azionelab-v2/docs/adr/0001-wordpress-single-page.md

ADR-0001: WordPress single-page architecture

Date: 2026-06-24

Status: Accepted

Context

Azione!Lab needs a warm editorial single page whose primary content can be edited by non-developers. This branch explicitly explores WordPress as an alternative product architecture and starts independently from main.

Decision

Use pinned WordPress 7.0/PHP 8.3 with MariaDB 11.8 LTS. Build a dependency-free custom classic theme for exact semantic markup and responsive design. Store homepage fields as sanitized theme modifications, while a must-use plugin owns Shows and Gallery custom post types so structured content is not lost when changing themes.

NGINX is the only public entry point. WP-CLI provides an idempotent opt-in bootstrap; Certbot provides opt-in direct TLS. Docker networks isolate the database and functional tests use separate volumes.

Consequences

• Editors use familiar WordPress screens without a page builder or required plugin.
• WordPress renders the page directly; there is no headless API/frontend deployment.
• WordPress and MariaDB replace Astro, Wagtail, Django, and PostgreSQL in this branch.
• Core/theme/plugin patches require an image rebuild in production.
• Fixed participation cards remain code until editorial requirements justify another structured content type.

Alternatives considered

• A block theme was not selected because the first version prioritizes controlled markup and a compact implementation over full-site editing.
• A commercial/custom-fields plugin was rejected as an unnecessary dependency.
• A headless WordPress frontend was rejected because it would recreate the operational complexity this variant is intended to remove.

Security impact

The architecture inherits WordPress's public CMS attack surface. The implementation reduces it with network isolation, no direct application port, disabled file editing and XML-RPC, production immutability, sanitization/escaping, rate limiting, security headers, and fail-closed TLS. Admin MFA and allowlisting remain external controls.

Operational impact

Database and WordPress files are coordinated state and must be backed up together. Operators must monitor upstream security releases and rebuild pinned images. SMTP and off-host storage are not part of this minimal base.

Rollback

Revert the implementation commit and rebuild. Preserve WordPress, database, and certificate volumes unless data deletion is intentional. Restore data only from a verified coordinated backup.