Resources

ExpressionEngine and Craft CMS sites don't fail dramatically. They degrade quietly, through updates that were never run, integrations that nobody's watching, and decisions made years ago that were never documented. These articles are written for business owners who rely on one of these platforms and want to understand what proper long-term maintenance actually looks like.

CartThrob 9 Is Here: What It Means for Your ExpressionEngine Store
ExpressionEngine

CartThrob 9 Is Here: What It Means for Your ExpressionEngine Store

If your ExpressionEngine website includes an online store, there is a good chance it runs on CartThrob. CartThrob is the eCommerce plugin that powers purchasing, order management, and payment processing on ExpressionEngine sites. Version 9.0.0 has just been released, and while the announcement is aimed at developers, the implications are squarely about how your store operates.

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Craft CMS Is Moving to Laravel: What Business Owners Need to Know
Craft CMS

Craft CMS Is Moving to Laravel: What Business Owners Need to Know

Craft CMS has announced it is rebuilding its foundations on Laravel, one of the most widely used PHP frameworks in the world. If you run a business on a Craft-powered site, this is the kind of change that can sound alarming but, handled correctly, is entirely manageable. Here is what you need to understand, and what the right response looks like depending on which version your site is running.

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What to Look for When Hiring a Craft CMS Developer
Craft CMS

What to Look for When Hiring a Craft CMS Developer

Craft CMS has a strong but relatively specialised developer community. The difference between someone who has built seriously with Craft and someone who has touched it once or twice is meaningful. If your site runs on Craft and you need ongoing development or support, knowing what to look for matters.

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How to Know If Your Craft CMS Site Is in Good Shape
Craft CMS

How to Know If Your Craft CMS Site Is in Good Shape

Most business owners have no idea what state their Craft CMS site is actually in. They know it’s working, they can add content, and the forms are submitting. Beyond that, it’s a black box. Problems can accumulate quietly over a long period before they become visible.

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When Bespoke Software Pays for Itself
PHP & Laravel

When Bespoke Software Pays for Itself

Custom software development has a higher upfront cost than buying a subscription to an existing tool or adding another plugin to your CMS. That cost is often the reason businesses do not pursue it. But in the right circumstances, the return on a bespoke application is clear, measurable, and often much faster than expected.

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What Does Long-Term Craft CMS Support Actually Cost?
Craft CMS

What Does Long-Term Craft CMS Support Actually Cost?

The question most business owners ask is some version of: what will this cost? When it comes to Craft CMS support, the honest answer is that it depends on factors specific to your site. But there’s enough of a pattern to give you a useful framework.

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What Actually Happens When Your Craft CMS Agency Drops You
Craft CMS

What Actually Happens When Your Craft CMS Agency Drops You

Most businesses with a Craft CMS site didn’t choose Craft themselves. A web agency built it, recommended the platform, and handled everything from launch onward. That arrangement works well until it doesn’t, and there are several ways it can stop working.

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When Should You Upgrade Your Craft CMS Site?
Craft CMS

When Should You Upgrade Your Craft CMS Site?

There’s no single answer to when you should upgrade your Craft CMS installation, but there are several clear signals that tell you it’s overdue. Most business owners don’t think about this until something goes wrong. By then, the upgrade is often more involved than it would have been if it had been handled earlier.

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Your CMS Has Plugins for Everything, and That Is a Problem
PHP & Laravel

Your CMS Has Plugins for Everything, and That Is a Problem

One of the most common selling points for CMS platforms is the plugin ecosystem. Whatever you need, there is a plugin for it. This is true, and it is often genuinely useful. But for businesses running sites where reliability matters, a large plugin count is worth examining more carefully than it usually is.

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Taking Over a Site Built by Another Developer: What We Look for First
ExpressionEngine

Taking Over a Site Built by Another Developer: What We Look for First

A significant part of the work we do at Expression 37 involves inheriting ExpressionEngine sites that were built by developers or agencies who are no longer involved. The circumstances vary, but the practical challenge is always similar: a site you didn’t build, with code you didn’t write, and decisions that were never documented.

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When a Custom-Built Solution Beats a CMS: The Questions Worth Asking
PHP & Laravel

When a Custom-Built Solution Beats a CMS: The Questions Worth Asking

Most business websites are built on content management systems. That makes sense for most situations. But there are cases where a CMS is the wrong tool, and the gap between what a CMS can do and what a business needs it to do creates ongoing friction, cost, and limitation. Knowing when a bespoke solution makes more sense is a useful thing to understand.

