Migrate Legacy FrontPage Static HTML Travel Site (Thousands of Photos) to WordPress

Note: The description below was generated with help from Gemini, so it may be better to use a different approach to accomplish the website migration. We are looking for an experienced WordPress developer with web scripting / automation capabilities to help migrate patoczka.net—a classic, 25-year-old static HTML travel photo website created with Microsoft FrontPage—to a modern WordPress platform. The current site contains thousands of travel photographs organized across deep subfolder hierarchies, complete with individual photo captions embedded in HTML tables and lists. KEY PROJECT REQUIREMENTS: 1. Preserve Original Aesthetic & Scheme: - Recreate the simple, minimalist home page layout (clean list structure with descriptions). - Keep the look clutter-free and fast-loading using a lightweight theme 2. Automated Data & Photo Migration: - Develop a custom Python/PHP script or use WP-CLI to parse existing static HTML pages, extract captions, and map photos into organized WordPress galleries/media folders. - Manual entry is NOT feasible due to the volume of photos. 3. Streamlined Functionality: - Disable all comments, social features, and e-commerce/sales components globally. - Keep navigation fast, simple, and clean. 4. Easy Backend Admin for Owner: - Ensure the site owner can easily upload future photo albums and write captions via standard WordPress Gutenberg blocks or gallery plugins. 5. 301 Redirects & Staging Setup: - Build and test everything on a staging environment (e.g., new.patoczka.net or staging host). - Set up 301 redirects mapping old URL folder paths (e.g., /folder/index.htm) to new WordPress page structures to preserve bookmarks.