Holiday Park Resort

🧩 O Desafio

Operating since 1983, Holiday Park Resort is a 67-acre RV and condo destination located between Kelowna and Vernon, BC. Surrounded by golf courses, wineries, ski hills, and lakes, the resort features 117 condos and over 570 fully serviced RV sites, offering year-round recreation and family-friendly activities.

Holiday Park Resort reached out with a critical need for a WordPress and infrastructure overhaul. Their site was running on an outdated Ubuntu 16.04 server and using several legacy plugins that were no longer receiving updates. The technical debt prevented even basic plugin upgrades and posed serious security and compatibility risks.

Os principais desafios incluíam:

⚠️ Outdated Server & OS

The site was hosted on a DigitalOcean droplet running Ubuntu 16.04, which had reached end-of-life, meaning no security updates or package support.

🔄 Plugin Compatibility Issues

Several essential WordPress plugins could not be updated, resulting in broken features and vulnerability concerns.

🧠 Lack of Internal Expertise

The client had limited familiarity with server architecture or DigitalOcean, so they needed clear technical guidance, consistent communication, and dependable support throughout the migration process.

💡 A solução

I led a complete Linux server and WordPress migration, transitioning the website from an aging environment to a secure, optimized, and modern stack using Ubuntu 24.04 LTS on DigitalOcean.

🛠️ Linux Server & WordPress Migration

Server Setup & Stack Configuration
Provisioned a new LAMP stack server (Linux, Apache/Nginx, MySQL, PHP) optimized for WordPress.

Complete Backup & Migration
Backed up and securely transferred all site files and the WordPress database to the new server.

Domain & DNS Configuration
Updated DNS records to point the domain to the new server with minimal downtime. Configured and installed an SSL certificate for secure HTTPS access.

Post-Migration Testing & QA
Validated site functionality across pages, plugins, and contact forms. Ensured analytics tracking, SEO metadata, and critical site functions remained intact.

Cleanup & Server Hardening
Removed unused packages, applied security best practices, and restricted server access for improved protection.

📊 Google Analytics 4 Migration

With Google’s Universal Analytics (GA3) ending on July 1, 2023, I ensured the client was set up with GA4 tracking to future-proof their analytics.

• Created a new GA4 property in Google Analytics
• Connected GA4 using MonsterInsights plugin
• Verified that real-time and event tracking was fully functional

⚙️ Plugin & Theme Modernization

The client’s website leveraged Beaver Builder Pro e GeneratePress Premium. After migration:

• Verified all licenses and plugin versions
• Updated to latest stable releases
• Tested all page builder layouts for visual integrity and functionality

🚀 Resultados

⚡ Infrastructure Upgraded

• 🧱 Migrated to modern Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
• 🔒 Secure server configuration with long-term support
• 📈 Improved performance, stability, and plugin compatibility

🌐 Website Reliability

• ✅ Plugins and WordPress core now regularly updated
• 🚦 DNS and SSL fully secured
• 🧪 Fully tested, functional website post-migration

📉 Reduced Technical Debt

• 🧰 Legacy software replaced with maintainable tools
• 💬 Client empowered with education and ongoing support
• 📊 Analytics fully migrated to GA4

🔧 Tecnologias e ferramentas

• Alojamento: DigitalOcean (TOR1 Datacenter, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS)
• Web Server: Apache/Nginx
• Database: MariaDB
• PHP: PHP 8+ with common modules
• CMS: WordPress
• Themes/Plugins: Beaver Builder Pro, GeneratePress Premium
• Analytics: Google Analytics 4 + MonsterInsights
• Security: Let’s Encrypt SSL, firewall, and permissions auditing
• Tools: SSH, SFTP, WP-CLI, UFW

✍️ Conclusão final

Through a seamless migration and modernization process, Holiday Park Resort’s website is now secure, scalable, and fully compliant with current technology standards. This project showcases the importance of technical excellence paired with clear communication — especially for clients with limited internal IT resources.