Case Study

Al Waly Group

Corporate WordPress site for a construction group: custom Underscores-derived theme (`rawafed` in source, `style.css` branded Misr Dubai), Advanced Custom Fields Pro for structured page blocks, qTranslate-XT for Arabic/English editorial flows, LiteSpeed Cache and Wordfence in the stack, plus supporting plugins (SVG support, CPT UI, classic editor) under a standard `waly.h-maghrabi.tech` WordPress tree—no Laravel layer.

WordPressPHPMySQLACF ProMultilingualCustom ThemeLiteSpeed

Custom themeACF ProBilingual (qTranslate-XT)LiteSpeed CacheWordfence

Impact

A bilingual corporate site the marketing team can extend with new pages and sections while preserving brand layout; clearer separation between content, presentation, and infrastructure concerns than a hand-coded brochure site.

Problem

The group needed a credible bilingual corporate presence: services, projects, and company narrative had to stay on-brand while editors updated copy without breaking layout. Spreadsheets and static HTML were not an option; marketing needed repeatable sections and safe navigation patterns.

Solution

Implemented and customized WordPress with a bespoke theme built on the Underscores starter: `functions.php` registers menus, thumbnails, HTML5 markup, and theme supports; templates and template parts carry the corporate layout. ACF Pro defines repeatable field groups for hero, metrics, and service grids. qTranslate-XT powers side-by-side language switching for pages and strings. Caching and security run through LiteSpeed Cache and Wordfence without forking core.

Highlighted implementation

Theme bootstrap (conceptual)

PHP

// wp-content/themes/rawafed/functions.php
// rawafed_setup(): menus, title-tag, thumbnails, HTML5, custom logo
// + ACF field groups bound to page templates in wp-admin

Testing & quality

WordPress theme and plugin updates are regression-tested manually on staging paths (menus, both languages, forms). ACF field group exports and theme version constants (`_S_VERSION` / theme slug) document releases; Wordfence and backup discipline reduce operational risk on a freelancer-hosted deployment.

Architecture

API Structure

Request routing is WordPress core: pretty permalinks resolve to theme templates (`index.php`, `page.php`, `single.php`, `template-parts/*`) and optional REST or admin-ajax endpoints for forms. Admin-facing structure lives in `wp-admin` with ACF field group JSON or UI-managed fields; no parallel application server.

Data Flow

Visitor request → WordPress bootstrap → query → template loader → theme PHP renders blocks fed by post meta (ACF) and translated strings (qTranslate-XT). Editors publish in wp-admin; revisions and meta persist to MySQL (`wp_posts`, `wp_postmeta`, options tables). Static assets and compiled CSS ship from the theme directory.

Backend Decisions

Stayed inside theme and plugin boundaries: child-friendly hooks in `functions.php`, minimal logic in templates, reusable `get_template_part` slices for marketing-safe edits. Chose established multilingual and field plugins instead of ad hoc duplicate sites per language. Performance and hardening delegated to mature plugins compatible with shared hosting expectations.

Al Waly Group architecture diagram — High-level diagram of web dashboard, REST API, Laravel layers, and MySQL.

Challenges

RTL/LTR mix, font choices, and long Arabic headlines must stay readable next to English. ACF layouts need guardrails so editors cannot orphan required blocks. Cache invalidation and Wordfence rules must not block legitimate admin saves or large media uploads used on construction imagery.

Technical Decisions

Underscores-based theme for maintainable PHP structure; ACF for structured content instead of page-builder lock-in where possible; qTranslate-XT for editorial workflow familiar to the client team; LiteSpeed for production cache without custom Varnish layers.