Not all web agencies own their clients. Some are, essentially, hired guns for other agencies, providing narrow services to support a larger project. Carl Crawley returns to the show to discuss how Made by Hippo operates as an outsourcing company. He shares why he decided to focus exclusively on outsourcing and the benefits it offers, namely his professional satisfaction and Hippo's profitability. Carl also discusses how he finds and chooses agencies to work with, and emphasizes the importance of trust, relationships and integrity.

eCommerce and flat files: is it possible? With Bison for Statamic, yes! Jason Varga, creator of the ecommerce add-on, stops by the show to dispel myths about flat-file systems, while explaining what to consider from three developer perspectives: the client-facing dev implementing the solution, the third-party developer creating the solution, and a CMS developer that provides the basis for where it all begins!

The nature of the web is constant change, and your code base should be no different. Jina Bolton joins the show to discuss the concept of refactoring: iteratively making changes to a code base without changing features or functionality. She details the importance of focusing on narrow adjustments versus refactoring everything at once. She shares suggestions for what to refactor, such as introducing a CSS processor like Sass and identifying repeatable patterns. She also details workflows, including version control and documentation, and recommends resources to help you get started.

If you run a LAMP stack, you will inevitably need to configure the .htaccess file. But for many, editing this file is mysterious at best, dangerous at worst. Guest Jonathan Penn stops by the show to give us a primer on what .htaccess is used for, what you should add and avoid, plus some commonsense advice regarding tools that you already have at your disposal!