CSS-Tricks in Limbo - 15 Sept 2026 01:35 UTC | Vale.Rocks

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15 Sept 2026, 01:35 - CSS-Tricks in Limbo

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I’m sad to say that CSS-Tricks is stuck in limbo again. The site was acquired by Digital Ocean in 2022, and it continued to run under their ownership until February of 2023, when DigitalOcean fired the people working on it. The site stayed latent for a year before DigitalOcean re-hired lead editor Geoff Graham in June of 2024, who got the ship sailing again.
Now, CSS-Tricks sits inactive again. Its future is unclear, because there hasn’t been any communication. DigitalOcean largely just went silent. DigitalOcean is a big company, and it can be expected that things get missed, especially with staff turnover. However, management is a small part of a larger picture.
Only a few days ago, DigitalOcean pledged a $3,000,000 USD donation to Omarchy – a set of scripts and configurations atop Arch Linux and a range of other open-source software (much of which struggles greatly for funding). A set of scripts and configurations which are led by David Heinemeier Hansson (DHH), previously of Ruby on Rails fame, but now of Omarchy notoriety and far-right, racist infamy.
CSS-Tricks being ignored isn’t a matter of effort or time; it is a matter of care. As David Heinemeier Hansson wrote announcing DigitalOcean’s funding:

But the part of this patronage that really made me smile was how quickly it all came together. I reached out to Paddy Srinivasan, DigitalOcean’s CEO, on X on Wednesday. We had a call that same night. I sent a proposal on Saturday. By Sunday, we’d finalized everything.

I know Geoff has been trying to raise CSS-Tricks’ predicament for months, to no avail.
Atop of this, DigitalOcean has ceased the monthly $50 payments they previously gave to GNOME and Flathub infrastructure. Apparently it is a more pressing matter for them to donate to a collection of scripts and configuration files than to contribute to the projects they’re built upon or to pay the writers and editors of their own publication.
Yes, I’ve got skin in the game as someone who has written for the publication, but I’ve got more skin in the game as someone who wishes for a thriving ecosystem and who wants to read the exemplary work CSS-Tricks is known for publishing. There are very few quality publications about the web left, and it would be a major blow to lose another.

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© Declan Chidlow. All rights reserved.

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The status of the CSS-Tricks website is characterized by a period of inactivity and uncertainty following its acquisition by Digital Ocean in 2022. The site operated under Digital Ocean's ownership until February 2023, after which the staff working on it were dismissed. Following this period, the site remained dormant for a year before lead editor Geoff Graham was rehired by Digital Ocean in June 2024, restarting the site's activity. Currently, CSS-Tricks remains inactive, with no communication provided regarding its future, as Digital Ocean has largely been silent on the matter.

The author suggests that the neglect of CSS-Tricks stems from a lack of care rather than a simple lack of effort or time. This sentiment is amplified by contrasting actions taken by Digital Ocean. For instance, Digital Ocean recently pledged a significant donation of three million US dollars to Omarchy, a collection of scripts and configurations developed by David Heinemeier Hansson (DHH). The author implies that this focus on funding external script collections over supporting CSS-Tricks demonstrates a misprioritization. Furthermore, the author points out that Digital Ocean has ceased the monthly payments previously provided to GNOME and Flathub infrastructure. This suggests a decision to prioritize donations to specific scripts over contributing to the projects upon which the platform is built or compensating its own writers and editors.

The author expresses a strong desire for a thriving ecosystem and advocates for the continuation of CSS-Tricks, emphasizing that there are few remaining quality publications about the web, and the loss of another would be a significant blow. This position is framed as a concern over the stewardship of high-quality web content and the operational integrity of digital publishing ecosystems.