Perhaps it is because I started 15 years ago when we were all webmasters and webmistresses and did everything from server configuration to menu graphics, but I keep being surprised of how many sites out there haven’t done the basic polish when it comes to simple server and service configuration.

Really basic, web hosting 101 details like having the site work both with and without “www” in front, or having custom error pages… these are still quite common even on high profile sites. Back in the early times it was caused by lack of skill, the industry was in a gold rush and many did not know how to configure things, some hosting companies were cowboys who often didn’t know much themselves, and the client would be told “can’t be done” or “will cost an extra 5000”.

I am not sure what the cause is nowadays, can’t be lack of knowledge. My guess is that it is a consequence of the increasing specialization - this something that falls between the cracks because it is not “development” or “design” or “content” or “marketing”, and nobody checks, or feels it is their remit to pick up the phone and try to get it sorted. So we still see horrible java dumps, or text based 404 messages, or are told that “blumphster.com is not accessible” (made up example, but i could name names!)

But even I was flabbergasted at what happened to me the other day… an example of how not getting the basics right has eroded my trust in one of the largest sites on the net… for not doing something that would take them 15 minutes per year!

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