Updating and Scaling a WordPress Multisite for a Media Group

Gruppo HTML
Screenshot of the PMI.it homepage, an Italian business and finance news website
Homepage of PMI.it, a major Italian business and finance news platform
Screenshot of the HTML.it homepage, a leading Italian web development resource
Homepage of HTML.it, Italy's top web development and technology portal
Screenshot of the Motori.it homepage, an Italian automotive news and reviews website
Homepage of Motori.it, a leading Italian automotive news and reviews site

As Frontend Developer contracted through CodeBrain at Gruppo HTML from 2013 to 2015, I built and maintained custom WordPress themes for HTML.it, PMI.it, Motori.it, and Webnews.it across a high-traffic multisite network reaching approximately 7M monthly users.

The Challenge

Gruppo HTML was one of Italy’s major digital publishers, operating editorial networks in tech, IT, and automotive (the company later became part of Triboo Media). The team needed WordPress themes and layout modules that stayed fast and stable across four properties, mobile/tablet/desktop targets, and a large archived article base, without slowing editorial publish cycles.

My Role

As Frontend Developer, I developed WordPress themes for high-traffic Gruppo HTML properties: HTML.it, PMI.it, Motori.it, and Webnews.it on a shared multisite network.

Scope covered the theme and layout layer across those four editorial sites: responsive templates and reusable modules that stayed fast and stable without slowing newsroom publish cycles.

What I Did

  • Implemented scalable responsive UIs for mobile, tablet, and desktop.
  • Built modular CSS with BEM and DRY principles; used critical CSS and repaint/reflow optimisations for performance.
  • Created reusable layout modules so editors could publish reliably at scale.
  • Integrated newsletter systems and banner placements; migrated legacy platforms to mobile-first codebases.
  • Wrote frontend tutorials and co-authored a web design guide for HTML.it.
  • Used Google Analytics and Crazy Egg to analyse behaviour and improve UX.
  • Supported SEO through metadata handling and frontend optimisation.

Results

  • Responsive refactoring cut mobile load times by around 40%.
  • Modular CSS and reusable templates reduced maintenance overhead across the multisite network.
  • Stable layout components made publishing predictable on all four properties.
  • Responsive UX stayed consistent across device targets, on a network reaching 7M+ monthly users.

What I Learned

On WordPress at this traffic level, editor-ready layout modules matter as much as frontend performance. Reusable BEM components let editorial teams publish without breaking templates across properties.