A content management system, aka a CMS, is software that helps users create, manage and publish digital content online. Put simply, it’s the software that allows you to build and manage your website content. There’s no denying that choosing the right CMS is essential in 2026. With so many options available, it can be overwhelming to determine which platform is best for your needs. CMS technology evolves rapidly, and choosing the right platform in 2026 is about flexibility, scalability, and long-term viability. 

In this post, we’ll help you understand what to look for when choosing a CMS, compare popular options, and share our predictions for 2026. You’ll walk away feeling confident you can choose the right CMS software for your website needs.

Key Factors to Consider in 2026

Choosing the right CMS doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Here are some key criteria to consider when selecting a CMS for your website.

• Purpose of the site: Will your website be a publishing platform, an e-commerce store, a portfolio, a community, all of the above, or something else?
• Ease of use vs customization: Do you need drag-and-drop simplicity or are you looking for developer flexibility? These aren’t opposites—if money is no concern. Usually, you end up balancing these two goals.
• Scalability and performance: Once you cover the basics—do the pages load quickly and can the site be upgraded easily—you want to think about these concepts in a more strategic way such as: How well can the CMS handle your business’s needs as it grows? How can it better assist you to meet your goals? How well does it handle needing to change?
• Security: Does the CMS offer best-practice built-in protections, regular updates, a good security record? Are its third-party plugins and apps reliable?
• Integration capabilities: How easily can you integrate APIs, third-party services, or headless CMS options?
• Cost: What is the price for the software, and are there additional costs for hosting, plugins, or add-ons?

Asking these questions will help you narrow down the options and find the CMS that best fits your website’s needs.

CMS Options

Popular CMS platforms include:

WordPress

Pros:

• Free and open-source
• Get a website running quickly “out of the box”
• Huge ecosystem of plugins and themes
• With the help of an experienced WordPress developer, customization can be easily achieved.

Cons:

• Limited control over advanced functionality if you’re not a developer
• Open-source means performance, security, and stability are mostly depend on hosting and setup
• Can become bloated if many and/or poorly built plugins are used
• Requires ongoing maintenance (updates, backups, security)
• Note: There’s both a hosted and a non-hosted version of WordPress

Best use: Personal blogs, marketing sites, and content-driven websites that don’t require highly complex or custom functionality.

Notable features: Flexible block editor, so many plugins for extra functionality, customizable themes, strong SEO.

ExpressionEngine

Pros:

• Well-established and highly reliable CMS with a strong track record for large and complex websites
• Extensive customization options allow developers to tailor content structures, workflows, and functionality to exact requirements
• Scalable and secure, making it suitable for organizations that need enterprise-grade performance and control
• Flexible content modelling lets teams handle diverse types of content without forcing workarounds

Cons:

• Upgrading can be difficult
• Limited add-ons compared to platforms like WordPress or Wix CMS
• Ongoing maintenance and hosting responsibilities fall entirely on the organization

Best use: Organizations that want a secure, scalable CMS with deep customization capabilities. Especially good for complex content structures, sites that have multiple groups using and editing the website, and growing orgs that need a platform that can evolve over time.

Notable features: Flexible content modelling, robust security, highly scalable for complex websites.

Craft CMS

Pros:

• Flexible and powerful, allowing very granular control over content structure, templates, and functionality
• User-friendly control panel that makes content editing straightforward for non-technical teams
• Highly extendable through plugins, modules, and integrations, giving developers the tools to build exactly what a project needs
• Great balance of developer freedom and editor usability

Cons:

• No plug-and-play templates or themes, so most designs require a custom build
• Requires skilled development resources to do any structural / admin work
• Smaller community than WordPress, which can make finding third-party plugins or solutions more limited
• Ongoing maintenance and hosting responsibilities are entirely on the organization

Best use: Organizations with skilled design and development teams—or trusted partners—who want a unique, highly customizable website with precise control over both content and design.

Notable features: Highly flexible content modelling, easy e-commerce integration with Craft Commerce.

Wix

Pros:

• Quirky drag-and-drop editor makes website creation fast and accessible for non-technical users
• Wide range of built-in tools for SEO, e-commerce, booking, and forms without needing additional plugins
• Hosted platform that handles security, updates, and maintenance, reducing technical overhead for site owners
• Templates and design options allow small businesses to get professional-looking sites quickly

Cons:

• Can become expensive as your site grows or if you need advanced features
• Limited flexibility compared to open-source or developer-focused CMS platforms
• Less control over hosting, backend, and performance optimization
• Customization beyond what Wix’s editor offers can be challenging without code

Best use: Small business owners or entrepreneurs who want a simple, all-in-one solution to launch and manage a professional website with minimal technical involvement.

Notable features: Drag-and-drop editor, built-in SEO, e-commerce, booking, and contact forms.

Squarespace

Pros:

• Wide variety of professionally designed, ready-to-use templates for fast setup
• All-in-one platform handles hosting, security, and updates, so minimal technical knowledge is required
• Built-in tools for blogging, e-commerce, SEO, and analytics make it easy to manage a complete website from a single dashboard
• Intuitive editor allows for straightforward customization while maintaining a polished, consistent design

Cons:

• Limited flexibility for highly customized designs or complex functionality
• Less control over backend, hosting, and performance optimization compared to open-source CMS
• Fewer third-party integrations and plugins compared to WordPress or developer-focused platforms
• Scaling large or complex sites can become restrictive without workarounds

Best Use: Ideal for users or small businesses who want a good-looking, predictably functional website without the need for heavy customization or complex brand-specific designs.

Notable features: All-in-one website builder with hosting, templates, blogging, e-commerce, and analytics.

Predictions & Trends for 2026

With technology rapidly changing, it’s essential to consider what the future holds. We are already seeing an increase in AI-assisted content creation and management as the use of AI (LLMs and other generative tools) gains greater prevalence. A CMS equipped to integrate with AI can give you an edge over one that doesn’t.

Cloud-native SaaS CMS platforms represent a growing share of web content management. With automatic updates, built-in security, and cloud scalability, they remove many traditional pain points of managing complex websites. Looking ahead, we can expect these platforms to evolve even further, offering more specialized capabilities, AI-assisted workflows, and real-time collaboration, making them a compelling choice for organizations that want all this in one package.

Increased adoption of headless CMS for multi-platform publishing mark a shift toward content-first, omnichannel experiences. (Headless publishing is when your CMS doesn’t handle publishing the content—that happens in a separate tool or in flat files, while the CMS is just the main repository of content, serving it up to a range of channels.)

Businesses can now deliver personalized content across an expanding ecosystem of devices, from smart displays on appliances to voice apps to wearable tech. We can expect richer integrations and faster deployment cycles, making multi-platform publishing more seamless and efficient than ever.

Security and privacy are factors with a growing important to drive CMS choices. Businesses need platforms that have strong data protections, both for security and privacy reasons.

As you assess your specific needs before choosing a CMS, it’s important to identify the most critical criteria for YOUR website. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution, which is why there are so many CMS options to choose from! We can help take the guesswork out of it and guide you to the CMS that is right for you. Send us a message and let us assist you with your decision.

At Hop Studios, we’re passionate about leveraging technology to support scholarly communities and advance important causes. Since April 2021, we’ve worked with The Medical Cultures Lab at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), a dedicated scholarly community focused on understanding medical culture and promoting health equity.
When we began to collaborate, the Lab’s website was already a powerful resource for researchers and scholars, providing easier access to valuable information and tools. Our main goal was to improve the site’s ease of use and functionality for visitors and those maintaining it.

The Challenge

The Medical Cultures Lab’s original website, built on Wix, served its purpose, but when it came to supporting the site’s growing needs, it lacked the flexibility and advanced functionalities needed by the research community accessing it. The team required a more robust platform that could better handle complex search functions, secure sensitive information, and provide a seamless user experience for both visitors and administrators.

Our Approach

The project began with a kickoff meeting, which allowed both teams to get acquainted and clearly define goals. The first step was to migrate the website from Wix to ExpressionEngine. ExpressionEngine’s versatility would offer the advanced features needed for the Lab’s work. During this process, we also implemented tools that would better assist the research community in accessing data.

Key Enhancements

• New Hosting and DNS Migration: We ensured a stress-free transition by setting up new hosting and managing the DNS migration process.
• ExpressionEngine Configuration: We installed and configured ExpressionEngine, laying a strong foundation for the custom website.
• Tailored Design: We created mockups for 10 different page types, each designed to meet the specific needs of The Medical Cultures Lab.
• Advanced Search Functionality: A sophisticated search form was implemented, featuring text searching with relevancy rankings, category searches with “AND” and “NOT” functions, and the ability to download search results in CSV format.
• Secure Content Access: We developed a password-protected area to secure sensitive information and restricted content.
• Custom Request Form: A custom request form with email notifications was built to streamline inquiries and communication.
• Analytics Setup: Google Analytics and Google Webmaster tools were configured to monitor and analyze site performance effectively.

Training and Support

No project is complete without thorough training. We provided the Medical Cultures Lab team with a comprehensive walkthrough of their new content management system and tools. We ensured they were fully equipped to manage and maintain their improved website on the new ExpressionEngine CMS.

The Result

The transformation of The Medical Cultures Lab’s website has been remarkable. The new site offers advanced search capabilities and offers visitors a more intuitive and easy-to-navigate experience. Researchers can now easily find curated resources, access white papers and articles, and utilize tools that support their qualitative and mixed methods research.

Check out the live site here to learn more.

What’s Next

In 2026, Hop Studios will begin transitioning The Medical Cultures Lab website to a new format aligned with the lab’s changing goals. The site will shift from an interactive experience to a clear, information-driven website design. Visitors will still find the information they need, presented in a new, user-friendly way. Stay tuned for updates on our ongoing collaboration with The Medical Cultures Lab.

We’re proud to support The Medical Cultures Lab’s mission to understand and improve medical culture. This project exemplifies our commitment to creating transformative digital solutions that empower communities and drive meaningful change.

Stay tuned for more updates on our work and insights into how we’re helping clients achieve their goals through innovative web solutions!

W were recently asked to add a single new section to one lawyer’s bio page on a client’s website. Easy, right? It should’ve been a fifteen-minute task. But if you’ve ever pulled on a thread thinking it was nothing, only to watch your sweater unravel slowly in your hands — yeah, it was kind of like that.

The client in question was Paine Edmonds Laywers, a Vancouver-based law firm. Their site, built on Wix, uses a dynamic page template powered by a collection of lawyer profiles. Each profile includes all the usual suspects: name, photo, contact info, a professional intro, areas of practice, education, activities, and a few personal notes.

The request? Add one more detail: Selected Cases.

Simple enough—until we took a closer look at how the site was built.

Quick Context: What Are Wix Collections and Dynamic Pages

Before we dive into the twisty part of the story, let’s pause for some context.

In Wix, Collections are like spreadsheets stored in your site’s CMS. Each row represents a content item (like a lawyer), and each column represents a piece of data about that item (like their name or education).

Dynamic Pages take that data and display it in templated layouts. One template can create unique pages for each collection item:

• Dynamic list pages show multiple items (like a team directory)
• Dynamic item pages show individual entries (lawyer profiles)

So if you’ve got 10 lawyers in your “Lawyers” collection, Wix will automatically generate 10 unique profile pages using a single template. It’s powerful, efficient, and usually pretty smooth… until you want to make a change that doesn’t follow the standard format.

When One Field Becomes Everyone’s Field

Here’s where things got tricky.

We assumed, as many people would, that there’d be a simple checkbox somewhere in the Wix Studio Editor. Something like “only show this field when there’s content.” That would make sense, right?

But the reality is a little less magical: Wix shows all connected fields on dynamic pages, even when they’re empty.

That means when we connected the new Selected Cases field to the lawyer bio template, it didn’t just show up for the one lawyer who had content — it showed up on every lawyer’s page, blank and awkward, like a party guest who arrived before the hosts were ready.

Which wouldn’t be so bad, except most of the lawyers didn’t have selected cases to show. And naturally they didn’t want an empty section floating there like a to-do list they hadn’t gotten around to.

So now we had a new problem to solve: How do we show a field on just one page of a dynamic template — without showing it everywhere else?

The Fix (a.k.a. The “Let’s Just Make This Work” Approach)

When you’re working under a tight deadline, elegance sometimes takes a back seat to “functional and effective.”

Here’s the thing: Wix lets you connect a field from your CMS collection to any element on a dynamic page. That’s great. But what’s missing is a simple checkbox in the visual editor, something along the lines of “Only show this element if the field has content.”

That feature doesn’t exist (yet), which means developers are often left to fill the gap themselves.

One robust approach is to build a toggle field system — add a separate Boolean field (like showSelectedCases) to your collection for each optional field. Then you can train content editors to toggle visibility directly. For larger sites or more complex needs, this gives content managers more control and avoids relying on client-side checks.

But in this case, the priority was simplicity.

So we settled for the magic of Javascript: a short script using Wix Velo that checks if the field is empty, and hides or shows elements accordingly. Here’s how we implemented it (we’ll talk about the whys after this):

$w.onReady(function () {
    // Set default state: hide both the heading and the content
    $w('#selectedCasesHeading').collapse();
    $w('#selectedCasesContent').collapse();

    // Wait briefly before accessing the dynamic dataset
    setTimeout(() => {
        try {
            const currentItem = $w('#lawyerDataset').getCurrentItem();

            // Check if the selectedCases field has any content
            if (currentItem && currentItem.selectedCases && currentItem.selectedCases.trim() !== "") {
                $w('#selectedCasesHeading').expand();
                $w('#selectedCasesContent').expand();
            }
            // No content? Elements stay hidden (default state)
        } catch (error) {
            console.log("Error accessing selected cases content:", error);
            // Fail silently – elements remain collapsed
        }
    }, 500);
});

Is it the most scalable solution? No. Is it lightweight and effective for a single field in a real-world project? Absolutely. And sometimes, that’s the win you need.

Technical Gotchas

If you’re working with Wix dynamic pages and Velo, here are a few things we learned the hard way — so you don’t have to.

Dataset IDs Are Case-Sensitive

The most common mistake is guessing the dataset ID. You might assume it’s something like #dataset1, but if you renamed it or added more than one, that guess will fail silently. Always check the Dataset panel in the Editor for the exact name, as it’s case-sensitive.

“Anchor Names” Are Actually Element IDs

Wix refers to element IDs as “anchor names,” which can be confusing. To find or change one, select the element, open the Properties Panel, and give it a clear, descriptive ID like #selectedCasesContent. It’ll make your code easier to read and debug later.

Timing Is Everything

Just because your code runs inside $w.onReady() doesn’t mean your dataset is ready too. Instead of guessing with a delay, the more reliable approach is to use the dataset’s own .onReady() method, as it ensures your data is actually loaded before you try to use it.

What We Learned

This project was a great reminder that “easy” changes in CMS-driven sites aren’t always easy under the hood.

Working within Wix’s dynamic page structure offers a ton of power and efficiency, but also a few quirks. There’s no built-in logic for “only show this if there’s content,” so you’re left deciding between quick scripts or more scalable data-model solutions. And sometimes a clever workaround wins the day.

It also reinforced something we often discuss with clients: When planning structured content, it’s as much about considering edge cases and conditional logic as it is about the base data structure itself. Even one “well, there’s only one place that needs this” can perhaps point to building something in an entirely different way — otherwise, the consequences can ripple across an entire site.

