On Jan. 1st, working with Anaid Productions, Slice Network & Mod7 Communications, Fuse launched phase 2 of xweighted.com. The popular Canadian weight loss reality show airing on Slice Network had a mandate to bring X Weighted to the masses through the web. The result is a 26 week online National Challenge that leverages social networking, weight loss tools, professional guidance & let's not forget the sweet sweet prizes all in an effort to help Canadians lose weight.
On opening weekend of the National Challenge, the site had nearly 4000 participants sign up with a combined total weight loss goal of 113229 pounds! While the National Challenge is now closed to new sign-ups, anyone is welcome to join and start their own 26 week weight loss challenge. The site continues to grow with hundreds of new participants signing up each week.
Drupal was chosen as the platform because of it's strong social networking and content management features out of the box. As one of Vancouver's Drupal Specialty shops, Fuse was brought on to provide Drupal consulting, configuration, custom module development and theming. With stunning interaction design by Mod7, it was a pleasure for us to build. Some of the bigger challenges we faced with this project included Drupal driven Flash components, Drupal iPhone application interfacing, and custom modules using Drupal's Ajax handlers. Using the services module we managed to get most of the data the Flash components and iPhone apps needed while a custom module took care of a few of things that Drupal didn't have access to on it's own. The last piece of the puzzle was working with Drupal's Ajax implementation. Fuse created several unique modules that gave users the ability to create and edit content seamlessly and in a way they have become accustomed to in the most successful social networking sites.
About The Show
"For three seasons, X-Weighted has followed unique and courageous individuals on their precarious weight-loss journeys. The brave participants exposed all in their daily war on fat and their brutal honesty, openness and perseverance made for compelling and inspiring viewing. Now, moving into its fourth season, X-Weighted turns its focus on a Canadian epidemic - obese families."