Nonprofit website design for SCAR.org

A clearer, more flexible WordPress rebuild for SCAR – a global scientific membership organisation – designed to handle deep content, busy events, and a vast research library without the admin headache.

Client: SCAR.org

Completed: August 2023

Sector: Science, Research, Nonprofit

Deliverables: WordPress development, Drupal to WordPress migration, UX/content structure

Outcome: A flexible WordPress rebuild that makes SCAR’s vast content easier to manage and easier to read

Group of emperor penguins standing together, viewed from below against a clear blue sky.
“What we do” page section describing SCAR, with four image tiles for Science, Policy advice, Events and Fellowship & awards.
SCAR homepage hero with snowy Antarctic mountains and icebergs, plus “Welcome to the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research” headline.
Four circular line icons showing a bundled-up person, a volcanic mountain, a shrimp/krill, and an iceberg outline.
Large iceberg and scattered sea ice floating in dark water under a deep blue sky.
Newsletter sign-up section titled “Join us” with name and email fields over an Antarctic seascape background.

Insight

SCAR (Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research) is an international scientific organisation supporting Antarctic research and collaboration. Their website needed to serve a lot of audiences — researchers, members, partners, volunteers, delegates, and the wider public — while presenting a huge volume of text-heavy information in a way that stays readable and easy to navigate.

The original site was built in Drupal, with a legacy DocMan system powering extensive libraries of research papers and publications. Over time, that setup became difficult to manage: content editing felt complicated, templates limited layout flexibility, and legacy document management created friction around security and updates.

They needed a new platform that made publishing simple, improved content structure, and gave the team the freedom to build pages that fit the content — not the other way around.

Deep blue Antarctic seascape

Approach

We treated this as both a nonprofit website design project and an information architecture challenge.

Before design, we ran a research phase looking at other content-rich, text-forward sites — focusing on what makes long pages easier to scan, more accessible, and less overwhelming. That thinking shaped the layout system, typography decisions, and the way we structured pages and templates.

The result is a flexible, block-based WordPress build that supports SCAR’s scale, while staying simple for the team to maintain day to day — and it sits neatly alongside our wider website design approach, where structure and usability are built in from the start.

Web design

A calmer reading experience for long-form content

A lot of SCAR’s pages are long and detailed. We deliberately kept line lengths shorter so text doesn’t get “stringy”, and we introduced clear sectioning so users can find what they need fast.

  • Jump links for quicker navigation
    For longer pages, we added jump links to key sections — helping users move through dense content without endless scrolling.
  • Flexible layouts, not template lock-in
    Instead of being boxed into rigid templates, SCAR can now shape pages using reusable section blocks — keeping things consistent while giving the team room to adapt layouts to different content types.

This is especially important for research organisation website design and scientific organisation website design, where one size rarely fits all.

What we did and why we did it

Web development

1

Drupal to WordPress for easier publishing

We rebuilt the platform in WordPress to make content updates faster and simpler — reducing reliance on specialist admin knowledge and removing friction from everyday editing, supported by our web development approach built for long-term maintainability.

2

Document libraries migrated out of legacy DocMan

SCAR had a significant volume of documents stored in DocMan. We migrated that content into WordPress and implemented a DocMan plugin setup that made document management far easier to maintain.

To keep things flexible, we also created custom DocMan blocks so SCAR can:

  • build document “clusters” by topic or sector
  • place document groups exactly where they need them on a page
  • control how documents are presented without developers

This is a big win for data portal website design style requirements — where content needs structure, filters, and controlled presentation.

3

Global options for a large, fast-moving site

Because the site is vast, global options were essential — particularly for promoting upcoming events consistently across multiple pages without repeating edits.

4

A central team directory (update once, use everywhere)

We built a central area to manage employees, members, and volunteers — categorised so they can be pulled into pages using a reusable Team block. SCAR can now update people in one place and have changes reflected everywhere automatically.

5

Events hub built for scale

We created a dedicated Events area designed to support ongoing promotion and clear browsing — a key need for an international membership organisation running regular programmes and conferences.

Outcome

  • A modern WordPress platform that matches SCAR’s scale — easier to manage internally, more flexible for publishing, and far better at presenting complex information in a structured way.
  • Faster, simpler content management in WordPress
  • Flexible layouts using section blocks
  • Migrated document libraries with custom DocMan blocks
  • Centralised team management with reusable modules
  • Global options to keep event promotion consistent site-wide
  • Improved readability for text-heavy pages, plus jump links for speed
View website

Related build: Oslo 2026 events experience

Alongside the core SCAR site, we also delivered a paired-back events-focused build reusing much of the same functionality — including a bespoke schedule that lets delegates browse by day and time.

View event example website

Nonprofit web design + WordPress support

If you’re running a content-heavy nonprofit or membership organisation and need a platform that’s easy to manage, we can help — from structure and UX through to WordPress builds, migrations, and long-term support. Get in touch — we’d love to speak to you.

We don’t disappear after launch, either. We can provide ongoing support and maintenance to keep things secure, stable, and running smoothly — from core and plugin updates to performance checks, backups, and quick fixes when something crops up. Whether you need a light-touch safety net or a more hands-on partner, we’ll tailor support around your team, content workflow, and goals.

FAQs

FAQs

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Because the Drupal setup was complicated to manage day to day, and the team wanted a simpler CMS with more flexibility for layouts and content updates.

We migrated the existing documents into WordPress and used a DocMan plugin setup, plus custom DocMan blocks, so SCAR can group documents by sector and control how they’re displayed on different pages.

We designed with shorter line lengths, clear section blocks and strong hierarchy, then added jump links so users can reach key sections quickly on longer pages.

Global options let SCAR promote key content—like upcoming events—consistently across multiple pages without needing to update each page manually.

Yes — we built a central team directory where staff, members and volunteers are added and categorised once, then pulled into pages anywhere using a reusable Team block.

Written by Jane Comar + Reviewed by James Hofton

Last updated: February 18, 2026

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