Category: Knowledge

The Day I Learned DNS Has Feelings (and My MacBook Needed Therapy)

Posted on by Alma Vujasinovic

A WordPress Migration Story About DNS Propagation, Missing Images, and Database/File Mismatches

WordPress migrations look simple – until they aren’t.

If you’re a web designer, developer, agency owner, or business owner dealing with a broken website, this story will feel uncomfortably familiar.

Every web professional has that migration story.

This one involved DNS propagation, WordPress media files, partial restores, and a MacBook that sounded like it was preparing for liftoff.

It Started as a “Simple” WordPress Migration

The task was routine:

  • Database export and import
  • WordPress files moved
  • Admin access confirmed
  • Local preview tested

The site loaded. Images appeared. Confidence was dangerously high. This is usually the exact moment the internet decides to humble you.

The Website That Only Worked Sometimes

Once the site went live, it existed in two parallel realities:

  • In one version, everything worked perfectly
  • In the other, every image had vanished

Same database. Same URLs. Same WordPress install. Completely different results.

This is where browser tabs multiply, terminal windows reopen, and you start wondering whether DNS is a technical system or an emotional one.

The Hosts File Lie (Also Known as False Hope)

Eventually, I did what developers do when logic fails: I edited my hosts file. Instant success.

  • Images were back
  • Pages rendered perfectly
  • Everything looked fixed

Except for one small detail:

It only worked on my computer.

The rest of the world was still staring at broken images. At this point, my MacBook was at peak memory usage and quietly drafting a resignation letter.

The Part No One Explains Well About WordPress

Here’s the detail that causes most WordPress migration disasters:

WordPress stores content in two separate places:

  1. Image references live in the database
  2. Actual image files live on the server filesystem

If you restore:

  • the database from one point in time, and
  • the uploads directory from another point in time

You get a site that:

  • Remembers images perfectly
  • Cannot physically find them

No fatal errors. No warnings. Just empty image containers and quiet judgment.

Why Were NO Errors Showing?

This is what makes these issues so brutal:

  • WordPress does not verify file existence on load
  • Browsers don’t throw errors for missing media paths
  • Hosting dashboards often show everything as “healthy”

To a business owner, it looks random. To junior developers, it looks cursed. To experienced developers, it smells like a partial restore.

The Fix Wasn’t Code (And That’s the Point)

The solution was not:

  • Installing another plugin
  • Reinstalling WordPress
  • Clearing cache for the 30th time
  • Touching a single line of PHP

The fix was restoring the correct filesystem snapshot that matched the database. Sometimes the problem isn’t development.

It’s infrastructure alignment.

Lessons Learned the Hard Way

  • DNS is not instant and never will be
  • “It worked locally” proves nothing
  • Multisite history lingers longer than expected
  • WordPress will happily run without media files
  • If your laptop slows down, close tabs… or buy a new one

Why This Matters for Clients and Agencies

Most website disasters aren’t caused by bad code – sometimes.

They’re caused by:

  • Partial backups
  • Mismatched restores
  • Invisible hosting layers
  • Assumptions made under time pressure

This is exactly how:

  • Business owners lose trust in their site
  • Agencies inherit “mystery problems”
  • Developers burn hours chasing ghosts

My Takeaway Here

These problems are fixable.

But they require:

  • Experience with WordPress internals
  • Understanding of hosting infrastructure
  • Patience
  • And occasionally, a very calm support ticket

Need Help With a WordPress Migration or Cleanup?

If you’re:

  • Planning a WordPress migration
  • Moving hosting providers
  • Dealing with broken images or missing files
  • Inheriting a site that someone else partially restored

This is exactly the kind of issue that experienced planning prevents.

If you want it done cleanly, without surprises, downtime, or laptop trauma, feel free to reach out.

Your website (and your future self) will thank you.

New Year, New Website: 10 Website Resolutions to Start 2026 Strong

Posted on by Alma Vujasinovic

A website redesign doesn’t always mean starting from scratch. For many small businesses, the new year is simply a good time to look at whether their website is still supporting their goals – or quietly holding them back.

As we head into a new year, here are 10 realistic website resolutions worth making in 2026 if you want your site to actually support your business.

Stop Treating Your Website Like a One-Time Project

Websites aren’t “set it and forget it.” If your site hasn’t been reviewed, updated, or improved in years, chances are:

  • it no longer reflects your business
  • it’s confusing for users
  • it’s underperforming

Resolution: Treat your website as a living business tool, not a checkbox.

Make Sure Your Website Works on Mobile (Not Just Technically)

Yes, your site might technically be mobile-friendly – but is it pleasant to use? Ask yourself: Is the text readable? Are buttons easy to tap? Does anything feel cramped or awkward?

