Redesign · Go-Live

Wevise Launch Cutover Plan

Updated Saturday, August 8, 2026 · 7:22 PM CDT

The full redesign is built as hidden drafts in the new navy design system — every page now carries the flagship full-bleed hero + green-accent treatment, hero photography, and the real Wevise logo. This is the exact sequence to flip it live in one clean cutover, plus the content still owed and the pre-flight QA.

Target Sep 1, 2026 Model Atomic cutover All 20 pages built Design applied site-wide Preview deck ready Live site untouched

New Changes since the last report · Aug 8 (morning → evening)

The redesign build is complete — all 20 pages. The final eight are now rebuilt in the new design system: Contact, Volunteer, Coaching Corner, Stories, and the four partner co-brand pages (Blacks in Technology, Code Your Dreams, DPI, Northwestern).
Every word and link carried over. Each page was cloned from its current live version — role listings, resource links, the blog feed all intact — then restyled to the navy system (hero, green accents, Deeper Blue buttons, Inter type).
Launch docs updated. The cutover runbook and this plan now list all eight new pages in the Port Map.
Donation form fixed — on the live site and the redesign — the Givebutter form was rendering blank (the embed pointed at a deleted campaign, so donations were broken on the current /donate/ page too). Now wired directly to the live WeviseDonate campaign and verified loading.
CTA buttons unified to an accessible blue — all primary + secondary buttons moved from green (dark text) to Deeper Blue #2A6FD0 with white text: easier to read, and WCAG AA.
WCAG 2.1 AA / ADA assessment completed — the redesign is substantially conformant; four fixes applied (contrast, link colors, heading labels, a form label). View the assessment →
Old green logo removed from the SEO schema — the site's Organization logo now points to the new blue logo, and the org name is set to “Wevise.”

⏳ Due in the next 7 days Aug 8 – 15

Action	Owner	Due
Confirm final page copy — lock & hand off before Thomas departs (8/14)	Aruna + Jon	Aug 13

On the horizon: Aug 17 Annual Report (Stephen + Jon + Janice + Maggie) · Aug 18 homepage stats (Aruna), Chicago TechPath eligibility (Ashley), Donate transparency (Jon).

Preview the new design

Full-page mockups of all six core pages — the flagship homepage plus the five journey pages — as reviewed on Aug 5.

Open in a browser, or Print → Save as PDF to share: View the full-page preview deck →

Why a single cutover

The one constraint that shapes the plan.

Elementor 4.2.1 on this site can't scope a header/footer to specific pages via the API — it's site-wide or off. So the new shell goes live for everyone the moment it's switched on. The fix is to have every page's new content in place first, then flip the shell once. Page drafts stay safely hidden until then.

Cutover sequence

Run top to bottom on launch day (ideally a low-traffic window). Each step is reversible.

Freeze & back up

Take a full backup (All-in-One WP Migration is installed). Confirm all content placeholders below are filled.

Port the rebuilt pages into their live URLs

Copy each “2026” draft's Elementor data into the matching live page so URLs and SEO history are preserved (see Port Map).

Publish the net-new pages

Flip /get-involved/, /mentee/, /resources/ (and /industry-insights/ only if owned) to Published.

Set the new Homepage

Point Settings → Reading to the new Homepage (or port its content into the current front page #1237).

Activate the new shell

Set header #4294 + footer #4296 conditions to include/general; set old header #2043 + footer #1374 to inactive.

Swap navigation

Assign the Primary 2026 menu (#23) to the Primary + Mobile locations.

Brand + redirects

Set the new blue logo as the site logo, fix the org-schema logo URL, and add the 301 redirects (see Redirects).

Purge, smoke-test, monitor

Clear all caches, run the QA checklist, then watch analytics and error logs for the first 24–48h.

Port map — draft → live

Where each built draft lands. Porting into existing IDs keeps the URL and its SEO equity.

Built draft	Goes to	Action
Homepage 2026 · `#4306`	`/`	Front page
Get Involved · `#4274`	`/get-involved/`	Publish new
Get Mentorship · `#4275`	`/mentee/`	Publish new
Resources · `#4276`	`/resources/`	Publish new
Industry Insights · `#4277`	`/industry-insights/`	If owned
Become a Mentor 2026 · `#4312`	`/become-a-mentor/` · #1433	Port into live
Partner 2026 · `#4314`	`/partnerships/` · #1325	Port into live
Chicago TechPath 2026 · `#4316`	`/techpath-alliance/` · #3297	Port into live
Donate 2026 · `#4318`	`/donate/` · #3853	Port into live
Donate — Chicago TechPath 2026 · `#4370`	`/donate-chicago/` · #3647	Port into live
Our Team 2026 · `#4328`	`/our-team/` · #1020	Port into live
About Us 2026 · `#4372`	`/about-us/` · #664	Port into live
Contact Us 2026 · `#4374`	`/contact-us/` · #2669	Port into live
Volunteer 2026 · `#4376`	`/volunteer/` · #1309	Port into live
Coaching Corner 2026 · `#4378`	`/coaching-corner/` · #2719	Port into live
Our Stories 2026 · `#4380`	`/blogs/` · #2061	Port into live
Blacks in Technology 2026 · `#4382`	`/blacks-in-technology/` · #3410	Port into live
Code Your Dreams 2026 · `#4383`	`/code-your-dreams/` · #3449	Port into live
DPI 2026 · `#4384`	`/dpi/` · #3436	Port into live
Northwestern 2026 · `#4385`	`/northwestern/` · #3427	Port into live

Redirects (301)

Most URLs are retained. Add these only if the paths are renamed. Needs the Redirection plugin.

