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Case study Extra.cz

Managing and Developing One of the Most Visited Sites in the Czech Republic

Client: Burdamedia extra

Assignment

At the end of 2022, we were approached to take over the management of the CMS and client websites, including eXtra.cz, one of the most visited sites in the Czech Republic. This tabloid and lifestyle site offers up-to-date articles and analysis across areas such as culture, lifestyle, sports, and celebrity news, engaging millions of users every month.

Challenges

Due to the system handling a massive number of monthly users, there were strict requirements for stability, performance, and real-time content delivery. However, the original solution was not optimized for high availability, which led to difficulties in updating content and hindered editors from publishing articles effectively.

Solution

In less than a year, we stabilized and optimized the entire system. We upgraded all components and moved demanding operations to the background, allowing editors and visitors to continue using the site uninterrupted, even while tasks were being processed.
At the same time, we migrated another major website Lifee.cz from WordPress to the same editorial system. These steps simplified the editors' workflow and improved content delivery, contributing to increased site traffic. Additionally, we gained a comprehensive understanding of the platform's operations, which expanded our role to include ongoing maintenance and development.

Custom Video Solution and Performance Improvements

As part of the collaboration, we developed VidEOM, a custom video management solution tailored to the client's needs. It replaced the original paid platform, which was significantly more expensive. The system handles encoding, centralized video metadata management, and delivery to target platforms, processing over a million video plays per day.

Performance enhancements also resulted in excellent Core Web Vitals scores. These improvements have positioned the websites among the best in their category, offering outstanding stability, fast load times, and high responsiveness. This significantly enhances overall user satisfaction.

Software Process Implementation

Alongside technical improvements, we introduced key software processes that facilitated system management and crisis response. Projects were split into multiple repositories to streamline maintenance. We also introduced database migrations and implemented continuous integration and deployment (CI/CD), enabling smooth deployment of updates and new features. An important addition was a dedicated testing environment, which allows for more efficient debugging and validation of new features in collaboration with the BurdaMedia Extra team before going live.

Results

Our work has brought the system to a robust and stable state capable of delivering content instantly—even under heavy traffic. It ensures a smooth editorial workflow and a seamless experience for visitors. In August 2024, eXtra.cz ranked 4th in the Czech Republic in terms of page views, according to NetMonitor.

We have established a close and long-term partnership with BurdaMedia Extra, with plans for future projects focused on the development of both existing and new websites.

Technology

The technologies used include ASP.NET MVC and ASP.NET Blazor, which we upgraded from .NET 6 to .NET 8 during the project. We also utilize Minio for storage management, Elastic for full-text search, and Redis for caching and background operations.

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