At the end of the day, we delivered a solution that was clear, functional, and invisible to users. A win is a win.

Have you encountered similar challenges with Wix dynamic pages? Reach out to us if you need help implementing conditional content on your site.

The Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation of Canada (WPEFC) is a non-profit organization committed to conserving whitebark and limber pine ecosystems through research, partnerships, restoration projects, and education. Since its founding, the organization has planted 400,000 disease-resistant seedlings across Canadian ecosystems. In 2025 alone, they planted 140,000 seedlings and maintain a website filled with educational resources about the importance of these critical ecosystems. The organization also offers opportunities for membership and donations to support their environmental initiatives.

WPEFC came to Hop Studios looking to transition their website hosting and email services to more stable, secure platforms. We migrated their domain from GoDaddy to Namecheap, which offers stronger security features and reliable customer support. We also migrated their hosting to FullHost, a Canadian provider that delivers fast site performance, secure data hosting within Canada, and cost-effective plans with consistent support and built-in backups. With reliable domain and hosting providers in place, WPEFC’s website stays online, loads quickly, and remains secure, allowing the organization to share its mission without disruption.

Email is a valuable tool for communicating with donors, volunteers, and partners. A reliable email provider ensures messages are delivered consistently, protects against spam, and maintains the organization’s integrity and professionalism. We helped WPEFC migrate to Google Workspace for Nonprofits, which eliminated their email hosting costs entirely. Google Workspace provides a stable, secure platform with better tools for managing email accounts. We provided onboarding training to ensure a smooth transition so the team could confidently navigate their new email tools.

Planning ahead, even greater planting is anticipated, as 2025 was a record-breaking cone crop year in BC, which will support significant restoration efforts in the years to come. To support them in this future work, we set up a secure staging site for them where we can safely test updates, refine designs, and experiment with new features before they go live. This approach minimizes errors, boosts performance, and ensures a seamless experience for visitors when publishing new work.

For non-profits like the WPEFC, strong website security and scalable infrastructure aren’t unimportant technical details—they’re an essential reflection of the organization’s care for its supporters and its mission. Protecting sensitive data, maintaining donor trust and supporting growth—by investing in reliable, secure, scalable systems, an organization like Whitebark can keep its focus on its mission without disruption or distraction.

Ready to strengthen your website’s security and efficiency? Send us a message, we’re ready to help.

If you’re familiar with ExpressionEngine, you know that body content will often live in its own text field, and it’s not always a simple task to insert an element inline–especially if you don’t have vast HTML knowledge.

You can have another field, like a fluid field or a complex grid—but how do you merge the two?

We saw the problem and decided to create a solution, and that’s how Hop Inject was born.

This super powerful, super flexible add-on makes it easy to add inline elements such as images, videos, and advertisements into other content without needing HTML knowledge - and even to do it automatically across a wide range of entries without needing to specifically edit each one.

Hop Inject is a custom ExpressionEngine add-on that allows you to specify where an “injection” should occur, which HTML elements should receive it, and what the injection should be. You can quickly choose if the injection should happen before, inside or after the element. It helps developers and content managers both save time, maintain consistency, and enhance user experience without needing to touch the underlying HTML.

Unlike other Rich Text add-ons, Hop Inject offers precise but dynamic targeting to inject content before or after specifically tagged paragraphs, headings, or other elements.

Key Features of Hop Inject:

• Precise Content Injection: Inject content before or after specific HTML elements, such as paragraphs or headings, based on their position within the content.
• Conditional Injection: Compare and inject content into a static location or a percentage placement of the content with ease. (Think: 33% of the way through a page)
• Flexible Targeting: Specify exact positions for content injection without altering the structure of the original content.
• Ease of Use: This add-on, once set up, requires no HTML knowledge to use, allowing even non-tech-savvy users to add images or other complex inline content.

Keep reading for more technical information on how Hop Inject works.

Installation & Setup:

1. Download: Obtain the latest version of Hop Inject.
2. Upload: Extract the files and upload them to your ExpressionEngine installation’s ```html /system/user/addons/``` directory.
3. Install: Navigate to the Add-ons section in your EE control panel and install Hop Inject.
4. Configure: Follow the documentation to set up your content injection rules.

Hop Inject can be used for various applications, from automatically inserting advertisements after a certain percent of a story, to adding dynamic content like images and pull quotes at specific points within articles without manual editing. Hop Inject allows you to tailor content injections based on user preference or content type. Save time by reducing the need for manual content editing, and ensure your content injections are applied uniformly even with a number of different editors.

If you’re ready to simplify and unify your content editing, you can grab the add-on and start exploring injecting elements into your website content today!

Carla and Stephen made a life-changing decision: sell the house, buy a boat, and sail around the world with their family aboard a vessel they named Good Soul. As they explore stunning destinations, they’re documenting their adventures on a brand new Wix site, and we had the pleasure of helping them get it launched before they cast off.

First, we secured their domain and helped them customize a pre-built Wix theme to perfectly capture the spirit of their adventure. Wix’s no-code approach made it easy to get the site up quickly so they could focus on the important stuff—like piloting the boat!

We wanted Carla and Stephen to have full control over the site, so we trained them on how to:

• Modify everything the site visually
• Change the contact form settings and functionality as needed
• Set up blog categories
• Update the navigation menu

Now they can manage everything themselves, no matter where in the world they happen to be.

The site’s best feature is their travel blog—a digital logbook where they share stories, updates and discoveries from the voyage. We set up an automation that notifies subscribers whenever there’s a new post, so friends, family, and fellow adventurers stay connected throughout the journey with minimal effort.

Another highlight is the interactive map that plots their route automatically. It’s a fun, visual way for visitors to follow along and see exactly where Good Soul is headed next.

Want to follow their adventure? Subscribe to their blog and join them as they explore new horizons around the world.

Have you ever wanted to start your own blog? Contact us and we can help you get started.

Here at Hop Studios, it’s no surprise that we love ExpressionEngine; we’re even using it Right Now!

It’s a flexible and powerful platform for running your website, but just like any other software, it requires regular updates to maintain security and efficiency. Suppose you’ve been procrastinating on upgrading your ExpressionEngine CMS. Sure, there might not be any noticeable issues right away.

Still, over time, problems can start to pile up: from security risks, failing integrations, or even errors caused in part by a frustrating-to-use part of the CMS interface.

Meanwhile, keeping EE software up to date ensures the latest security, improved performance, and a better overall experience for your team and visitors.

We’re sharing seven common problems you’ll face with an outdated version and seven benefits that come from keeping your CMS upgraded. Let’s start with the positive.

Benefits of Keeping your EE Upgraded

Enhanced security and stability

Security should be the foundation of a website, and ExpressionEngine is known for its secure codebase. The maintainers of EE work hard to ensure each version is built to minimize vulnerabilities and strengthen defences against the latest modern threats. Staying current reduces the risk of hacks, data breaches, and downtime, giving you peace of mind that your website runs on a stable, supported foundation.

Boost Performance and Efficiency

Often upgrades include performance improvements, like improved caching and smarter database queries, leading to faster page load times. A faster site allows visitors to remain engaged and reduces strain on your server, keeping infrastructure hosting costs low.

Improved Features and Functionality

With each update, ExpressionEngine introduces new tools and enhancements, some small, some larger, that make your site even more powerful and user-friendly. Features that may have once required custom development or a third-party add-on can now be refactored natively with built-in code, which leads to lower future maintenance costs. Delaying upgrades simply delays these potential savings.

Superior Usability and Content Editing

New updates overall improve the Control Panel (CP) experience, allowing your team to create, edit, and monitor content more easily. Improvements to the mobile-friendly interface let you make changes to your website on the go. Better usability and accessibility reduce frustration and friction for back-end users, regardless of their limitations.

Modernized Ecosystem and Integrations

Staying up-to-date ensures better ongoing compatibility with other modern tools and add-ons. Whether you’re connecting to CRMs, analytics, or e-commerce platforms, keeping up with the latest ExpressionEngine version ensures smoother integrations with fewer roadblocks, outages or glitches. How much would a day or a week or a failed integration end up costing you?

Ensured Future-Proofing

Regular upgrades keep your website aligned with ever-changing web standards and server requirements. This proactive approach prevents upgrade headaches later on and ensures your site can adapt to new technologies with minimal downtime and disruption. You can’t predict every technology shift, but you can be better prepared for the unknown and unplanned.

Reduced Costs

While upgrading your EE CMS may seem like an investment, it can actually save you money in the long run. Staying current reduces emergency fixes, eliminates unnecessary add-ons, and lowers the cost of maintenance by avoiding expensive “catch-up” upgrades. You don’t save money by putting off car maintenance. Same thing with a website, except your hands don’t get greasy.

Common Problems of Running an Outdated EE

Now, let’s take a look at the problems you’re avoiding.

Security Breaches

Older versions of ExpressionEngine no longer receive security updates, leaving your site open to vulnerabilities. An outdated version increases the risks of hacks, data loss, or malware attacks that could damage your reputation and cost you time and money to fix. (However, to be frank here, EE’s security is pretty rock solid, and that’s part of why people sometimes feel emboldened to leave EE in an older state. Read on…)

Missing Features

Holding onto an old version prevents you from taking advantage of new tools and improvements that make managing your site easier and more efficient. If you try to build more features and fixes while on an old version, this often results in relying on costly workarounds or outdated add-ons, which don’t work as well as their newer versions or the core itself.

Limited Community Support

As third-party developers stop supporting old versions, your integration with CRMs, analytics, or payment systems may break. And it’s often harder to find someone who can assist with older versions—you’re limiting the pool of qualified experts to a smaller, more expensive group.

Performance Bottlenecks

Outdated code can slow down your site, resulting in sluggish load times and increased server strain. As performance slows, visitors may bounce, and your site could struggle to handle natural growth or traffic spikes. What’s the cost of discouraged, disappointed visitors?

Poor Usability

An outdated Control Panel can feel clunky and archaic for your team. Editing is slower, less intuitive, and even downright frustrating, particularly if you’re using a mobile device. Brighten up their day with modern usability improvements.

Rising Maintenance Costs

Keeping an old version alive requires extra developer time for patches and workarounds. Emergency fixes and incompatibility issues are typically far more expensive than planned, proactive upgrades.

Upgrade Cliff

The longer you delay, the harder it becomes to upgrade later. Skipping multiple versions often requires a more complex, time-consuming, and expensive process when you finally have no choice but to upgrade.

Why Staying Current Matters

Staying on top of ExpressionEngine upgrades isn’t only about keeping up with the latest version number; it’s about protecting your investment, avoiding costly problems, giving your visitors the smoothest experience, and equipping your team with the best tools to manage your site effectively. Running outdated software leaves you vulnerable to security risks, broken integrations, greater bounce rates, and higher long-term costs. Keeping ExpressionEngine current offers stronger performance, easier usability, and peace of mind for the future.

If your site hasn’t been updated in a while, now is the perfect time to act before minor issues become expensive emergencies. Regular upgrades are the simplest way to keep your website secure, stable, and ready for what’s next.

Need help planning your upgrade? Send us a message. Our team can help ensure that your ExpressionEngine site is running at its best and assist you with regular maintenance to keep it up to date.

TL;DR

They recommend that all EECMS sites upgrade immediately to the latest version of EE.

We agree.

We have examined the relevant code. This is not an over-cautious recommendation. This is an important security vulnerability that should be addressed immediately by all sites running EECMS to protect your site’s integrity.

The Release

The main developer of EE, Packet Tide, released version 7.5.20 today.
Here is the Change Log for EE 7.5.20

They have not publicly disclosed any technical details of the exploit or the risk, which is standard practice for active vulnerabilities.

The Risk

We are not going to share more details in public than Packet Tide has. However, we have reviewed all the code in the security fix releases.

Based on our review, we believe this is a “high risk” technology security issue, which generally indicates the vulnerability could allow:

• Unauthorized access
• Data exposure
• Privilege escalation
• System compromise

We believe this issue could be present in many, perhaps even all, standard EE sites, and that it could exist in many prior versions of EE.

Should You Upgrade?

Yes.

If your site is actively maintained and on EE 6 or 7, this should be a straightforward task.

If you are running an older version of EECMS, it can still be rather simple. If you are running EE 4 or above, there is a one-click updater that still works just fine.

And the latest version of ExpressionEngine will upgrade any EE site as far back as EE 2.0.

Complicating factors would include updating or replacing third-party add-ons or custom PHP code. Older sites might also be running on older servers running older versions of PHP, which would make the upgrade process trickier.

Security Comparison

Overall, we remain confident in ExpressionEngine’s security profile. Compared to other content management systems, the EE CMS has historically had far fewer security releases and smaller scope vulnerabilities.

One measure of this is CVE reports. Looking at CVEDetails.com, you can see that ExpressionEngine has had 2 CVEs in the past two years and only 15 CVEs all-time, going back 22 years to 2004.

WordPress has had 14 CVE reports in the past two years and 362 or 419 CVEs overall in a similar time period.

Drupal has had 36 CVE reports in the past two years and 271 or 510 CVEs overall in a similar time period.

Craft CMS has had 13 CVE reports in the past two years and 78 CVEs overall in a similar time period.

It is not simply EE’s smaller marketshare that explains these vastly varying scores. Other small CMSs also have more significant and frequent security issues. I included Craft CMS not to single it out, but because it is a typical comparison. Craft CMS has 400% more CVEs than EE, and it has been around 10 years less—50% less time—than EECMS.

We believe this record is achieved because of the culture of the ExpressionEngine community and the different priorities of the stewards of its code.

Overall Advice

We remain impressed with the EE platform. We like the calibre of the community, the quality of the documentation, and the new features and fixes they steadily unroll. They release new builds every 4-6 weeks and continue to impress us with their stability and their approach.

No CMS is immune to vulnerabilities. What matters is responsiveness, patch cadence, and architectural discipline. ExpressionEngine continues to perform well in those areas.

Outdated CMS software is one of the most common entry points for hacker attacks—issues at the stack level are usually less common and more regularly patched. This high-severity issue is a demonstration of how quickly vulnerabilities can emerge, and why regular CMS updates are important for both security and performance. Websites that are kept up-to-date regularly are easier to update when there is a sudden urgency—and are also more pleasant to use on a regular basis.

Need Help?

We want the entire EE community secure and stable.

As one of the many services we provide to our clients, we keep you regularly informed about topics like this – though usually with less urgency. Learn more about our Client Care Program

If you would like an instant assessment of your site’s upgrade path, we are happy to chat with you at no cost. Use our contact form to get in touch.

Adventurers and travel experts, John and Victoria Derrick are a husband-and-wife team who help millions of travellers each year plan the perfect trip to top U.S. destinations. Their flagship site, Guide of US, delivers personalized travel advice, vacation and recommendations for attractions, accommodations, and activities in trending destinations around the United States, like Hawaii, San Francisco, Napa Valley, and Los Angeles.

What began as a single site in 2000 has grown into a family of three: the original Guide of US, a dedicated Hawaii travel site, and a gardening tips and advice site. Each contains dynamic, ever-expanding content that needs a robust, reliable CMS to support it.

