Beware web developers bearing proprietary systems

Penelope Trunk has just redesigned her site:

I told the developers they would break the site if they weren’t careful. The told me they have redesigned sites much bigger than mine.

Guess what's going to happen. Go on. Guess.

So the developers broke my site. And then the design team that works with the developers “for optimal integration” priced a redesign of my site at $40,000. The account manager explained nuances of the totally unnecessary “proprietary redesign system.” I remember being in his position and thinking everyone over 40 is technically incompetent.

There are an awful lot of digital businesses out there predicated on people not understanding how easy it is to get a website up and running. From SquareSpace to WordPress.com, you can do an awful lot. And you don't have to be technical. I'm an English Literature graduate and a journalist — and I've been running sites since 2003 when it was a hell of a lot harder than it is now.

I fired him. And everyone else. I googled WordPress templates and I couldn’t believe how far the design industry has come. I paid $30 for a template. And I published a brand new site way before it was finished.

Obligatory journalism content: too many journalism businesses cripple themselves with ridiculously high costs for their publishing platform that they really don't need to pay.

Voluntary plug: I've never been happier than I am now working with the ghost(pro) team to run this site.