Project Execution

1. Design and Discovery Process

The project began with an extensive design and discovery phase where the existing CTC Communications theme was audited.

Legacy scripts, redundant snippets, and overlapping custom sections were identified. A comprehensive mapping of theme dependencies such as jQuery, Bootstrap, and custom JS files was created.

Design wireframes and visual prototypes were prepared to align the upgraded theme with CTC Communications’ brand guidelines and user experience goals.

2. Development and Customization

During the development phase, the new Shopify Online Store 2.0 framework was implemented with an emphasis on clean code, modular sections, and future scalability.

Frontend Implementation:

The development team integrated dynamic JSON templates and migrated reusable Liquid components. Outdated JavaScript dependencies were removed, and the Bootstrap 5 framework was adopted for a responsive, mobile-first design approach.

Feature Implementation and Setup:

Custom sliders, promotional banners, and homepage sections were reconfigured for better performance and visual consistency. Lazy-loading mechanisms were introduced to optimize image rendering, leading to improved page load speeds and better LCP scores. The site’s structure was adjusted to support flexible schema-based customization, empowering the CTC team to make visual updates through the Shopify admin.

• Custom Sliders: Built fully dynamic sliders allowing easy content management through the Shopify editor, optimized for performance and accessibility.
• Multi-Column Sections: Created configurable multicolumn layouts to showcase services, features, or promotional highlights with visual balance and responsive design.
• Image with Text Sections: Developed multiple “image-with-text” modules supporting dual-image layouts for storytelling and product highlights.
• FAQ Accordion Section: Implemented an accordion-based FAQ section for a cleaner interface and improved content discoverability.
• Promotional Banners & Homepage Sections: Reconfigured for better performance, visual consistency, and user engagement.
• Lazy-Loading Mechanisms: Introduced to optimize image rendering, leading to improved page load speeds and better LCP scores.

3. Key Design Enhancements

The design overhaul focused on clarity, modern aesthetics, and usability.
Typography, color hierarchy, and section spacing were refined for a professional and cohesive layout. The homepage hero section and sliders were redesigned for higher engagement. Accessibility enhancements, including ARIA attributes and semantic HTML, were added to improve user experience and SEO. The new theme balanced aesthetics with functionality, maintaining CTC’s brand personality while enhancing conversion potential.

4. Testing and Deployment

Before deployment, the upgraded theme underwent rigorous cross-browser and cross-device testing. All pages were validated for compatibility and responsiveness.

Script conflicts were identified and resolved particularly issues arising from simultaneous loading of jQuery and Bootstrap 5. The QA process also included Google Lighthouse audits to measure performance, accessibility, and SEO benchmarks. Once testing was complete, the deployment was executed with zero downtime, ensuring uninterrupted shopping experiences for customers.

5. Launch

The launch of the new CTC Communications theme marked a major milestone in the brand’s digital evolution.

All previous assets, configurations, and data were successfully preserved, while redundant elements were eliminated. The new design structure allowed for faster content updates and improved scalability. The post-launch period included monitoring and fine-tuning to ensure optimal site performance and conversion tracking.

Impact of Theme Upgrade

During the theme upgrade, both backend and frontend components were restructured. This introduced several technical challenges, each addressed systematically by the development team.

One of the primary challenges was the overlap between legacy jQuery scripts and Bootstrap 5’s JavaScript dependencies. These conflicting scripts slowed down performance and caused UI inconsistencies. The fix involved removing outdated jQuery references and consolidating script loading logic to rely only on the new framework.

Another significant issue encountered was duplicate homepage sliders, a result of both the old custom slider and the new Bootstrap carousel running concurrently. This was resolved by cleaning up redundant code and retaining only the optimized slider structure.

Visual performance issues such as Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) and delayed Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) were identified due to the use of background images instead of <img> elements. The development team adjusted templates to use semantic image tags and added proper dimension attributes, significantly improving the overall visual stability of the site.

Minor issues, including missing image dimensions, external CDN dependencies, and typographical errors, were resolved during QA. CDN references were replaced with local script files for faster load times, and inline HTML banner images were reconnected to dynamic theme settings to enhance performance and maintainability.