Bad Developers are a Good Host's Worst Nightmare

Figure out if you've got one, and what to do about it

After years of hosting WordPress sites on our platform, and dealing with WordPress developers, agencies, site owners, and site visitors, we've found that one of the worst things to deal with is a "bad developer".

They just barely beat out "IT managers & staff that don't actually know what they're doing". But that's another blog post …

Why the Title?

You probably noticed the title of this page says "a Good Host's Worst Nightmare" which makes it sound likes the page is going to be about us, or another well-respected WordPress hosting provider.

So why should you care about "our nightmare", and why did we name this blog post in such a way?

This is exactly the problem: many site owners don't know when they have a bad developer, or what damage one can cause. The less fortunate ones will trust them blindly and make decisions that will cost them time, money, emotional energy, and more.

It's "our nightmare", because we know how to spot these developers, and we know what damage they can cause. Worst of all, because site owners don't realize their developer is "bad", and have typically already invested in them, it's very difficult or impossible for us to stop them from causing damage once they show up. We are basically stuck on the side watching a train wreck in slow motion ... a living nightmare.

It's also often the case that mediocre and somewhat experienced developers - rather than beginners & novices - end up being the "bad developers".

The good news is this: we can help you to avoid bad developers, and coach your own developers to be "better".

Developers

What is a "developer"? Well, in this case we refer to someone that works on or builds a WordPress site for a client or site owner.

Developers, like with all professions, can vary drastically in skills, knowledge, experience, aptitude, expertise, communication skills, and more.

Bad Developers

What is a "bad developer"?

Well, first we should point out a few things:

1. Lack of skills, knowledge, expertise, and even aptitude does NOT make a developer "bad"
2. "Bad" developers are in the minority - most developers just vary in expertise and experience

A "bad" developer is more often a "mediocre" developer (in terms of skills, expertise, etc.) who thinks they know more than they do, often leads clients astray, and/or makes mistakes and doesn't own them or apologize.

One of the biggest challenges with "bad" developers is that unless you are a skilled and expert developer yourself, they are very difficult to identify.

Even those of us who have been developers and engineers for much of our lives still sometimes make mistakes, and get fooled - at least in the short term - into thinking that someone knows more than they really do.

Good Developers

We'll define a "good" developer as some that is honest, has integrity, works hard to meet their clients' needs, and communicates openly and well.

Maybe most importantly, they know their expertise and state their limits. They have a good sense of what they know and don't know, work well with others that have different or more experience, and admit when they don't know something.

Good developers will typically also only work with "good" clients, that share many of the same values.

Hosting Providers

There are hundreds to thousands of WordPress hosts out there, depending on how you define "WordPress host".

"Good" Hosting Providers

So what makes a "good" hosting provider?

This is obviously subjective, but we'll define a "good" hosting provider as a host that cares about their customers, from the top down, such that they are striving to provide the "best" platform and support possible, given their budget and other constraints.

We'll consider a "good" host as one where the majority of customers rave about the company, and especially, the support. One for which it's hard or impossible to find anything or anyone online - or in person - who says something negative about them.

"Bad" Hosting Providers

We hesitate to call any particular host a "bad" host, and before any host can be labeled as such, you must define "bad".

For purposes of this article, we'll consider a "bad" host as one that is known to frequently have issues, in terms of security, performance, bugs, support, or otherwise. So much so that if you complain about an issue and speak their name to someone with significant experience with WordPress hosting, "they just know".

Even "bad" hosts are great to some people, and experiences with any particular host can be hit or miss. But more often than not, when it's a tough issue or case, a "bad" host will fall down when it comes to performance, security, or support.

The Problem

So what happens when a "bad" developer meets a "good" host?

Typical Pain Points

First of all, on "good" WordPress hosts, actual issues with the hosting platform are far less common than with other hosts. On such hosts most developers don't usually need to contact the host.

As they say: If it ain't broke, don't fix it ...

So what would lead a "bad" developer to make a situation worse?

