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The Biggest Ukrainian Independent Media Website

A high-load media platform built for millions of users

Duration: 2018 – 2019

Customer location: Ukraine

Industry: Media

Services: Custom Software Development ● Front-End Development

Tech stack: AWS ● AWS EC2 ● AWS Lambda ● Docker ● Kubernetes ● Node.js ● Nuxt.js ● PostgreSQL ● React ● Redux ● Ruby On Rails

Dedicated team behind the project

Andrii

Tech Lead

Anton

Senior Software Engineer

Mykola

Senior Software Engineer

Markiyan

UI/UX Designer

Volodymyr

Software Engineer

Taras

QA Engineer

Ruslan

Senior QA Engineer

Olha

Project Manager

The client

Hromadske.UA is the first in Ukraine media platform, created and controlled by journalists. It’s independent of any kind of authority, politicians or oligarchs, and orientated on unbiased news.

The Hromadske team was interested in the load and performance improvement to the flawless performance of the high-load system. Enhancing security was also an important issue for the team since they wanted to protect the system from potential DDoS attacks.

Client achievements:

IMI White List

Hromadske is recognized on the white list of the highest quality online media by the Institute of Mass Information (IMI), solidifying its position as a trusted independent news source.

5 Million Monthly Views

Hromadske’s website, hromadske.ua, attracts more than 5 million views per month, showcasing its wide reach and influence.

Social Media Reach of 23 Million

Across its social media platforms, Hromadske engages over 23 million users, significantly extending its digital presence.
Services, pricing, and availability customization for each venue from a single profile.

100+ Journalists

With a team of more than 100 journalists, Hromadske is the largest independent media in Ukraine.
Services, pricing, and availability customization for each venue from a single profile.

Raised 1.1M individual contributions

In 2013, Hromadske raised over 1.1 million through individual contributions, which grew to almost 1.5 million in the first quarter of 2014, supporting its mission during its foundational years. Read more.

Launch of Hromadske International

In 2014, Hromadske launched Hromadske International, a platform dedicated to delivering Ukrainian news to English-speaking audiences, broadening its global reach. Read more.

Production of Hromadske HRO PRO

Hromadske established HRO PRO, a production division that collaborates with major partners such as McDonald’s, Bosch, UNICEF, Uber, and others. This division creates exclusive video projects both for Hromadske and its partners, meeting the growing demand for on-demand media content. Read more.

The challenge

The platform already had more than 2,5 million visitors every month. This number was projected to grow steadily, so the challenge was to ensure auto-scaling without any disruption to the work.

Also, the team required custom software for redactors and content creators who were managing the content flow of the website.
The great part of the project was dedicated to DevOps challenges, security, and scalability improvement: hosting costs optimization, services for mitigating DDoS attacks integration, performance optimization.

What was done

We created a new high-load platform for a wide audience of all ages. As the current audience didn’t stay for a long time on the resource, our tasks were to attract new readers and to hold the current audience longer on the platform. We had to offer a more personalized interface and implement unique features to bring the brand closer to a consumer.

Implemented features:

Convenient admin panel for journalists

We developed a сustom CMS for redactors that make the process of news posting fast and easy. Features:

Ability to add video and pictures;
Ability to customize the blocks and structure of the publications;
Ability to plan and postpone publications.

Clear navigation for both visitors and search engines

We improved the site’s navigation and content organization. Features:

Instant search of publications;
Custom sorting of publications by data and relevance;
Automatic translation of the publications.

AutoScaling and DevOps Automation

We developed a responsive and fast high-load system using Auto Scaling on AWS to ensure the scalability and security of the solution and its flawless performance.

Additional features

Integrations with social networks We simplified the website’s content promotion
for journalists.

Live TV Stream: a custom video service was developed that is distributed via Youtube, Smart TV, IPTV Player, and the primary Ukrainian streaming services.