NSHEN faced significant challenges with their website that made it difficult to manage and use effectively. Overall performance, editor experience and design implementation fell short of their needs.
Key features of the site, including most pages, were not displaying correctly, and adding new content to critical sections like the Bioethics Book Club and Lending Library pages was cumbersome. Additionally, the site’s speed and technical SEO scores were below par.
Solutions
To address NSHEN’s issues, the solution was rebuilding the theme using the Gutenberg editor and Full Site Editing (FSE). This transition simplified the editing experience by enabling the client to easily manage and update content. With FSE, site-wide settings for spacing and margins could be adjusted globally, resolving the frustrating front-end issues that had plagued the site.




The homepage editor BEFORE switching to Gutenberg vs. AFTER switching to a Gutenberg enabled custom theme from Tibbits Consulting!
Next, I created a new custom template for the podcast section. This template ensured that all associated information was displayed correctly and that each podcast was properly embedded for seamless playback.
For the Bioethics Book Club and Lending Library pages, I converted them into custom post types. This structured approach made it significantly easier for the NSHEN team to manage content while adding new functionality, such as a “Reserve This Book” button that links to a form for requesting a book reservation directly.

The editing experience for Lending Library content BEFORE…


Now adding content is as simple as creating a new “post”. Add the title and a featured image and done. The Lending Library page editor shows editable content and the individual books are now automatically populated via a Query Loop Block for the Lending Library custom post type.


This completed the site rebuild using a custom WordPress theme designed with performance, accessibility, and SEO best practices in mind. The site is now much easier to edit and managing content is EASY! By resolving technical SEO issues and optimizing the site for speed, the new website also delivered a dramatic improvement in Core Web Vital scores across the board.


Page Speed Insight scores before and after moving to a Tibbits Consulting custom theme show a remarkable improvement!
Results
The revamped NSHEN website is now a fast, accessible, and user-friendly platform that supports their organizational goals. By replacing the outdated ACF-based editor with Gutenberg and FSE, the NSHEN team gained full control over their content, enabling them to manage updates effortlessly and maintain consistency across the site.
The new podcast template improved the visibility and functionality of their audio content, while the Lending Library and Bioethics Book Club pages now feature intuitive custom post types and enhanced functionality. These updates have saved the NSHEN team countless hours and frustration, while also improving the user experience for site visitors.
The performance improvements speak for themselves. The site now operates at lightning speed, even without relying on caching, and technical SEO scores have improved significantly, positioning the site for long-term success in search rankings.
This project demonstrates Tibbits Consulting’s commitment to delivering tailored, innovative solutions that address both client needs and expectations.
Client Testimonial
We are so happy with the services Matt recently gave (and is continuing to give) for our website issues! Matt completely overhauled our website theme and made our website so much more user friendly and visually appealing, as well as making the backend easier for us to upload content on a regular basis. He brought creativity and an eye for catching visual items that we would not have even thought of. I am more confident in my WordPress skills now. We are excited to work with Tibbits Consulting in the future for other projects we have on our list!
Krista MleczkoSkerry, Nova Scotia Health Ethics Network