The Open Notebook - The Science Reporting Navigator
Relief Applications designed and developed The Science Reporting Navigator, an interactive e-learning hub integrated into The Open Notebook’s existing WordPress site. The platform delivers 10 self-paced lessons organized into 6 learning paths, supported by a science terms lexicon and a searchable resource library (templates, checklists, references) to help journalists use scientific sources and terminology confidently in daily reporting.
- Client
- The Open Notebook
- When
- Feb–Nov 2025
- Team
- 4 people
- Services
- App development
- Technologies
- WordPress, Elementor, Custom WordPress LMS plugin
- Industry
- Educational, Scientific and Culture, Advocacy and Human Rights
- SDGs
- 4. Quality education, 9. Industry, innovation and infrastructure, 16. Peace, justice and strong institutions
- Client website
- theopennotebook.com
The Open Notebook (TON) is a science journalism non-profit organization, online magazine, and publisher. They needed a dedicated “learning hub” to help non-science journalists quickly access scientific concepts, terminology, and trusted sources. The challenge was to turn editorial knowledge into an engaging, structured course experience, without rebuilding the platform from scratch, so users could learn efficiently and apply skills immediately in their reporting workflow. We collaborated with TON stakeholders to define the learning experience and information architecture: a homepage organizing content into learning paths, stand-alone lessons, and reference tools (lexicon/bibliography). We then designed UX/UI flows for busy users and implemented the training hub directly inside the existing WordPress environment. To support modular learning, we built a custom LMS-style WordPress plugin and added interactive components (quizzes/games), plus searchable navigation across resources and terminology. Relief Applications delivered end-to-end product work: UX/UI design, WordPress integration, custom plugin development, and implementation of interactive learning elements. We ensured the platform supports reusing lessons across learning paths, includes structured in-lesson navigation by section, and remains responsive and easy to maintain in WordPress. We also supported overall platform readiness through performance and quality-focused implementation. This project demonstrates Relief Applications’ ability to deliver interactive training platforms inside constrained client environments (existing WordPress), combining UX/UI product design with custom plugin development. It is directly relevant for proposals involving e-learning, knowledge hubs, content-heavy information architectures (lexicons, searchable libraries), modular course design (paths + lessons), and rapid adoption by time-poor professional audiences, while keeping maintenance realistic for client teams. The Open Notebook: https://www.theopennotebook.com/science-reporting-navigator/
The challenge
- WordPress constraints
- Modular content reuse
- Interactive learning UX
- Fast “grab-and-use” flow
What we did
- Custom LMS plugin
- Learning paths engine
- Lexicon + bibliography
- Quizzes / mini-games
- Tag-based resource search
