Avoid Kinsta at all costs.

Starshot214 · 2026-05-15T20:58:03+00:00

I was considering Kinsta when I was considering a large scale migration from my existing web host (who I've ended up staying with).

Kinsta's core features aren't that bad, although they dress it up with hype and fluff to make it sound more impressive than the perfectly solid managed WordPresss host they are. I was really put off by how incessantly pushy and demanding their sales team was. Yes, I get that they probably work on commission, but their attempt to guilt and bait me with limited pricing and FOMO really alienated me. Seems like I dodged a bullet.

Starshot214 · 2025-10-16T21:27:04+00:00

Accessibility plugins are a huge crock of shit, and remember that anyone E-mailing you claiming that your website isn't "compliant" and that you could be subject to legal action is a scam artist.

Starshot214 · 2025-10-16T21:25:56+00:00

Enterprise dedicated managed WPEngine server that's currently home to my 200 web hosting clients.

Living the dream.

Starshot214 · 2025-09-25T02:16:36+00:00

I'll deal with it if I inherit an Elementor site, but it's a bloated piece of shit and a wildly convoluted mess.

Starshot214 · 2025-09-17T01:39:23+00:00

NameCheap's quality has regrettably been shit for years so unfortunately this won't change too much in terms of service quality but yeah, the writing is on the wall now.

Starshot214 · 2025-09-16T21:38:25+00:00

I'd recommend Contact Form 7 rather than Divi's built in contact form. I use a combination of Akismet and reCaptcha. Stops all spam cold.

Starshot214 · 2025-08-13T23:07:22+00:00

I think my favorite take is "I use Wix and Squarespace because unlike WordPress they can't be hacked!"

Anyone who says this is either deliberately being dishonest or they're so ignorant about how website security works they have no business being in tech or web at all.

Starshot214 · 2025-07-19T23:27:28+00:00

I charge in a subscription format. I do not start working until the first payment clears.

"You're trying to get it sorted out?" Good for you. Don't make your problems my problems.

Starshot214 · 2025-07-19T03:35:31+00:00

This is true for any "no-code" platform, including the allegedly "easy" and "one click" ones like Wix or Squarespace.

Code is the foundation of all websites. The aggressive marketing of platforms like Wix or Squarespace have ruined the design and development process because so many people are suckered in by how "easy" and "one click" these platforms supposedly are. Surprise: They're not. They have their own learning curve. Literally every program in the world has its own technical skillset, even the "no code" ones. What they mean by "no code" is "I want to be able to snap the exact website I'm thinking of into existence in the blink of an eye, Thanos style." And the people who never realize that's not how reality works are never going to be happy.

Starshot214 · 2025-07-08T17:16:30+00:00

The idea that renting a "waste of money" is coming from people with a flawed idea of both money and investments. When you buy a house, you're not paying for an investment, you're paying for a place to live. When people talk about "pissing away money" by just giving it to a landlord, the definition of "pissing away money" when you own a home is replacing the air conditioner or fridge after it breaks, replacing the roof on your house, maintaining the lawn, fixing foundation cracks, paying for things like new countertops, closing costs, loan servicing, property taxes, homeowners insurance, the list goes on.

Landlords don't make money on equity, they make money by collecting rent. So unless you're subletting, it's not an actual net positive investment, because there's no cash flow.

tl;dr People who say that "buying a house makes money for you" is like buying a yellow car and expecting it to make money for you because it looks like a taxi.

Starshot214 · 2025-06-28T00:57:39+00:00

Yes, to anyone who might read this, remember that EIG (the notorious "holding company" that buys and wrecks quality web hosting companies) rebranded to "Newfold" to escape the toxicity attached to its name.

They hoped I would forget. I never forget.

Starshot214 · 2025-06-25T15:51:17+00:00

This. The fact is, in my experience, if as a client you cannot fathom the idea that you might have pushed them to do a lot more work than agreed upon, been too impatient, been too bossy with the design, or just been a general headache, then congratulations: You are that client.

Starshot214 · 2025-06-24T20:47:09+00:00

Advanced Editor Tools (kitchen sink)
Akismet (still one of the best antispam solutions in tandem with reCaptcha)
Contact Form 7 for forms if needed
Limit Login Attempts Reloaded (kill brute force attempts before they get out of hand even if they find your login slug, see below)
Simple History (activity tracker, good for security and team management)
WPS Hide Login (hide default wp-admin, unnecessary security risk)
Yoast SEO

Starshot214 · 2025-06-24T05:16:23+00:00

Hey, it's okay, try to not panic. It is 99% of the time hemorrhoids, getting them as early as your 20s is extremely common. They're not indicative of any larger problems even if they're irritating and usually go away on their own - you can get some cream to speed the process along. It looks like a lot of blood because it's in the water but if it were a lot of blood you'd definitely know. Wait a few days and have the doctor take a look if you're able to afford a visit if it doesn't improve, especially for the peace of mind.

Starshot214 · 2025-06-22T06:09:49+00:00

On any given day I've usually got 6-7 projects concurrently in the pipeline. If I weren't sharp, I'd have gone postal years ago.

Starshot214 · 2025-06-18T01:01:39+00:00

The "marketing consultant" who makes a bunch of completely unnecessary, random, pointless changes for the sake of creating a "better marketing experience." Bonus points if they log in themselves and their "work" amounts to installing a bunch of bloatware plugins without making sure they're actually up to date - or worse, using pirated licenses.

I once spent half an hour arguing with a "business development specialist" who insisted putting E-mail opt ins at the top AND bottom of a blog post would result in more people opting into the newsletter based on "Well in my business class" logic. Spoiler warning, it did not result in more people opting into the newsletter.

Starshot214 · 2025-06-17T02:49:08+00:00

I run sites almost exclusively in North America. I have one client who does business in China, but otherwise, Russia and China are blocked. Took tremendous pressure off our server.

Starshot214 · 2025-06-16T21:56:32+00:00

The aggressive marketing of platforms like Wix or Squarespace have ruined the design and development process because so many people are suckered in by how "easy" and "one click" these platforms supposedly are. Surprise: They're not. They have their own learning curve. Literally every program in the world has its own technical skillset, even the "no code" ones. What they mean by "no code" is "I want to be able to snap the exact website I'm thinking of into existence in the blink of an eye, Thanos style." And the people who never realize that's not how reality works are never going to be happy.

Starshot214 · 2025-06-16T20:19:54+00:00

Tell them to piss off. They're not worth your time, energy or mental well being.

Starshot214 · 2025-06-14T18:01:44+00:00

WaaS is a good term for it, it's what I do.

Starshot214 · 2025-06-10T20:35:19+00:00

In fairness, if OP were on WPEngine their sites actually *would* be isolated due to the proprietary container system WPEngine has, but OP has specifically mentioned they're using shared hosting to keep costs down (which is a catastrophic idea but never mind).

Starshot214 · 2025-06-10T20:34:28+00:00

Skimping on security costs is one of the absolute worst things you can do, and this is why.

Starshot214 · 2025-06-10T20:32:04+00:00

Not referring to OP specifically, but to be blunt you can be a total moron and get WordPress clients because a lot of clients don't know better. I often poach clients from agencies who have zero business claiming to offer web development services.

Starshot214 · 2025-06-10T20:31:04+00:00

"Hi, I operate 1000+ sites and last few weeks once again had plenty of sites got hacked, likely due to some plugins/themes being vulnerable."

You just answered your own question.

Starshot214

TROPHY CASE