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title: HIOUSA Design Review & Strategy date: {{date}} tags: []

HIOUSA Design Review & Strategy

Summary of the current site audit, UI/UX requirements, and visual design plans for the rebuild.

From hiousa-site-review.md

Site review of HIOUSA.com

Build

Theme

Flat Bootstrap Child Version: 1.5 by XtremelySocial

|Child theme for Flat Bootstrap. Includes a stylesheet (style.css) for you to restyle any of the CSS and a functions.php file to change theme parameters or components. Both files include samples of a few common things you might want to do.

This is a older non WP blog theme... Can't say I am impressed with how it looks.

Plugins

  • Accordions - By PickPlugins (Fully responsive and mobile ready accordion grid for wordpress.)
  • Classic Editor (Enables the WordPress classic editor and the old-style Edit Post screen with TinyMCE, Meta Boxes etc. Supports the older plugins that extend this screen.)
  • Contact Form 7 (Just another contact form plugin. Simple but flexible.)
  • Contact Form 7 Modules: Hidden Fields (Add hidden fields to the popular Contact Form 7 plugin.)
  • Contact Form 7 Modules: Send All Fields (Send all submitted fields in the message body using one simple tag: [all-fields].)
  • Contact Form CFDB7 (Save and manage Contact Form 7 messages. Never lose important data.)
  • Contact Form DB (Save form submissions to your database.)
  • Enable Media Replace (Easily replace any media file by uploading a new file in the "Edit Media" section.)
  • Gutenberg (Adds functionality and features for the WordPress block editor.)
  • Health Check & Troubleshooting (Checks the health of your WordPress install.)
  • Mailgun (Mailgun integration for WordPress.)
  • Max Mega Menu (Enable a mega menu, written the WordPress way.)
  • Page Builder by SiteOrigin (A drag and drop, responsive page builder that simplifies building your website.)
  • Quick Page/Post Redirect Plugin (Redirect Pages, Posts or Custom Post Types to another location quickly.)
  • Really Simple SSL (Easily migrate your website to SSL.)
  • Regenerate Thumbnails (Regenerate the thumbnails for one or more image uploads.)
  • Simple CSS for widgets (Easily apply your own CSS class(es) to any specific widget.)
  • SiteOrigin Widgets Bundle (A collection of widgets ready to use, extendable and neatly bundled.)
  • Smart Slider 3 (Responsive slider plugin for WordPress.)
  • Wordfence Security (Firewall & Malware Scan for WordPress.)
  • WP Rollback (Rollback any WordPress.org theme or plugin to a previous version.)
  • WPCode (Easily add code snippets to WordPress.)
  • Yoast Duplicate Post (Clone posts and pages, including powerful Rewrite & Re-publish.)
  • Yoast SEO (SEO solution for WordPress including content analysis, XML sitemaps and more.)

Site Health Dashboard Info




### wp-core ###

version: 6.8
site_language: en_US
user_language: en_US
timezone: +00:00
permalink: /%postname%/
https_status: true
multisite: false
user_registration: 0
blog_public: 1
default_comment_status: open
environment_type: production
user_count: 11
dotorg_communication: true
wpengine_api: true
wpengine_api_direct: false

### wp-paths-sizes ###

wordpress_path: /nas/content/live/hiousa
wordpress_size: 138.89 MB (145635299 bytes)
uploads_path: /nas/content/live/hiousa/wp-content/uploads
uploads_size: 108.66 MB (113936503 bytes)
themes_path: /nas/content/live/hiousa/wp-content/themes
themes_size: 8.85 MB (9281616 bytes)
plugins_path: /nas/content/live/hiousa/wp-content/plugins
plugins_size: 147.58 MB (154751907 bytes)
fonts_path: /nas/content/live/hiousa/wp-content/uploads/fonts
fonts_size: directory not found
database_size: 107.03 MB (112230400 bytes)
total_size: 511.01 MB (535835725 bytes)

### wp-dropins (1) ###

advanced-cache.php: true

### wp-active-theme ###

name: Flat Bootstrap Child (flat-bootstrap-child)
version: 1.5
author: XtremelySocial
author_website: (undefined)
parent_theme: Flat Bootstrap (flat-bootstrap)
theme_features: core-block-patterns, widgets-block-editor, title-tag, automatic-feed-links, post-thumbnails, menus, html5, editor-styles, editor-style, custom-background, custom-header, widgets
theme_path: /nas/content/live/hiousa/wp-content/themes/flat-bootstrap-child
auto_update: Disabled

### wp-parent-theme ###

name: Flat Bootstrap (flat-bootstrap)
version: 1.10.1
author: XtremelySocial
author_website: https://xtremelysocial.com
theme_path: /nas/content/live/hiousa/wp-content/themes/flat-bootstrap
auto_update: Disabled