Resolution: Design with mobile users in mind, because that’s where most traffic comes from.

Improve Website Speed

A slow website costs you visitors before they ever see your work.

Speed affects:

  • user experience
  • SEO rankings
  • conversions

Resolution: Clean up heavy images, unnecessary plugins, and outdated setups that slow your site down.

Be Clear About What You Do

If someone lands on your homepage and has to figure out what you offer, they’ll leave. Your message should be clear within seconds.

Resolution: Say exactly what you do, who it’s for, and how you help – without jargon.

Refresh Your Branding If It No Longer Fits

Businesses evolve. Brands should too. If your website visuals feel outdated or disconnected from where your business is today, it shows.

Resolution: Update colors, fonts, and imagery so your website matches your current direction.

Fix the Small Things That Quietly Cost You Leads

Broken forms, outdated links, missing pages – these things add up.

Website performance and usability also affect how users and search engines experience your site, as Google outlines in its PageSpeed performance guidelines.

Resolution: Test your contact forms, review links, and clean up anything that creates friction.

Update Your Content

Old content sends the wrong signal. Service descriptions, bios, and copy should reflect what you actually do now – not what you did years ago. Resolution:

Refresh your core pages so they’re accurate, clear, and helpful.

Show Proof That You’re Trustworthy

People want reassurance before reaching out. Testimonials, examples, and real results help visitors feel confident contacting you.

Resolution: Add or update trust signals that show you know what you’re doing.

When a Website Redesign Makes Sense

At some point, DIY fixes and temporary solutions start costing more time than they’re worth.

A professionally designed website:

  • performs better
  • scales with your business
  • supports marketing and SEO

Resolution: Invest in a website that actually works for you.

Why a Website Redesign Is Worth Considering in the New Year

Your website should support your business – not hold it back. In many cases, a thoughtful website redesign is less about visuals and more about improving clarity, performance, and user experience. If you’ve been thinking about a website redesign, performance improvements, or a full refresh, the start of the year is a smart time to do it. A few strategic updates can make a noticeable difference.

If you’re thinking about a website redesign, you can learn more about our website design services or get in touch here to talk through what makes sense for your business.

Does my website need HTTPS?

Posted on by Alma Vujasinovic

YES, your website needs HTTPS .

“But my website doesn’t have any forms and it doesn’t collect information from users.”

It does not matter what kind of information is being collected. HTTPS protects more than just form data! HTTPS keeps the headers, URLs, and contents of all transferred pages confidential.

“There’s nothing sensitive on my site anyway.”

Just because your website is hosted safely in your account doesn’t mean it won’t travel through boxes and cables controlled by who knows how many corporate and state owned entities. Do you really want someone injecting images, scripts, or ad content onto your page so that it looks like you put them there? Or changing the words on your pages? Or using your website to attack other sites?  HTTPS prevents all of it. It guarantees content integrity and the ability to detect tampering. If we encrypt only secret content, then we automatically paint a target on those transmissions. Keep which of your transmissions contain secrets secret by encrypting everything.

“The site is HTTP, but our forms are submitted over HTTPS.”

This is as bad as not using any HTTPS at all! All the attacker has to do is change the link or form action to a URL on his/her own server. There’s no way to detect this because it happens over the wire with plain HTTP. Encrypt the WHOLE site and redirect HTTP to HTTPS.

“I can’t afford a certificate.”

They’re free.

“HTTPS is difficult to set up and maintain.”

It just works if Caddy is your web server. Yes, including certificate renewals. No thought required. For everyone else, HTTPS can still be automated by using a Let’s Encrypt client of your choice.

“Attackers can still impersonate my site, even if I use HTTPS.”

As long as your private key stays private, browsers will show warnings if attackers present a mismatched or invalid TLS certificate. And if the attacker does not use HTTPS at all, browsers should mark the impostor page as insecure. To this end, HTTPS guarantees authenticity.

“It works over HTTP just fine.”

Until browsers start flagging HTTP pages as insecure. Effective July 2018, Google’s Chrome browser marks non-HTTPS sites as ‘not secure’.

“HTTPS impacts SEO.”

You’re right—HTTPS improves it! Switching site URLs improperly may impact your search rankings, but HTTPS actually improves them. Just do the switch properly according to the search engine you’re optimizing for, and everything will be fine.

— HOW TO GET ON HTTPS —

The easiest way is through Let’s Encrypt and the Caddy web server, which enables HTTPS for all your sites automatically. There are plenty of other ways to get your site on HTTPS without much trouble.

Click here if you’re still stuck and need help with HTTPS or any other website related problems.

Visual Content Cheat Sheet

Posted on by Alma Vujasinovic

The most efficient way to create images for your brand

42 links to all the easily accessible online tools to create stunning visual content.

