Pacific Horticulture
Modernizing a Legacy Publication into a Digital Membership & Content Platform
For decades, Pacific Horticulture built a strong following through its respected printed journal, sharing expert-driven stories, research and inspiration with gardeners, designers and horticulture professionals across the Pacific region. As the organization looked to expand its reach and stay relevant in a digital-first world, they began exploring ways to bring their print legacy, subscriber base and decades of archived content into a modern online experience.
They wanted to make their articles, issues and educational resources easier to access, connect more deeply with their community, and create a membership model that could support both their future growth and their long-standing mission.
The Challenge
While Pacific Horticulture had decades of credibility and a strong printed publication legacy, they faced several key challenges as they sought to modernize and expand:
- Their subscription model and content archive were built for print, which limited reach, agility and monetization possibilities.
- Access to older issues, articles and member resources was fragmented or not optimized for digital membership.
- They needed to transform from a print-centric publication into a dynamic online presence offering articles, issues, podcasts and partner networks.
- They required a centralized membership system that could handle subscriptions, donations, e-commerce, tiered access and gated content — all while preserving their brand and engaging an existing audience.
Pacific Horticulture is a nonprofit organization dedicated to enriching people’s lives by connecting them with the art, science and culture of West Coast gardening. Founded in 1968, the organization has served as a trusted source of horticultural knowledge through its journals, articles, educational programs and community partnerships. Today, Pacific Horticulture continues its mission by expanding into digital content, storytelling and ecological education for gardeners and professionals alike.
Client
Pacific Horticulture
Website
Industry
Sector
Environmental Education, Horticulture & Gardening, Nonprofit Media, Ecological Literacy
Our Solution
We designed and implemented a custom WordPress-based platform for Pacific Horticulture that integrates membership management, content access, subscription migrations, e-commerce storefront and donor functionality — creating a unified digital ecosystem.
A unified home for decades of print issues and new digital media
Digital Content Library & Archive System
Pacific Horticulture needed a way to bring decades of printed journals and their growing catalog of digital articles, podcasts and partner content into a single, searchable library. We built a fully custom archive system using structured taxonomies and meta fields, making it easy to organize every piece by date, topic, region and content type. Members can now browse, filter and explore all PH content in one place, while the team can publish new formats without being restricted by their print past.
A single, connected platform that manages every revenue stream and customer touchpoint
Unified Membership, Donation & E-Commerce System
Before working with us, Pacific Horticulture used many different tools to handle members, donations, event tickets and store orders. Nothing worked together, which made it hard for their team to keep track of people or give members a smooth experience.
We helped them by building one connected system that handles everything in one place. Now members can join, donate, buy event tickets or purchase merchandise all with the same account. Pacific Horticulture can see and manage everything from one dashboard, and their members enjoy a simple, easy experience every time they visit the site.
A simple, intuitive space for members to explore, learn and engage
Branded Member Portal & Dashboard
We also built a system that can handle many different types of memberships. Some people join to read articles and get full access to the content, while others join as “Industry Allies,” which lets them partner with Pacific Horticulture, share their services and even contribute to the online publication. Our system makes it easy for all these different members to log in, see what they have access to and use the site in a simple, friendly way.