### wp-themes-inactive (1) ###

Twenty Twenty-Four: version: 1.3, author: the WordPress team, Auto-updates disabled

### wp-mu-plugins (6) ###

Force Strong Passwords - WPE Edition: version: 1.8.0, author: Jason Cosper
Health Check Troubleshooting Mode: author: (undefined), version: 1.9.2
WP Engine Cache Plugin: version: 1.3.3, author: WP Engine
WP Engine Seamless Login Plugin: version: 1.6.1, author: WP Engine
WP Engine Security Auditor: version: 1.1.1, author: wpengine
WP Engine System: version: 6.4.4, author: WP Engine

### wp-plugins-active (25) ###

Accordions - By PickPlugins: version: 2.3.11, author: PickPlugins (latest version: 2.3.12), Auto-updates disabled
Classic Editor: version: 1.6.7, author: WordPress Contributors, Auto-updates disabled
Contact Form 7: version: 6.0.6, author: Takayuki Miyoshi, Auto-updates disabled
Contact Form 7 Modules: Hidden Fields: version: 2.0.2, author: Katz Web Services, Inc., Auto-updates disabled
Contact Form 7 Modules: Send All Fields: version: 2.0.2, author: Katz Web Services, Inc., Auto-updates disabled
Contact Form CFDB7: version: 1.3.0, author: Arshid, Auto-updates disabled
Contact Form DB: version: 2.10.26, author: Michael Simpson, Auto-updates disabled
Enable Media Replace: version: 4.1.6, author: ShortPixel, Auto-updates disabled
Gutenberg: version: 20.7.0, author: Gutenberg Team, Auto-updates disabled
Health Check & Troubleshooting: version: 1.7.1, author: The WordPress.org community, Auto-updates disabled
Mailgun: version: 2.1.7, author: Mailgun (latest version: 2.1.8), Auto-updates disabled
Max Mega Menu: version: 3.5, author: megamenu.com, Auto-updates disabled
Page Builder by SiteOrigin: version: 2.31.7, author: SiteOrigin (latest version: 2.31.8), Auto-updates disabled
Quick Page/Post Redirect Plugin: version: 5.2.4, author: anadnet, Auto-updates disabled
Really Simple Security: version: 9.3.5, author: Really Simple Security, Auto-updates disabled
Regenerate Thumbnails: version: 3.1.6, author: Alex Mills (Viper007Bond), Auto-updates disabled
Simple CSS for widgets: version: 1.0, author: Gagan S Goraya, Auto-updates disabled
SiteOrigin Widgets Bundle: version: 1.68.2, author: SiteOrigin (latest version: 1.68.3), Auto-updates disabled
Smart Slider 3: version: 3.5.1.27, author: Nextend, Auto-updates disabled
The Tooltip: version: 1.0.2, author: Alobaidi, Auto-updates disabled
Wordfence Security: version: 8.0.5, author: Wordfence, Auto-updates disabled
WPCode Lite: version: 2.2.7, author: WPCode, Auto-updates disabled
WP Rollback: version: 2.0.7, author: WP Rollback, Auto-updates disabled
Yoast Duplicate Post: version: 4.5, author: Enrico Battocchi & Team Yoast, Auto-updates disabled
Yoast SEO: version: 25.0, author: Team Yoast (latest version: 25.1), Auto-updates disabled

