Introduction

In the ever-evolving landscape of digital content, sometimes the most innovative solutions reside in the echoes of the past. My experience with a critical website overhaul revealed a powerful truth—revisiting our origins, even when fraught with past complexities, can be the key to unlocking future success.

Navigating Challenges: A Dream Deferred, Then Reborn.

For two years, I envisioned a digital expansion, a project stalled by resource limitations. Finally, in October 2023, the stars aligned. I sought a design upgrade, but my initial collaborator, a brilliant coder, presented a financial proposal that felt insurmountable. Every monetary conversation I had with him sounded outrageous at the time; making me feel unready for the expansion I was counting the cost for. Moreover, his focus shifted towards delegating the project, a move that clashed with my founder-to-founder vision. Eventually, the expansion began with another designer, who also excels at the job, but needs to subscribe to an earthly plan that has more than 24 hours per day (I think many of us tick this box).

The Price for Delay: A Seven-Year Legacy at Stake

By November 2024, the revamped site was nearly complete. Unfortunately, a legacy issue, deeply embedded in the site’s original architecture emerged. It threatened to erase seven years of meticulously curated data—a digital chronicle that began in 2017. My team worked on this and reached out to colleagues but the feedback was negative. The thought of proceeding to the Magazine’s calendar for 2025 without history was unacceptable. How do we tell the story of 7 years without prints? (we go explain tire…no evidence).

Revisiting Past Connections—A Necessary Step

Fast Forward to February 2025, the team lead called. “I think you should reach out to the initial designer that will be our only option.” It was a nice idea but I hesitated. The initial designer was great at his job. Most of the site visitors appreciated the theme, and I referred them to the designer before they finished asking. I was torn between reaching out and researching another alternative. How do I approach him again? What if he scorns? What if I do not get any response? The transition to a new management was cordial and professional. He even sent me renewal prompts for the website one year after. However, I did not know how to get him involved with a job I had relieved him of.

Sometimes our fears exist in our minds. The good thing is they teach us to always approach events/people cautiously and courteously. A few days passed before I texted the designer. Ironically, his response lurked joy in my heart and light in my eyes. In less than two weeks the digital ghost was banished. He gave me the kind of exclusive attention that brought chills to my spine in 2017 when we first launched. I wondered what the case would have been if I did not call the coder as the team leader advised.

CONCLUSION – Pick up an Olive Branch

The past is not always something to shy away from regardless of how we handled things. If you need to apologise, appease or approach, do it! Always remember that today will be yesterday. Treat events and people with sustainability in mind—as the end (not a means). We are now in the second quarter of 2025, what issues do you need to visit the past for? What are you doing presently to create a soft landing for when you need to revisit yesterday? More often than not, we need to visit the past to progress today and build tomorrow. Do it right this time!

(PS: I wrote this post in January and resolved to post it once my archive is back. Sometimes time is what we call it. Read our last post here)