A New Look For Tahu FM

Tahu FM – a radio station based in the South Island of New Zealand – had an aging website that was difficult to edit. The media industry moves incredibly quickly, and the Tahu FM

team didn’t have time to contact their developer every time they wanted to make edits.

Challenge: Uninterrupted Streaming

Visitors to a radio station’s website usually want to listen in. A challenge for our Dev team was allowing users to stream TahuFM while also browsing the site without having their music interrupted.

We researched alternatives and decided to launch the audio streaming in a popup. This
is becoming standard for websites who also offer audio streaming and is a cost effective solution.

Challenge: Easy Editing

When you’re maintaining a website, there are some projects that you need a developer to help with. But you don’t want to be going to an agency for every little update you’d like to make. The Tahu FM team wanted the ability to update the website on their own, and keep it current with everything happening at their radio station.

The danger with easily editable sites and multiple editors is that standards can slip over time. Your website should always stay on brand. The last thing you want is for people to be able to point out which pages were created by a developer, and which ones weren’t.

For Tahu FM, we created a new SilverStripe 4 site with Elemental blocks. Block editing gives content authors so much more freedom to create new flexible content layouts while always
ensuring standards are followed and the end result looks good.

Basically, this means that every block has the correct fonts, the correct colours and layout. You have the freedom to add the content you need, but just enough restrictions to keep you from accidentally straying away from your brand guidelines.

For Tahu FM, we created a new SilverStripe 4 site with Elemental blocks. Block editing gives content authors so much more freedom to create new flexible content layouts while always
ensuring standards are followed and the end result looks good.

Basically, this means that every block has the correct fonts, the correct colours and layout. You have the freedom to add the content you need, but just enough restrictions to keep you from accidentally straying away from your brand guidelines.

Challenge: Clear Communication

Tahu FM is a bilingual Māori/English language station that represents one of New Zealand’s largest iwi (tribes). In our original briefing meetings we discussed the possibility of creating two translated versions of the site - one in Māori and the other English.

In the end, we all agreed that using one site with a blend of both languages was the best solution. Creating one bilingual website better mirrors TahuFM’s philosophy of using both languages on air, so the new website features both English and Te Reo Māori.

The Outcome

The Tahu FM team were delighted that the site is so easy to use and edit. They’re now able to update and manage the website content themselves. The previous website had minimal pages and content, simply because they weren’t able to keep it updated. 

Now the Tahu FM website has multiple pages and more in-depth information. For example, they now have a ‘News’ page which pulls through posts from their Facebook page. Pages about the different shows and presenters are filled with photos and embedded videos. Of course, all of this content is better from an SEO perspective, but it also keeps the website more up to date and relevant for users.

When did you last update your website? Are you able to do it yourself, or do you find yourself going to your developer each and every time? For a website that stays true to your and your brand guidelines, no matter who is updating it, let’s talk.

Let's Talk