When it comes to WordPress sites and hosting, a few typical cases include:

• Performance issues or concernsSpeed and performance often come up with WordPress sites. Sometimes the client will complain about an actual issue they or a user have experienced, or maybe they believe the site needs to be "faster" for some other reason. If this applies, make sure to read our page: So You Want to Improve Website Performance?
• Error with the site or hostingAnother common case is that something is not working right with the site. It may not be clear where the error is coming from. It's best not to jump to conclusions, but to diagnose the issue properly. You may need to contact your host, or your plugin or theme developer. If this is the case, make sure to read our page about How to Get Good Support.
• Unfamiliarity with tools or dashboardMost of the "better" managed WordPress hosts have a customer dashboard or control panel. If your developer isn't familiar with it yet, they may stumble around a bit, and could miss some things completely.

Some things to keep in mind when an issue comes up:

• Is it a real or perceived issue?
• Is is a an actual bug or problem, or lack of understanding and experience?

Figuring out what is what often requires some critical thinking, some research, and in many cases, good communication with those involved and responsible.

Bad Assumptions

One of the main problems is that a developer who is mediocre - or possibly even more expert than average - encounters a "good" host, but treats them like a generic or "bad" host.

A lot of developers are used to dealing with hosting platforms that are more generic and probably not as advanced or optimized as SITEDISTRICT and similar providers. If they aren't as sharp as they could be, they may label the unfamiliar platform as a problem, rather than exploring it and learning it properly.

Many developers are also used to dealing with hosting support staff who don't know as much as they do. They are used to knowing more than the support person, not the other way around. A "bad" developer doesn't realize when the situation is reversed, and continues to act like they know more.

The problem typically occurs when such a developer either states an incorrect assumption that ends up being wrong, or makes some other technical error, but doesn't realize it and thinks they are right. Or worst of all, they think they know better than the support person or hosting staff, when in fact, they are the one who is wrong.

Next, the "bad" developer then comes back to the site owner making claims that are in fact wrong, incomplete or uninformed, and often placing some kind of blame on the host.

To compound the problem, the site owner is often non-technical, and they won't actually be able to realize that what their developer claims is incorrect. The site owner or agency was often not part of the conversation the developer had with the host, if they contacted them at all, and so is unable to spot possible issues, nor was able ask critical questions.

Finally, to make matters even more difficult, the site owner or agency is also often already invested in the developer. The developer has earned their trust in some way, and the site owner doesn't necessarily realize that their trust in them should possibly not extend to cover WordPress hosting.

In the end, a "bad" developer will influence a site owner or agency to make decisions or judgments based on incorrect or incomplete information, often costing their client time and money, and possibly lost revenue, embarrassment, or worse.

Red Flags

How do you know if your developer is actually part of the problem? Or in the worst case, when your developer is the problem ?

Some things to watch out for:

• ArroganceConfidence is a good thing, but be wary of those who think they know things better than others, when there is evidence to the contrary. Watch out for those that refuse to be wrong, and won't even question themselves or their conclusions.
• Avoids Inclusive ConversationThey won't engage in conversation with those they are trying to blame. Instead, they try to have private conversations. They'll call you up, or drop people off the Cc: list in emails.
• Won't Answer QuestionsBe wary of anyone that doesn't answer seemingly relevant questions. Some people will avoid answering questions because it will demonstrate their ignorance, or they are afraid they might be "found out".
• Misses Details / Needs RepetitionWatch out for people that consistently and repeatedly miss important details, or need to be told something more than once.
• Doesn't Show EvidenceA huge but way-too-common problem is that people will claim an issue exists, but provides no evidence or way to reproduce it. Sometimes this could be mostly benign - they thought it was obvious, they didn't want to make the effort, or they just forgot. Sometimes though, they might be making claims sound like facts, when they are actually just guesses - guesses that are too often wrong.
• Gets DefensiveProvided those involved remain reasonable polite, don't make any personal attacks, and just stick to the facts, there should not be cause to get defensive. If someone gets defensive in such a case, you might be worried they are trying to hide something. Possible a mistake, their own ignorance, or something else.
• Won't LearnIf someone refuses to learn, research, or read links and information shared with them, it's a big cause for concern. Everyone should be ready to accept that they don't know everything, might be wrong about some things, and can always learn more.

Why a Nightmare?

Why are "bad" developers such a problem that we chose to label them as our "worst nightmare"?

