I’m going to indulge in a rare bit of tech nostalgia, but not out of sentimentality. It’s for a good purpose! Early Silicon Valley was exciting. It was also rough-and-tumble in both cultural and corporate ways. I thought Apple’s “90 Hours a Week and Loving It” (or other number) t-shirts were insulting and, because they […]
Copyleft and the Creative Commons
In the beginning of “personal microcomputing,” much of the collective genius was expressed in tangible computer code. In the spirit of the times, much code of great value was offered without copyright, intentionally, to feed and encourage the growth of the entire field. We ourselves even published pages (and pages) of code that, in those […]
WordPress and Managed Hosting
Management + Hosting How does it work?We contract with respected WP Engine1 for web servers, support, and other infrastructure. They’re optimized for top-flight WordPress performance and can scale up fast when a flood of traffic heads for your website. External Design adds services to relieve site owners of routine-but-vital chores, so they can focus on […]
How to Apply WordPress Updates
WordPress is ubiquitous — it is the codebase for around 30% of the world’s websites.* It is powerful, flexible, and useable enough for most purposes, for most website owners. *You can find more random details if you need to justify choosing WordPress. Background: Why Updates Are a Good Thing WordPress frees website developers and operators […]
Do I Need a Website?
We specifically mention small businesses here because most medium-to-large businesses have staff and associates who advise and advocate on such matters for them. If you’ve asked this question, chances are good that, deep down, you already know. Sometimes the question is not if, but when. As in, “We’re a start-up, when will it make good […]
Sweating the Details for Startups and Early-stage Businesses
Don’t overlook the small things, even when you have bigger fish to fry. Especially then, because the details influence how you and your messages are perceived — and during startup you need everything working in your favor. They aren’t sexy to many entrepreneurs and business visionaries, but they can help support (or undermine) everything else. […]
Google Analytics’ email about data retention
“Review your data retention settings before they take effect on May 25, 2018” People are receiving Google’s email with the above subject line, and some are asking our feedback. The post below is from notes we’ve shared with our clients on our “Hands-Off Pro” web hosting plans or in the web development process with us. […]
Your (free) “Google My Business” Listing and Adding Managers/Users
These instructions are most useful if you want to improve your business’s online visibility and… …you are a business who wants someone (staff or a third-party vendor) to manage or fine-tune your listing, or …you provide such services and want to add an assistant or to set a listing’s owner without requiring them to set […]
Hawaii web development with aloha
Please see our Oahu-based sister site for Pan Pacific Web Works Aunt Anita was married to my uncle, a man of some mystery and much affection in the family. An intelligent, articulate, and strong woman, Anita was living in active retirement up on the slope of the Punchbowl, overlooking Honolulu on Oʻahu, when we reconnected. […]
Get Right with GDPR
Anyone who does business with Europe — that is, any website that gets or uses information about European site visitors — has heard of its online-privacy protection, even if they don’t know it’s called General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The regulations are intended to serve more than just bureaucratic purposes: GDPR gives better control of […]