In 2020, the Derricks came to Hop Studios looking to upgrade their ExpressionEngine CMS. Though John is a highly knowledgeable tech fellow, all three sites were still running on EE2, as he had been stuck in place for several years. Outdated software comes with legitimate risks: security vulnerabilities, outdated add-ons that become incompatible with new ones, poorer usability, and sluggish response times—all of which can impact both the user experience and the editor’s ability to manage content.

As a leading ExpressionEngine expert, Hop Studios was ready to help. We made a plan and executed it to upgrade all three sites to EE6, which brought significant improvements in performance, functionality, and ease of use.  The latest EE versions included more native features, some of which replaced the need for third-party add-ons. During the upgrade, we removed outdated and unnecessary add-ons to streamline the CMS and further boost performance and functionality. Fewer add-ons—less to maintain in the future.

We worked closely with John, the team’s in-house tech expert, involving him throughout the process. This gave him the opportunity to learn the new software, ask questions, and gain him extra confidence in managing the updated system. We enjoy educating our clients so they can independently update their sites both with fresh content and with simple technical improvements, and ExpressionEngine’s improved back-end makes that easier than ever. (But of course, we can give you the long-term, white glove treatment too, if that’s what you prefer.)

We’re so pleased to support John and Victoria as they continue inspiring travellers and gardeners with their expert tips. If you’re planning a trip around the U.S. or looking for some gardening advice, we highly recommend visiting their sites.

Is your CMS holding you back? Get in touch and let’s plan an upgrade that makes managing your site simpler and smarter.

Making website deployments safer, faster, and less stressful doesn’t have to be complicated. DeployBot is a straightforward, reliable tool that integrates seamlessly with ExpressionEngine to simplify and automate the deployment process.

At its core, DeployBot is a third-party deployment service that securely transfers your website code from one environment to another. While it’s most commonly used to push updates from a staging site to a live production site, it can also manage multiple environments—such as development, staging, and production—ensuring smooth collaboration across your team.

DeployBot can automate essential tasks like clearing caches, compiling assets, or running custom build scripts. It also supports deploying to multiple servers simultaneously and makes it easy to roll back to a previous version if something goes wrong.

In this post, we’ll walk you through setting up DeployBot with ExpressionEngine—from Git integration and server configuration to branch mapping and deployment best practices—so you can achieve safer, more automated deployments with far less stress.

Step 1: Connect DeployBot to Your Git Repository

To start, set up your version control.

1. Connect DeployBot to your Git provider. We use GitLab, but DeployBot supports GitHub, Bitbucket, and others.
2. Create the site in DeployBot. Select the repository and choose a default branch.
3. Optional: Add a short “Deployment notes” template where teammates can record what has changed with each deployment. This will make tracking easier and keep your team on the same page.

Step 2: Set Up Servers & SFTP Access

Next, configure your servers safely:

1. Create a dedicated deploy user on your server with write access limited to only the required directories.
2. Add DeployBot’s public SSH key to the deploy user’s ```html ~/.ssh/authorized_keys``` file.
3. In DeployBot, add your server using SFTP/SSH and set the deploy path to your web root (e.g., ```html /public_html``` or ```html /public```).
4. Separate system directories if needed. If your ExpressionEngine system/ directory is outside the web root, add a second server target for that path (e.g., ```html /home/site/system```). This will ensure user uploads remain untouched during deployment.
5. Test the connection. Run DeployBot’s built-in connection and write tests to confirm access before the first deployment.

Step 3: Staging and Production Sites

DeployBot lets you map branches to environments for safer workflows:

• Staging: Map to your staging branch, and enable automatic deploy on push
• Production: Map to main or master, and require a manual deploy–you’ll need to click or approve the deployment before pushing to the live site.

You may want to consider enabled “Require confirmation” on production and restricting who can deploy to avoid accidental changes.

Step 4: Ignore Unnecessary Files & Paths

To prevent deployment of unnecessary files, configure ignored paths in DeployBot. Make sure you adjust these based on your repo structure.

ExpressionEngine specific:

```html
images/            # uploads (rename if your uploads live elsewhere)
system/user/cache/    # EE cache

# Node / tooling (dev-only)
docker-compose.yml
Dockerfile*
docker/
package.json
package-lock.json
yarn.lock
pnpm-lock.yaml
node_modules/
```

Optional files you can add if you don’t need them on servers:

```html
.env
.env.*
**/*.map
**/*.scss
**/*.sass
.vscode/
.idea/
.DS_Store
```

By ignoring these, you’ll ensure your deployment is clean and lightweight and will not overwrite unnecessary or sensitive files.

Deployment Best Practices

• Use deployment notes to maintain a changelog for each push.
• Test on staging first before deploying to production.
• Limit production deploys to only trusted users to avoid accidental changes.
• Regularly review ignored paths and permissions to ensure the most streamlined deployment.

Using DeployBot with your ExpressionEngine site can streamline your workflow and make deployments safer, faster, and easier to manage. Take the stress out of rolling out updates with DeployBot. If you’d like to learn more about how we can help you integrate DeployBot into your ExpressionEngine workflow, get in touch—we’d love to chat.

ManageAssist specializes in delivering affordable, high-quality training for businesses of all sizes, and their website plays a key role in connecting clients with training courses, resources, and grant funding opportunities. Like many growing organizations, they needed guidance to keep their site reliable, fast, and easy to navigate.

We kicked things off by migrating the site from Site5 to Nexcess, a WordPress-optimized hosting provider known for exceptional performance and reliability. The move brought faster load times, stronger security, and daily backups—giving the ManageAssist team some much needed peace of mind.

During the transition, we tackled a few tricky SSL and DNS configuration issues by setting up Cloudflare, which kept the site running smoothly and added an extra layer of security.

Next, we updated the WordPress CMS, removing outdated plugins and deactivating one unsupported plugin that had been blocking form submissions. We also installed WP Rocket, a useful caching tool that significantly boosted the site’s speed and efficiency.

Once the upgrade was complete, we provided ongoing maintenance to keep everything secure, updated, and performing at its best.

Recently, ManageAssist asked us to help with a visual refresh. Their goal was to modernize the design, showcase their key services, and make it easier for visitors to find what they need.

Here’s what we did:

• Simplified navigation with a new header and footer to reduce clutter
• Redesigned homepage featuring a “What’s New” carousel for testimonials, grant updates, and course announcements—all easily editable by the ManageAssist team
• Integrated “About Us” content right on the homepage to boost brand awareness
• Implemented new internal page designs for grant services and training solutions
• Customized testimonial carousel to highlight client success stories

We also provided training on how to update and manage the homepage content, giving the team more control and independence over their site.

The new ManageAssist website is faster, cleaner, and more user-friendly than ever. Visitors can easily find what they’re looking for, and the design better reflects the professionalism and expertise ManageAssist brings to every training session.

This refresh not only improved usability for site visitors, but it also enabled the ManageAssist team to better keep their content fresh and relevant. Talk about an assist for their growing business!

Ready to refresh your website’s design? Send us a message—we’d love to help.

When it comes to an ExpressionEngine (EE) site, what’s the best way to make this quick? Two popular options are EE’s built-in Front-End Editing and the Hop Edit This add-on. Each offers different benefits depending on your editing style and workflow.

EE Front-End Editing

ExpressionEngine’s native Front-End Editing is built directly into the CMS. It adds a small pencil button next to each editable field of content, directly on top of your live site content. Clicking one of these edit buttons summons up a form where you can edit content in place.

You can only see these buttons if you’re logged in with an account with the appropriate permissions. Visitors will not be able to see them or edit your site. The pencil icon appears next to every field tag in your template that is a content block configured for front-end editing. These “edit” buttons allow you to make quick changes on the fly without ever needing to go into the EE Control Panel. Changes can be saved with a single click and they immediately reflect on the page.

EE Front-End Editing is ideal for content editors who are visual thinkers and want to see exactly where their edits are happening and how they’ll look on the live site. This feature is useful for teams that frequently update headlines, body content, or modular blocks on key pages or sites that prioritize in-context editing to speed up the review and publishing process.

Pros of front-end editing:

• What you see is what you get editing since you’re working directly on the live page.
• No need to have access to the EE backend, which can be sometimes intimidating or confusing to non-technical users.
• Extremely helpful on highly modular landing pages where you want to edit multiple blocks of content quickly in small ways.

Cons of front-end editing:

• If your site has many editable fields, it can look a little cluttered. Your pages can become filled with edit pencils, which might be distracting when navigating or reviewing content.
• You must have the EE dock enabled to get front-end editing; you can’t have one without the other
• You need to have field configuration set up. Only fields explicitly enabled for front-end editing will display these buttons, which requires initial setup and planning.
• You end up with a lot more of your code and brain dedicated to turning on and off the links for individual fields and pages, because there are at least 9 (yes 9) ways to enable or disable front-end editing that we can think of.

Hop Edit This

Hop Edit This is our very own ExpressionEngine add-on that helps grant access to the backend editor without cluttering the front end. When this add-on is installed, a small pencil icon appears on the page at the point where the tag is in the template (usually near the title, or sometimes floating attached at the corner). Clicking the icon takes you straight to the corresponding entry in the EE Control Panel.

Our “Edit This” pencil icon links directly to the backend editing screen for the entry that generated the current page—or you can point it to a front-end editing page, too. Once in the backend, you access the full field layout, including structured fields, relationships, custom tabs, and more. You make your edits, and you can preview the entry (using EE’s preview functionality) to check how your changes will appear on your live site before saving or publishing.

This add-on is easy for tech-savvy users or editors who are comfortable with the Control Panel and want quick access to the backend editing tools for the right entry without having to navigate through the entry list page.

Pros of Hop Edit This:

Cons of Hop Edit This:

• Less in-context visual feedback. EE’s preview function in the Control Panel shows live how your edits affect the live view, while the front-end editing doesn’t show changes unless you reload the page, but does show you exactly what you’re editing and where. Call this one a tie.
• The placement of the pencil icons are up to you. Sometimes the icon will appear in a less-than-ideal spot, particularly on certain templates, but you actually have better control of them than of the FEE icons. Still, it’s a con.
• You can’t edit individual field blocks the same way. Unlike front-end editing you’ll be taken to the entire entry rather than a single block.

A Quick Code Fix: Gil’s Magical Workaround

If you are using static caching (which is great), you might run into issues with not being able to see the edit pencils. Here’s an example of how to dynamically load Hop Edit This using JavaScript. This code snippet fetches the HTML content from `/defer-load/edit-this` and injects it into the page, allowing for dynamic updates without needing to refresh the entire page.

Include this script in your HTML file where you want the edit functionality to appear. You only need to define the function once, and it will handle the fetching and injecting of the HTML content when called.

<script async>
    function fetchAndInjectHTML(url, scriptElement = null, shouldInject = true, callback = null) {
        return (async () => {
            try {
                const response = await fetch(url);
                if (!response.ok) {
                    throw new Error(`HTTP error! status: ${response.status}`);
                }
                const htmlContent = await response.text();

                if (shouldInject && scriptElement) {
                    const container = document.createElement('div');
                    container.innerHTML = htmlContent;
                    scriptElement.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', container);

                    scriptElement.remove();
                }
                if (callback) {
                    callback();
                }

                return htmlContent;
            } catch (error) {
                console.error('Error fetching and injecting HTML:', error);
                return null;
            }
        })();
    }
</script>
<script defer>
    fetchAndInjectHTML('/defer-load/edit-this/{entry_id}', document.currentScript);
</script>

And create a template at `/defer-load/edit-this` with the following content:

{exp:hop_edit_this:entry entry_id="{segment_3}"}
    <a href="{hop_edit_this_url}" class="hop_edit_this" title="Edit this entry" target="_blank">
        <img src="https://ssir.org/themes/user/hop_edit_this/images/pencil.svg"
             class="hop_edit_this edit_this"
             style="width: 18px; padding-left: 4px; border-radius: initial;"
             alt="Edit this item" align="top" border="0" />
    </a>
{/exp:hop_edit_this:entry}

Choose What Works For You

Ultimately, no matter which tool you use, whether EE Front-End Editing or Hop Edit This, you’ll be equipped to update your EE site more confidently and conveniently. It ultimately comes down to how you prefer to edit.

Looking for a more visual, in-context editing experience? Choose EE Front-End Editing.

Prefer a minimal, backend-driven workflow? Hop Edit This is for you.

Or, try out both and see which one works for your site and editing needs! Both options will allow you to keep your site content accurate, fresh, and flexible (at the end of the day, that’s what really matters).

If you’re still unsure which option would work best for you, send us a message. We’d be happy to offer our expertise!

We’ve been collaborating with Oak Bay Softrends since 2006—nearly two decades! Over the years, we’ve tackled everything from copywriting and analytics to marketing strategy and ExpressionEngine upgrades. It’s been a rewarding experience helping them strengthen and evolve their online presence as their business grows.

In 2024, we completed our second major CMS upgrade for Oak Bay Softrends, updating their site to ExpressionEngine7 (EE7). Our first upgrade back in 2021 took them from EE2 to EE6, and this latest move to EE7 delivered even better performance, security, and usability.

As part of the EE7 upgrade, we also updated their PHP version from 7 to 8, refreshed key add-ons like Freeform, Detour Pro, SEEO. We also rolled out updates to several of our own Hop add-ons, including Hop Edit This, Hop Minifizer, and Hop Deploy Helper.

With every upgrade, we make sure to remove any outdated or unnecessary add-ons. This streamlines the backend, making the site faster, more secure, and easier to manage and maintain in future years.

One of Oak Bay Softrends’ biggest frustrations was a constant flood of spam submissions through their contact form.  We implemented the now built-in reCAPTCHA spam protection, which completely solved the problem. No more junk messages!

We also made some smaller, but impactful updates: we revamped their 404 page to guide visitors back to useful content (which helps with SEO and reduces bounce rates), and we helped them create a new privacy policy page that clearly explains how Oak Bay Softrends handles user data—essential for transparency and compliance. These kinds of updates not only improve user experience but also strengthen the site’s credibility and search engine visibility.

Beyond the technical improvements, we’ve also worked closely with Oak Bay Softrends on the content and marketing side. Over the years, we’ve researched, interviewed, and then written their client success stories, created team bios for new hires, and helped refine their Google Ads strategy to improve campaign performance.

We set up Google Analytics on their site and provided guidance to help the team make data-driven decisions. These insights help them understand their audience better, measure marketing results, and find new opportunities to improve the visitor experience.

Collaborating with the skilled team at Oak Bay Softrends for nearly 20 years has been both rewarding and inspiring. Their dedication to creating thoughtful, custom-built solutions mirrors our approach at Hop Studios. We’re thrilled to keep building on this partnership and can’t wait to see what the future holds.

Does your site need a CMS upgrade or performance refresh? We’d love to help. Send us a message to start a partnership that will keep your website performing at its best for years to come.

As a certified B Corp business for over two years (we recently celebrated our B-Day), we’ve committed to making a positive impact on our communities and the environment. Well, now we’ve achieved another big milestone: Hop Studios is now a proud member of 1% For The Planet.

If you’re not familiar with the organization, 1% For The Planet is a global network of businesses and environmental organizations working together to support people and the planet. Members commit to donating at least 1% of their annual sales directly to vetted environmental organizations. To date, this network has contributed over $784 million in environmental giving. Furthermore, for every dollar donated to the organization, the network generates $13 in impact–supporting efforts to restore ecosystems, protect wildlife and address the planet’s most urgent climate challenges.

