Writing

How the web actually gets built

Opinionated essays to read before you pick a platform, a stack, or an AI workflow. From 14 years of building the web.

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Web Building
Platforms
Stacks
AI-Assisted Building
Opinion
Featured

Apple made the fold normal

The iPhone Duo won’t put a foldable in most Filipino hands. It puts one in the hands of the people who approve websites, and makes every iPhone app learn to change size.

Opinion
·
September 15, 2026
apple-made-the-fold-normal
Featured

You probably don’t need a redesign

Most redesign requests are content and structure problems in disguise. What a rebuild resets, why it comes back, and where the same money does more.

Opinion
·
September 8, 2026
you-probably-dont-need-a-redesign
Featured

What a website actually costs in the Philippines (2026)

Website pricing in the Philippines runs from a few thousand pesos to several million, and the number itself is the least useful part. Here’s what you’re actually paying for at each tier.

Web Building
·
July 6, 2026
website-cost-philippines
Featured

Webflow vs WordPress: pick by who runs it, not by features

The Webflow vs WordPress debate isn’t about features. It’s about who runs the site at 2am, what it costs to keep alive, and which failure you can live with.

Platforms
·
July 5, 2026
webflow-vs-wordpress
Opinion
·
October 5, 2026

Eleven years of work worth doing

Dthree Digital turned eleven. Looking back at the work and the people behind it, what I feel most is grateful.

eleven-years-of-work-worth-doing
Web Building
·
September 30, 2026

Most visitors never see the bottom half of your homepage

When we measured our own homepage, the average visit got about 13% of the way down. Everything we’d put below that line was working for almost nobody.

bottom-half-of-your-homepage
Opinion
·
September 21, 2026

The spring runs out

Every brief I’ve been handed in fourteen years asks for engagement. The one thing I made for myself couldn’t have any, because its job is to help a child fall asleep. That single constraint decided everything underneath it.

the-spring-runs-out
Web Building
·
August 31, 2026

I built a page for the machines

This site has a page written for language models, not people. Most AI crawlers ignore it and Google says it does nothing, so why build one at all?

a-page-for-the-machines
Platforms
·
August 25, 2026

Who touches it after launch?

Clients ask where the site should live. The honest answer depends less on traffic or budget than on who edits it in month three.

who-touches-it-after-launch
AI-Assisted Building
·
August 17, 2026

Why is there still a discovery phase?

AI can do the research now, so what’s left for discovery? The part that was always the point: what nobody wrote down, and decisions while they’re cheap.

why-is-there-still-a-discovery-phase
Web Building
·
August 10, 2026

Filipinos are mobile-first. Most Philippine websites aren’t.

Filipinos are among the most mobile-native users on earth, but the sites built for them are still approved on iPhones. What the Philippine device data says.

filipinos-are-mobile-first
Web Building
·
August 3, 2026

Why is your website taking so long?

It’s almost never the design, and it’s rarely the build. After 500+ projects, the delay is nearly always the same: content nobody owns. Here’s how to keep your project off that path.

why-is-your-website-taking-so-long
AI-Assisted Building
·
July 27, 2026

Shouldn’t a website be cheaper now that AI builds it?

Partly, yes. Building takes less time than it used to, and that should show up in what you pay. But deciding what to build, holding scope and catching the confident mistake didn’t get cheaper, and that’s where your money goes now.

is-a-website-cheaper-with-ai
Opinion
·
July 23, 2026

Mobile is no longer a shape

Samsung’s new folds ship a near-square browser, a wide cover screen, and viewports that change shape mid-scroll. Responsive design just stopped meaning phone-sized.

mobile-is-no-longer-a-shape
Opinion
·
July 20, 2026

Built for a screen we don’t have

Nolan made The Odyssey for a screen the Philippines doesn’t have. The craft still carried. Your website should pass the same test.

built-for-a-screen-we-dont-have
Web Building
·
July 13, 2026

Your traffic is down and it’s not your fault

Organic traffic slipped this year and nothing on your site changed? You’re probably not being penalized, you’re being intercepted by AI answers. How to tell the difference, and what to do about it.

