From 2007 to 2017, I served as the Lead Designer and Full-Stack Developer for Apaixonados por Séries, one of Brazil’s premier digital destinations for television enthusiasts. Over ten years, I guided the platform through five major architectural evolutions, culminating in a high-performance modern web application that served millions of news updates, reviews, and seasonal specials.

 

As the primary technical and creative force behind the site, my goal was to build a community-centric platform that could handle the massive traffic spikes associated with major TV premieres and finales. I was responsible for the entire user journey—from the visual branding and UI design to the backend database optimization.

 

WordPress at Scale
I customized WordPress to act as a high-volume editorial engine. This involved managing a massive database of episode reviews, news archives, and media galleries, ensuring that the backend remained fast and intuitive for a team of active contributors.

 

The Shift to Modern Web Standards

The 2017 relaunch (the 5th version) represented a complete technical overhaul:

Responsive Architecture: Transitioned the site from legacy fixed-width layouts to a fully fluid, mobile-first design using CSS3 Media Queries and HTML5.

Performance Engineering: Focused on creating a “lightweight” footprint. I optimized PHP execution and utilized jQuery and JavaScript to handle interactive elements like rating systems and real-time news feeds without slowing down the page load.

UI/UX Design: As the Lead Designer, I refreshed the visual identity five times over the decade, ensuring the site always felt modern and aligned with the high-energy world of entertainment.

 

My Role & Contributions

• Lead Designer & Developer: Handled the complete lifecycle of the project—from wireframing and UI mockups to front-end coding and backend PHP development.
• Iterative Innovation: Managed five full-scale site migrations and redesigns, successfully porting a decade’s worth of legacy content into modern frameworks each time.
• Scalability Expert: Implemented caching and optimization strategies to ensure the site remained stable during high-traffic events like the Oscars, Emmys, or major series finales.
• Content Strategy Integration: Developed custom post types and taxonomies in WordPress to categorize thousands of TV shows from the US, Brazil, and beyond.