Migrating from WordPress to Frappe and Astro Framework for High-Performance Web Experience
Subtle Glimpses of the Project.
Simprosys Infomedia is a leading eCommerce automation company providing plugins across platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, and Wix.
110K+Merchants
12+Plugins
84+Employees
Client Location
Ahmedabad, India
Industry
eCommerce Integration Development Company
Tech-Stack
Frontend: Astro.js, Tailwind CSS
Frappe Version: 15.61.0
Database: MariaDB
Web Server: Frappe Cloud
130+ Countries
Empowering Merchants Around the World
110,000+
App Downloads Worldwide
5,000+
Daily Website Visitors
400+
Blog Pages
Challenges with WordPress
Security Concerns
WordPress is a frequent target for hackers due to its popularity, with regular plugin updates and third-party themes often introducing security vulnerabilities.
Performance Issues
Heavy themes and excessive plugins slow down websites, leading to poor page speed that harms both SEO and user experience.
Scalability Limitations
WordPress struggles to scale with growing traffic and features, often leading to unstable patchwork solutions during custom development.
Limited Development Flexibility
Themes and plugin structures restrict creative freedom, and advanced customization typically demands deep PHP expertise.
Plugin Dependency
Basic functionality in WordPress often relies on multiple third-party plugins, leading to site bloat, conflicts, and ongoing maintenance challenges.
Omnichannel Content Requirements
WordPress is not ideal for delivering content across multiple platforms, as modern businesses need API-first tools to support apps, websites, and more.
In 2024, Wordfence detected just under 1 million distinct infected sites, with up to 350,000 actively infected on any given day
Why Migrate from WordPress to Frappe and Astro?
Powerful Python-based backend with built-in admin UI, REST APIs, and customizable business logic.
Static-first frontend, optimized for performance, ideal for content-rich sites and SEO.
Solution & Integration
To create a fast, dynamic, and scalable web experience, we implemented several key features during the migration from WordPress to Frappe and Astro:
Centralized Content Management via Frappe CMS
One of the cornerstones of our solution is leveraging Frappe’s powerful CMS capabilities. All content on the website—pages, blogs, videos, SEO metadata, category structures, and more—is fully manageable via the Frappe dashboard. This eliminates the dependency on plugins and external tools, empowering non-technical users to manage site content seamlessly.
Performance Enhancement through Static Rendering
Performance was a significant issue on the WordPress site due to server-side rendering and excessive plugin dependencies. By switching to Astro’s static site generation paired with Frappe’s API-driven backend, we drastically improved performance. Pages now load with minimal delay, even under high traffic, resulting in a smoother user experience and better SEO rankings.
Third-Party API Integration for Dynamic Content
To enrich the website with external content, we integrated third-party APIs for articles and YouTube videos. Through the Frappe backend, users can simply click a “Sync Data” button to pull in the latest data. This automated content import ensures the website always stays fresh and relevant, without requiring manual updates.
Page Preview Before Deployment
We introduced a real-time page preview functionality that allows content managers to see how their changes will appear before publishing. Users can simply write or edit content in the Frappe dashboard and click on the "Preview" button to generate a live rendering of the page—exactly as it would appear post-deployment. This minimizes publishing errors and enhances the editorial workflow.
Steps for migrating the data
WordPress Audit & Architecture Review
- Received full backup of the client’s WordPress site (database & media).
- Conducted a thorough audit of the database schema.
- Identified the complexity of WordPress's multi-table architecture and mapped relationships across posts, postmeta, taxonomy, categories, and other metadata.
Data Mapping & Normalization
- Analyzed and mapped related WordPress tables to consolidate them into a single structured data model.
- Developed a custom logic to extract and flatten nested fields into a clean Frappe-compatible format.
- Defined Frappe DocTypes to accommodate dynamic content fields.
Tree Structure Generation & Content Categorization
- After importing the data into MariaDB (Frappe backend), we implemented a 3-level tree category structure.
- Ensured each post or category was placed in the correct node of the tree structure.
Blog Consolidation & Final Content Migration
- Merged all blog-related WordPress tables into a single, unified Blog DocType in Frappe.
- Migrated category-based blog relationships and validated complete data integrity in the Frappe system.
- Final QA and post-migration validation to ensure all content displays as expected on the Astro frontend.
Results
| Metric | WordPress(Before) | Astro + Frappe(After) | Improvement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Performance Score | 81 | 95 | 17%faster overall |
| Total Blocking Time | 30 ms | 10 ms | 3xfaster |
| Cumulative Layout Shift | 0.389 | 0.093 | Much more stable layout |
| Accessibility Score | 85 | 93 | Improved accessibility |
| Developer Productivity | Low | High | Easier maintenance and scalability |
Performance Score
81WordPress(Before)
95Astro + Frappe(After)
17% faster overall
Total Blocking Time
30 msWordPress(Before)
10 msAstro + Frappe(After)
3x faster
Cumulative Layout Shift
0.389WordPress(Before)
0.093Astro + Frappe(After)
Much more stable layout
Accessibility Score
85WordPress(Before)
93Astro + Frappe(After)
Improved accessibility
Developer Productivity
LowWordPress(Before)
HighAstro + Frappe(After)
Easier maintenance and scalability
We recently moved our website from WordPress to Frappe, and honestly, it wouldn’t have gone as smoothly without the team ( Nil and Karan ) they helped us. They were super attentive from the very beginning quick to respond, easy to communicate with, and really focused on making sure everything worked the way we needed. They didn’t just do a basic migration. They actually took time to understand how our site worked, what we wanted to keep, and even suggested improvements along the way. Every time we ran into a some issue or had a question, they were right there with a fix or a better solution. Since we moved, the site is definitely faster, and the backend is easier to handle. The editor has a few small issues it’s a bit different from what we were used to but it didn’t really get in the way. And anytime we had a problem, the team was quick to fix it.
Harshit Modi
Project Coordinator, Simprosys InfoMedia
