mediasetbg.com

About mediasetbg.com

It all starts with one question: how does content reach the user — quickly, reliably, and beautifully?

Approach

  • Individual Approach

    No two sites were alike, because no two clients were alike.

  • Functionality & Stability

    A site had to work, hold together, and feel like its own — not like a template.

  • Long-Term Partnership

    We didn't disappear after launch — we stayed with the client as needs and technologies changed.

mediasetbg.com

The MediaSet Bulgaria idea was the work of an engineer named Georgi Georgiev — with a lasting passion for web technology and for radio and television, one that took root back in his university years. That combination, paired with what was possible at the time — the local networks of Studentski Grad and the first steps of the internet in Bulgaria — grew into a platform of its own and a radio station of its own. In 2003, after the network expanded, the idea also got a website name: mediasetbg.com.

The base was in Sofia, but the clients were spread across the whole country. From cultural institutions in the capital to community cultural centers and associations in smaller towns, distance was rarely an obstacle — communication happened by phone, email, and remote server access rather than in-person meetings.

From the very beginning, the leading priority was combining functionality, stability, and a visual identity tailored to each client's specific needs — experience gained directly from years of work on BIGBEN Search and BIGBEN Server.

Interfaces were built with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, while the back-end ran on plain PHP, and later on the CodeIgniter framework — lightweight and well suited to projects built by a single developer. Databases ran on MySQL, and later on MariaDB and PostgreSQL, depending on the project's needs. Day-to-day work relied on familiar tools of the time — phpMyAdmin for databases, FileZilla for uploading files over FTP, and a text editor such as Notepad++ or Sublime Text for the code itself.

Over the years, mediasetbg.com became a long-term partner to its clients, supporting them not only through the initial stage of building an online presence but also through its ongoing development and adaptation to changing needs and technologies.

Technologies

  1. 2002

    MediaSet Bulgaria — The Idea

    It all begins in the spring of 2002 with the MediaSet Bulgaria idea — a combination of passion for web technology and for radio and television. It grows alongside the expansion of Studentski Grad's local networks until, in 2003, with the BIGBEN network's expansion, the idea gets a website name too: mediasetbg.com.

  2. 2003

    A Platform of Our Own — The Prototype

    When we started in 2003, off-the-shelf CMS platforms (WordPress and the like) still weren't stable enough, so we first built a platform of our own — a self-contained front-end and back-end for content control, built from scratch with a focus on reliability and ease of management.

  3. 2010

    @PANEL

    It withstood every attempted breach throughout its entire service life. Its performance was phenomenal, and its extensibility knew no bounds. This platform was later reborn under the name @PANEL.

  4. 2015

    The Move to WordPress

    Later, as off-the-shelf content management systems matured and became established, some of the maintained sites moved to WordPress, following the natural evolution of web technology.

  5. 2015 →

    From Trade to Hobby

    From 2015 onward, mediasetbg.com stops being a primary professional activity and becomes a hobby — work on existing sites continues, but without new orders and without a commercial element. The years of paid, professional activity remain 2002–2015; everything after that happens purely out of personal interest in technology.

Completed Sites

  • “Gabrovo 2002” Community Cultural Center

    Currently on WordPress

    gabrovo2002.com

  • “Dr. Petar Beron 1926” Community Cultural Center — Sofia

    Currently on WordPress

    pberon1926.com

  • Regional Centre for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in South-Eastern Europe, under the Auspices of UNESCO

    Currently on WordPress

    unesco-centerbg.org

  • Student Scientific Society (SNO) at UniBIT

    Currently on WordPress. The original site is here

    sno.unibit.bg

  • “My Beautiful Country”

    A children's site connected to UNESCO

    kids.bgtreasures.net

  • Personal site of Prof. Ventsislav Velev, PhD

    Currently on WordPress

    vvelev.info

  • National Commission of the Republic of Bulgaria for UNESCO

    Main site

    unesco-bg.org

  • Tangible Cultural Heritage

    A subsite of UNESCO Bulgaria. Originally hosted at bul-ch.net

    unesco-bg.org/culture/bul-ch/

  • Intangible Cultural Heritage

    A subsite of UNESCO Bulgaria. Originally hosted at bul-ich.net

    unesco-bg.org/culture/bul-ich/

  • Georgi Georgiev's personal site — résumé

    Résumé and references

    cv.ggeorgiev.info

  • Georgi Georgiev's personal site — hobbies

    Hobbies without end…

    hobby.ggeorgiev.info

  • Technical University of Sofia, Faculty of Power Engineering, Department of Thermal and Nuclear Power Engineering

    Site version 1.0. Currently on WordPress

    dtnpe.tu-sofia.bg

  • ASAP Travel

    ASAP Travel agency — As Soon As Possible

    asap.hit.bg

  • Learn More

    A BIGBEN Media satellite site with curious facts about the world

    learnmore.hit.bg

  • BIGBEN News

    The “Disinformation Daily” — a BIGBEN Media satellite site

    bigbennews.hit.bg

  • “Natural Heritage”

    Currently on WordPress

    unesconaturebg.info

Questions & Answers

Who was the service for?

mediasetbg.com's services were aimed at both individuals and organizations — from cultural and public institutions, through community cultural centers and associations, to organizations with international activities. Clients included national commissions, regional centers, and community cultural centers from various towns across the country, as well as personal sites for individual people. The flexible approach made it possible to work with clients from a wide range of fields, each with its own specifics and requirements — whether the project was a small personal site or a larger institutional page with more content to manage.

Why does only mediasetbg.com have an official website?

Unlike Radio BIGBEN, BIGBEN Search, BIGBEN Video, and BIGBEN Server, which were internal, non-commercial projects running only on the local network of Studentski Grad and with no need for a public presence, mediasetbg.com is the only one with an official website, because it was the only one carrying out real commercial activity — professional website design and maintenance services for third parties. Clients needed to see who stood behind the work, what was on offer, and how to get in touch — exactly the role this site still plays today, just now as an archive.

Does mediasetbg.com still offer these services?

Yes and no. Today, mediasetbg.com no longer accepts new orders or provides the services described on this site — concept, design, final polish, development, and technical support for websites. Commitments under already-signed contracts, however, continue to be honored according to the agreements made in the original contracts.

The site remains as an archive and portfolio. It tells the story of how mediasetbg.com began, what services were offered, and how the work was done, and brings together, in one place, some of what was accomplished over the years — from the in-house content management platform to the sites that later moved to WordPress.

That's why the text on the “Services” and “About” pages describes what used to be offered, not a current offer. The completed sites listed here are shown as part of mediasetbg.com's history. Their addresses are given for reference only, since some of them are no longer active or are no longer maintained by mediasetbg.com, and mediasetbg.com has no bearing on their current state.

The same applies to the Radio BIGBEN, BIGBEN Search, BIGBEN Video, and BIGBEN Server projects: they are internal, non-commercial, and long since discontinued, shown here as part of the history.

If you're a former client with a question about an old project, you can write to us through the “Contacts” page.

Thank you to all the clients, partners, and colleagues we worked with over the years — thanks to them, this site has something to show.

Thank you for working with us!