Tag: Web Design

Custom Code is the Biggest Vulnerability of a WordPress Site

I am in the middle of fixing custom code that caused a fatal error with processing Woo Commerce orders on a client website. It took several days to find enough patterns that allowed diagnosis of the issue. This was followed by examining the error logs and code base to find what was causing the problem and creating a solution to test.

Experience has taught me that the more features (and code) a site has, the greater the chance of a vulnerability. This is doubly true for code written by fellow developers. Greater attention to resources for testing, documentation and QA is essential for keeping a site with custom code stable.

As a consequence, I’ve become frugal with any type of site features that isn’t supported by a third party. Not only does this approach cut down on maintenance, it also makes WordPress websites more stable. Plugins authors spend ample resources on both testing and security, as there are many customers depending on the stability of their software. With custom software, all this must be handled exclusively by the client…

March 21, 2024

Gender bias is Expensive

Throughout my work I’ve repeatedly seen gender biases negatively effect web development teams. The subtle rules of gender socialization creep in quick and suddenly like an ever-present fog. Yet, this subject is rarely discussed openly.

Often men take a default position of authority even when a woman holds a higher organizational position. Women respond by huddling together in a defensive place, fawning towards the men to improve their positioning, or embracing the very same callouness. Invisible cues take over and every one plays their assigned roles with little direction.

In the past, software programming was seen as women’s work while men did the more “serious” jobs of building and maintaining hardware. Development teams can’t really be successful unless they spend ample time on addressing gender and racial bias. And by success, I mean creating safe and equitable working spaces rather than maximizing the profitability of the products and services.

March 8, 2024

Effective WordPress design uses the Gutenberg Editor

Designs built around the Gutenberg editor lower the maintenance costs for websites and lead to intuitive editing experiences. Gutenberg is the built-in editor for WordPress and now competes with themes (Astra, Generate Press etc.) and page builder plugins (Divi, Elementor, Beaver Builder etc.). These competing themes and page builders offer advanced features at the cost of an ongoing subscription and a more complicated editing experience.

The default WordPress experience is steadily catching up to the capabilities of competing platforms. Gutenberg has features that make popular page builder plugins redundant or even unnecessary. The growth of these built in features allow website owners to spend time and energy solving other problems such focusing on customer support.

As a WordPress website grows in content and complexity, having a simpler foundation leads to a reduced need for training and expertise when making content updates. Complex sites often wind up with multiple plugin subscriptions and having a few less monthly payments to worry about is welcome by most clients. The decision to incur the additional cost of creating an advanced website design should be left up to website owners rather than the preferences of a web designer.

March 7, 2024

Make your site special by investing in good content

Rather than pay lots of money for a unique design and amazing features, invest in making sure your website has meaningful content. This means spending ample time on planning, writing and research instead rushing to design and development. Its the content that brings in site visitors, not the colors and fonts a website uses.

Have you ever walked into an amazing, well-designed restaurant only to be served mediocre food? Have you been to an aged restaurant with only average amenities and had a plate of food you still remember to this day? While it great to have both freshly designed website and top-notch content, what would prioritize given the limited budgets we all have to deal with?

Make it goal to first create or hire someone to create good content before even thinking about a website design. This approach may feel arduous and take away from the gratification of showing off a sparkling site to your customers. However, having great content always pays off in the long run.

March 6, 2024