### wp-media ###

image_editor: WP_Image_Editor_Imagick
imagick_module_version: 1691
imagemagick_version: ImageMagick 6.9.11-60 Q16 x86_64 2021-01-25 https://imagemagick.org
imagick_version: 3.7.0
file_uploads: 1
post_max_size: 100M
upload_max_filesize: 50M
max_effective_size: 50 MB
max_file_uploads: 20
imagick_limits: 
    imagick::RESOURCETYPE_AREA: 137 MB
    imagick::RESOURCETYPE_DISK: 1073741824
    imagick::RESOURCETYPE_FILE: 6144
    imagick::RESOURCETYPE_MAP: 512 MB
    imagick::RESOURCETYPE_MEMORY: 256 MB
    imagick::RESOURCETYPE_THREAD: 1
    imagick::RESOURCETYPE_TIME: 9.22337203685E+18
imagemagick_file_formats: 3FR, 3G2, 3GP, AAI, AI, APNG, ART, ARW, AVI, AVIF, AVS, BGR, BGRA, BGRO, BIE, BMP, BMP2, BMP3, BRF, CAL, CALS, CANVAS, CAPTION, CIN, CIP, CLIP, CMYK, CMYKA, CR2, CR3, CRW, CUR, CUT, DATA, DCM, DCR, DCX, DDS, DFONT, DJVU, DNG, DOT, DPX, DXT1, DXT5, EPDF, EPI, EPS, EPS2, EPS3, EPSF, EPSI, EPT, EPT2, EPT3, ERF, EXR, FAX, FILE, FITS, FRACTAL, FTP, FTS, G3, G4, GIF, GIF87, GRADIENT, GRAY, GRAYA, GROUP4, GV, H, HALD, HDR, HEIC, HISTOGRAM, HRZ, HTM, HTML, HTTP, HTTPS, ICB, ICO, ICON, IIQ, INFO, INLINE, IPL, ISOBRL, ISOBRL6, J2C, J2K, JBG, JBIG, JNG, JNX, JP2, JPC, JPE, JPEG, JPG, JPM, JPS, JPT, JSON, K25, KDC, LABEL, M2V, M4V, MAC, MAGICK, MAP, MASK, MAT, MATTE, MEF, MIFF, MKV, MNG, MONO, MOV, MP4, MPC, MPG, MRW, MSL, MSVG, MTV, MVG, NEF, NRW, NULL, ORF, OTB, OTF, PAL, PALM, PAM, PANGO, PATTERN, PBM, PCD, PCDS, PCL, PCT, PCX, PDB, PDF, PDFA, PEF, PES, PFA, PFB, PFM, PGM, PGX, PICON, PICT, PIX, PJPEG, PLASMA, PNG, PNG00, PNG24, PNG32, PNG48, PNG64, PNG8, PNM, POCKETMOD, PPM, PREVIEW, PS, PS2, PS3, PSB, PSD, PTIF, PWP, RADIAL-GRADIENT, RAF, RAS, RAW, RGB, RGBA, RGBO, RGF, RLA, RLE, RMF, RW2, SCR, SCT, SFW, SGI, SHTML, SIX, SIXEL, SPARSE-COLOR, SR2, SRF, STEGANO, SUN, SVG, SVGZ, TEXT, TGA, THUMBNAIL, TIFF, TIFF64, TILE, TIM, TTC, TTF, TXT, UBRL, UBRL6, UIL, UYVY, VDA, VICAR, VID, VIDEO, VIFF, VIPS, VST, WBMP, WEBM, WEBP, WMF, WMV, WMZ, WPG, X, X3F, XBM, XC, XCF, XPM, XPS, XV, XWD, YCbCr, YCbCrA, YUV
gd_version: 2.3.0
gd_formats: GIF, JPEG, PNG, WebP, BMP, XPM
ghostscript_version: not available

### wp-server ###

server_architecture: Linux 5.4.0-1145-gcp x86_64
httpd_software: Apache
php_version: 8.2.28 64bit
php_sapi: apache2handler
max_input_variables: 10000
time_limit: 3600
memory_limit: 512M
max_input_time: 3600
upload_max_filesize: 50M
php_post_max_size: 100M
curl_version: 7.81.0 OpenSSL/3.0.2
suhosin: false
imagick_availability: true
pretty_permalinks: true
htaccess_extra_rules: false
static_robotstxt_file: true
current: 2025-05-14T01:31:20+00:00
utc-time: Wednesday, 14-May-25 01:31:20 UTC
server-time: 2025-05-14T01:31:19+00:00

### wp-database ###

extension: mysqli
server_version: 8.0.41-32
client_version: mysqlnd 8.2.28
max_allowed_packet: 16777216
max_connections: 500

### wp-constants ###

WP_HOME: undefined
WP_SITEURL: undefined
WP_CONTENT_DIR: /nas/content/live/hiousa/wp-content
WP_PLUGIN_DIR: /nas/content/live/hiousa/wp-content/plugins
WP_MEMORY_LIMIT: 40M
WP_MAX_MEMORY_LIMIT: 512M
WP_DEBUG: false
WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY: false
WP_DEBUG_LOG: false
SCRIPT_DEBUG: false
WP_CACHE: true
CONCATENATE_SCRIPTS: undefined
COMPRESS_SCRIPTS: undefined
COMPRESS_CSS: undefined
WP_ENVIRONMENT_TYPE: undefined
WP_DEVELOPMENT_MODE: undefined
DB_CHARSET: utf8
DB_COLLATE: undefined

### wp-filesystem ###

wordpress: writable
wp-content: writable
uploads: writable
plugins: writable
themes: writable
fonts: does not exist
mu-plugins: writable

Observations

  • there are several securitiy tasks in the site health enviroment.

Questions

  1. I was supposed to get accese to the dev and staging sites as well as hiousa.com but I only have accese to hiousa.com and the dev site.

