EOS Wetenschap:
one home
for science journalism

Wieni redesigned and rebuilt the digital platform of EOS Wetenschap on DatoCMS, Next.js, Supabase and Stripe. A patchwork of sites and domains became one coherent platform, with membership and a paywall built in from day one. Along the way, we moved thousands of existing subscribers to a new payment stack without asking them to sign up again.

Who is EOS Wetenschap?

EOS Wetenschap is the independent, non-profit publisher behind Eos, the popular science magazine for Flanders and the Netherlands. Besides the monthly magazine, EOS publishes longreads, blogs and opinion pieces, runs podcasts like Ik heb een vraag, keeps a science agenda and supports young talent through De Jonge Uitdagers. Its mission: helping readers look beyond the headlines with reliable facts and clear context.

How did Wieni help?

Over the years, EOS's digital presence had grown into a patchwork: separate sites for its different titles, around a dozen domains, and subscriptions managed in a legacy system outside EOS's own hands. EOS asked us to bring it all together in one future-proof platform, and to give the organisation full control over its members and revenue.

Wieni took care of the functional analysis, UX/UI design, content modelling, full-stack development, content and subscriber migration, and hosting.

Five highlights

1. One platform instead of a patchwork

Old domains now redirect to eoswetenschap.eu, and former standalone titles found a place inside the new platform. EOS Tracé, for example, lives on as a recognisable longread layout instead of a separate website. Content was migrated with scripts that scored every page on complexity: simple pages moved one to one, complex pages were simplified, and the most complex ones arrived as a title and URL for editors to finish by hand. Every content type got its own redirect plan, so search rankings and old links keep working.

2. A content model built for science storytelling

In DatoCMS, editors work with articles, podcasts, dossiers, themes, authors, magazines and agenda items. Articles come in different layouts (standard, longread and liveblog) and are built from around twenty content blocks, from galleries and audio to live feeds, statistics and teaser sections that fill themselves based on themes and tags. An editorial workflow guides every story from pitch to published, and external contributors can pitch through a simple form without needing a CMS account. Even ad bookings are managed in the CMS, with clash warnings when two advertisers want the same spot.

3. Membership and a paywall at the core

Becoming a member is now simple. Eighteen legacy subscription formulas were reduced to three clear plans, monthly or yearly, with pricing per region. Editors decide per article, podcast or magazine what is premium. Supabase handles accounts and login with a magic link or one-time code, plus "My EOS", where readers save articles and follow topics and authors. Stripe is the single source of truth for subscriptions, direct debit, promo codes and gift cards. Members manage their own plan, and EOS creates its own discount codes without needing a developer.

4. A subscriber migration without starting over

The most challenging part of the project happened behind the scenes. Thousands of active subscribers, many paying by SEPA direct debit, had to move from a legacy subscription system to Stripe. Together with Stripe's migrations team, we imported the existing direct debit mandates with their original references, so nobody had to sign a new mandate. Every legacy order was mapped to a new plan with its own transition offer, imported by idempotent scripts with dry runs, and checked order by order against production data before go-live. Subscribers were migrated in waves: a clean group at launch, the rest at their natural renewal. Customer service and print distribution keep working through read-only access to the new data.

5. Ready for what's next

The platform is built to grow. Next on the roadmap: a print-to-web integration that turns finished magazine articles into DatoCMS drafts, deeper personalisation based on followed themes, richer reader analytics and a closer integration of the youth platform.

The result

• One home: one coherent platform instead of a patchwork of sites and domains.

• In control: EOS manages its own members, plans and revenue.

• Built for storytelling: a flexible content model and editorial workflow for every type of story.

• A smooth switch: existing subscribers moved over without signing up again.

We're proud to support EOS Wetenschap in making science accessible to everyone, and look forward to writing the next chapter together.

Let's work together!

Interested in a collaboration? Send a mail to Vicky.