Old path	New path	Note
`/blogs/`	`/stories/`	Only if slug is changed; otherwise keep + relabel
`/techpath-alliance/`	`/chicago-techpath/`	Optional canonicalization
About, Team, Contact, Donate, Volunteer, Partnerships, Become-a-mentor — retained, no redirect needed.

Content still owed (fill before launch)

Each maps to a flagged placeholder in the drafts.

Donate — just link the Annual Report when it's ready (transparency section, EIN, 501c3, Privacy Policy all built) · structure done ✓
Homepage — real impact stats (current 1,200+/40+/4.8/85% are placeholders)
Chicago TechPath — eligibility criteria + Cohort 1 results/testimonials
Our Team — finalized: new consistent leadership photos, clean circular crops, roster confirmed, Team section removed · done ✓
Mentor — replace or drop the old low-quality video
Newsletter — footer signup wired to Mailchimp (MC4WP, connection confirmed) · done ✓

Action items · owners · due dates

Working backward from a Sep 1 launch. Owners are a starting point — reassign as needed. Jon = implementation.

Action	Owner	Due	Status
Confirm final page copy — lock & hand off before Thomas departs (8/14)	Aruna + Jon	Aug 13	Open
Annual Report — produce & finalize (feeds Donate transparency links)	Stephen + Jon + Janice + Maggie	Aug 17	Open
Homepage impact stats (real numbers)	Aruna	Aug 18	Open
Donate: link the Annual Report + transparency (structure built ✓)	Jon	Aug 18	Open
Chicago TechPath: eligibility + Cohort 1 results	Ashley	Aug 18	Open
Team: roster sign-off + new leadership photos + circular crops	Jon + Ross	Aug 6	Done
Mentor: replace or drop the old video	Aruna + Ashley	Aug 21	Open
Old green logo: removed from SEO schema ✓ (visible logo rides the cutover shell)	Jon	Aug 8	Done
Newsletter → Mailchimp (footer signup, MC4WP)	Jon + Aruna	Aug 6	Done
Buttons → accessible Deeper Blue (WCAG contrast)	Jon	Aug 7	Done
WCAG 2.1 AA / ADA assessment + fixes applied	Jon	Aug 7	Done
Port pages to live URLs + publish new pages (staging)	Jon	Aug 28	Open
Set up 301 redirects (Redirection plugin)	Jon	Aug 28	Open
Full QA sweep (links, forms, mobile, a11y, analytics)	Team	Aug 28	Open
Go live: activate new shell + swap nav + smoke test	Jon	Sep 1	Open
Post-launch monitoring (CTAs, donations, broken links)	Jon + Ross	Sep 1 – 30	Open
Build shell + all 9 pages in new design system	Jon	Aug 4	Done
Rebuild remaining pages in the new design — Contact, Volunteer, Coaching Corner, Stories + 4 partner co-brand pages (redesign now complete, 20 pages)	Jon	Aug 8	Done
Privacy Policy written + published	Jon	Aug 4	Done
Donate: Givebutter form (fixed + verified live, WeviseDonate campaign) + gift amounts + EIN	Jon	Aug 8	Done
SEO dedupe (Yoast only) + homepage title fix	Jon	Aug 4	Done
Footer socials + EIN + hero copy polish	Jon	Aug 4	Done
Apply flagship design (full-bleed heroes + green accents) to all pages	Jon	Aug 5	Done
Hero photography + section icons across all pages	Jon	Aug 5	Done
Shift primary CTAs to green (brand direction)	Jon	Aug 5	Done
Build Our Team page from the org chart	Jon	Aug 5	Done
Real Wevise logo in new header + footer	Jon	Aug 5	Done
Full-page preview deck for team review	Jon	Aug 5	Done

Cleanup & QA

Housekeeping

Privacy Policy — written & published
EIN — real number (92-2591102) in place
Orphaned clone drafts deleted
Deactivated AIOSEO (Yoast only) + fixed homepage title
Footer socials added (IG, FB, YouTube, Bluesky)
Flagship design + hero photos applied to all pages
Real Wevise logo in new header + footer
Old green logo removed from the SEO schema (visible logo swaps at cutover)

Pre-launch QA

All internal + app-handoff links resolve
Forms submit (contact, newsletter, donation)
Mobile layout + sticky action bar
Accessibility: dropdowns, contrast, alt text
Analytics events fire (CTAs, donate, signup)
Redirects return 301, no broken links

Rollback: if anything looks wrong after step 5, set the new shell conditions back to empty and re-activate old header #2043 / footer #1374 — the site returns to its current state instantly. Page ports are reversible from the backup.