[NKS] Freelance Soundlabs 3rd Party NKS Libraries for Komplete Kontrol / Maschine

Already designing a site in WP. For what I need there are a few plugins I have to purchase so nothing is ever free. Main thing is if it makes things work better and offers proper accessibility usage that is a key importance for me since my old site had components that the devs never added accessibility info and it was not usable for many blind users, something I have wanted to change for a while, just time is the hurdle constantly but it's progressing.

New Website Update…

Just a bit of an update on the progress of the new site for those interested to know.

I have been looking to develop a new site for years but have been constantly been putting it off as I knew the amount of work involved would be huge but it has come to the point where I either had to look at updating or ultimately, the site and my work with NKS would cease. I have had a lot of positive feedback from users that has pushed me to spend some time to develop a new site so hopefully it is worth it.

It should be noted that I work several other jobs too so I have really had to cut back on things like sleep and time with family a bit to actually invest the time needed so there may not be too much NKS updates for the following few months, tho I will likely do some here and there.

Why The Need to Redevelop?

So my website was originally created back around 2005 on the Joomla 1 platform as on online profile for my music, when MySpace was all the rage before most social media and this is how I learned to develop websites. Over the years I updated it and migrated into new websites always sticking to Joomla as it was always able to fit my simple needs however in 2013 when I started developing preset libraries for Push and later Komplete Kontrol I needed to update things to handle checkouts and downloads and while I was able to shoehorn in some very custom solutions to make all this work there was a major issue I knew would be a problem eventually and this has now reached the point along with the fact I cannot update or even migrate my site to a new Joomla version as the plugins I require to keep the whole system running are completely unsupported now and the PHP my site runs is on the edge of the host not allowing it to be deployed so the clock is ticking…

There have also been constant issues plaguing the site which many will know such as the issue where you appear to be logged out when accessing some pages even tho you you have logged in and the lack of accessibility in certain parts of the site (again, part issue of plugins that are not updated) , but for the most part it has done well to serve the number of users and files it as managed.

What Now?

I actually spent the last 12 months checking out Joomla 4 and 5 solutions but decided based on many developers I reached out to that Joomla is just becoming unsupported fast and everyone suggests WordPress.

I have managed WP sites in the past doing freelance work and while I did not deploy them, I knew they were pretty flexible BUT had rather spiraling costs since almost every feature and every function of a feature is another plugin or addon that needs to be purchased with ongoing yearly support costs. Add on top of that the need to learn how to develop on a whole new CMS platform and the cost in both time and money is pretty overwhelming to make a start.

Where Am I At / What Is The Goal?

So, while I am no full expert in any area of life one thing I am is persistent and focused to figure out pretty much anything that I take on and now after just 3 weeks I have managed to deploy a new working site that I have had some people help test for accessibility with great results.

The main goal is to be able to maintain an updated codebase with better support and updated features and experience aligned with any other website. Checkout offers more payment options, possibility to make easier bundled discounts and of course quicker and easier navigation of everything. I had a list of about 100 objectives I needed to check off for the core functionality, I have close to 90 completed already and am now at the stage of migrating everything into the new site.

I am looking to have this completed by end of year or Jan of next year to replace the current site completely.

Seeking Help

I have a few people helping me develop custom code, SQL queries and test things out but am also looking for anyone who may have pretty good skills in data migration (such as user accounts) that can offer advice and also for some users who rely on accessibility, specifically mac users just to test how it works for them. If you feel you may be interested to lend a hand or able to answer some questions I may have just PM me.

So thanks to those that have offered their support, hopefully this will be worth the time and effort to at least make things much easier moving forward.