Baylor College Of Medicine (BCM)
The challenge
As a Senior PHP Full-Stack Developer, I was responsible for maintaining and improving the Drupal 8-based website for Baylor College of Medicine (BCM). The project required:
- Migrating outdated location data from an obsolete system into BCM’s Drupal platform.
- Creating a dynamic locations page featuring a Google Map and a structured list of facilities.
- Resolving issues with user data migration, where user records were inconsistently imported from an external system via XML files.
- Ongoing site maintenance, including UI/UX improvements and style adjustments.
The solution
I successfully implemented the following key solutions using Drupal 8, PHP, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and jQuery:
Location Page with Google Maps Integration
- Developed a custom Drupal view to display BCM’s locations dynamically.
- Integrated Google Maps API to provide an interactive map view.
- Designed a two-column layout: locations listed on the left and a map displaying corresponding markers on the right.
User Data Migration & Cron Job Optimization
- Diagnosed and resolved issues with user data migration from an external system generating XML files.
- Used Drupal’s Migrate module to refine the import process and prevent duplicate users.
- Modified the cron job, which ran weekly on Acquia’s server, ensuring smooth automated data updates.
General Maintenance & UI Enhancements
- Performed styling updates and resolved various front-end bugs to enhance user experience.
- Assisted in ensuring Drupal security updates and content management best practices.
The impact
- Improved Location Management: The new locations page with Google Maps provided a user-friendly way to explore BCM’s facilities.
- Streamlined User Migration: Fixing the XML-based import process reduced errors and improved data integrity.
- Enhanced Performance & Maintainability: Regular maintenance and UI improvements kept the website functional and engaging.