Technology

Here at [RPress] all of the websites we design and host for our clients are fast, search engine optimised and you can take your data and host it anywhere else at any time, no problem.

The technology that we use to host and run your site reflects this ethos. We don't tie you in to proprietary software or data structures which means that we don't use site builders like Wix, Squarespace or Elementor.

Content Management Systems (CMS)

A content management system (CMS) is used to manage and order the web pages and other data on your site. [RPress] use a mixture of CMS to make sure that each client's individual needs are catered for. The CMS that we use are:

Pico

Pico describes itself as a 'a stupidly simple and blazingly fast, flat file CMS' and it really does what it says on the tin. 'Flat file' means that it does not use a database, making it the fastest choice for small websites. We recommend Pico for relatively small websites where the content does not change very often – ideal for many freelancers and small businesses such as Mark O'Neil Translations.

Pico does not have a web-based administration interface which makes it more secure than most CMS, but makes it a little more difficult to change website content than other choices. For this reason when we recommend Pico we also take care of any requested content changes for your site* as part of our hosting and maintenance package.

WordPress

WordPress is the Swiss army knife of CMS – it's not the fastest choice but boy can it do a lot! WordPress stores the content for your website in a database and provides a web-based administration interface where you can write new content and edit existing pages on your site. WordPress is a great choice if you are going to be regularly adding content to your site, plus it gives you a lot of freedom as to how you lay out the content on each page. It's also often the best choice if you are integrating your website with third party services – take The Method for example, which features deep integration with the Zoho CRM system.

Craft

Craft is a fast, modern CMS. Like WordPress, content is stored in a database and content is added and edited through a web interface. A Craft website takes more time and effort to set up than a WordPress site but if WordPress is a Swiss army knife then Craft is more like having a custom made chef's knife, perfectly suited to the job at hand. For example, web page designs created through Craft can easily be 'locked' into a rigid template of your choosing which is ideal if your corporate image is important and there are a lot of people adding content to the site – an online newspaper such at The Onliner with a lot of contributors is a perfect example.

Craft is also the way to go if your website is hosting private content and files for registered users, as it offers more security than WordPress out of the box.

Hosting

We host our client's websites on servers in the UK or Switzerland. We never use Amazon Web Services (AWS).

What about email?

Email hosting is definitely best left to the professionals, but we can (and do) advise clients on choosing a suitable provider and help with setup and migration. For example, depending on your requirements we may recommend ProtonMail (for privacy), Google Workspace (great if you're used to GMail and Google Docs) or Microsoft 365 (perfect if you also need Microsoft's office software)

* Fair use policy applies