Notes from the studio.
What I've learned building, hosting and looking after websites for small businesses. Prices said out loud, opinions owned, no jargon.
Two critical PHP bugs were fixed today. Every site I host was patched by half past four
A plain English explanation of the PHP2Shell vulnerabilities (CVE-2026-109618 and CVE-2026-109619), what happened to the websites I look after on the afternoon they were disclosed, and the NGINX and Node.js fixes that landed the same week.
Read it- 2 October 2026 · 3 min
How much does a website cost in the UK in 2026? A freelancer's honest breakdown
Real prices from a freelance web designer in Surrey. What £750 gets you, what £3,000 gets you, and what actually moves the number.
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14 September 2026 · 2 minI run my own servers for thirty client websites. Here's what that actually involves
Why a freelance web designer hosts client sites on his own infrastructure instead of renting from a big host, and what it takes to keep thirty sites answering in under 50ms.
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19 August 2026 · 2 minWhy I won't take over your existing WordPress site (and what I'll do instead)
A freelance web designer explains why inheriting a WordPress site usually costs more than rebuilding it, and what a clean rebuild looks like.
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8 July 2026 · 2 minWordPress, WooCommerce or Next.js: how I decide which to build your site on
A freelance developer who builds all three explains how he chooses between WordPress, WooCommerce and Next.js for small business websites, with real examples.
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23 June 2026 · 2 minThe custom plugin that lets a talent agency manage 90 clients without touching code
How a custom WordPress plugin replaced a dated site for a celebrity talent agency, letting their team manage over ninety clients and a changing events calendar themselves.
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12 May 2026 · 2 minWhat PCI compliance means for a small WooCommerce shop (from someone who's done it)
PCI DSS for small online shops, explained plainly by a developer who has taken WooCommerce sites through it. What's in scope, what to check, what to change.
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16 April 2026 · 2 minYour brand guidelines shouldn't live in a PDF
Why a PDF is the wrong home for brand guidelines, and what a living, password protected brand site does better for small businesses, podcasts and their collaborators.
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5 March 2026 · 2 minWhat I learned building a brand from scratch for a podcast
Designing the identity for the Clonestar Podcast, from the logo and cover art to Patreon tiers and platform icons. Practical lessons for anyone branding a podcast.
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10 February 2026 · 2 minThe 20 minute check I run on every website before launch
A practical pre-launch checklist from a freelance web developer: speed, accessibility, SEO basics, images, forms, security. Use it on your own site.
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21 January 2026 · 2 minDesigning a starship interface taught me more about UI than any course
A web designer on what years of drawing sci-fi computer screens taught him about hierarchy, colour and constraint, and how it shows up in the client websites he builds.
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Based in WokingWoking, Surrey
Independent studio
Working with clients worldwide
Mon–Fri, 9am to 5pm UK time
Calls in person or on video