Atlas CMS, our ecommerce platform and AB Electronics UK move

We're pleased to announce that our Atlas CMS, our Atlas eCommerce platform and the AB Electronics UK online shop now run on the latest version of ASP.NET Core.

This has been one of the largest pieces of development work we have undertaken in recent years. Much of it happened behind the scenes, so visitors may not notice a dramatic change in how the sites look. What they will notice is that everything feels quicker.

Why we moved to ASP.NET Core

Atlas CMS has been helping businesses and organisations manage their websites since 1999. For most of that time it was built on Microsoft's ASP.NET WebForms, which served us and our clients well for many years.

Technology moves on, however. ASP.NET Core is Microsoft's modern, cross-platform framework, offering substantial performance gains, better security features and a modular architecture. It also receives regular updates, so our clients' websites stay on a fully supported platform for years to come.

We first used ASP.NET Core for Atlas Lite CMS in 2024, followed by Virtual Swanage in 2025. Moving our full CMS and ecommerce systems across was the natural next step.

Atlas CMS

Rather than patching the old system, we rewrote Atlas CMS page by page using ASP.NET Core Razor Pages and Entity Framework Core. This gave us the chance to tidy up code that had grown over two decades and to remove features that were no longer needed.

The features our clients rely on are all still there, and the admin area will feel familiar. Pages simply open faster, lists of content sort and page more smoothly, and the system is easier for us to extend when a client needs something new.

Atlas eCommerce

Our ecommerce platform has received the same treatment. Orders, customers, discounts, stock control, product options and category management have all been rebuilt on the new framework.

We also took the opportunity to add new features and strengthen security, including:

• Stronger password protection and a more secure admin login
• Cloudflare Turnstile to protect forms from spam and bots without annoying puzzles
• EU VAT number validation and tariff code handling for international orders
• Support for the new EU low-value duty rules, which came into effect in July 2026
• Live currency conversion using European Central Bank exchange rates

AB Electronics UK

AB Electronics UK is our sister business, selling expansion boards for the Raspberry Pi and other small computers to customers around the world. It has always been the testing ground for our ecommerce platform, and it is the first shop to go live on the new system.

Running a busy international shop on the new platform has been the best possible test. Every part of the system, from the basket and checkout to order processing and shipping, has been proven with real customers and real orders.

Performance improvements

The most noticeable benefit of the upgrade is speed. ASP.NET Core handles each page request with far less processing overhead than the older framework, which means quicker server response times and a site that copes better at busy periods.

We have also improved the way the systems talk to the database, so that each page asks only for the information it needs. Settings and other frequently used data are cached in memory rather than fetched again on every visit.

The result is pages that load considerably faster, whether you are browsing on a high-speed connection or on a mobile network. Faster pages are better for visitors, and they also help with search engine rankings.

If you would like to know more about the new Atlas CMS, or you are thinking about a new website or online shop, please get in touch. We are always happy to help.