Created by the founders of Patagonia and Blue Ribbon Flies, 1% For The Planet was established to help businesses take active responsibility for their environmental impact. These values deeply resonate with Hop Studios’ mission to make a constructive, lasting difference in the world - Helping Our Planet.

We are constantly looking for meaningful ways to give back– and joining 1% For The Planet felt like a natural next step. It reinforces our commitment to environmental responsibility and shows in a measurable way that we’re accountable and taking action, not just talking about it.

Pledging 1% of our annual sales to environmental causes, we don’t see it as a donation. We see it as investing in our better future.  As both a 1% For The Planet member and a B Corp Certified business, we’re making ongoing improvements within our company that align with our employees’ and our customers’ values.

We’re proud to continue to help other people and help our planet! Thank you for supporting us on this journey toward meaningful change.

eStandardSolutions’ owner, Jerry Lennox, previously worked as a government regulator. After leaving that position, he recognized the need for a more efficient process for tank owners and inspectors to access and generate reports. As eStandardSolutions’ data grew, there was an increasing need for its website to develop to accommodate this growth.

Hop Studios improved the site’s user experience and functionality, specifically the member dashboard. We started with an upgrade of the SilverStripe CMS. Upgrading SilverStripe to version 4.9.0 modernized the platform, improved performance, boosted security, and created a more streamlined navigation.

We developed and enhanced several reports, focusing on ease of use, efficient saving and printing, and maintaining legal compliance. These reports included the Certificate of Compliance, Structural Inspection, Tank Data, Inspection and Test Log, and Leakage Test.

Incorporating new features into the member dashboard enhanced the overall usability and streamlined the documentation process.

With big plans ahead, Hop Studios is excited to see eStandard Solutions evolve and continue to streamline container registration, ensure safety, and maintain legal compliance. We’re thrilled to be part of the journey.

If you’re looking for customized options for your site, send us a message. We’d love to help!

Two weeks ago, I was at SVI Alberta at Métis Crossing, also filled with some of the smartest, most caring people I know.

“Contrast and compare,” my English teacher insisted. “Find commonalities, explore differences.” Well, here’s a perfect opportunity.

SVI Alberta

SVI is a business conference like no other. There’s singing. There’s tears. There’s intimate stories of intense struggle and of wild successes. The Northern Lights came out to celebrate us, and we had barely any Internet connectivity the whole time.

People attending have huge visions of creating a world that’s better than today, that’s better than themselves, that’s better than it ever was. And the organizers—you can see the thought and care that they put in to curating a special experience for every single participant.

While I certainly feel like part of the SVI community, and that my company, Hop Studios, belongs, I feel in that world more like a moon than a planet, more like a roadie than a band member.

I always learn a lot, and decompress and think big picture thoughts at an SVI conference. It’s ... refreshing! It’s a chance for me to think about bigger picture and not the daily grind.

But one main reason I attend SVI: I’m there to help.

To help others who are doing important work to untangle their technology problems and their internet frustrations and the incomprehensible emails from hosting companies and SaaS firms they subscribe to . (Many attendees at SVI don’t know what SaaS stands for. Or SMTP, or CSS, SSO, CSP…)

This time, I helped Christina Owczarek, solve an issue with the menu on her mobile site. I helped Carrie Liu update her iPhone. I delivered food with Laurel Dault to an attendee who was hotel-room-bound. For Philip Lozano, I did troubleshooting on the One-on-One signup sheets, and hosted a late night owl discussion of how A.I. use can be done responsibly. For Ryan Lacanilao, I offered design and UI feedback about the living wage site before their annual press attention.

That’s what HOP Studios does—Helping Other People, Helping Our Planet.

I’d truly like to be able to help every single attendee of SVI.

I think the most SVI folks don’t quite understand the depth of resources that Hop Studios has, and how strongly all the folks at Hop Studios are committed to supporting the values of the SVI community and all the worthwhile projects that need the internet to work better for them.

EEConf 2025

Meanwhile, at EEConf, it was a very different role and setting, and yet in key ways a very similar experience.

EEConf, the annual global gathering for the content management system, ExpressionEngine, *is* in fact a business conference exactly like every other.^***

It was held at London’s Business Center; folks stay at a nearby business hotel; it has projectors and lapel mics and coffee breaks and T-shirt swag and people checking email constantly and sponsored networking events and people sharing ubers in busy downtown areas and all that jazz, and we had barely any Internet connectivity the whole time. 😉

^*** OK, if you watch the promo videos for the conference, you’ll see the wonderful sense of humor shine through and that perhaps it’s not exactly a typical tech conference.

This year, EEConf was a good mix of operational insights and technical talks—I especially loved the one from Laravel expert Freek Van der Herten—and the open-mic at the end was as excellent as always.

In the EE community, Hop Studios is an established, multi-decade global leader. We have written more custom add-ons than my hands can count.

As Hop Studios, we regularly solve some of the biggest, most interesting web challenges, usually using ExpressionEngine. And we give back: we continuously improve the docs and contribute to the core. Indeed, this year we reported a fix for the oldest bug in ExpressionEngine ever found.

Hop Studios loves the whole EE community… and the EE community seems to really like Hop Studios too.

Attending EEConf this year as Hop’s owner, I felt a little like royalty.

(It may have contributed to the feeling that it was held in London. And also that it was my birthday. And extra also that they made me eat cake. 😊

I’m so grateful to the #EECMS community for helping Hop Studios flourish all these years, and the conference is one place I always try to share knowledge back as well.  I’ve been using EE for a long time, and I still learned new tricks in every single presentation—Gavin, I love that layout list loop you demoed!

This year, I did a talk about Content Security Policy Headers and the add-on we wrote to make it (somewhat) less painful to implement CSP directives and protect your site against XSS attacks—still the single largest source of website compromises.

The conference was my annual reminder that the EE community is hands down the best online community—sharing code & solutions, tech support, online resources and just nice compliments.

That’s also why Hop Studios is a cornerstone sponsor of the conference. Not to “get our name out there,” but out of genuine gratitude for the people who give so much to each other all year long

I truly love the EE community. It’s always been the most generous, supportive tech community I’ve experienced—and I’ve spent a ton of time in a lot of Internet sub-groups. I’ve attended Wordpress Camps, Moveable Type meetups, Drupal Cons.

I went to Wikimania at Harvard. I’ve attended the biggies, too: Web Summit, Internet World, SXSW, E3, ComicCon San Diego.

From all those gatherings, I’ve found there are certainly supportive sub-groups within each. They all have their stellar, special humans.

But I loved the way that the EEConf treated newcomers as well as it did the old-timers. Folks were welcomed at every level of experience; the talks really did offer something for every level of participant.

In fact, the only other event I can think of that without fail captures that same overall and uncompromised spirit of generousity, the spirit that’s the hallmark of the ExpressionEngine community is… SVI.

Our client, Vestacon, came to Hop Studios in 2022 looking to ensure their ExpressionEngine CMS backend was up-to-date with the latest software. With a site recently developed by another company that could no longer support them, Hop Studios was happy to step in and take on the job.

Specializing in corporate tenant improvements and construction management services, Vestacon’s mission is built on trust, reliability, and a commitment to quality. The company also has a passion for helping its local communities, with two locations in Toronto, ON, and Vancouver, BC. From building homes with Habitat to Humanity to collecting food bank donations in-house, they also host an annual toy drive each year! Here at Hop Studios, we love collaborating with companies that give back in big ways.

By upgrading ExpressionEngine to the latest version, EE7, and adding an updated SSL certificate, we improved the site’s security. Some of the benefits of EE7 are greater flexibility, security, performance, ease of use, and more features for content management and site customization. An added benefit for Vestacon’s site included a faster backend and increased performance, which helped boost the site’s overall functionality (not that it needed much).

We look forward to seeing Vetacon’s continued success in construction management and within their communities!

(I hope I got that right!)

It’s all very exciting for Travis, Rowan and Tammy, who will be attending, perhaps by flue powder?, and presenting three talks:

Top 10 Tactics to Boost Your Agency’s Operational Efficiency With Tammy Meyers

Vibe Coding, Agentic Workflows, and the Art of Context: From Chaos to Clarity with AI With Rowan Sentesy

XSSSS: Cross-site Scripting Security, Simplified With Travis Smith

Hop Studios is a “Cornerstone Sponsor” of #EEConf2025—which is our highest level of support ever. We believe strongly in the future of this open source software project and we look forward to learning from and sharing with many of the fine and friendly folks from this community.

We’re very proud to have been responsible for the total overhaul of XhAle’s web presence, website, and ecommerce store, helping to ensure XhAle Brew Co’s website reflects their passion, mission, and impact clearly. Let’s leave hazy for their Queen Bee Honey Blond ale!

XhAle Brew Co launched in 2020 as Alberta, Canada’s first founded and operated all-female and queer craft brewing company. This small business was started and is majority-owned by a queer, immigrant woman and is run by a majority all-women and queer team. With a mission to challenge private corporate norms through an approach that is radically compassionate, intentionally equitable, and centred on supporting and nurturing the communities they belong to through brewing award-winning beer, they needed a website that fully represented their passion.

Hop Studios was the perfect team for the job. With a shared dedication to inclusivity and fostering community, these two small businesses came together to create a big impact. We collaborated to transform their dull, standard Shopify page, and came up with an eye-catching homepage that showcases XhAle Brew’s mission, passion, and influence.

By placing beer at the forefront, they’re using it as a platform to champion inclusivity. With the new design, XhAle Brew Co. is able to better highlight the positive impacts that come with enjoying their delicious local brews. Partial proceeds of their sales go towards supporting community resources and organizations, with 11% of their 2023 total gross revenue benefiting nonprofit efforts.

Hop Studios worked closely with the XhAle Brew team to implement the final design of their site, which reflects who XhAle is and the good things they’re doing in their community. It was an absolute pleasure to help this small business create a bigger impact and further its positive influence on the world. Cheers to that!

During his academic journey, TJ developed hands-on experience with modern development frameworks and methodologies and learned to thrive in collaborative environments (i.e. group projects), which will serve him well with Hop Studios’ style of open, cross-supporting development.

Outside of his professional pursuits, TJ maintains a well-rounded lifestyle that keeps him energized and creative. He’s an avid golfer who enjoys the strategic thinking and precision the sport demands. Music plays an equally important role in his life—he’s been playing piano for over 15 years and finds that the discipline and artistry of music complement his analytical mindset. TJ is also passionate about cars, particularly his manual transmission vehicle, which he enjoys maintaining and then driving on scenic routes.

So to sum up: to relax, he likes keeping old things running well, noodling creatively on a keyboard, and repeatedly striving for perfection while dealing calmly with frustration. Yep, he’s going to work out just fine.

Founded in 1945 by Paul Britton Paine and William Henry Kemp Edmonds, Paine Edmonds has been proudly serving British Columbia for more than 70 years. Located in Vancouver, BC, Paine Edmonds is a boutique law firm with a focus on family, insurance, employment, estate, disability and general litigation. Their first website, which debuted in 1994, has been through four iterations in three decades!

Paine Edmonds knew what they wanted when it came to their website redesign: a fresh look and feel that was also simple to use. They also wanted to reduce the amount of text on the site so it was more enjoyable to navigate. The new site needed to reflect the firm’s legal approach and expertise. We were happy to oblige!

We started by delivering design prototypes. Now, sometimes we get it right the first time… and sometimes we don’t! In this case, we had to go through several versions to find the look that really worked for Paine Edmonds. And that was just fine–design is so subjective that it can take time before everyone is pleased. Paine Edmonds’ feedback on each design version was crucial and welcomed. The result is a fresh and modern website that does the brand proud.

This refresh wasn’t only about updating the look of the site. Paine Edmonds also needed to move away from a clunky content management system into something that could be more easily maintained. We opted to set up the new site in Wix.

We also set up a translation tool using Wix app to make it easy for people to browse the site in the language that works best for them; the site is now offered in every language the firm can support through native speakers or translators.

The final step was ensuring that Paine Edmonds could easily maintain their site. We trained the Paine Edmonds team in navigating the Wix interface so they can update the site’s images and text. This is the final piece of the puzzle, giving Paine Edmonds full control over their site content, though we are still available to support them should they ever encounter something they’re unsure about.

The team at Paine Edmonds was a pleasure to work with, and if our interactions were anything to go by, you shouldn’t hesitate to use their legal services!

If you’re thinking it might be time to refresh your website, send us a message. We’d love to help you, too!

As always, we recommend holding off on installing any major updates until a smaller patch has been released. Major updates typically introduce new features or breaking functionality, which often introduces new bugs to the software.

What’s the difference between a major version and a minor version? And what’s a patch?

Most software today is identified by a version number looking something like this: 3.12.7. This two-dot, three-number pattern means that software probably follows a versioning standard known as SemVer a.k.a. Semantic Versioning.

In our hypothetical software version 3.12.7, the first number (3 in this example) is the Major version. This number is theoretically incremented only when there is a change to the way the software works with other software (technically, when the publica API changes in a non-compatible way). In practice, changing a major version number is also often done when there’s complete rewrite or rebranding, even if it doesn’t break older compatibility.

The second number (12 in this example) is the Minor version. This is incremented for improvements, new features, changes and updates as long as they won’t break anything that came before. (Hypothetically.)

The third number (7 in our example) is the Patch version. This is incremented for bug fixes and very minor changes. In practice, you usually release a patch version to fix bugs. While developers rarely actively introduce known breaking changes in a patch fix, sometimes a bug fix has an unintended consequence and breaks existing functionality.

Check out the official site to learn more about SemVer!

Update Schedule for ExpressionEngine

ExpressionEngine currently releases new versions approximately every 3-6 weeks, though there was a long stretch in 2020 where it wasn’t updating very often at all.

ExpressionEngine is one of the most secure and bug-free CMSs that we work with. Wordpress, for instance, has had 360 security vulnerabilities since 2004 (as of this posting), each of which could be exploited as a security hole—and that doesn’t include its plugins.

Meanwhile, ExpressionEngine has had… 14 vulnerabilities.  This isn’t just because WordPress powers more websites, it’s because of the care and professionalism of the folks who write and support ExpressionEngine.

Because of this security history, we feel comfortable recommending checking EE for updates on a two-month cycle.

We also recommend skipping any X.0.0 release until it’s at least X.0.1—that’s just reasonable cautious behavior.

The core of ExpressionEngine itself is quite simple to keep updated, due to an excellent and safe one-click updater that can also be run as a command-line task.

Currently, the third-party add-ons to ExpressionEngine used by most sites add some additional complexity and time to update, but we hope that improvements will be made in that area someday.

If you find yourself still running an old version of ExpressionEngine, you’ll be pleased to learn that with the release of ExpressionEngine 7 in August 2022, you can now update from EE 2.0 all the way up to the latest release with a single click! (Truth be told, it’s more like 5 or 6 clicks—there’s a confirmation, you gotta open the menu—but it’s still great news and a lot easier than it used to be).

Update Schedule for Craft CMS

Craft has a very active community and development team, typically pushing out updates every week or two to fix bugs and add new features for their users. They also tend to push out a release, and then immediately follow it with a patch or two in the days following the release.

Because of their quick turnaround on fixing bugs and relatively fast development cycle, we recommend a monthly update cycle for Craft users. We also recommend waiting for more than just a .0 or .1 release—often, it takes until the .5 or .6 release for the flurry of fixes to settle down. We use the calendar and wait about 2 weeks after a .0 release, except in cases of important security releases (i.e. when there’s a known exploit).