The reason is this: they typically show up on the scene with existing, good customers, and make things worse. They waste their clients' time and money, they waste our time, and in particularly bad cases, get their client to move their WordPress site to different hosting, depriving their clients of both the benefits of our hosting, and someone (that's us) who could actually call their developer out and prevent additional damage.

Good Signs

On the flip-side, what are the signs that you have a "good" developer, and they are handling things well? In many cases, you're looking for exactly the opposite of what was in the list above.

Here is a list of things you might look for:

• Curious / Asks QuestionsSomeone that shows more interest in learning and understanding, than being right, is always a good sign.
• Expresses UncertaintyLook for people who know when they don't know something. Rather than making confident claims about everything, look for them presenting hypotheses and guesses in their communication, and labeling them as such. Looks to see that they will sometimes respond with something like, "That's a good question. Let me look into it and get back to you."
• Communicates OpenlyIncludes those in the conversation that might have something important to say, including those that might challenge or correct them. Adds people to a conversation when there is doubt, questions, or a conflict, rather than tries to eliminate others and sideline a conversation.
• Respected by ExpertsWhile "experts" is notoriously hard to define, and it can be even harder to know if someone else is an expert in a field in which you are not, it's good to have those you respect most in an area provide an opinion on your new developer. People will often say a lot, if you just ask them, and anything but a glowing appraisal from someone you respect should at least give you pause.
• Detail OrientedWordPress developers need to be detail oriented. Look for those who are liberal with their screenshots, bullet points, instructions, and links to additional information.

SiteDistrict Approach

We have several ways in which we deal with "bad" developers at SiteDistrict when we encounter them, or think we might be dealing with someone that fits this scenario.

• Close Customer RelationshipsMany of our customers at SITEDISTRICT trust us and our expertise, with many telling us that our support is the best they ever received, anywhere. We solve difficult problems, take the time to get to the bottom of things, and we call things as we see them. If an issue comes up, and there are conflicting views, most customers trust us above others, because we've earned it by following the points in the previous section, as best we can.
• EducationWhen possible, we write up website pages and blog articles covering the topics and issues that come up most often with customers. If we don't have a page of our own that we've authored, we'll search or provide links to other pages that will provide additional relevant and useful information. When we know that a lot of the information on a topic is bad or inaccurate, we'll tell you that too.
• Encourage Open CommunicationIf there seems to be conflicting stories and claims about an issue or situation, or blame is getting passed around, we'll typically encourage those involved to join an open conversation. Typically this would be an email, but could also be a Zoom conference or phone call, if it makes sense. In the best cases, there is just some miscommunication & missed details, and this will solve those problems. If you really do have a "bad" developer, open communication will typically make that far more obvious to everyone else.
• Banned / Blocked PluginsWe automatically disable a variety of WordPress security, optimization, and other plugins on SiteDistrict. While many hosts do this because they don't want the plugins to cause problems to their platform, the primary reason we do this on SiteDistrict is to prevent customers and developers from wasting time doing that which is unnecessary or counterproductive. Our platform is highly optimized in many ways, and many of the plugins that developers might be used to installing on other hosts, are simple not necessary on SITEDISTRICT, and they often cause more problems than they solve.
• Don't Fight ItIf a customer has hired a "bad" developer, it's often "too late". If they could have identified them as a "bad" developer, they probably would not have hired them in the first place. By the time the "bad" developer gets to us, the customer or site owner is typically already invested in this person, and nobody wants to be told they've made a bad decision after they've made it. In such cases, the most we might do is provide a link over to this page, and hope that all works out well enough for them.

Summary

While we believe most WordPress developers out there are decently competent and self-aware, respectful, collaborate well, are OK with being wrong, there are definitely some exceptions.

We hope we've made it more clear why "bad" developers are a problem, as well as made it easier to spot them.

We'd also like to remind you that people can change, and some people just make mistakes.

One of the biggest things you can probably do is encourage or even require open communication between all parties whenever there is any sort of conflict, disagreement, or confusion. It may not completely resolve the situation, but it will often clear up small misunderstandings, and provide some strong signals as to whether something or someone doesn't seem right and you might have issues in the future.

We hope that by following some of the recommendation above and coaching your developers, that everyone can have a better outcome.