From plugin bloat to purring performance
A WordPress rebuild that traded a wall of plugins for a lean, custom toolkit the volunteers actually enjoy using.
Move your cursor across the image, or drag the handle, to compare the old site and the rebuild.
The challenge
Two Hearts Kitten Rescue was struggling with a WordPress site buried under plugin bloat. The backend was painfully slow, making it difficult for volunteers to update kitten listings and manage adoptions. They needed ShelterLuv integration for their adoptable animals, but no pre-built solution existed.
What we built
We rebuilt the entire site on Divi with a lean, optimized approach. Instead of stacking plugins, we developed custom solutions: a ShelterLuv integration plugin that pulls adoptable kitten cards directly from their shelter management system, an animated donation thermometer for fundraising campaigns, and streamlined adoption application forms.
How we approached it
We started by auditing everything the old site was carrying, then rebuilt outward from a clean foundation so each piece earned its place.
Audit the site
We ran a full audit of the existing site and its plugin dependencies to see exactly what was slowing things down.
Clean rebuild
We rebuilt on Divi with an optimized theme structure, replacing the stacked plugins with a lean foundation.
ShelterLuv integration
We developed a custom ShelterLuv API integration so adoptable kitten cards pull straight from their shelter management system.
Donation thermometer
We built an animated donation thermometer plugin to track fundraising campaigns transparently.
Adoptions & donations
We optimized the adoption application workflow and integrated the GiveWP donation platform.
Test & train
We ran performance testing and mobile optimization, then trained volunteers on the new streamlined backend.
The result
The rebuilt backend runs about 10x faster than the old plugin-heavy site, the plugin count dropped from 30-plus down to an essential stack with more than 20 removed, and three custom solutions now handle the work that plugins used to do badly.
- Dramatically faster backend load times for volunteers
- Real-time kitten cards synced from ShelterLuv
- Custom donation thermometer for transparent fundraising
- Simplified adoption application process
- Mobile-optimized design for on-the-go browsing
- Reduced plugin count from 30-plus to an essential stack only
Technologies & skills
A lean WordPress stack chosen for a volunteer-run nonprofit: easy for the team to manage, fast to load, and built to talk directly to the shelter tools they already rely on.