As mentioned above for our ExpressionEngine users, Craft sites usually also rely on plug-ins for a large portion of their functionality, and all plug-ins should be checked and updated at the same time as the core CMS. With Craft, there is often a complex interdependence on particular versions of particular plug-ins, so it can sometimes be a little tricky to keep everything upgraded “just enough” to the proper version. However, Craft makes it easier to actually DO the updating of plug-ins, which is nice.

As always, remember to back up all of your files and database before updating!

WordPress

WordPress is the most popular CMS in the world and has the most exploits of any CMS. Because of its security issues and size, it’s the most targeted by hackers. WP sites also tend to have a wider array of add-ons, many of which are free or poorly maintained or both. It also has a wider selection of systems with which it interfaces. All these things lead to a larger and more porous surface area for attacks and greater pressure to exploit security holes.

Because of this, we recommend updating your entire WordPress installation (core and add-ons both) frequently as is reasonably possible, and certainly no less than monthly. Many other shops will do this weekly or bi-weekly.  WordPress itself is updated about every 4-8 weeks, and is usually very backwards compatible.

WordPress has always allowed minor version updates (updates that are (supposed to be) backwards compatible) to be performed automatically with a single click in the admin panel. As of version 5.6, WordPress allows admins to perform major updates (which may break your plug-ins or even your whole site) in the same way. This is an opt-in feature, and requires setting a variable in your config file to enable it. It can be turned off by changing the setting within the WordPress admin panel.

Although this process is “automatic,” it still requires logging in to the admin panel and clicking the update button. You can update all your plug-ins individually or as a batch with one click, and your themes as well. And you should!

As always, be sure to check that your files and database are backed up before performing any updates!

What about Ghost, Bludit, Drupal, and other popular CMSs?

An up-and-comer in the CMS space, Ghost has been gaining a lot of traction in the tech-centric blogging world. And they’re not the only ones! There are dozens of new and interesting content systems around today.

So, how often should you update them? Generally speaking, we recommend not falling more than about a week behind a software’s minor version updates or patches-with-security-fixes.

So, if a piece of software receives regular weekly or monthly patches, you should have a similar schedule—to at least check for a security issue in the latest version.

And remember: though it might seem nice that your CMS is only updated every three months, if you see that the CMS you’re using is not getting frequent security and feature updates from the developers, it might be time to switch to one of the CMSs we’ve mentioned. Effective updates from a reliable development team keep you and your site visitors secure and are a sign of a healthy CMS core and community.

Are you unsure whether your CMS needs updating? Send us a message and we’ll help you determine if it’s the right time to update your site.

Newspack is a publishing platform tailored to the needs of independent newsrooms. As someone who’s spent much of my career at the intersection of journalism, technology, and user experience, their mission resonates deeply. I’m excited to be joining a team working to support sustainable, community-centred journalism around the world. I hope to contribute meaningfully and positively to this complex and crucial publishing technology space.

At the same time, this is a bittersweet transition. Hop Studios has been my professional home for two decades, and even that large round number significantly understates the significance this company holds for me!

I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to work with an incredible range of clients — smart, passionate people doing meaningful work. I’ve also had the good fortune to collaborate with a team of colleagues who care deeply about building the web thoughtfully and well. I’ve been part of founding and guiding an organization that is committed to doing good in the world. I’m so proud of what we’ve all accomplished together.

Hard as it is to leave, I know this team will continue to bring their integrity, spirit, and compassion to the work they do for clients who share those values.

To everyone I’ve worked with, coworker and client, thank you… for the trust, the conversations, the *cough* learning opportunities *cough*, the challenges, and the many shared successes. I carry it all with me into this next role, with immense gratitude.

💕 Susie

Creating a website is, in its own way, also about preserving history, which made for the perfect pairing when Roslyn approached Hop in 2020 with an ambitious list of upgrades. Our team eagerly jumped on board to assist The Roslyn Landmark Society in their goal to contribute a more user-friendly site, both to their local community as well as the larger preservation movement.

Some of the more significant undertakings that Hop Studios tackled on Roslyn’s site included implementing user commenting with moderation settings, migrating the site’s hosting to Nexcess, and adding filter functionality for the Profiles page.

The filter functionality allows users to filter landmark profiles by category in a style consistent with the rest of the site. Users can now see which landmarks are in a given village while also discovering which landmarks had similar historical uses, such as banks, general stores, and saloons. This addition makes discovering new landmarks easier and a more engaging and educational experience.

Additionally, Hop Studios implemented a commenting plug-in feature to boost user engagement. Using the Verbb add-on for Craft CMS, which we customized for Roslyn’s unique needs, allowed users to comment on articles, events, and more. This add-on also gave Roslyn’s team the ability to moderate and adjust settings as needed.

Since 2020, we’ve also helped Roslyn with several mid-range upgrades to Craft CMS and added the Blitz plugin to handle static page caching, reducing server response time and improving site performance.

Our team at Hop Studios are delighted to continue working with The Roslyn Landmark Society in preserving and promoting history, one post at a time.

For people with low or no vision, those with reduced motor control, and deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals, navigating websites can be HARD. Many websites aren’t designed or coded to meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines,  standards created to support people experiencing disabilities and the technologies they use. Web accessibility is about ensuring that your website is user-friendly to everyone. Special bonus: an accessible website is often more performative in search results!

Our client, Conscious Revolution, a woman-owned consultancy and a certified B Corp, focuses on creating meaningful changes and advocating for “soul-full” connections within organizations and communities. It was no surprise that they were interested in learning more about making their website accessible.

Conscious Revolution offers a holistic approach to conscious leadership development through facilitation, Soul-Full HR support, and organizational consulting focused on implementing and deepening an organization’s mission, vision, purpose, and values so they are embedded in all aspects of the organization. They value creating human connections, discovering new ways of thinking by nurturing curiosity, and discovering joy in all parts of their lives.

There’s nothing better than working with businesses that are doing good in the world, so it was a pleasure to assist Conscious Revolution in improving its site’s accessibility so that they could help more people create soul-full connections.

There are three levels of accessibility compliance: Levels A, AA, and AAA. (AAA is the highest standard, typically only adhered to when an organization is legally required to do so because of government funding.) Most businesses aim for Level A or AA.

We started off with a free accessibility review, which is part of Hop’s FREE Client Care Program. Even though the site was well set up, we did find some issues! Conscious Revolution chose to focus on the Level A standard to start. Remember–all web accessibility improvements are beneficial, even if there’s more to do!

One of the significant areas we focused on was ensuring all images on the site have ALT text. ALT text is a written description of an image created to describe the image for someone who can’t see it. ALT text is what someone using a screen reader, software that translates on-screen content into speech or braille, hears or reads.

It’s not the same as a caption! For example, a photo might have ALT text like “A young couple stand in front of their camper van. One holds a Corgi and one a Labradoodle dog.” The caption of that photo would rarely describe what can be seen, and is much more likely to provide additional context: “Our team is on the road four to five times per week conducting rescue operations for abandoned dogs and other pets.” Finally, if the image contains text, that should be in the ALT text.

Not only is ALT text beneficial for accessibility, but it also makes images more readable by search engines, increasing the discoverability and relevance of website content. It’s really easy to overlook ALT text when creating content. Fortunately, most modern content management systems make it easy to add, and Conscious Revolution’s Squarespace CMS is no exception.

We highly recommend checking out their courses or an upcoming class or workshop on their site! We’re excited to continue to support Conscious Revolution with their website needs.

If you’d like to learn more about how you can make your website more accessible, send us a message, we’d love to help you with making your site more inclusive.

An email signature is more than just an endnote; it’s a part of your brand and can help build trust with your audience. It’s a way to market your business and who you are; sometimes, it’s your final chance to leave a lasting impression. A great way to think of your email signature is like a little business card.

We’re sharing three things every email signature needs and some things you should avoid to ensure the best footer for your emails.

1 - Keep it Simple

A clean and simple email signature design will ensure you deliver your message clearly and effectively. Less is more! Use only two or three colours and stick to a single web-friendly font. Don’t overuse fancy fonts and avoid using fonts that not everyone can access. Web-friendly fonts include Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Georgia, Trebuchet MS, Impact, and Times New Roman. They are typically installed on most systems, ensuring they appear consistently across devices.

Utilize a visual hierarchy to prioritize your information. The most important elements should be placed at the top of your email signature, typically with a larger font and bolded for more impact. This would be the place to put your name, position, and a way to contact you. Links to social media platforms should always be placed at the very bottom.

When linking to social media, including only relevant links and tailoring them to your audience is essential. For example, if your clients are mainly on Instagram, it would make sense for you to add a link to your Instagram page. However, if your audience is mostly professionals, you might only include your LinkedIn or no social links at all. Adding a set of professional-looking buttons that match the rest of your signature and hyperlinking them is easier than having multiple links on your email signature and keeps the design clean.

Don’t forget to keep your signature current. Review it every few months to make sure all the information on it is still relevant and correct.

2 - Add a Call To Action

Your email signature is excellent for adding a Call To Action (CTA). A CTA is an opportunity to further engage your audience by prompting them to take action. Examples of a CTA include: “book a call”, “learn more”, “leave a review”, “grab a freebie”; these are opportunities to invite your audience to learn more about your business, get in touch with you, or simply peruse your website.

You should also link the logo in your signature to your website to boost brand awareness and drive more traffic to your site. Another good practice is to make your website link visible. Remember that your email signature is like a little business card, a way to show your audience where to learn more about your business and what you do.

3 - Maintain Consistency

In larger organizations with multiple employees, there should be an email signature format that everyone adheres to. Though it may be tempting to let your employees create their own signature, maintaining consistency will ensure you’re all promoting the same message of the business and your brand.

Even for solopreneurs, your email signature should be consistent with your brand. For example, if your brand colours are blue and red, you shouldn’t use pink in your signature.

Consistency will further promote your brand and build trust with your audience. When there is a standard in place, they’ll know who they’re speaking to and will not be confused about whether they’ve reached the right person.

What to Avoid

Now that you have some ideas for a great email signature, here are some things you should try to avoid.

• Cluttering your signature.
Adding too many colours, too much text, or fonts that aren’t web-friendly will only overwhelm your reader; keep your design clean and simple with only the most important and relevant information.
• Not making your signature mobile-friendly.
Keeping the width of your signature to 450px and the overall file size under 100KB will ensure it looks great across all devices and loads properly.

Should You Use Images?

One of the biggest mistakes to avoid regarding your email signature is improperly using graphics and images. Images can be great for promoting your brand and who you are; however, there are some crucial things to remember when incorporating them into your signature. In fact, you might be better off not including them at all.

Make sure any images or graphics you use are high quality. Photos should have a neutral background and clearly convey the image (a headshot is better than a full-body shot in this case). Keep them small, 50px - 100px is the optimal sizing for photos and graphics.

Remember to include ALT text in your images for screen readers or in the event that an email provider hides the images to reduce download size. (This is another reason you may choose not to include images at all.)

Finally, images hosted on untrusted domains may not be delivered to your recipient’s inbox. You must use a reputable host for any images in your signature, such as your own server, Google Photos, or Amazon S3.

If you’re not entirely sure that you can get the highest quality photo and host it on a trusted server, you’re probably better off not including any in your signature.

Make It Your Own

In summary, an email signature is a great and simple way to promote your brand and business while fostering trust with your clients. Don’t hesitate to test various email signatures to determine which works best for your business. Tracking the links you include will enable you to measure which ones receive the most clicks, ensuring your email signature effectively markets your brand as you intend!

If you would like to learn more about improving your email signature, feel free to send us a message. We’d love to help!

Kuklas Korner is the perfect site to get breaking hockey news as it happens. This community-funded site is updated around the clock with new blogs, tweets, and links, and it offers information that is easier to access than large sports news sites. This site really is skating at full throttle!

When Paul Kukla, owner, contacted Hop Studios in 2023, he knew he needed a line change. With the site last updated in 2018, the previous developer had been applying bandaid patches without taking the time to thoroughly maintain the upkeep. On top of that, there were countless problems with the hosting service that led to massive dissatisfaction. It was clear that a change was needed when work on the site kept being pushed out.

Hop Studios was the first draft pick and was eager to help Kuklas Korner bring home the trophy.

Our game plan involved improving the ability to format blog posts and comments and overhauling the site’s functionality. We started by upgrading the existing Craft CMS to version 5.1.2. A natural hat trick of upgrades also included a PHP upgrade and several plugin upgrades such as Snaptcha, Social Poster and CKEditor.

With new blog posts and comments being made around the clock, optimal formatting was necessary to find the sweet spot. With users contributing their thoughts and opinions in the comments, as well as the Kuklas Korner team contributing additional information, it became difficult to focus on the fundamentals. We helped streamline the comment section, making navigating and accessing additional information easier.

In addition to improving the comment section, Hop Studios enhanced the site’s auto-tweeting. Previously, these tweets were incredibly inconsistent and looked different in every post. We used the SEOmatic plugin to handle the posting to Twitter and allow for better formatting.

As a community-funded site, ads are an important part of Kuklas Korner and ensure they can continue to bring all the breaking hockey news to the fans. However, no one likes ads that cover up content. We removed the inconsistent ads and included an additional ad at the bottom of blog posts above the comment section, clearing the crease for a better experience for hockey fans.

By focusing on the fundamentals and sticking to the game plan, Hop Studios helped Kuklas Korner skate to victory. As they say on the ice, “We came together as a team!” Hop Studios looks forward to continuing to rally for the win with Kuklas Korner so they can keep bringing the latest and greatest hockey news with a more streamlined and better-functioning site.

Hop has always been a business that strives to contribute positively to society and the environment. Becoming certified through B Corp aligned with our mission and values, and symbolizes both what we’ve achieved and our commitment to continue striving to create positive impact.

So, what exactly is B Corp? It’s an independent certification that covers a wide range of practices and standards required of a socially conscious business. To become certified, Hop Studios underwent an extremely detailed evaluation—the independent organization B Lab reviewed every part of our operations.

B Corp is the sole certification that focuses on an organization’s environmental and social performance through the B Impact Assessment. This rigorous assessment sets apart companies that truly place emphasis on bettering the world around them and helps those businesses commit to long-term, sustainable practices.

Being a B Corp is a badge of honour to us, as it makes visible our values and our mission to create positive change through Helping Other People. It shows that our employees, shareholders and many of our suppliers also share that mission and actively contribute to making those productive impacts.

Hop is extremely proud of being part of a movement and global community of like-minded organizations that focus on creating positive changes for good and strive to meet the highest standards of social and environmental impact. We’ve been grateful to learn new ways that we can continue to help other people and help our planet from fellow B Corp companies.

In the past two years, Hop has become even more aware of our social and environmental practices and has implemented procedures within our organization to improve our impact. We are always striving to continue to do good within our communities and our business.

What’s next for Hop Studios as a certified B Corp business? We’re currently in the process of recertifying so we can continue to amplify the positive changes that the B Corp movement stands for. We’re also continuing to work with other BCorp organizations and businesses that are also making lasting improvements to our world. Finally, we are looking for more ways to give back to the community and the planet – such as donating a portion of our profits.

Although our values to do good go back to our origin, today is truly a celebratory moment. We encourage every individual and business to reflect on ways they can make a difference in the world. Even the smallest impact can create a meaningful ripple effect!

