One platform, two very different audiences
Orthogate is an independent orthopaedic community that has connected medical students, residents, surgeons and patients for more than 20 years. Its Joomla site had grown into forums, a job board, a directory, an academy and a separate WordPress section for long-form content.
Professionals and patients were looking for completely different things in the same place. Founder Dr. Christian Veillette wanted a modern Joomla 6 platform with a clear path for each group – and the right access for verified surgeons.
Goal: upgrade to Joomla 6 and redesign the site into separate Professional and Patient experiences, with verified access, new forums and personal dashboards.
Six phases, from migration to personal dashboards
- Joomla 6 migrationThe whole platform moved to Joomla 6.
- Separate Professional & Patient templatesDesigned in Figma and built on the T4 Framework, with a new mega menu and information architecture for each audience.
- Kunena → EasyDiscuss forumsThe migration tool needed fixes and customisation; Kunena sub-categories became EasyDiscuss tags in a new Professional / Patient category structure.
- Registration, ACL & verificationFast sign-up, then the right access after verification: professional and patient groups, surgeon verification with admin notifications, LinkedIn login and guided profile completion.
- Directory, mentorship & job boardJReviews listings for the directory, mentorship and job board, with free and paid listings.
- Dynamic “My Dashboard”A personal dashboard for each of four user groups.
- WordPress /press content migratedThe textbook, Deep Research and Musculoskeletal Insights content moved from WordPress into Joomla.
Live on Joomla 6 since August 2026
The new Orthogate went live in August 2026. Professionals land on a career and clinical hub – Exchange Forum, job board, mentorship, education and news – while patients get their own pathway with condition guides, community support and a specialist directory.
In the launch announcement, Dr. Veillette described the release as a “major upgrade and structural modernization” of the platform.
The new Orthogate
Professional home
Career and clinical hub.
Patient experience
Condition guides and support.
Exchange Forum
Kunena migrated to EasyDiscuss.
Job board
Fellowships and jobs in JReviews.
Textbook content
Moved from WordPress into Joomla.
