A Tale of Two Websites

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times… for websites.

This week, I lived through both ends of that spectrum.

The First Website: Holding on by a Thread

One of my clients had a WordPress site that suffered a catastrophic crash. Backups existed, but they were not plug and play. They had to be installed on a new server, hooked to a new database, and coaxed back to life with a lot of manual editing. For three days I wrestled with tangled code, stubborn tables, and the looming fear that the site might be gone forever.

At one point, I gently asked if she might want to look at Author Websites by BookBub instead. Simple. Elegant. Stress free. But no, her heart was set on her WordPress home. So I pushed through, and eventually, the site came back. Stabilized, scarred, but standing.

It was a victory. But also a reminder of just how fragile those victories can be.

The Second Website: A Fresh Start

A few days later, I met with another client. She had attended a conference where she saw Author Websites by BookBub in action. I had been mentioning it to her for months, but seeing the demo convinced her.

It’s one thing to hear me say it is beautiful and easy. Another to see the samples, learn about the future of the platform, and get a chance to play with it.

By the time we talked, she had already built her new site. Thirty minutes, start to finish. And it looked better than her old one. She had her Substack humming, her PayHip store ready, and a crisp new online presence. All she needed me for was to do the geeky bit and connect her domain.

At the end of the call, I told her goodbye.

All the geeky parts were handled. She could cancel her expensive hosting and just enjoy her website. She paused, said she would miss me. But she won’t miss the WordPress drama.

Her smile said everything. Freedom looks good on her.

The Twist in the Tale

Two websites.
One clung to the past, surviving by sheer determination.
The other leapt into the future, light and joyful.

And me? I am left emotionally processing both stories at once.
Sad to close a chapter with someone I care about.
Proud of the work it took to rescue another’s site.
And quietly cheering for the day when technology becomes less of a burden and more of a delight.

Now I have more time for writing, and Reflections from the Mirror is moving up the ranks. That makes me very happy.

Heard any good website stories lately?