Blog
Notes on data operations, software, and automation from Thomas Darby.
Notes for organizations deciding what to build and who to hire: what websites and custom systems cost in central Pennsylvania, when a spreadsheet stops being the right tool, how the platforms on this domain were built, and which tools earn their keep. The build logs are first person; the guides are not.
Showing 9 of 15 articles.
nextjsWordPress to Next.js: when a rebuild actually pays for itself
When a WordPress to Next.js migration is worth paying for and when it is not: the honest disqualification list first, then the four conditions where a rebuild earns its cost. Covers what a migration preserves and the Payload-inside-Next.js pattern from the Rotary build.
automationWhich AI tools earn their keep in a small business
A hype free guide to where AI genuinely helps a small business and where it burns money. Covers drafting, summarizing long documents, answering questions against your own files, data cleanup, the work that still needs a human signature, and how to test whether a subscription is earning its keep.
supabaseBuild log: how GrantCue ingests grant data
How GrantCue ingests grant data end to end: source adapters for Grants.gov and 31 state portals, a fixed 14-field content hash for change detection, three layers of deduplication, opt-in reconciliation, and the pagination and upsert bugs fixed along the way.
internal-toolsI built the back office for my own contracting business. Here is what it does.
A build log for the contracting back office inside tdarby.com: what it holds, why the tokenized share link is the piece I would keep, and what running your own software teaches you about handing one to someone else.
nextjsWhat website maintenance actually needs doing
What a maintenance retainer should cover for a small business, from domain and SSL renewals to security patching and backup restore tests, plus which line items are padding and how a static or modern-framework build shrinks the list to almost nothing.
automationA small business backup strategy you will actually follow
A plain-English guide to the 3-2-1 backup rule for small businesses: three copies, two kinds of storage, one copy off-site. Covers why sync services spread ransomware, what to back up (files, books, customer list, website), how to test a restore, and why automation beats discipline.
supabaseBuilding Volunteer Clinton County: multi-tenant civic software on Supabase
A build log on the engineering behind Volunteer Clinton County, the multi-tenant civic platform I co-founded on Supabase, covering database-enforced moderation, private clearance storage, hour verification, waitlists, and the constrained AI listing import.
internal-toolsReplacing the spreadsheet without replacing the people
A diagnostic look at when a spreadsheet is still the correct tool, the four signals that it has stopped working, and what a custom internal tool has to preserve so the team actually uses it.
internal-toolsWhen a spreadsheet stops being the right tool: spreadsheet vs database
A plain-English sorting guide for the spreadsheet vs database question in a small business: what spreadsheets are genuinely good at, the specific symptoms of having outgrown one, what a database and a small internal tool change, and how a switch usually goes.
