The SLAY Magazine
An editorial home for a lifestyle magazine — stories, editions, SLAY TV and submissions — that she publishes to from her own dashboard.
- My role
- Website design and development — rebuild, publishing tools and launch on the client's own domain.
- Built for
- Media & publishing
- Project type
- Digital magazine website & issue library
- Built with
- PHP · JavaScript · Webflow CMS sync · HostGator
The story
What problem existed, and what we built.
The problem
Links to Slay World and Slay Submissions were broken, the media kit was out of date, social icons were missing YouTube and the X mark, and the digital editions were sold through a third-party platform.
What I built
A full rebuild called "The Living Issue": a cream-and-gold editorial site with a video hero, where publishing, scheduling and archiving happen in LaTarsha Studio. The editions page can list digital books for sale straight from the dashboard.
What it had to achieve
- Fix the dead links and refresh the media kit
- Let her publish without opening a site builder
- Bring digital editions onto the magazine's own site
The customer's experience
A reader opens to a video hero and a clear editorial menu, then moves between stories, editions, SLAY TV, events and submissions without a dead end.
What customers can do
- Read stories and browse the magazine editions
- Watch SLAY TV and follow event coverage
- Download the current media kit
- Submit a blog, editorial, model or photography pitch
- Subscribe to the newsletter
The owner & staff experience
She writes and schedules stories in Studio and sees them on the public site within about a minute. Digital books she publishes show up on the editions page without a site republish.
What the business can do
- Publish, schedule, archive and duplicate stories
- Manage magazine issues and the newsletter list
- Review messages and submissions
- Upload digital books that appear on the editions page automatically
How it works
Architecture & integrations.
How the application, data, access controls, and connected services work together.
Existing content kept
Stories and issues continue to flow from her existing content library, so the move did not mean re-entering years of work.
Editions from the dashboard
Ready, published books appear on the editions page with cover, price and a buy link; drafts never show.
Design decisions
The choices that shaped it — and why.
A page-turn "S"
The logo and the cream page background lean on the feel of an actual printed issue.
Submissions by email, honestly
Each submission card opens an email to the magazine's public address, and the page says so, rather than implying an application system.
How it was built
Development process
- 1Fixed the broken navigation, media kit and social icons
- 2Rebuilt the full site from her brand handoff
- 3Connected publishing and the editions catalog to Studio
- 4Moved the domain and verified every page
Technical overview
Technology & implementation
Technology stack
- PHP
- JavaScript
- Webflow CMS sync
- HostGator
Implementation scope
Website design and development — rebuild, publishing tools and launch on the client's own domain.
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Read the case studyWant something like this for your business?
Tell me how your days go and what you'd like to stop doing by hand. I'll tell you honestly what would help.