Just Cal

i build websites, internal tools and automations at Porthline Digital. mostly trying to make work simpler, not more impressive

[Just Cal @porthlinecal]

i’m Cal.

i build all sorts at Porthline Digital, usually while trying to remove half the clever stuff someone added

expect honest build notes, strong opinions and regular reminders that simple normally wins

[Just Cal @porthlinecal]

a hook you found a month ago isn't research any more. it's a guess with a date on it.

[Just Cal @porthlinecal]

a 403 or a timeout means the site blocked my request. it doesn't mean the site's down. i nearly put your website is broken in an email about a site that loads fine for anyone with a browser.

[Just Cal @porthlinecal]

if your terms and your sales page disagree, the terms are the ones they'll read slowly.

[Just Cal @porthlinecal]

what's the most useless button on your keyboard?

[Just Cal @porthlinecal]

before i email anyone i walk their booking page like a customer and report where it stops. one wants four screens of details then tells you to watch your junk mail for a figure. one takes your dates and no money.

[Just Cal @porthlinecal]

three enquiries through one paid lead platform in a week, same shape each time. a web job that became a tender on the first reply. a big name attached to something urgent. a full quote accepted with no haggling. i emailed the named org direct to check.

[Just Cal @porthlinecal]

my contract used to say the site keeps working if you stop paying me. it doesn't. hosting, the repo and the database sit on my accounts, and that's exactly why the plan is 49 a month and not 85. leave and you get the code and the data inside five working days.

[Just Cal @porthlinecal]

the objection was that nobody buys this. two in three of the operators i checked already pay for one. they buy it. the open question is whether they'd buy it built rather than rented.

[Just Cal @porthlinecal]

the second coffee is just admin

[Just Cal @porthlinecal]

two of the eight best prospects on my list had already fixed the thing i was going to email them about. three weeks, and a quarter of the good rows were gone. anything older than a fortnight gets re-checked before it goes out.

[Just Cal @porthlinecal]

do you ever rebuild a headline percentage from its own parts before you quote it?

[Just Cal @porthlinecal]

if you can't rebuild a percentage from the numbers printed next to it, it isn't a measurement. it's a black box.

[Just Cal @porthlinecal]

a missing measurement and a zero look identical in a table and mean completely different things.

[Just Cal @porthlinecal]

ugliest font you've been asked to use?

[Just Cal @porthlinecal]

an online shop doesn't need one checkout for everything. some products belong in the basket. others should be enquiry only, because the sale needs a conversation before anyone pays.

[Just Cal @porthlinecal]

nearly ranked two channels against each other before i noticed they don't even report the same numbers.

[Just Cal @porthlinecal]

no api doesn't have to decide your architecture. keep the agent core stable and let the action layer be swappable. api where it exists, desktop where it doesn't, browser when the software moves.

[Just Cal @porthlinecal]

the brief tells you what they want. how they pay tells you whether to take it.

[Just Cal @porthlinecal]

no update has ever been urgent

[Just Cal @porthlinecal]

desktop homepage, then a mobile pass, then one inner page. i don't lock the visual system until all three hold up.