Stack · 13 MIN
The export file is the easy half. What Substack leaves out, the order the Stripe steps have to happen in, the redirect rule that survives the /p/ collision with Ghost, and a verification checklist.
Reference
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Every teardown, stack entry, signal, experiment and report, newest first. Reference pages are published as they are verified, with sources cited and a date on every number.
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Also this week
Stack · 9 MIN
Stack · 10 MIN
Stack · 9 MIN
Stack
Stack · 9 MIN
What actually differs between the three syndication formats, an element-by-element mapping, the autodiscovery markup that is the part actually scored, and why the rubric takes a position on full text.
Stack · 10 MIN
301, 302, 307 and 308, which preserve the HTTP method, when a canonical or a 410 is the right tool instead, how to build a redirect map for a migration, and the one command that verifies it.
Stack · 9 MIN
Material connections, what the 2023 revision defined as clear and conspicuous, why a footer link is not enough, wording that a reader will actually parse, and why rel attributes satisfy Google rather than the FTC.
Newsletter
Every teardown, the week it is published.
One email per teardown. The composite score, the two lowest sub-scores, and what we would fix first. No digest, no roundup.
Sponsor slot · available
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One sponsor per issue, one slot per page, rates published on the contact page. Paid placements are labelled as paid every time, because this site scores other publishers on disclosure.
Articles
Stack · 11 MIN
SPF, DKIM and DMARC, what alignment actually is and why it is the part that breaks, the 0.3 percent spam threshold, one-click unsubscribe, and how to verify all of it from outside an account.
Stack · 10 MIN
The three metrics, their exact good and poor thresholds, why they are assessed at the 75th percentile of real user data over a rolling 28-day window, and why a Lighthouse score is not the same thing.
Stack · 11 MIN
Ghost wins on time to publish and default Craft. WordPress wins on the hub layer, the commercial surfaces and the pricing model. Compared dimension by dimension against the rubric.
Signal · 7 MIN
The 5,000 a day threshold is the wrong number to watch if you run a small list. Three reasons it does not protect you, and the one failure that has nothing to do with volume.
Stack · 11 MIN
Seven platforms ranked on the three costs that matter: the bill, the share of what you earn, and what the platform keeps when you leave. With the crossover arithmetic and the exit cost itemised.
Signal · 26 MIN
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Read the method before the scores.
Six dimensions, thirty band definitions and a stated evidence standard. Published so that a score can be argued with on the evidence rather than the intent.