Rebuild

My current recomendation is that we completly rebuild the site from the ground up. The page editor is junk and then there are so many overlaping plugins I don't even want to start messing with them and to top it off the site is not well built to begin with.

My Offer

-

From hiousa-ui-design-checklist.md

title: HIOUSA UI Design Checklist

Design blueprint

Basic web design example tailored to Hole in One

✅ HIOUSA Rebuild – UI/UX Design Checklist

🔁 Quote Conversion

  • [ ] CTA “Get an Instant Quote” in hero section
  • [ ] Sticky header with visible CTA
  • [ ] Multi-step quote form (modal or inline)
  • [ ] Call-to-action repeated at bottom of page

📱 Mobile Optimization

  • [ ] Mobile-first design principles followed
  • [ ] Responsive across all breakpoints
  • [ ] Navigation is touch-friendly and collapsible
  • [ ] Form elements are thumb-reachable
  • [ ] Font sizes ≥ 16px for readability

🛡 Trust & Credibility

  • [ ] Include testimonial carousel with photos/names
  • [ ] Add “Over $50M in prizes paid” banner
  • [ ] Display licensing and underwriter badges
  • [ ] Feature client logos or affiliations

🧱 Design System & Structure

  • [ ] Use 12-column layout grid
  • [ ] Max 2 typefaces used across site
  • [ ] Pre-designed reusable content blocks
  • [ ] Elementor or similar no-code builder selected
  • [ ] Design files exportable as templates

🚀 Performance & Accessibility

  • [ ] Theme selected for speed (e.g., Astra, GeneratePress)
  • [ ] Images optimized and lazy-loaded
  • [ ] Alt tags on all media elements
  • [ ] High contrast ratios for accessibility
  • [ ] Lighthouse score ≥ 90 for mobile & desktop

🧪 Measurement Readiness

  • [ ] Google Analytics installed
  • [ ] Tag Manager added
  • [ ] Form submissions tracked as goals
  • [ ] Heatmap tool enabled (e.g., Hotjar, Clarity)

From hiousa-ui-design-strategy.md

title: HIOUSA UI Design Strategy

🎯 Core UI Design Focus Areas for HIOUSA.com

1. Conversion-First Layouts

Goal: Drive leads via quotes and inquiries.

  • 🟢 Primary CTA in hero: “Get an Instant Quote” button
  • 🎯 Sticky header with a contrasting CTA button
  • 🧩 Reusable blocks: service highlights, trust badges, testimonials, quote form
  • 📋 Multi-step quote modal or inline form (don’t send users to a new page)

Why it matters: You're selling prize insurance — not blog posts. The UI should funnel users to the quote action fast, with minimal friction.

2. Clean, Mobile-Optimized Structure

Goal: Mobile-first design with responsive behaviors across breakpoints.

  • 🧱 Use a 12-column grid system and clear spacing rules
  • 📱 Prioritize thumb-reachable CTAs and simplified navigation
  • 📉 Collapse secondary content into accordions or tabs on mobile
  • 📐 Use larger fonts and buttons for all form inputs

3. Trust & Authority Signals

Goal: Reassure users that HIOUSA is safe, experienced, and legitimate.

  • 🏆 Showcases: “$50M+ in prizes paid”, “17,000+ events covered”
  • 🧾 A+ insurance rating badge or underwriter partner info
  • ✅ Client logos or “As seen in…” banners
  • 🗣 Testimonials with names and organizations

4. Visual Hierarchy & Simplicity

Goal: Guide the user visually — no cognitive overload.

  • 🧠 One idea per section; scannable copy
  • ✍️ Limit to ~2 typefaces (heading + body)
  • 🎨 Strong color contrast for CTAs, subtle neutrals for body sections
  • 📏 Consistent margins, padding, and spacing across components

5. Modular, Scalable Design System

Goal: Allow the team (Amy, David, future vendors) to reuse and maintain sections.

  • ✅ Pre-designed blocks for:
  • Service highlights
  • Case studies/testimonials
  • Industry-specific landing pages
  • Embedded lead capture forms
  • 🧱 Built with Elementor or similar (not hardcoded)

6. Performance & Accessibility

Goal: Ensure fast load times and compliance.

  • 🚀 Use lightweight themes (GeneratePress, Astra)
  • 🧼 Optimize images and only load essentials
  • ♿️ Ensure color contrast, alt text, and keyboard nav
  • 🌐 Test using Lighthouse, GTMetrix, and WebPageTest

👇 Recap: Your Top 5 UI Priorities

Priority Outcome
🔁 Clear quote funnel More lead submissions
📱 Mobile-first layout Wider accessibility
🛡 Trust-building elements Higher conversion confidence
🧱 Modular content blocks Faster iterations & scalability
🚀 Speed & accessibility Better SEO + usability