Press Release: 2024-11-06

You Hate Your Website, Who’s to Blame?

 

NOVEMBER 5, 2024

By Johanna Bates, Co-Owner and Principal, DevCollaborative

It can be cathartic to vent about a website that’s frustrating to update and use. 

But likely, many people–working with different challenges and constraints–made many decisions that created your website.  When a site isn’t working for an organization, it can be tempting to ask: who’s to blame? Can you future-proof your next site? 

 

Blame the Content Management System (CMS)

Content editors spend their workdays in their CMS’s editing interfaces. Every quirk is like a paper cut, adding up to a daily trial. Are some systems just junk? 

As successful organizations evolve, most outgrow platforms like Squarespace and Wix. Once click-together ease makes work harder, you’re better served by professional, custom design and development. 

Open-source CMSs are built and supported by global communities of users instead of VC-funded proprietary companies. We only work with nonprofits and build sites with the top two open source systems: Drupal and WordPress. 

Many clients approach us saying:

“Drupal’s terrible, let’s rebuild in WordPress!” 

Or vice-versa. Some kinds of sites do better in one system, and perhaps you’ve got a mismatch.  

Or, your site may be outdated. A three-year-old site can be a relic if it hasn’t been kept up-to-date.

And because an open source CMS is like a box of LEGOs, there are many ways to build with it. Perhaps your site was built poorly. 

 

Blame the Developers

Poor design and development can ruin a site’s usability for editors and audiences. And because open source is LEGO-like, there may be a quick way to build a feature, but another might take longer and hold up better over time.

It’s paramount to look for experts steeped in the Drupal, WordPress, and nonprofit technology communities, who understand accessibility and information design. They’ll be transparent with you about tradeoffs and help you consider them alongside your goals, budget, and timeline. 

But even the best developers can build a terrible website. How?

An excellent partner brings their expertise to the table and pushes back against requests that will take a website off-course from goals, accessibility, and sustainability. Sometimes, forces within an organization limit possibilities for success. 

 

Blame Yourselves

In my early career as nonprofit staff, we’d build sub-par sites by structuring them according to our own mental models, instead of our audiences’. I still see this today. 

Other times, a board member or funder is enamored with a technology trend or aesthetic that is at odds with project goals. 

When leadership doesn’t value outside expertise to check assumptions, projects get knocked off course. 

Often, a good internal steward and development partner can collaborate to find constructive ways to steer a project to excellence, or at least mitigate some of the trouble these tensions can cause. 

 

TL;DR Who, Actually, Is To Blame? 

Any good organization is evolving, as is technology. When you haven’t been able to keep pace, it’s time to approach your website in a new way. Partner with an expert who will guide you through planning. Understand that a great website is only ever somewhat complete. Plan for continual user testing and proactive enhancements into the future. This doesn’t mean you won’t ever need a redesign. But when you do, you’ll have a better sense of what needs addressing and why, without having to blame anyone at all.