Recently, a Hop Studios client received a legal demand alleging violations of federal and state privacy laws due to the use of the Meta Pixel on their website, and asking for a not-insignificant monetary settlement.

Wait, what’s a Meta Pixel?

Meta is the company that owns Facebook. They have some JavaScript code that tracks user behaviour on your website—what pages people visit, what actions they take, what search terms they use,  perhaps even information like email addresses if your site visitors enter that into your forms. This JavaScript code – the Meta Pixel – sends all that data to Meta to help optimize Facebook and Instagram ads and to retarget visitors.

This is a good time to mention – we are not lawyers, we are helpful nerds.

Please do not take this blog post as legal advice. This is simply some information we’re sharing with you so that you can get better, more informed legal advice.

Now, I know what you’re probably thinking: Everybody uses the Meta Pixel! How can that be against the law?!?

Strictly speaking, the Meta Pixel itself isn’t illegal or even malicious. Many legitimate businesses rely on it to help guide and improve social media advertising and marketing campaigns and benefit from the data insights it provides.

However, if you use the Meta Pixel or any other tracking tool without informing your visitors and/or obtaining their consent, you may be violating several laws.

Depending on where you are and where your site visitors are, different laws apply to your site.

Health websites and apps must follow the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which covers how health professionals handle health-related information.

In California, the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) prohibits the use of any device to “wiretap” communication without consent; many U.S. states have similar laws. The federal Wiretap Act of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) does the same.

Then there’s the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act

(CFAA), the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for users in the EU, the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) … the list goes on.

So what’s a careful, reasonable website owner to do?
Here’s what we recommend:

• Audit your website tracking tools. If you’re using Meta Pixel, Google Analytics, or any third-party trackers, understand what data is being collected and shared. Review how the tracking tool is set up and limit what it does and how that data is collected, shared stored and used.
• Review your privacy policy. Make sure it explicitly discloses what data you collect and how it is shared. It should also include information about how you handle opt-out requests, credit card information, and employee records. Some counsel also suggest having employees review and sign off on the privacy policy once a year to ensure compliance.
• Add consent tools to your website. In some jurisdictions, you must also obtain explicit, opt-in consent before tracking begins—so relying solely on ‘by using this site you agree’ language in your privacy policy may not be good enough. Add a cookie consent dialogue box to ensure that tracking doesn’t happen before consent is given.
• Remove unneeded and unused tracking. Yes, you audited your tracking in the first recommendation. Now take a good hard look at your tracking and see if you can do without it entirely. The benefits of not having it are many: a faster site overall, a brand story of respect that you can share with your audience, a smaller tech stack, less legal exposure, and the good feeling that comes from helping to protect the privacy of your customers.
• Get legal guidance. Have your privacy and cookie policy reviewed by a lawyer with expertise in this area and in the laws you are subject to. We recommend a service called Termly.io that helps you get the right privacy policy, the right cookie consent banner and functionality, and gives you someone to turn to for questions. (Disclosure: We have an affiliate partnership with them.)
• Repeat all of the above at least annually. Websites and the underlying technology that runs them constantly change. These efforts won’t protect you if they are only done once and never revisited.

Is all this necessary if people are just coming to read your business’s address and hours? Yeah, actually, it is. It may seem like overkill for a small site, but it’s small sites that often don’t have the right legal protections set up, and that’s what some law firms are hoping for, looking for sites that aren’t up to date on all this and who might be startled or cajoled into paying to make a problem go away.

If you’re concerned about your own website and need help, please reach out. We’re not lawyers, but we can help you understand what you’re tracking and how to get consent to do so!

(Prepared with assistance from ChatGPT)

CGLCC is Canada’s 2SLGBTQIA+ Chamber of Commerce for business owners and entrepreneurs. The organization strives to help the 2SLGBTQIA+ business community grow through advocacy, education, capacity building, connections, and partnerships with allies who share their vision.

Hop Studios is part of their “Supplier Diversity” program, which helps connect progressive organizations looking to engage in supplier diversity with their certified 2SLGBTQIA+ businesses. Through events, internal acquisitions and international trade missions, the CGLCC offers 2SLGBTQIA+ businesses access to connections, partnerships and new business opportunities.

This “Supplier Diversity” certification means that we are a business with a diverse owner who identifies as part of the S2LGBTQIA+ community. Companies and individuals doing business with diverse companies can more easily find diverse businesses to work with through this certification.

Recently, more businesses and corporations have been focusing on spending with diverse suppliers for their businesses and a certain amount of their expenses are set to go towards diverse suppliers.

This is a big achievement for Hop Studios, and we are very proud to be a certified supplier of the CGLCC. Here at Hop, we strive to celebrate diversity and advocate for a better future for everyone.

As a company owned by a trans-non-binary individual like Travis, the simple act of being visible allows for a more inclusive and safe environment for both employees and clients. It’s not always easy to put yourself out there in such a way, and it’s wonderful to be a part of something like the CGLCC and to see the positive outcomes they are making in the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.

We’ve always been vocal about our advocacy and support of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community here at Hop, and we aim for inclusion in every facet of our lives and business.

This certification will allow us to make more connections and partnerships with other entrepreneurs and business owners within the 2SLGBTQIA+ community while fostering a safe space for all.

In March, Hop Studios had the pleasure of participating in CGLCC’s first Business Symposium in Calgary, Alberta. This event was an opportunity for 2SLGBTQIA+ business owners and entrepreneurs to connect with a chance to dive into insightful panel discussions, engage in interactive breakout sessions, and connect with industry professionals and ecosystem organizations.

We had a booth at the event, where we showcased Hop’s work and made fabulous connections with many other local entrepreneurs and businesses celebrating the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. It was an excellent opportunity to help other business owners ensure their websites were accessible and inclusive through a free website accessibility walkthrough! We also made a lot of connections over Frank, our mascot, the giant rubber duck – we always knew ducks were a shared link!

Hop Studios is proud to celebrate diversity and advocate for inclusion and opportunities regardless of how you identify. Thanks to the CGLCC for creating such a wonderful program; we’re very excited to be a part of it!

It’s time to grow again. Hop Studios is looking for a full-time web developer skilled in the ExpressionEngine CMS with experience working on custom websites and a la carte add-on development.

We’re Canada’s leading ExpressionEngine and Craft CMS design and development firm. You’ll be using an interesting variety of modern software and frameworks, working on meaningful projects ranging from shopping carts to saving society.

We’re also a certified B Corp—that means we’re a company that is actively (and legally!) committed to putting people and the planet first.

Come be part of a growing team of smart, caring people who provide the best possible online tools to active organizations that need “an expert, fractional web department.”

Skills

The best applicant will have at minimum several years experience with ExpressionEngine.  They should also have at least some of the following skills at the “Very Fine”, “Near Mint” or “Mint” level, in something approximating this order of importance:

• ExpressionEngine
• PHP
• Javascript
• HTML / CSS / SASS
• MySQL / MariaDB
• git
• WordPress / WooCommerce
• WIX
• Functional spec development
• Craft CMS
• Common Web service APIs
• Server administration (LAMP stack)
• DNS management

Some other things that would be considered checkmarks in the “Pro” column: experience with accessibility review and retrofitting; with Google Analytics; with SEO techniques and pitfalls; with AI, machine learning and recommendation engines; and with building properly mobile / responsive websites and web-based apps.

Yes, that’s a long list and no, you don’t need to be adept at all of it; we’re primarily looking for someone with experience around ExpressionEngine and with Javascript and PHP. The rest of the list will make you stand out and fit in.

What are the other requirements?

• At least 4 years experience working in Web development - this is not an entry-level position
• Jovial and pleasant to work with
• Self-starter with healthy curiosity
• Tenacious attitude towards problem-solving
• Good at meeting or exceeding deadlines
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills - you will sometimes be in direct contact with clients
• A long-term interest keeping on top of new technology trends and tools
• Try not to have the same username as anyone we’ve previously hired

Who can apply?

• You must be available for an employee position i.e. not contract.
• You must be able to start immediately i.e. you can give standard notice now.
• You must be available for full-time or close to it i.e. at least 4 days a week.
• If you live in Canada, you should be able to work in Canada. If you live elsewhere, that’s not necessary, but still nice.
• You must be set up to work remotely; we are all-virtual since the pandemic.
• You must work in sync with North American time zones (Pacific, Mountain, Central or Eastern Times)
• In addition to substantial benefits, bonuses and vacation time, this position is currently budgeted for Canadians in the range of $85,000 - $90,000.

Who are we?

• We’re a 2002-founded company with a stable staff, an established history and plenty of growth potential.
• We work on meaningful projects that change lives and improve society.
• We’ve won some Webbys and written some books.
• We’re fun to work for, and our deep client roster is full of excellent humans to work with as well; there are no waterfall death marches here.
• We are mostly based in Vancouver, BC, and we offer an open, collaborative, startup-esque work culture, with the benefits of working remotely.
• We pay a competitive wage tied to experience but not dependent on your previous jobs.
• We are an equal-opportunity employer that values diversity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. You shouldn’t either.

To apply, send us a cover letter, your resume, and links to websites you’ve built and/or examples of code you’ve written (i.e. your GitHub account). Send this to .

We thank all applicants for their interest, however only those candidates selected for interviews will be contacted.

And don’t send your resume as a Word document. We mean it.

He wanted to improve the functionality so that data from relationship fields could be used to autogenerate content titles and URL fields.

Hop Studios knew the perfect add-on to help: GB Default Value. This add-on allows users to dynamically specify default values for text fields or file names for files. By using the field values, categories, and/or author member fields from the entry, the add-on generates the default values. And extra luckily, it was created by one of our developers, Gilbert Lin!

When Matt approached Hop about using this handy add-on, Gil saw the perfect opportunity to upgrade it to be compatible with EE7. He then further modified it for Matt to improve the functionality and allow him to autogenerate the content titles and URL fields that he needed.

Combining the GB Default Value add-on with Structure was the perfect pairing for Matt’s needs. Both of these add-ons worked in tandem to help customize and streamline the URL title fields.

Hop Studios is lucky and proud to have Gil on our team and to be able to offer these add-ons and specialized customizations to our clients. We look forward to seeing what comes next in web development and be sure to keep an eye out for the next add-on - either from Hop or Gil or both!!

Hop Studios! Wilson Lue, one of Canada’s foremost intellectual property boutique law firms, ran into this exact problem back in 2023. Their site, built initially in-house on an older version of ExpressionEngine in 2018, started giving them the white screen of doom when they tried to load their site. This urgent issue needed to be fixed ASAP and Hop Studios was the team to do it.

Upon investigating the issue, we discovered that the index.php file was not being executed due to an incompatibility problem. To fix this and prevent future problems, including making site maintenance more user-friendly for Wilson Lue’s team, we began by upgrading the ExpressionEngine CMS from version 4 to the newest version, EE7. That upgrade also came with upgrading all existing add-ons, including Sitemap 4.0.0. This would ensure no other incompatibility issues moving forward.

We also implemented a functional 404 page that hadn’t previously existed on the site, which would improve the user experience while browsing the site. Our team made several enhancements to the Wilson Lue mobile site, which is often overlooked when designing a website despite most users browsing on mobile devices. By making the contact phone number clickable, we were able to allow mobile users to contact the firm more easily. We also did a minor tweak to inline photos that weren’t showing correctly in the site’s content. Finally, we added our own Hop Deploybot to the site to help reduce the amount of time being spent on the back-end maintenance of the site, making it easier for the Wilson Lue team.

Hop Studios is extremely pleased that we were able to reduce the stress and quickly fix the white screen of doom the Wilson Lue site had been experiencing. Now, they can focus on tackling intellectual property issues instead of wasting time trying to manage and fix an outdated website. Hop Studios is excited to continue to work with Wilson Lue on their website needs, hopefully without anything else breaking (but don’t worry, we’ll be right there to fix it if it does).

After a massive migration of their decade-old site in 2022, Hop Studios was entrusted with a second project: a comprehensive website redesign to enhance responsiveness, modernity, and usability. Our top priority was preserving NCHFP’s content’s integrity while improving the overall user experience.

This massive redesign aimed to improve site navigation, reduce customer service inquiries, and enhance administrative efficiency. Our goal was to design a site that was not only visually appealing but also improved functionality and made it more user-friendly for both visitors and administrators.

Hop Studios put in great effort to make sure the site was both user-friendly and visually appealing.

Notable features of the redesign include:

1. A new Donations page: This feature simplifies contributions, streamlining the process for supporters to donate and support NCHFP’s mission.
2. A home page with alert display mechanisms
3. Advanced search functionality: improving the search capabilities allows users to quickly and easily find the information they need, whether it’s a specific recipe or a detailed fact sheet
4. A Contact page featuring a Freeform-based contact form with ReCaptcha: allows users to quickly contact NCHFP while safeguarding the site against spam and automated submissions
5. A Newsflash feed
6. A member-gated content section for educators: Utilizing the GB Gated content add-on, this section provides secure access to resources specifically for educators, supporting their efforts in home food preservation education.

With the redesign came the introduction of new sections dedicated to Retail Food Safety, merchandise, and donations. These new sections helped the site expand its offerings without needing intricate HTML knowledge, which allowed the NCHFP staff to add and update content effortlessly.

Marking a significant milestone in NCHFP’s digital presence, the redesigned site launched in Spring 2024. By carefully understanding NCHFP’s needs and accomplishing two well-planned projects in succession, Hop Studios has dramatically augmented its online presence.

Hop Studios is thrilled to further our collaboration with NCHFP through additional projects. We highly recommend that you spend some time exploring the intriguing resources available on their site. Everyone from novice canners to experienced preservers will find NCHFP’s website a wealth of valuable information and useful recommendations!

YWCA’s WorkBC Centres offer free employment services to job seekers ages 16 to 65+. Focusing on specialized workshops and assistance for immigrants, youth, Indigenous peoples, personnes francophones, people with disabilities, survivors of abuse and violence, older workers, and women returning to work after an absence.

Part of many services that the YWCA Metro Vancouver supplies for job seekers and employers, the WorkBC Centres are an integral part of the community. Providing free support services, including career planning, access to training and job connections with employers, they are dedicated to helping individuals in their job search. They provide an extensive range of offerings, some major programs available include childcare, supportive housing, legal support and resources for women who have experienced abuse.

Supporting the visibility and traffic of the YWCA’s WorkBC Centres, Hop Studios developed a site for each of their five locations.

Port Moody WorkBC Centre
Coquitlam WorkBC Centre
Port Coquitlam WorkBC Centre
North Vancouver WorkBC Centre
Vancouver South WorkBC Centre

Each centre is a partnership program funded by the government, both federally and provincially, which means the sites have to comply with ministry guidelines.

Working closely with guidance from the YWCA, we created a template for one site, which was then duplicated to ensure a cohesive design across all other locations. One of the parameters needed to meet government guidelines involved setting up English/French phrase functionality.

Since these sites were successfully launched, Hop Studios has provided ongoing maintenance support over the years to the YWCA’s team. Most recently, we completed a big performance upgrade of ExpressionEngine on all five sites. Updating the sites from EE5.2.4 to EE7 Pro helped the sites run smoothly and more efficiently, including a resolution to a disk space issue that had been causing some headaches!

