via Stripe/PayPal)

  • Created product categories: Red Wine, White Wine, Food Baskets, Tasting Boxes

Product Pages:

  • Each product designed with:

    • Professional imagery

    • Detailed description

    • Tasting notes

    • “Pairs well with…” feature

    • Customer reviews

Cart & Checkout:

  • Styled checkout page with trust badges and clear call to action

  • Integrated one-page checkout functionality

  •  


Booking System & Event Calendar

Events Calendar:

  • Added seasonal wine tasting events and workshops

  • Included recurring events and ticketing

Booked Plugin:

  • Created a reservation form for private tastings and venue bookings

  • Time slot availability synced with admin calendar

  • Enabled confirmation emails and reminders


Blogging Setup

Blog Categories:

  • Wine Tips

  • Recipes & Pairings

  • Vineyard Life

  • News & Events

Post Layouts:

  • Masonry layout with featured images

  • Related post suggestions, social share, and reading time indicators

SEO & Performance:

  • Installed Rank Math SEO

  • Used LiteSpeed Cache and ShortPixel for image optimization

  • Set custom Open Graph previews for each post


Final Optimization & Testing

Mobile Responsiveness:

  • Optimized for mobile, tablet, and desktop

Speed Testing:

  • Scored 90+ on Google PageSpeed Insights

  • Lazy loading for images and deferred JS/CSS

Accessibility Checks:

  • Verified alt text, ARIA labels, contrast ratios

Browser Testing:

  • Tested across Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge


Launch & Portfolio Integration

Deployment:

  • Migrated from staging to live domain

  • Updated internal links and image paths

Portfolio Page Entry:

  • Created a dedicated case study section with screenshots and demo

  • Highlighted personal roles: designer, developer, UX strategist


Key Tools Used

  • Elementor Pro

  • Slider Revolution

  • WooCommerce

  • Booked

  • The Events Calendar

  • Rank Math SEO

  • WordPress Customizer + Child Theme CSS