Web Development articles.
Everything we've written on web development — honest, jargon-free and from the people who actually do the work.
WP Super Cache vs W3 Total Cache: which free caching plugin should you use?
Two of the oldest free WordPress caching plugins, aimed at completely different people. The honest answer to which one you…
Josh Cox 22 July 2026 5 min read 
WPForms vs Ninja Forms: which WordPress form plugin should you use?
Two of the most popular WordPress form plugins, aimed at different people. The honest answer to which one you should in…
LiteSpeed Cache vs WP Fastest Cache: which free caching plugin should you use?
Two of the most popular free WordPress caching plugins, built for different worlds. The honest answer to which one you…
How much does a website actually cost? An honest 2026 answer
Most web designers answer 'it depends' and leave it there. Here's a real number instead: what a website costs, what dri…
Case study: reviving Lifting Times, a legacy weightlifting magazine
A five-year archive locked inside a page builder, a dated site that had gone quiet, and nowhere to grow. Here's how we…
OPcache: the WordPress speed setting nobody talks about
A client's WooCommerce site was taking five seconds to respond, despite a CDN and every image lazy-loaded. The culprit…
The tech stack behind every website I build
“What do you actually use?” is the question I get most. Here’s the honest, complete answer: the real toolkit behind eve…
The cookie banner that didn't try to fleece me
Most free cookie banners lock the one feature you actually need behind a subscription, and it is almost always Google C…
I Rebuilt My Own Website On Astro (And It's Properly Fast Now)
The cobbler's kids finally got some shoes. I rebuilt prystine.co.uk from the ground up on Astro: static site generation…
How to read WordPress plugin reviews and spot misleading ratings
A high star average on a WordPress plugin means less than you think. Here's how to read reviews properly and spot the p…
It took me 7 years to admit WordPress isn’t the answer to everything
For the best part of seven years, WordPress was my hammer and every project was a nail. New client? WordPress. Brochure…
Two Things I Added to My Own Product That I Wish More Forms Did
My day job is running Prystine Web Solutions, a WordPress web agency, and on the side I build a web tools. One such too…
How many active installs make a WordPress plugin safe enough?
Active installs signal how battle-tested a plugin is — but the number is widely misread. Here's what the thresholds act…
I got fed up of writing client reports. So I built SendTidings.
Most agencies are quietly rubbish at client reporting. I should know. For years I was one of them. Sites would be ticki…
Why I Didn’t Use WordPress for My Own Site
I build WordPress sites for a living. It’s what Prystine does. It’s what I’ve spent most of the last decade doing. So w…
WordPress Is Brilliant. It’s Just Not Always the Answer.
WordPress is brilliant. But, and this is a big but, it’s not always the right tool for the job. And as someone who’s sp…
Quotify: 9 months after the relaunch, here’s where things stand
It’s been a tough several months for Quotify. Granted, marketing is not my strong suit, but here’s a roundup of where Q…
What "tested up to" really means for WordPress plugin compatibility
The "tested up to" badge on every WordPress plugin page is widely misread. Here's what it actually tells you — and what…
Sometimes, All You Need is a Landing Page (and a Little Marketing)
Imagine The Hollies playing in the background while you read that title. Or don’t, the song’s been stuck in my head for…
How to safely replace a WordPress plugin without breaking your site
Swapping WordPress plugins on a live site without preparation leads to breakage. Here's the step-by-step sequence to re…
How to tell if a WordPress plugin developer actually responds to support
Support responsiveness predicts your experience when things go wrong. Here's exactly where to look and what the signals…
How often should you audit the plugins on your WordPress site?
A quarterly audit catches most plugin risk before it becomes a problem. Here's how often to check, what to look for, an…
What’s one one more plugin…
Plugins are a wonderful part of the WordPress ecosystem. They enhance the functionality of WordPress by letting you add…
How to Optimise Your WordPress Site for Speed, Stability & Scalability
Slow or unstable WordPress sites aren’t just frustrating, they cost you customers, SEO rankings, and revenue. The good…
Reflecting on Quotify’s first month: from idea to execution
Quotify has been live for just over a month now, and I wanted to take a step back from the marketing pushes and develop…
Function Over Features: Why a Stable Website Always Wins
When it comes to building a website or app, it’s tempting to chase the latest features, flashy animations, and trendy a…
Quotify has landed
Today we’ve launched our upgraded and rebranded Quotify. It takes the same concepts as we had with the beta product bac…
What Is Web Accessibility and Why Does It Matter?