Hop Studios is very excited to continue to assist with the WorkBC Centre sites and the YWCA. We’ll handle the websites so they can continue to do the amazing work they do for the Metro Vancouver communities.

In the best cases, that passion and knowledge can even lead to winning awards! And that’s exactly what our client Vanderbilt Cup Races experienced. These earliest, important vehicle races, held on Long Island from 1904 to 1910, were a key part of the progress and development of automobile technology and societal integration.

The Vanderbilt Cup Races site, started in 2008 by Howard Kroplick, with the help of his daughter, Dana Kyle, has become one of the leading automotive history websites. Its incredible online community is a vast resource for information, photos, and statistics about the Vanderbilt Cup Races.

Kroplick, who was born and raised on Long Island, has long been passionate about preserving history and vintage cars. These passions came together to form the award-winning site that Hop Studios has worked on since 2020.

In 2012, the site won two Webby awards for the automotive and sports category. In 2013, the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences selected it as one of the five best sites in the world for “car sites and car culture”! Most recently, the Society of Automotive Historians honoured the site in 2019 with the E.P. Ingersoll Award for excellence in the presentation of automotive history outside of print media.

Talk about an impressive array of awards and recognitions!

Performing the CMS upgrade and ongoing maintenance of this site was a real treat for Hop Studios. Our initial upgrade of ExpressionEngine from version 2 to version 5 (the latest at the time) greatly improved the security and performance of the site.  Notably, this updated the site’s admin interface, making it easier for administrators to make frequent changes to the active site.

The last update to the CMS had been seven years prior, so some upgrades were also made to PHP and several add-ons, including Assets, Freeform Next, Hop Deeploy Helper, and WYGWAM.

Along with the updates, we also removed any outdated and unnecessary add-ons and plugins, which streamlined the site’s performance. We also migrated the site to Nexcess web hosting. Nexcess makes it easy to migrate with their free migration, and along with the added security and comprehensive support, we knew that Vanderbilt Cup Races would be in capable hosting hands.

To ensure this thriving community could continue to share the historical automotive history and users could chime in, we implemented a new system for comment moderation functions. Implementing a moderation system where every new comment needed an administrator to review them before publication ensured the quality and accuracy of posted comments. Snaptcha (an effective third-party spam prevention add-on) was installed on the site and helped to reduce spam and bot comments.

It’s a pleasure to be part of history (whether making it or preserving it), and working with the Vanderbilt Cup Races award-winning site has been nothing short of wonderful.

We look forward to assisting them with their site’s evolving needs and as the site grows, seeing what history they uncover next.

Pleasant Community Circle came to Hop Studios in 2021 to have us update their site’s content management system. Originally created as an informational site for the residents of the private Mt. Pleasant (Michigan) Lakeshore Subdivision community, it had become much more of an interpersonal communication system over the years. The residents were using it to share personal news, events, obituaries, and other happenings in their community. Super, right? It was, except that the site wasn’t originally designed for that, and using it that way was clunky and inefficient.

Then, issues caused by the outdated CMS began popping up. That, plus a frustrating interface, plus the increasing number of members posting led to disorganization and confusion on the site. It was time for change. The community board wanted to make it easier for members to create and participate in discussions, so they asked Hop to recommend and then implement a way to organize discussions into categories.

The first step was upgrading ExpressionEngine from v.2.10.1 to EE 6.2.2. Since the site had not been updated in seven years, this alone significantly improved site functionality and usability. We also upgraded the PHP and several add-ons while removing unnecessary or outdated plugins and extensions, which really improved site performance and smoothed out some of the issues members had been experiencing.

Implementing forums is nearly always a big effort, but sometimes you can achieve the same result another way. Instead of installing forum software, we adopted ExpressionEngine’s regular channel functionality so that it worked as a very simple, clean, and usable discussion platform on the site – not confusing and overly featured like many full-fledged forum systems. While this was important to keep administrative maintenance and costs low, it was also crucial for member participation. No one wants to have to learn a huge amount of new technology just to let their neighbours know about a yard sale!

By creating a single community discussion area within ExpressionEngine with sub-categories where members can post about items for sale, HOA information, resources, obituaries, and community news, we helped provide this buzzing community with a more organized and user-friendly space for discourse.

It’s been so rewarding to see how this development effort has kept Pleasant Community Circle neighbours connected without requiring them to rely on tools controlled by giant corporations!

If you’re going to go to the effort of adding another social media platform to your portfolio, we recommend you opt for Mastodon.

The core reason for this is the same reason we advise people and organizations to set up and keep their own domain and website rather than build on something like Substack for your writing or Instagram for your business.

TL;DR: Long-term, you’ll always be thankful that you kept control over your content and your digital identity.

If you build a presence on Mastodon (compared to any other social network), you can’t be evicted; you aren’t building someone else’s wealth, power and influence; you’re not subject to someone else’s shifting policies or ownership; and you can always migrate (if necessary) on your own terms. In essence, this is like owning your own music recordings or owning real estate vs. leasing or squatting. It may not feel like it matters, but it will.

More specifically as well, the Mastodon social media model offers a more stable way for groups to communally control and shape the growth of their online community.

To wit: A Mastodon space built around Canadian politics ought to have different moderation and etiquette and participation patterns and funding and privacy than a Mastodon community built around intersectional LGBTQ issues or around regional healthcare. Bluesky, meanwhile, doesn’t and isn’t ever going to have that level of flexibility. 

Short-term, we don’t discourage clients from making the move to Bluesky from The Bad Place. Momentum is definitely with Bluesky. Certainly, there are good reasons to have a presence where the largest, most active audiences are, particularly while network effects are booming (while also remaining aware of how those networks are benefitting from your labour and influence).

But long term, we’d rather see you have your eggs in your own basket.

So balance immediate outreach and audience-building against long-term strategy as you make your choice. One comparison to keep in mind might be how Apple’s growth took off when it built its own stores and stopped relying on big-box electronics stores to be its face to its customers. Territory is destiny.

Another big-picture reason we lean towards Mastodon is that it’s part of a larger social space called the fediverse, which is essentially an open social space that shares a common social protocol, and that protocol supports much more than a Twitter-like experience. (In many ways this is a parallel to the Internet itself – a set of protocols on top of which various unfettered digital services can be built.)

The fediverse is basically everything that is based on an open standard called ActivityPub, which already has a great diversity of software and services and holds a lot of future promise for fostering new tech as well.

Mastodon itself is thousands of servers and organizations, and you can host your own Mastodon instance, and that’s only one part of the fediverse.

By funding, promoting and intellectually engaging in the Mastodon ecosystem, you also help the fediverse develop, which helps foster independent, positive, thoughtful and sustainable alternatives to Instagram, YouTube, and more.

By comparison, all of Bluesky – though it promotes itself as being built on a different, highly complex open standard called the AT Protocol – currently lives on just one set of servers, run by Bluesky. You can only access Bluesky with one main app/web interface (built by Bluesky), which has one set of features. This is better than X, which is a completely walled garden, but Bluesky is not now and, I strongly believe, for reasons of funding and politics, it never will be as open as it suggests it will be.

Cory Doctorow said much of this last year, much better than me; Daring Fireball wrote in depth about Substack recently, too.

If you have questions specific to your situation or organization, reach out, and we can talk in more detail.

This is clearly a rare moment of social network realignment, and it’s important that we’re all able to make the best choices for the long term.

P.S., If this was useful, consider following OpenMedia on Mastodon and Bluesky. [Hop Studios manages their website.] OpenMedia works to keep the Internet open, affordable, and surveillance-free, by creating community-driven campaigns to engage, educate, and empower people.

The GEL Group consists of three subsidiary companies – GEL Laboratories, GEL Engineering, GEL Solutions – and one affiliate company, Cape Fear Analytical. Challenge number one was figuring out how to architect a site that is really five websites.

In May 2023, they began working with Hop Studios to overhaul their decade-old site completely. The site was outdated, clunky, and confusing, with too many pages and too many types of content. The biggest downfall of their site was that it failed to encompass their extensive knowledge and experience fully. The GEL Group came to Hop Studios to help their outward appearance fully illustrate their advanced expertise and services.

Hop Studios eagerly took on the challenge of extensively revamping and redesigning their website. The main emphasis focused on reducing confusion and allowing visitors to more easily understand all of the many services offered so that they could quickly find the proper match for their needs. This “simplify and improve” methodology played an essential role in nearly every facet of the redesign.

Setting up one of the best and newest content management systems is a pivotal step to modernizing a decade-old website. For The GEL Group, this meant upgrading their site to EE7. Not only did this help to improve performance, it allowed for easier back-end maintenance and a more user-friendly interface. Hop Studios helped train The GEL Group team on updating and maintaining the site, and set up role permissions to ensure each editor could only access and modify sections relevant to them.

Once the team was set up for success, Hop Studios shifted focus to the customer’s experience. Previously, the site was confusing to navigate and find the service users were looking for. The GEL Group wanted to make it easier for visitors to determine if they perform the service they’re looking for and quickly contact the right person about that service. By massively overhauling the homepage to simplify and improve navigation, Hop Studios helped site guests understand what the GEL Group offers and demonstrate their expertise.

One of these hiccups involved the search function, which failed to allow potential clients to easily find what they were looking for. Hop Studios took on the large overhaul to simplify and improve the “Find a Service” feature, streamlining the feature for users to effortlessly search across all subsidiaries and services to find what they needed and who to contact. No more frustrating searches that didn’t garner results!

The final piece of the puzzle included setting up a blog, which allowed The GEL Group to painlessly educate new and existing clients on all its services. The blog has become a valuable resource for information on services, updated regulations, and engaging case studies performed by GEL Solutions and GEL Engineering.

Taking on such a large redesign project for a unique company like The GEL Group has been a thrilling and delightful experience. It’s been an absolute pleasure for Hop Studios to help The GEL Group move to a more simplified and improved user experience and overall functionality. We’re excited to see where they grow in the future and what their next captivating case study will be!

StarVista LIVE brings together some of the greatest artists with bona fide music lovers in a luxurious cruise ship environment. They promise to provide a unique entertainment experience with 24/7 excitement and activities. With non-stop fun and new seasons of cruises constantly happening, it’s important they can easily manage and update their many sites.

When Chris Basnight, our talented project manager, joined the team, he brought StarVista to Hop. Having previously assisted with managing their sites, it was a smooth transition for him to continue delivering excellent results alongside Hop Studios.

To streamline the continual updates and improve multisite management, Hop began upgrading the content management system on StarVista’s primary site. Upgrading ExpressionEngine from EE2 to the newest version, EE7, gave StarVista a modernized user interface and performance improvements such as site speed and additional security. The best part of EE7 for StarVista’s needs is the improved multisite management, which helps save time and energy when making those continuous updates across their sites.

In addition to the ExpressionEngine upgrade, we implemented several add-on and plugin upgrades, including Deeploy Helper, Freeform Next, Structure, and Stringer. Keeping their site’s software up-to-date gives StarVista LIVE the most reliable and efficient performance for all of their sites. The finishing touch was migrating their server to Liquid Web, which complemented the improved performance upgrades of the CMS, add-ons and plug-ins.

With a new cruise season closing in on the horizon, Hop Studios is full steam ahead with the latest updates to the StarVista LIVE family of sites. We’re riding the waves and are excited to navigate the next cruise season with StarVista LIVE! We fully recommend that any music lovers check out the wide range of cruises offered so you can set a course for your own world-class adventure.

Hop Studios has been making these improvements for our client, Arizona Transit Association (AzTA). This non-profit statewide organization is committed to bettering public transportation in every Arizona community. With a mission to administer leadership in the funding, advocacy, and education of public transportation services, it speaks for the public and private sectors in advocacy and education for services and programs related to public transportation.

Although their site didn’t require a design upgrade, they needed some major changes to the back end. They enlisted Hop Studios’ help to act as a technical liaison for a PCI Compliance Certification to ensure the protection and security of credit card data on their site. We also upgraded their CMS platform, several add-ons, and migrated their Liquid Web server.

Any website that processes credit card transactions needs to be aware of PCI Compliance to ensure the security and protection of sensitive data. The Liquid Web migration was the first step. Liquid Web offers PCI-compliant hosting environments that satisfy the PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) requirements. With their secure servers and networks and 24/7 support, they assisted us in getting AzTA’s site PCI compliant.

Once that was set up, we upgraded their ExpressionEngine CMS from EE6 to EE7. This upgrade supported improved security and boosted performance and functionality. We also upgraded several add-ons to their latest versions, including Freeform Lite, JCOGS Image, and Low Alphabet. Although these upgrades may not have affected how the website looks, they greatly impacted and improved the performance and functionality of the site.

One of the significant “invisible” improvements we made to the site related to accessibility. An often overlooked but extremely important part of any website is making sure it’s accessible to everyone. In AzTA’s case, we added aria labels to pagination links, which allows individuals who are using screen readers to know where the “next page,” “last page,” “previous page,” and “first-page” links are located. We also added focus styles for the main navigation, allowing users who can only navigate via keyboard to access all site sections using the “tab” button. These will allow for an improved user experience for a wider group of users.

Impressive things can happen behind the screens. Not everything that improves a website is flashy and new. In some cases, invisible upgrades can have the biggest impact on performance and functionality. Most recently, we optimized the 404 page to help enhance SEO and Google rankings by allowing search engines to better index their pages. A properly optimized 404 page can also improve user experience by helping users navigate to relevant content, ultimately reducing bounce rates.

Hop Studios looks forward to continuing to work on the Arizona Transit Association’s site and watching them pave the way to a brighter future in public transportation.

As ever, EEConf was a very well-run gathering, yet still had a casual and collegial vibe. You have to love any conference that includes a bourbon-and-donut tasting! So many ideas and questions were shared freely and without judgment. We left recharged and thankful to be part of this truly supportive community – something we should never take for granted.

“MY LOGIC IS SOUND”
- What you say when your coworker attempts to question your code in the middle of a presentation

Several Hop ducks led or participated in sessions at the conference:

1. Senior Developer Rowan Sentesy‘s talk “Cache Me if You Can” toured folks through the (many! tricky!) ways to handle caching with ExpressionEngine, particularly on high-traffic, high-activity websites where performance is crucial. Hint: We love Speedy.
2. Gilbert Lin, Hop’s director of add-on development, presented “Power Up Your RTE Field with Custom RedactorX Plugins,” a deep dive into customizing RTE so content creators can insert everything from AI-generated tiramisu recipes to custom pie charts into a field. Later, Gil also did some quick demos of Hop 404 Reporter and his own add-on GB Relay.
3. Special Projects Lead Susie Gardner did an info-packed overview of The BIG JOY Project (slides), a free, seven-day program of mindfulness practices (micro-acts of JOY) prefaced and followed by an assessment survey that generates a personalized BIG JOY Report. This citizen science academic research project, done in concert with the Greater Good In Action, presented our team with some truly unique challenges.
4. Hop’s President Travis Smith participated in the final roundtable, offering their insight on everything from how best to structure contracts to the coming AI armageddon. Quotable quote: “We’re at an oddly positive place where I’m more worried about the future of the world than I am about ExpressionEngine’s future.”

We were also thrilled to see longtime client Diana Lizarraga, who runs Cal NERDS at UC Berkeley, at the event. It’s always a thrill to meet a person IRL after years of Basecamp messages and phone calls!

