Field Notes

Things I keep finding out there

Short, checkable observations from looking at a lot of business websites. Each one tells you how to check it yourself — and when it's actually fine.

3 notes

Security

Accounts, access, and the things left switched on that shouldn't be.

High Forty-seven admin accounts, three members of staff Old agencies, ex-employees and a plugin vendor all still have full control of the site.
- WordPress

Performance

Why the site is slow, and which part of it actually matters.

Medium The 4 MB hero image One uncompressed photo, straight off the camera, loading before anything else on the page.
- Squarespace
- Wix

Maintenance

Things that quietly break and nobody notices for months.

High The contact form that posts nowhere It shows a success message, and the enquiry goes into the void.
- All platforms