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Notes

Notes on web systems, domains, and how the work gets done.

Most of these are for owners who want their website, domain, hosting, forms, analytics, and handoff to make sense. Some are about how I build software and why it is built that way.

Oct 30, 2026

Keeping it working

What JAMARQ Is Now: Websites, Software and PC Repair

After a year of building, JAMARQ solves technology problems for people and small businesses: websites and the systems behind them, custom software, ongoing support, and now PC repair.

Oct 29, 2026

How it gets built

What Didn't Work: Building More Doesn't Fix a Distribution Problem

JAMARQ got much better at building things this year and not much better at selling them. What that looked like, what was retired, and what it taught.

Oct 28, 2026

How it gets built

The Software: Built Because There Had to Be a Better Way

JAMARQ doesn't only build websites. Two pieces of software from this year, a hardware diagnostic drive and a playlist rebuilder, and the problems that started them.

Oct 27, 2026

Keeping it working

The Websites: A Year of Building Infrastructure for Real Businesses

Seven client websites, three told in detail, and the September platform move that customers never noticed. Why a website is infrastructure, not a design project.

Oct 26, 2026

How it gets built

For the Past Year, JAMARQ Has Been Building

JAMARQ spent a year building websites, software and a PC repair practice, and almost no time talking about it. This week's notes fix that.

Oct 16, 2026

Owning your setup

Showing the Work Without Showing Anyone's Data

Case studies need real screenshots of admin systems, but those screens are full of customer names and requests. How JAMARQ captures them with sample data instead.

Oct 9, 2026

Keeping it working

What PageSpeed Scores Do and Don't Tell You

PageSpeed Insights gives a website four scores out of 100. They're useful, but only if you know what each measures, why mobile scores run lower, and what a score can't see.

Oct 2, 2026

How it gets built

When a Website Is Built but the Business Isn't Ready to Launch

Sometimes the website is finished before the photos, prices or tenant details are. A good holding page keeps the domain useful while the owners fill in the rest.

Sep 25, 2026

How it gets built

What Migration Testing Turns Up in Your Own Old Code

Testing a website move against real traffic doesn't only check the new site. It also exposes bugs that were living in the old one. Why that's a benefit, and what to do with them.

Sep 18, 2026

How it gets built

Moving a Website Without Customers Noticing

The goal of moving a live business website is that nothing visible changes. Recording real requests to the old site and replaying them against the new one makes that testable.

Sep 11, 2026

Owning your setup

Who Can See the Job Applications on Your Website?

Online job applications and request forms collect personal information. Small business website admins should limit who can see it, and check that those limits actually hold.

Sep 4, 2026

Keeping it working

Before Labor Day: Make Holiday Hours Agree Everywhere

Holiday hours tend to be updated in one place and forgotten in three others. A short pre-holiday check keeps the website, maps listing and social pages telling customers the same thing.

Aug 28, 2026

How it gets built

Before Moving a Website, Write Down Everything It Does

Moving a website to new hosting starts with an honest inventory: every page, form, email, login and scheduled task the current site handles, including the ones nobody remembers.

Aug 21, 2026

Keeping it working

Nightly Checks: Finding Problems Before Customers Do

Most website problems are quiet. A form stops sending, a certificate nears expiry, a backup fails. Simple automated checks catch them before a customer has to.

Aug 14, 2026

Owning your setup

What a Vendor-Hosted Website Really Costs

Bundled website platforms look simple, but the monthly fee isn't the only cost. Slow updates, generic design and limited ownership add up over time.

Aug 7, 2026

Keeping it working

A Plain-English Record of Who Changed What

When several people manage a website, a readable change log answers the question that comes up most: what happened, and who did it? Why it matters and what to record.

Jul 31, 2026

Keeping it working

Letting Owners Update Their Own Site Without Breaking It

The most common website updates are menus, hours, prices and photos. A good admin makes those safe and quick for the owner, and keeps the rest out of the way.

Jul 24, 2026

How it gets built

Spam Protection Without Making Customers Solve a Puzzle

CAPTCHAs stop some spam and some customers. Quieter checks on the server side can keep a small business form clean without asking real people to prove anything.

Jul 17, 2026

How it gets built

A Quote Form Should Ask What the Front Desk Needs

Generic contact forms turn quote requests into a round of follow-up questions. A structured quote form asks what the business needs to answer the first time.

Jul 10, 2026

How it gets built

What a Reservation Request Should Actually Capture

An online reservation request is only useful if it gives staff enough to say yes without a phone call. What to ask, what to skip, and where the request should land.

Jul 4, 2026

Owning your setup

Independence Day Note: Own the Systems Your Business Depends On

A July 4 reminder for small businesses to own domains, DNS, hosting, email, forms, analytics, and recovery paths instead of depending on fragile vendor access.

Jul 1, 2026

Keeping it working

Before the Holiday Weekend, Test the Contact Paths

A practical pre-holiday website checklist for small businesses: contact forms, notification emails, Google Business Profile hours, phone links, and backup contact paths.

Jun 24, 2026

Keeping it working

A Midyear Website Checkup for Small Businesses

A midyear website review for small businesses covering service pages, calls to action, Google Business Profile, forms, analytics, speed, accessibility, and ownership notes.

Jun 19, 2026

Keeping it working

Juneteenth Reminder: Public Information Should Be Clear and Accurate

A Juneteenth reminder for businesses to keep public website information clear, accurate, accessible, and respectful before adding symbolic holiday messaging.

Jun 12, 2026

Keeping it working

Why Contact Forms Deserve More Attention Than They Get

Why small business website contact forms need validation, spam protection, notification testing, routing clarity, and a reliable follow-up process.

Jun 5, 2026

Keeping it working

What to Check the Week After a Website Launch

A post-launch website checklist for small businesses covering forms, analytics, search indexing, redirects, speed, mobile behavior, and owner handoff notes.

May 28, 2026

Owning your setup

A Plain-Language Guide to DNS Records

A practical explanation of common DNS records for small business websites: A, CNAME, MX, TXT, SPF, DKIM, DMARC, redirects, and verification records.

May 28, 2026

How it gets built

Designing Small Systems That Survive Interruption

How to make tasks easy to resume, keep progress visible, and build tools that assume real-world interruptions.

May 28, 2026

Owning your setup

How to Tell If Your Website Setup Is Fragile

Signs a small business website setup is fragile, including unclear domain ownership, brittle forms, slow pages, mystery hosting, and undocumented redirects.

May 28, 2026

How it gets built

The Value of Boring Infrastructure

Why clear local data, understandable steps, and dependable foundations come before clever interfaces in the software I build.

May 28, 2026

Owning your setup

What Small Businesses Should Own Before Launching a Website

A plain-language checklist for small businesses before launching a website: domain, DNS, hosting, analytics, email, content, and access ownership.

May 28, 2026

How it gets built

Why Prototypes Should Leave Notes Behind

Preserving the reasoning behind an experiment so the next decision is easier to make than the last one.

Have a tangled setup?

Notes are useful, but every real system has its own context. Send me the situation if you want help sorting it out.