#1: While working as a web designer, I would often spend significant time going back and forth with my clients over external tooling (e.g. creating new email accounts, recovering lost Google Analytics passwords, etc), so I started searching for an integrated platform. The best solution at the moment was a product called GoodBarry / Business Catalyst, which no longer exists (it was acquired by Adobe and then shutdown). I wanted to try building my own platform, making these tools easily accessible from a central administration panel, like cPanel, but without the extra tooling that would confuse non-tech savvy users.

#2: None of the website builders at the time met my expectations in terms of design quality and code flexibility. This is no longer the case, as WebFlow has done a great job in creating a high quality website builder. However, once again I wanted to try building this for myself. After a few iterations, I developed a WYSIWYG editor that edits directly on existing HTML tags by using the style attribute, without adding class/code overhead, so that the HTML remains readable and can be easily expanded upon. There's definitely room for improvement on the building end, but for now, users can choose from 38 different templates, or they can upload their own website via the Files module, which should be compatible with the website editor as long as its not JavaScript dependent (e.g. uses frameworks).

It's true that there is an abundance of similar platforms, the most popular one being HubSpot. However, I find most of these platforms to be bloated with features to the detriment of the UI/UX. With SiteOS, I wanted to build an intuitive platform, streamlined for website administration. The CRM automatically generates leads from website form submissions and email communications.

Because I believe I created a developer-centric product, I decided to make it open source. The GitHub repo is available at: https://github.com/renatodc/SiteOS

For more information and/or to try out the hosted version, go to: https://app.fishpulse.com/signup