CREATE

Canva
Adobe Spark
Desygner
Piktochart
Infogram
Bannersnack

CURATE

Stackla
Pixlee
Curalate

EDIT

MOBILE APPS
Snapseed
Photoshop Express
VSCO
Lightroom
DESKTOP
Pixlr
THIRD PARTY
Pixc 

ANIMATE

Plotaverse
Stop Motion Studio

STOCK IMAGES

EyeEm
Unsplash
Pixabay
Pexels
Death to Stock

VIDEO

EDIT
iMovie
VivaVideo
Cameo
Cut story
Promo

SHOOT
Boomerang
Hyperlapse

SCHEDULE

Plann
Later
Buffer
Hootsuite
Sendible

ANALYTICS

Social Blade
Minter

SHARE

Sumo
AddThis
Social Buttons
Share This

OPTIMIZE

Google Optimize
Optimizely

HOW TO GUIDES

A Complete Guide to Visual Content: The Science, Tools and Strategy of Creating Killer Images
BUFFER

The Only Ultimate Guide to Visual Content You Need
NEIL PATEL

102 Expert Tips to Create Visual Content with Stock Images
AMOS STRUCK

SEO Trends of 2019: Schema, Search Engines, & Speed

Posted on by Alma Vujasinovic

The most meaningful changes we saw in 2018 were the final implementation of Google’s mobile-first indexing and the quality of page speed.

What will happen in 2019?

Here are the topmost golden nuggets to hold in mind for 2019:

Continue reading “SEO Trends of 2019: Schema, Search Engines, & Speed”

Three TOP WordPress Premium Themes for 2017

Posted on by Alma Vujasinovic

WordPress has the distinct honor of being a highly configurable Content Management … (CMS), which was originally designed to address the needs of bloggers but eventually evolved into a platform that accommodates plugins and design widgets – adding not only aesthetic value, but also functionality.

There are a lot of premium WP Themes available on the Web designers’ market, including what ThemeForest offers, and it can be extremly difficult to pinpoint the optimum one – especially when people’s needs and business demands are constantly evolving. In addition, technology continues to develop, creating additional themes which better respond to changing user needs.

Here are my 3 TOP picks for the best premium WordPress themes for 2017, categorized and tagged according to their specific and relative fields and yours for grabs! This latest collection of the best WordPress themes will be updated to include some exciting new additions or if I come across some other awesome theme I think belongs to this list.

Continue reading “Three TOP WordPress Premium Themes for 2017”

WordPress in 2017

Posted on by Alma Vujasinovic

With over 75 million of websites under its hood and over 55 percent CMS market share, WordPress continues to become the leading content management system on the web this year. The previous year has been great for WordPress users. In 2016, there were 26 successful official WordPress releases and also introduced several astonishing WordPress web trends, such as one-page themes, hamburger menus, etc to give a seamless experience to their end users.

WordPress is getting better and better with every passing year and we still expecting a lot more to come from WordPress in 2017 in terms of new features, improvements, updates and other built-in capabilities. In fact, the co-founder of WordPress, Matt Mullenweg, released his word of speech to give you a glimpse of what we will explore new in WordPress this year.

Matt has clearly stated that the WordPress community is expected to work on the areas where you will get seamless user experience and also bring improvements in core WordPress. There are many other predictions about WordPress that are likely to luster in 2017.

Continue reading “WordPress in 2017”

10 Best WordPress Plugins

Posted on by Alma Vujasinovic

Content marketing is an important aspect of almost all new-age marketing campaigns. With the help of digital content, companies & organizations have been promoting their businesses across the globe and making lots of money.

In fact, content marketing is a process of developing & distributing relevant content consistently to attract the targeted audience and generate leads. Whether you operate a small business or handle big brands, you need to have a proper content marketing strategy.

WordPress is perhaps the best CMS when it comes to the creation and distribution of contents all over the World Wide Web. Content marketing experts use this platform to implement their marketing strategy primarily because of the availability of various Plugins (for content marketing).

Here is a collection of 10 best WordPress plugins that can help you to perform the various tasks of content marketing easily and boost your site’s productivity. Let’s have a look. Continue reading “10 Best WordPress Plugins”

What Questions to Ask Before Getting a Website Redesign

Posted on by Alma Vujasinovic

business-growth-the-next-step-website-redesignBusinesses continue to grow and it’s essential for a website and online presence to advance. Patterns change after some time, and in order for your business to stay ahead, your website design requires constant updates to keep up that trend.

However, often sites require full overhauls. Your website design may be outdated, it could perform ineffectively, or preventing your guests from getting to be clients. So how would you know when a site redesign is what your business needs?
Continue reading “What Questions to Ask Before Getting a Website Redesign”