In-between browser refreshes I caught a glimpse to a link to this Drupal Developers discussion -> Why WordPress.org Should Scare You …
Suffice it to say it is a fascinating read and perhaps the comments are most telling …
Essentially the story in said link holds true for most brands and companies, not just code jockeys and developers, in that it warns that anybody or group* that puts themselves first and losses sight of ultimate customer, is well, you can read for yourself but most likely headed way of legacy of T.Rex – once great and groovy, but now refined to museum exhibits …
Now I’m not saying WordPress is mecca …
Yet in the past I’ve spent time with Joomla, Drupal, and more CMS solutions than most people care to count … I even started my CMS hunting journeys when WordPress was then known as b2 / cafelog – okay I’m dating myself, but fortunately I’m also happily married and dating is thing of the past but I digress …
Node on This
My point is this – after reading the robust comment thread on Drupal I then gleamed towards the top of my browser to see the url and laughed when I read aloud -> “http: site dot org /node/136294” …
It was in particular the directory / folder name “node” that got me … not “discussion” … not “conversation” … not “debate” … not “thread” … but “node” … yikes … if there is anything more telling about who comes first, code or customers, please … and not that the url makes or breaks it when it comes to inspiring or discouraging discussions but I do believe it hints at focus …
On a separate venture capital forum I read a post about how url design is in the top five business decisions a new dot com can decide, right under achieving funding and securing top tier management team … in that case the author argued, “Can you imagine if Facebook had to re-design their user profile url path after they had 200,000 users or more …”
Accordingly, moral of the story (and this post) = code jockeys and brand managers can learn a lot from each other …
Which essentially can be distilled to common denominator -> Serve Your Client First and Foremost, and You’ll Thrive! …
This is also something that the best chefs know instinctually – e.g., great food and service at market rates = eternal food chain of happy repeat customers!
Bon Appetit! And a toast to those who serve the best, repeatedly!
*as of March 26th 2011, perhaps my favorite comment in the Drupal thread was from John Overall -> “a Camel is a Horse designed by committee.” … Yikes – having lived in condos with incompetent boards, group think is scary but lone wolves aren’t always better so somewhere between the two might be happy medium ..??..
