"Possible" and "can operate" are completely different stories.
When operating multiple blogs at an agency,
you eventually come to this conclusion at least once.
"Instead of using new tools,
let's try to solve it by combining the ones we are currently using."
So, there is a combination that is most commonly chosen.
- WordPress Multisite
- Organizing accounts and rules with Notion
- Managing blog lists and permissions with Excel
This combination initially seems quite plausible.
The reason for choosing this method is clear
The biggest advantage of this combination is simplicity.
- Tools that are already being used
- Almost no additional cost
- Provides the confidence that "we can organize it well"
In other words,
it gives the feeling of having solved the problem while postponing making new decisions.
So many teams go through this stage.
However, this method is based on one premise
For this structure to be maintained,
there is a premise that must always hold true.
"Everyone understands the rules accurately and
always follows those rules."
In reality, this is an almost impossible condition.
- People change
- Projects increase
- Exceptional situations always arise
From this moment on,
cracks begin to form in this combination little by little.
Documents and rules increase, but stability does not
Every time a problem arises,
the team responds like this.
- Create another Notion document
- Add one more rule
- Announce, "Make sure to check this"
However, there is an important fact.
The more documents there are,
the lower the actual operational stability becomes.
Because:
- Not everyone always looks at all the documents
- Rules are habits, not memories
The problem with multisites is not 'technology'
WordPress Multisite itself is not a bad choice.
Technically, it is powerful.
However, from an agency operations perspective,
it does not answer the following questions.
- Is complete separation possible for each client?
- Can permissions be given only to the authors?
- Can mistakes be structurally prevented?
Ultimately, multisites are
a structure where operational policies need to be continuously improved by people.
The real problem with this structure is 'dependency'
While this combination is maintained,
the team gradually becomes dependent on specific individuals.
- "○○ knows this best"
- "Just ask that person"
- "Only that person knows the previous settings"
This situation is not stability.
It is simply a state where a crisis has not yet occurred.
The moment when operations collapse is always the same
The moment when this structure collapses
is usually similar.
- When key personnel leave
- When the number of blogs exceeds a critical point
- When multiple projects overlap simultaneously
Only then does the team realize.
"It's not that we did it wrong,
but the structure was wrong from the beginning."
Therefore, this problem is a problem of 'operational standards'
The important conclusion here is this.
- It is not because the existing tools are insufficient
- It is not because the practitioners are less meticulous
It is because tools designed for individual standards
are being forcibly used for agency operations.
In the next article,
I will talk about where blog.haus started from,
starting with a different standard.
Preview of the next episode
〈Why is blog.haus not a 'blog tool' but an 'operating system'〉