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Craft CMS vs WordPress: Why Migrating Is Not Always the Answer
Craft CMS

Craft CMS vs WordPress: Why Migrating Is Not Always the Answer

When a Craft CMS site develops maintenance problems or the original agency moves on, one common suggestion is to migrate to WordPress. The reasoning usually sounds straightforward. But for many businesses, this recommendation deserves more scrutiny than it typically receives.

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What to Look for When Hiring an ExpressionEngine Developer
ExpressionEngine

What to Look for When Hiring an ExpressionEngine Developer

ExpressionEngine is a specialist platform. The community of genuinely experienced EE developers is small, particularly in the UK, and the difference between someone who has worked with EE seriously and someone who has touched it once or twice is significant.

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How to Know If Your ExpressionEngine Site Is in Good Shape
ExpressionEngine

How to Know If Your ExpressionEngine Site Is in Good Shape

Most business owners have no idea what state their ExpressionEngine site is in. They know it’s working, they can add content, and the contact form still sends emails. Beyond that, it’s a black box. Problems can accumulate quietly over a long period before they become visible.

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The Hidden Cost of Delaying an ExpressionEngine Upgrade
ExpressionEngine

The Hidden Cost of Delaying an ExpressionEngine Upgrade

Delaying an ExpressionEngine upgrade is easy to justify. The site still works, the budget is committed elsewhere, and nothing has broken yet. But delays in this area follow a predictable pattern, and the costs accumulate in ways that are not immediately visible.

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What Does Long-Term Website Support Actually Cost?
ExpressionEngine

What Does Long-Term Website Support Actually Cost?

The question I get asked most often by business owners is some version of: what will this cost? It’s a fair question, and the honest answer is that it depends on things that are specific to your site. But there’s enough of a pattern to give you a useful framework.

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Still on ExpressionEngine 4 or 5? Here Is What That Actually Costs You
ExpressionEngine

Still on ExpressionEngine 4 or 5? Here Is What That Actually Costs You

If your website is running on ExpressionEngine 4 or 5, it may look fine on the surface. But underneath, you are carrying costs that most business owners do not see until something goes wrong. This is not about upgrading for the sake of it. It is about understanding what your current situation actually means.

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What Actually Happens When Your Web Agency Drops You
ExpressionEngine

What Actually Happens When Your Web Agency Drops You

Most businesses with an ExpressionEngine site didn’t choose ExpressionEngine themselves. A web agency built the site, recommended the CMS, and handled everything from launch onward. That arrangement works well until it doesn’t, and there are several ways it can stop working.

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When Should You Upgrade Your ExpressionEngine Site?
ExpressionEngine

When Should You Upgrade Your ExpressionEngine Site?

There’s no single answer to when you should upgrade your ExpressionEngine installation, but there are several clear signals that tell you it’s overdue. Most business owners don’t think about this until something goes wrong. By then, the upgrade is usually more involved than it would have been if it had been done earlier.

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If you cannot find a particular article, or there is other information you need please get in touch and we will glady help.

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Most clients come to us when their site has started to feel like a risk rather than an asset. Whether the agency relationship has ended, an upgrade has been delayed, or the site has simply grown beyond what it can handle, a conversation costs nothing.

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Trusted by established businesses and growing brands across the UK

Expression 37 works with a small number of clients at any one time. These are some of them.

About Karl

Karl Bowers ~ ExpressionEngine & Craft CMS Specialist

Karl is the founder of Expression 37 Ltd and has been working exclusively with ExpressionEngine and Craft CMS since 2007. In eighteen years he has supported more than 80 clients across the UK, from long-term retainer arrangements to emergency rescues when something has gone wrong at the worst possible moment. Every piece of work is handled personally by Karl, with no account managers or junior developers between you and the person doing it.

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Client feedback:

Karl has been instrumental in delivering the ExpressionEngine development requirements for our client. Karl very quickly became part of our extended team as he is reliable, dependable and thorough in everything he does. Karl has a genuine desire to see his clients succeed and he will go out of his way to help them achieve that. Karl worked hard on our projects and was so helpful all along the way. He is driven, talented and an absolute pleasure to work with! Any organisation would be lucky to have Karl on their team.

Leilah Aintaoui

Leilah Aintaoui
Video Smart Ltd.

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