Notes,
essays & postmortems.
Things we've learned shipping software for eight years. Sometimes a craft argument; sometimes a 4,000-word write-up of the time we got something embarrassingly wrong. Always written by the people who did the work.
Announcing IssuesID: AI-Powered Construction Defect Management
We built IssuesID — a multi-tenant, offline-first platform for construction defect, snag and quality management. Here is what it does and why we built it.
OpenAI's legal product tells you what not to build
OpenAI has shipped a profession-specific product for law firms, not just a model. If you were about to commission a custom AI tool for document review or intake, the maths just changed.
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Mobile App Cost in Australia in 2026: Native, Cross-Platform or PWA
What a mobile app really costs to build and run in Australia in 2026, across native, cross-platform and PWA routes, and how to tell which one your business actually needs.
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How to Brief a Developer: The One-Page Document That Saves Weeks
A vague brief gets you a vague quote, or a padded one. Here is the one-page document we wish every business owner sent us, section by section, and what each part changes about the price.
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We Fix Vibe-Coded Software: What It Usually Takes
AI app builders make it easy to get a working demo. Getting it to survive real customers is another job. Here is what we find when we open one up, and what fixing it usually involves.
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Where Should Your Data Live? AU Hosting and Data Residency in 2026
Where your website and customer data physically live affects latency, compliance and trust. A practical guide to Australian hosting and data residency in 2026.
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Microcopy That Converts: Writing UI Text That Guides Users
The smallest words on your site do the heaviest lifting. How to write microcopy — buttons, errors, empty states — that guides users and lifts conversion.
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Subscription eCommerce: Building Recurring Revenue Into Your Store
Subscriptions turn one-off buyers into recurring revenue. The models, tooling and retention tactics that make subscription eCommerce work.
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What a Website Discovery Phase Should Actually Deliver
Discovery is the phase most clients want to skip and most regret skipping. Here is what a proper website discovery phase produces and why it saves money.
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AI on the Building Site: Practical Uses in Construction QA and Handover
Beyond the hype, AI is quietly useful on site. Practical applications in construction QA, defect capture and handover — and where it does not belong yet.
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Plausible vs Fathom vs GA4: Choosing Privacy-First Analytics
Privacy-first analytics has matured. An honest comparison of Plausible, Fathom and GA4 on data, accuracy, compliance and cost for business sites.
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Choosing Construction Defect Management Software: A Buyer's Guide
Not all defect software survives a real job site. The criteria that matter — offline capture, audit trails, handover packs, integrations — when choosing construction QA software.
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Reducing Cart Abandonment: Checkout UX Fixes That Move Revenue
Most carts are abandoned for fixable reasons. The checkout UX changes that actually recover revenue, ranked by impact and effort.
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Offline-First PWAs: Building Software That Works With No Signal
For field teams in basements and lift shafts, connectivity is optional but the work is not. How offline-first PWAs are built — and why we chose one for IssuesID.
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Passkeys and Passwordless Login: Should Your Site Adopt Them in 2026?
Passkeys are ready for mainstream use. Here is how passwordless login works, where it helps, and whether your site should adopt it in 2026.
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Digitising Snagging: From Spreadsheets to Defect-Tracking Software
Snagging on spreadsheets and camera rolls loses context and blows out close-out times. How defect-tracking software fixes the on-site record.
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The True Cost of a Cheap Website: Technical Debt Explained for Owners
A $2,000 website is rarely cheap by year three. Here is how technical debt accrues on budget builds and what it actually costs your business.
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Ecommerce Replatforming: Signals It Is Time to Leave Shopify or WooCommerce
When to stay on Shopify or WooCommerce, when to move, and what the alternative stacks look like — a decision framework for replatforming without regret.
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Design Systems for Small Teams: When It Is Worth Building One
Design systems pay off at scale. Below that, they are overhead. Here is how to tell when a small team needs one — and the lightweight approaches to start with.
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Retainer vs Project Work: How to Budget Ongoing Web Investment
Project budgets and retainers solve different problems. Here is how to pick the right mix for your business website, and how to spot a weak retainer pitch.
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Site Launch Checklist: 40 Things to Verify Before Flipping DNS
The 40-item pre-launch checklist we run on every CodeDrips site before DNS cutover — SEO, analytics, performance, security, functional, accessibility, and legal.
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Announcing AssetDrips: Tame Your WordPress Media Library
We just shipped v1 of AssetDrips — a free, open-source WordPress plugin to find, organise and optimise large media libraries, non-destructively. Here is what it does and why we built it.
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The Website Migration Playbook: Zero-Downtime Replatforms
A practical playbook for replatforming a business website without losing traffic, rankings, or customer trust — from URL inventory to launch-day runbook.
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Netlify vs Vercel vs Cloudflare Pages for Jamstack Deploys
Three platforms dominate Jamstack hosting. Here is how Netlify, Vercel and Cloudflare Pages compare on build speed, runtime, pricing and AU latency in 2026.
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Sanity vs Contentful vs Storyblok: Choosing a Headless CMS in 2026
Three headless CMS platforms dominate serious projects in 2026. Here is an honest comparison of Sanity, Contentful and Storyblok on editor UX, DX and pricing.
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