traffic-down-not-your-fault
AI-Assisted Building
·
July 8, 2026

My AI stack: what I actually pay for

Everyone asks which AI tools to buy. Here’s my actual working stack: what earns its subscription, what I built instead of buying, and the one test every tool has to pass.

my-ai-stack
AI-Assisted Building
·
July 6, 2026

Claude Fable 5 in real work: speed is the headline, not the story

Claude Fable 5 had the strangest launch month AI has seen: released, suspended by the government, then brought back. Now that it’s in my daily work, here’s what it actually changes.

claude-fable-5
AI-Assisted Building
·
July 2, 2026

How I actually build with AI, and where I still won’t

AI took the cost out of producing code and copy. It never touched the cost of judgment. Here’s how I actually work with Claude Code, and the line I try not to cross.

how-i-build-with-ai
AI-Assisted Building
·
June 23, 2026

AI is a great junior and a dangerous senior

AI is brilliant at the work of a talented junior and dangerous the moment you let it make senior decisions. Know which hat it’s wearing.

ai-junior-dangerous-senior
Stacks
·
June 14, 2026

The stack you choose is a bet on who maintains it

Every stack decision is really a staffing decision. Here’s how I pick platforms by who has to live with them after launch.

the-stack-you-choose
Stacks
·
June 5, 2026

Boring technology is a competitive advantage

The newest framework is rarely the right one. Proven, boring, well-understood technology quietly wins on the timelines that matter.

boring-technology
Web Building
·
May 27, 2026

The homepage isn’t the front door you think it is

Most visitors never see your homepage first. They land on a blog post, a product page, a link a friend sent. Design for the side doors.

homepage-not-the-front-door
Opinion
·
May 18, 2026

The client isn’t the user, and both are right

The person paying for the site and the person using it want different things. Good work holds both, without pretending they’re the same.

client-is-not-the-user
Web Building
·
May 9, 2026

Speed is a feature your client will never ask for

No one writes performance into a brief. But a slow site quietly costs trust, rankings, and conversions every day. Build for speed anyway.

speed-is-a-feature
Platforms
·
April 30, 2026

Figma to Webflow to WordPress: pick the tool by the job, not the trend

Every tool in the chain is right for something and wrong for something else. The skill is matching the tool to the job and the team, not defending a favorite.

figma-webflow-wordpress
AI-Assisted Building
·
April 21, 2026

The prompt is the new spec, and most specs are bad

AI made everyone a spec writer overnight. The trouble is that writing a clear spec was always the hard part, and it still is.

the-prompt-is-the-new-spec
Platforms
·
April 12, 2026

Shopify, WooCommerce, or custom: the ecommerce question nobody frames right

The ecommerce platform debate is usually the wrong debate. Start with your catalog, your team, and your margins, not the tool.

shopify-woocommerce-or-custom
Stacks
·
April 3, 2026

The no-code ceiling is real, and that’s fine

No-code tools have a limit. Knowing where it is, and respecting it, is more valuable than pretending it doesn’t exist.

the-no-code-ceiling
Web Building
·
March 25, 2026

Accessible by default, not by audit

Bolting accessibility on at the end is expensive and half-hearted. Built in from the first decision, it’s mostly free and better for everyone.

accessible-by-default
Opinion
·
March 16, 2026

Design systems die in the handoff

A beautiful design system is worthless if it doesn’t survive contact with the build. Design it for the handoff, or watch it drift.

design-systems-die-in-handoff
Web Building
·
March 7, 2026

The web of things: your stack is a toolkit, not a religion

The modern web is a sprawl of specialized tools that have to talk to each other. Treating your stack as a toolkit, not an identity, is what keeps projects sane.

the-web-of-things
Platforms
·
February 26, 2026

The CMS is for the editor, not the developer

A content system that only a developer can use is a broken content system. Build it for the person who will actually publish.

cms-is-for-the-editor
AI-Assisted Building
·
February 17, 2026

What I stopped Googling, and what I still ask people

AI replaced my search bar for a whole class of questions. It hasn’t replaced the ones only a human who knows the context can answer.