As a web developer, I frequently encounter the question: “What is web accessibility, and why is it important?”. Web acc…
Custom Web Development vs. Website Builders: Which is Right for You?
When creating a website, one of the most important decisions is choosing between a website builder, WordPress, or a cus…
The Future of Web Development: A Playground of Innovation
The web development landscape is a constantly evolving playground, brimming with exciting new technologies. As a leadin…
It’s an investment, not a cost
When we talk to perspective clients, one of the first questions that comes up is “how much does a website cost?”. While…
Our shiny new client dashboard
Always innovating and improving our service, we’ve been developing a custom dashboard for our clients these last few we…
Is your site running on the latest stable version of PHP?
According to W3 Tech, around 29.9% of websites are still running on PHP v5.6 and lower. That’s a scary thought consider…
Mo plugins, mo problems
Taking inspiration from Puff Daddy’s “Mo Money, Mo Problems”, today we’re talking about the over-use of plugins on Word…
Our partnership with Termageddon
For a long time, we’ve shied away from providing privacy policies, terms of use and other legal policies that a website…
The WordPress mobile app review
I downloaded the WordPress app for my iOS device a few weeks ago as a fun thing to try out. I haven’t paid it too much…
Why we love WordPress
We’ve been building with WordPress since 2016. All our client’s websites are built on WordPress. From a developer’s poi…
Are sliders dead? Mostly, yes!
“Sliders are cool, they’re modern, trendy and give a dynamic edge to your website” – says a lot of designers, including…
Our experience with Microsoft Clarity
Everyone’s heard of Google Search Console and Google Analytics, but not so much Bing Webmaster and even less so their n…
Prystine webinars
From this month we will be running regular webinars for anyone who wants to join, these are intended for beginners look…
How do you know which web designer to trust?
Trust is a very important factor in all businesses. It’s one of the main reasons we choose to do business with the peop…
5 Insane Stats About Websites & Web Design You Need To Know
Web design can make or break a business. A good website attracts and helps customers while putting out the right compan…
The Difference Between Mobile Friendly & Mobile Responsive Design
The meaning of ‘mobile friendly design’ and ‘mobile responsive design’ are often thrown together like they are the same…
4 Steps to a Successful Website Launch
It can be a stressful time going through a rebrand or launch. So, to help manage the stress, here are our top 4 steps t…
How Do You Know When To Redesign?
We’ve been asked a couple of times recently "when is the best time to re-design your website?" and, the answer is not q…
The Importance of Mobile Responsive Websites
Mobile Responsive websites are websites that collapse to fit beautifully on a mobile phone or tablet. With mobile phone…
The key elements of a website
In this article we’ll look at a few vital parts that often get overlooked when designing a website. 1) Mobile Responsiv…
Top 3 Tips To Improve Your Website Load Speed
Nobody likes a slow website. Nearly half of all web users expect a web page to load in 2 seconds or less. 4 out 10 of p…
Website Down – Here’s What To Do
Here’s what to in the event that your website goes down. Step 1 How long has it been down? If it’s only a matter of sec…
What Is SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. SEO is used to increase your website’s search engine ranking i.e. for your w…
What You Can Do To Help Protect Your Website
In no particular order, here are our top 6 tips to keep your website safe and secure. 1) Get an SSL We wrote about the…
Why We Build With WordPress
The majority of the websites we design, build, host & maintain are done so in WordPress. Why WordPress? WordPress is a…
Is Your Website Keeping Pace With Your Business
Technology changes rapidly, websites built 3 years ago, or even two years ago can be considered out of date. But, not o…
Is Blogging Good For Your Website?
Yes and No. If blogging is done correctly (more on that later), it can generate a nice source of traffic to your websit…
5 Awesome Facts About The Web
(1) A commmon misconception The Internet and the Web are commonly mistaken for the same thing. The words seem interchan…
What To Consider When You’re Getting A New Website
Will the time soon come that you’ll be getting your website re-designed? Or perhaps you’ve just started out and this is…
Why Your Website Is An Investment & Not A Cost
When we speak to potential clients, naturally, a key question is "how much does it cost?" While that is a very valid qu…
What To Avoid When Designing A Website
Over the years we’ve been designing websites, we’d like to think we’ve learnt a thing a two. Here are our top 5 element…
Are You Getting Too Much Spam?
A hot topic on the web and no, it’s not the meat. Spam emails are annoying and can be dangerous. They fill up your mail…
Oxford Half Marathon
Josh will be running in the Oxford Half Marathon on the 7th October on behalf of Play2Give (P2G). Why Play2Give They ar…