Exeter's Craft CMS enquiries usually mean one of two things: an install left running unattended, or one that's actually stopped working with nobody around to explain it.
Karl's the only person you'll ever deal with here. He's worked in Craft CMS and ExpressionEngine exclusively since starting Expression 37 in 2007. No account manager, no wider team.
The install gets checked properly before anything's recommended. Depending on what turns up, that's a fix, an upgrade, or an ongoing retainer.
Why do Exeter's Craft sites need more attention than most?
Being the gateway to Devon's coast and moors gives Exeter a strong tourism trade to support, alongside a growing insurance and financial services sector and a Russell Group university feeding a steady stream of new business formation. A good share of the sites built for that mix run on Craft, plenty put together years ago by someone who's since moved on.
Karl supports Exeter businesses in that position: a booking system nobody fully trusts, an install several versions out of date, or bespoke functionality nobody currently understands. The codebase gets read before anything's priced, not guessed at from a form.
Common questions Exeter clients ask:
What actually kicks off the process?
Karl goes through the templates and plugins directly before quoting, because handovers rarely come with anything resembling documentation. A booking system that struggled over a peak weekend, a security notice nobody's acted on, or a decision the site can't run unsupervised any longer, one of those is usually the trigger.
Given how far Exeter is from most agencies, does remote support hold up?
Comfortably. Nothing about reviewing code or deploying changes needs anyone on-site, and the South West rail links make a visit easy enough on the rare occasion it's actually useful.
Our booking traffic is heavily seasonal, is that worth mentioning upfront?
Definitely, since it changes what gets prioritised. A tested, resilient booking flow matters far more here than it would for a site with flat, predictable traffic.
Can an install be picked up from a developer who's no longer contactable?
Yes, and it's genuinely routine. Sorting what's bespoke from a modified plugin only comes from a proper look at the code, never from a description of the problem.
Is an old Craft version something to worry about?
On its own, rarely. What actually goes wrong is almost always a plugin left to rot, not the core platform itself, so that's the first thing an audit looks at.
Do you handle the Salesforce integration too, or just the CMS?
It's covered as part of the same work. Splitting the CMS from an integration wired straight into its templates rarely reflects how the two actually function together.
Where we typically come in:
A visitor-facing business riding genuine seasonal swings, where a booking flow that slows down in July is a direct hit to revenue, not an inconvenience. A financial or insurance firm where uptime and accuracy sit above most sites' priority list. A company with Salesforce running alongside Craft, needing someone who actually understands both sides of that pipe rather than just the templates. And a Craft version several releases behind, where an honest upgrade starts with plugin compatibility and Composer conflicts, not the core software itself.
Ready to get started?
If your website is business-critical and needs a specialist who will take proper long-term ownership of it, get in touch. Karl will respond personally and give you an honest view of how we can help.