what-i-stopped-googling
Platforms
·
February 8, 2026

When to say no to a platform migration

Not every migration is worth it. Sometimes the honest advice is to stay put and fix what actually hurts.

say-no-to-a-migration
Stacks
·
January 30, 2026

Every integration is a promise you’ll maintain

Every third-party tool you plug in is a relationship you now have to tend. Add them like you mean to keep them.

every-integration-is-a-promise
Opinion
·
January 21, 2026

Scope creep is a communication failure, not a client failure

When a project balloons, it’s tempting to blame the client. Most of the time the scope crept because nobody named it clearly enough early.

scope-creep-is-communication
Opinion
·
January 12, 2026

Working with developers without losing the design

The gap between a design and a build is where quality leaks out. Closing it is a collaboration discipline, not a handoff document.

working-with-developers
Web Building
·
January 3, 2026

Whitespace is doing more work than your content

Clients ask to fill the empty space. The empty space is what makes the rest legible. Whitespace isn’t wasted, it’s the design working.

whitespace-is-working
Web Building
·
December 25, 2025

Mobile-first is a mindset, not a breakpoint

Most of your visitors are on a phone. Designing the desktop first and shrinking it is backwards, and it shows.

mobile-first-mindset
Web Building
·
December 16, 2025

Navigation is a promise about what matters

Your nav isn’t a table of contents. It’s a statement of priorities, and most navs quietly say the org chart matters more than the visitor.

navigation-is-a-promise
AI-Assisted Building
·
December 7, 2025

Review the AI’s code like a stranger wrote it

AI code arrives looking finished, which is exactly why it slips through unreviewed. Read it like a pull request from someone you have never met.

review-ai-code-like-a-stranger
AI-Assisted Building
·
November 28, 2025

The taste gap is the new moat

When anyone can generate a competent draft in seconds, competent stops being valuable. Knowing which draft is actually good is the scarce thing now.

the-taste-gap
AI-Assisted Building
·
November 19, 2025

AI writes the first draft, you own the last one

Let AI take the blank page away. Just never let it have the final say, because your name is on the last draft, not the first.

you-own-the-last-draft
Platforms
·
November 10, 2025

Headless is a bet you should be able to explain

Going headless can be the right call. But if you can’t explain why in one plain sentence, it’s probably fashion, not fit.

headless-is-a-bet
Platforms
·
November 1, 2025

The plugin you add today is the debt you inherit tomorrow

A plugin solves today’s problem in one click. It also signs you up for years of updates, conflicts, and one more thing that can break.

the-plugin-is-debt
Platforms
·
October 23, 2025

Your website is a product, not a brochure

A brochure is finished when it prints. A product is never finished. Treating your site like the former is why it goes stale within a year.

website-is-a-product
Stacks
·
October 14, 2025

The database outlives the framework

Frameworks come and go every few years. Your data stays. Spend your care on the part that will still be here long after the trendy layer is gone.

database-outlives-the-framework
Stacks
·
October 5, 2025

Ship the boring version first

The ambitious version can wait. Ship the plain one that works, learn from real use, and let reality tell you what to build next.

ship-the-boring-version-first
Stacks
·
September 26, 2025

Analytics you never read are just weight

Most sites carry three tracking scripts and read none of them. Data you never act on isn’t insight, it’s load time and a privacy liability.

analytics-you-never-read
Opinion
·
September 17, 2025

Deadlines are a design constraint, use them

A deadline isn’t the enemy of good work. It’s the constraint that forces the decisions endless time lets you avoid.

deadlines-are-a-constraint
Opinion
·
September 8, 2025

The best feedback names the problem, not the fix

Make the logo bigger is a solution in disguise. The feedback that actually helps describes what’s wrong, and lets the designer solve it.

feedback-names-the-problem
Opinion
·
August 30, 2025

Portfolios lie, ask about the maintenance

A portfolio shows the launch-day photo. It never shows the site six months later. If you want to know how good someone is, ask what happened after.

ask-about-the-maintenance

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Based in Manila, working with teams across time zones.