Science Night 2020
Event website with custom themes and plugins for the Malopolska Night of Scientists, featuring live streaming and educational content for children.
Overview
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, I developed a custom website for the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IFJ PAN) in Krakow. The site was created for the Malopolska Night of Scientists event, providing a platform to share scientific articles, host live streams, and publish instructional videos for physics experiments that children could conduct at home.
Technical Details
Platform
The website was built on BatFlat, a lightweight PHP CMS. I created custom themes and plugins tailored to the specific needs of the institute, extending the base functionality to support event requirements.
Key Features
Content Management
- Articles and publications related to the event
- Custom post types for different content categories
- Easy content management for non-technical staff
Live Streaming
- Integration of live broadcast functionality
- Embedded video player for real-time streaming
- Support for multiple concurrent viewers
Educational Content
- Video hosting for instructional experiment guides
- Child-friendly format for home-based physics experiments
- Categorized content organization
My Contributions
As the sole web developer on this project, I handled:
- Custom Theme - Designed and developed a theme matching the event branding and accessibility requirements
- Plugin Development - Created custom plugins compatible with BatFlat to add specific functionality
- Content Structure - Built content organization system for articles, videos, and streams
- Video Integration - Implemented video hosting and streaming capabilities
- Responsive Design - Ensured the site worked across devices for maximum reach
Key Features
- Custom BatFlat theme and plugins
- Live streaming integration
- Video hosting for experiment tutorials
- Articles and publications section
- Child-friendly educational content
- Mobile-responsive design
Lessons Learned
This project taught me how to quickly adapt to an unfamiliar CMS and extend it beyond its default capabilities. Working under pandemic constraints required efficient remote collaboration and clear communication. I learned how to build accessible educational content and handle live streaming integration for science communication purposes.