Special surprises abounded: The creator of ExpressionEngine, Rick Ellis, dropped in for a quick impromptu chat on the last day. Rick is such a cool guy, and we’re so grateful to him for creating the software we now rely on every day. His current project is The Art of Skill, a resource for mastering physical skills like jiu-jitsu.

The attendees ranged from first-timers to old-timers, and the topics were useful for heavy devs as well as for the non-techy types as well. Thanks again to the fabulous organizers of EEConf! Why not join in next time?

You see, suddenly there are a LOT of people looking at leaving WordPress and migrating from WP Engine, and that is a good thing. Competition is good, progress is good, and interoperability is good, and the more folks who take this opportunity to leave WordPress and switch to ExpressionEngine, the better the long-term health of the CMS space overall will be.

And also, yes, there are a lot of people squeezed into a WP site who should be using ExpressionEngine instead. So this is a chance to chat a little about EE with a lot of people who are suddenly listening.

Some Background

In the Wordpress world, there’s currently a massively destabilizing conflict going on between WordPress—specifically its defacto owner Matt Mullenweg—and WP Engine, a hosting and add-on developing org owned by a private equity firm. We’re not going to talk about that today.

What I will say is that Hop Studios has built and used both EE and WP sites for 20 years. We have a foot in each world, so we know when and why to use each (or neither).

Why Switch?

Should you switch because of what some are dismissing as “drama” and others are calling an epochal collapse? Actually… no.

Change, sometimes rapid, happens in every industry and evermore so in technology. No community is immune to it. WordPress is not going away, WP Engine isn’t either.  The ExpressionEngine community has had its issues in the past 15 years. I don’t recommend switching software because of intermittent, non-cyclical troubles, unless they become prolonged or systemic.  I also don’t believe in judging a firm (or a person) on its worst day.

(That said, this current conflict has the hallmarks of a particularly bad situation, and diversifying your technology stack can be an excellent strategy to minimize the risk of dependencies.)

So Then Why?

Lots of good reasons.

Should you switch because of the support? Yep.

Should you switch because of security? Yep.

Should you switch because of functionality? Yep.

Should you switch because of the cost? Yep.

I’ve just come from the annual ExpressionEngine conference, and was reminded once again of what a fantastic, supportive, generous, creative and resilient community ExpressionEngine has. Comparing the WordPress world overall to the ExpressionEngine world, I can 100% vouch for the benefits of being part of the latter over the former.

ExpressionEngine’s templating language is easier to use than WordPress’s. You don’t need to have exposed PHP in EE templates. (Though you can do this if you want.) You can also use Twig for templating in ExpressionEngine — Twig’s a powerful and safe templating language.

Some of what you need add-ons for in WordPress is part of the core in ExpressionEngine, especially including Advanced Custom Fields functionality. The flexibility of data types and structures in EE is why we use it for so many of our clients, and why so many of our clients who started with a WordPress site come to us when their needs grow.

ExpressionEngine is by far a safer and more secure CMS than WordPress. (In fact, part of this current kurfuffle is based on a “security issue” WordPress found in Advanced Custom Fields.) ExpressionEngine has fewer dangerous bugs by orders of magnitude than other CMSs.

For comparison, from 2004 - 2024, WordPress has had 367 CVE vulnerabilities …
https://www.cvedetails.com/product/4096/Wordpress-Wordpress.html?vendor_id=2337
… meanwhile, Drupal has had 411 CVE vulnerabilities from 2002 - 2024 …
https://www.cvedetails.com/vendor/1367/
… and Craft CMS has had 47 vulnerabilities, and that’s only from 2017 - 2024 …
https://www.cvedetails.com/product/37245/Craftcms-Craft-Cms.html?vendor_id=16372

How many has EE had in the past 20 years? Just 14 CVE vulnerabilities …
https://www.cvedetails.com/vendor/7662/Expressionengine.html

That isn’t just luck. That is praise-worthy, and it’s because of dedication to security-first coding.

When you also include add-ons and plugins and third-party development, other CMSs have far, far more security issues, and all together those issues require much more updating and fixing of hacked sites and loss of productivity and reputation.

Because of this, ongoing maintenance costs with ExpressionEngine are much lower than with other CMSs.

There is also the licensing cost. For a site of moderate complexity and activity, WordPress has no licensing fee, while ExpressionEngine is a $249 purchase and $49 per year.

However, you end up with about the same software costs when you think of the paid plugins and subscription services that most WordPress sites end up using. If the determining factor for which website software is its license costs, ExpressionEngine is in the same league as WordPress — compared to Microsoft SharePoint, SalesForce, Oracle APEX, etc.

There are other advantages too, that you’ll find as you dig deeper. Training goes faster, setting up overlapping member roles is easier, EE scales better without additional intervention (though both can handle huge traffic if built well). And yes, ExpressionEngine does revisions (and emojis 😉 ).

Do you want to learn more about switching to ExpressionEngine from WordPress? Our team of experienced developers is here to assist you with your migration journey. Contact us today. We’re happy to address your specific situation and concerns with a free consultation.

Making sure things run smoothly behind the scenes while making other’s lives easier is what fuels Elena’s passion for administration. In 2012 Elena got their first job in office administration and has kept with it ever since—but there were signs even before that.

Growing up Elena always had a fascination with organization and taking care of others. As a small child, they could often be found at a tiny desk, answering play phones and filing away their homework.

With 10+ years working in various industries, they’ve gained a broad range of experience, from health-related businesses to online entrepreneurs, and are excited to use that background across the range of client types that Hop Studios supports.

Their favourite part of working from home is spending SO MUCH time with their cat, Luna. When they’re not at the office, Elena is almost always creating something. They enjoy illustrating, crocheting, embroidering, sewing, sculpting with clay, and baking (just to name a few of their many hobbies).

Welcome to the flock, Elena!

We understand how disruptive these situations can be, particularly when the deadline for action is so short, and our team is ready to assist you with any part of your website migration. Whether you need help updating your DNS settings, ensuring data synchronization between old and new servers, or anything else, we’ve got you covered. We will work closely with you and with Arcustech to minimize downtime and ensure a smooth transition.

Don’t let this unexpected situation impact your online presence. Contact us today, and we’ll make sure your website continues to run seamlessly through this transition.

(Written with the assistance of ChatGPT)

Al Safa Foods, a leading provider of halal products across Canada and the USA, came to us needing to better secure their website infrastructure. Our goal? To ensure their digital presence was on the same level as their food products. We kicked off the project with a thorough security audit, closely examining their existing systems to identify vulnerabilities.

During this audit, we discovered and removed malware and patched potential security gaps to prevent future breaches. Alongside the security fixes, we migrated their domain to GoDaddy to ensure uninterrupted service as Al Safa Foods continues to grow its business. We handled it all without a hitch, ensuring customers can continue to access their favourite products online without any disruptions.

Once we had taken care of the basics, Al Safa Foods wanted to make it easier for their customers to find their products in stores, so we built a locations page that they could administer in a simple, admin-friendly way that also simplified the search process for customers. Using BatchGeo Lite, we delivered an intuitive interface where customers input their postal or zip code, city, or province/state to find the nearest store carrying Al Safa Foods products. Despite having more than 1000 outlets listed across Canada and the USA, this tool lets customers narrow their search instantly.

We think it’s remarkable and wonderful that a portion of all Al Safa Foods purchases is donated to charitable organizations. Al Safa says, “The success of the community is the success of Al Safa!”

Hop Studios is proud to assist the Al Safa community, and we look forward to future collaboration!

June is a vibrant and significant month as we celebrate Pride, a time dedicated to honouring the LGBTQ+ community and their ongoing fight for equality and acceptance. Pride is more than just parades and rainbows; it’s a powerful reminder of the progress made and the challenges that still exist. It’s a celebration of love, identity, and the right to be oneself without fear — a very human struggle we all share.

Pride Month also exists as an opportunity for everyone to show their support for and solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community. We’re proud to highlight the work Hop Studios clients are doing to honour and celebrate this community.

• At PortaLaw, an employment and human rights law firm that is breaking the norms of standard law firm practices, Erin Brandt shared a snapshot of queer history in Canada on LinkedIn. Since 2021, they’ve demonstrated their support for Pride by adding a rainbow banner to the top of the PortaLaw website in June.
• The UCLA Center for the Developing Adolescent shared news articles of particular interest to the LGBTQ+ community, including a recent landmark study that transitioning gender identities is not associated with depression — although bullying and victimization because of gender identity certainly are.
• The city of Cranbrook, BC, Canada, has held several community events around Pride, including a Youth Pride parade on June 7.
• Our long-time client Greater Good Science Center, publishers of Greater Good Magazine, shared an essential tip for understanding and accepting someone else’s perspective: Listening! (This was tied to their Bridging Differences initiative.)
• Truthdig, an award-winning independent news website, published a sobering story about the challenges facing the LGBTQ+ community in the United States and the more muted tone of celebratory Pride events this year.

Let’s continue championing diversity, embracing love in all forms, and standing united for a world where everyone is free to be their true selves. Happy Pride! 🌈

It’s time to grow again. We have an immediate opening for a full-time web developer skilled in CMS-driven websites and custom add-on development.

We’re Canada’s leading ExpressionEngine and Craft CMS design and development firm. You’ll be using a stimulating variety of modern tools and technologies, and working on interesting and meaningful projects ranging from shopping carts to saving society.

You’ll be part of a growing team of smart, caring people who work to provide the best possible online tools to active organizations that need an “expert but fractional web department.”

Skills

The best applicant will have many of the following skills at the “Very Fine”, “Near Mint” or “Mint” level, in something approximating this order:

• PHP
• Functional spec development
• ExpressionEngine / Craft CMS
• Javascript
• HTML / CSS / SASS
• MySQL / MariaDB
• WordPress / WIX
• Common Web service APIs
• Server administration (LAMP stack)
• DNS management

In addition, experience with Google Analytics, with SEO techniques, with using version control systems (Git, of course), with unit testing, with machine learning and recommendation engines, and with building properly accessible and mobile / responsive websites and web-based apps, will be considered big checkmarks in the “Pro” column.

Yes, that’s a long list and no, you don’t need to be expert in all of it; we’re primarily looking for someone with experience around one of ExpressionEngine / Craft CMS, and with Javascript and PHP. The rest of the list will make you stand out.

What are the other requirements?

• Self-starter with healthy curiosity
• Tenacious attitude towards problem-solving
• At least 4 years experience working in Web development - this is not an entry-level position
• Good at hitting deadlines with a thump
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills - you will sometimes be in direct contact with clients
• A long-term interest keeping on top of new technology trends and tools
• Try not to have the same username as anyone we’ve previously hired

Who can apply?

• You must want a permanent position i.e. not part-time or contract.
• If you live in Canada, you should be able to work in Canada. If you live elsewhere, that’s not necessary, but still nice.
• You must be set up to work from home—we went all-virtual during the pandemic.
• You must work in sync with North American time zones. We’re in Pacific, Mountain and Central Times, and we want this position to share common work hours.
• In addition to substantial benefits, bonuses and vacation time, this position is currently budgeted for Canadians in the range of $80,000 - $90,000.

Who are we?

• We’re a 2002-founded company with a stable staff, an established history and plenty of growth potential.
• We work on meaningful projects that change lives and improve society.
• We’re fun to work for, and our deep client roster is full of excellent humans to work with as well; there are no waterfall death marches here.
• We are mostly based in Vancouver, BC, and we offer an open, collaborative, startup-esque work culture, with the benefits of working remotely.
• We pay a competitive wage tied to experience but not dependent on your previous jobs.
• We are an equal opportunity employer that values diversity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. You shouldn’t either.

To apply, send us a cover letter, your resume, and links to websites you’ve built and/or examples of code you’ve written (i.e. your GitHub account). Send this to .

We thank all applicants for their interest, however only those candidates selected for interviews will be contacted.

And don’t send your resume as a Word document. We mean it.

It’s time to grow again. We have an immediate opening for a part-time administrative assistant. The application deadline is June 14, 2024.

We’re a fully virtual B Corp focused on helping world-improving organizations be their best digital selves.  We’re also Canada’s leading web design and development firm for ExpressionEngine and Craft CMS websites. You’ll get to use the latest tools and technologies, and be working on interesting and meaningful projects from social media to shopping carts to saving society.

You’ll be part of a growing team of smart, caring people who work to provide the best possible online tools to active organizations that need an “expert but fractional web department.”

Responsibilities

The Administrative Assistant reports to the Operations Manager and is responsible for, or assists with, a broad selection of tasks and duties including:

• Equipment cataloging and management
• Purchasing software for client projects and internal use
• Ordering office supplies and computer / technical equipment
• Handling support inquiries
• Co-ordinating annual and referral gifting
• Writing & maintenance of procedures manual
• Collection, saving and reconciliation of receipts
• Entering chargebacks for client expenses
• Bookkeeping assistance
• Accounts Payables & Receivables
• Bi-annual survey of customer satisfaction
• Assisting with company travel arrangements

The above is not an exhaustive list of duties, and you may be asked to learn and do other interesting work as necessary to support the organization and its overall business objectives.

Skills

The best applicant will have many of the following skills at the “Very Fine”, “Near Mint” or “Mint” level, in something approximating this order:

• Google Docs
• Google Sheets
• Basecamp
• Harvest (Time Tracking / Billing)
• ExpressionEngine (as an admin)
• Basic HTML
• QuickBooks

In addition, experience with Google Analytics, Google AdWords, and/or social media and marketing, will be considered bonus checkmarks in the “Yes” column.

What are the other requirements?

• Self-starter with healthy curiosity
• Tenacious attitude towards problem-solving
• Good at hitting deadlines with a thump
• Excellent spoken and written communication skills - you will sometimes be in direct contact with clients
• A long-term interest in keeping on top of new technology trends and tools
• Try not to have the same username as anyone we’ve previously hired

Yes, that’s a long list to match, but no, you don’t need to be an expert in everything and tick every single box; at its essence, we’re looking for someone with experience as an all-around organizer and administrator who works well as part of a compassionate and results-focused team.

Who can apply?

• This is a part-time position with an expected 20 hours a week on a regular schedule. We will also consider a contractor relationship but prefer a part-time employee.
• You must be able to start immediately i.e. you can give standard notice now.
• If you live in Canada, you should be able to work in Canada. If you live elsewhere, that’s not necessary, but still nice.
• You must be set up to work from home—we went all-virtual during the pandemic.
• You must work in sync with North American time zones. We’re in Pacific, Mountain and Central Times, and we want this position to share common work hours.
• In addition to substantial benefits, bonuses and vacation time, this position is currently budgeted for Canadians at $40,000 FTE (full-time equivalent).

Who are we?

• We’re a 2002-founded company with a stable staff, an established history and plenty of growth potential.
• We are a B Corp and we work on meaningful projects that change lives and improve society.
• We’re fun to work for, and our deep client roster is full of excellent humans to work with as well; there are no waterfall death marches here.
• We are mostly based in Vancouver, BC, and we offer an open, collaborative, startup-esque work culture, with the benefits of working remotely.
• We pay a competitive wage tied to experience but not dependent on your previous jobs.
• We are an equal-opportunity employer that values diversity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. You shouldn’t either.

To apply, send us a cover letter and your resume to . We thank all applicants for their interest, however only those candidates selected for interviews will be contacted.

And don’t send your resume as a Word document. We mean it.