We launched a new Website this week. It has plenty of bells and whistles and some cool technology that I’ve always admired on other sites. After the launch – and the requisite champagne toast – something smacked me upside the head.

This site is an example of an important inflection point.

Why? Because we conceived, designed & built this site in about 3 weeks. We didn’t have an interactive agency. A horde of programmers. Consultants. Contractors. Just us.

The reason this was doable is because our new site is built on an open-source WordPress platform, a template we tweaked and improved, plus an bazillion readily available plug-ins that nixed the need to hand-craft advanced features, bells and whistles — and important management tools (such as SEO optimization). Instead of getting out the coding book, we spent our time deciding which sets of features and capabilities addressed our visitors’ needs.

Oh, and one other thing. Designs, layouts, color palettes and cool doodads can be changed at the drop of a hat. Site management is a snap – and so is the document management system. Read More→