Northern Woodlands

The finished website gives Northern Woodlands a digital platform that complements rather than simply reproduces the print magazine.

Readers can explore current and past issues, discover related articles, follow web-exclusive series, contribute photographs, participate in guessing games, comment on stories, and connect with the organization’s educational work.

Behind the scenes, the editorial team has a structured and flexible publishing system that can support both the dependable rhythm of a quarterly magazine and the constantly evolving content of an active educational nonprofit.

Northern Woodlands needed a digital publishing platform capable of managing a large and continually growing collection of interconnected content.

The website needed to:

• Organize articles by magazine issue, season, department, author, and topic
• Make current and past issues easy to explore online
• Support web-exclusive articles, blogs, photo features, and educational content
• Encourage readers to submit photographs, stories, and contest entries
• Help visitors search and discover content across an extensive archive
• Connect readers with subscriptions, donations, events, and externally managed purchases
• Give the editorial team control over a complex publishing workflow without requiring technical assistance

I developed the site around the way the Northern Woodlands editorial team already creates and organizes its publication.

Magazine issues and articles are managed as related content, allowing each article to appear within its original issue while also being discovered through departments, authors, topics, archives, and search results. This structure preserves the identity of the print magazine without limiting the website to a digital replica of the publication.

I also created flexible systems for web-only content, recurring columns, reader participation, and educational programs. The result is a site that supports both traditional magazine publishing and the more immediate, interactive nature of the web.

Magazine Issue and Article Relationships

I created a structured publishing system connecting each quarterly issue with its individual articles, columns, cover imagery, publication information, and supplemental online content.

Searchable Content Archive

The site provides access to a substantial archive of magazine articles and web-exclusive material. A custom search overlay helps readers locate information without leaving the page they are viewing.

Web-Exclusive Publishing

The editorial team can publish content outside the quarterly print schedule, including Community Voices, Writers in the Woods, This Week in the Woods, photo blogs, educational resources, and other recurring features.

Reader Photo Galleries

Custom submission forms allow readers to contribute photographs for consideration. Approved submissions can be organized into online galleries with photographer information, captions, and related details.

“What in the Woods Is That?” Guessing Game

I built an interactive feature where visitors examine a mystery image and submit their guesses through the website. The system supports recurring contests, reader responses, and the later publication of answers.

Community Participation

The website supports comments, reader submissions, newsletter sign-ups, sample issue requests, and other forms that turn the publication into a more participatory online community.

Third-Party Shopping Integration

Although purchases are processed through an external service, products, subscriptions, and other offerings are presented within the Northern Woodlands website using integrated purchase buttons and links.

Editorial Content Management

The custom ExpressionEngine setup gives staff control over issues, articles, authors, departments, galleries, forms, programs, products, and supporting content while maintaining consistent presentation throughout the site.