DevdwellIn short
Website management software should answer three questions for every site you look after: what’s live, how do I change it safely, and who can touch it. Devdwell answers all three on one screen, for sites built in any way, on Mac, Windows and your phone.
What website management actually involves
Once a site is launched, managing it is mostly routine: small content changes, checking them, publishing them, and keeping track of who has access. With one site that fits in your head. With ten, built at different times in different ways, it doesn’t, and things slip: a change made but never published, a contractor who still has access, a client asking “is this the latest version?”.
Good website management software turns that routine into one place and one way of working. Here is what to look for, and how Devdwell does it.
1. One dashboard with real status
Every site you look after should be on one list, with its live address and an honest status. In Devdwell each site is a card with a picture, its address, when it was last published and whether changes are waiting to go out. The status stays right even if someone published from somewhere else. See the dashboard.
2. A safe way to change things
Changes should be quick to make and easy to check. Open a site and it sits beside a live preview; describe the change in plain words or click the part of the page you mean, and check it at desktop, tablet and phone sizes. Several sites can be open at once in tabs. See editing.
3. Staging before production
Anything a client or colleague needs to approve should go to a private preview first. Devdwell’s publish panel has staging (a private link where the live site doesn’t change) and production side by side, so checking first is a habit, not an extra step. See publishing.
4. Access per site, not per account
The safest way to give someone access is to one site, with a role that fits. Type their email and choose “Can edit” or “Can edit and publish”; they see that site only and sign in with their own email and password. See sharing.
5. Work from anywhere
Your sites are saved online with their history and synced between your computers, so any of them can carry on where another left off. The web app on your phone shows every site and lets you ask for a change, which one of your computers then makes. See sync and the web app.
What Devdwell isn’t
To set expectations: Devdwell isn’t a hosting plan, an online shop, a content management system or an uptime monitor. It’s the place where your sites live and get changed, published and shared. If you need a built-in shop or CMS for a particular site, keep that site where it is; see our comparisons.
Questions
What is website management software?
Software that keeps the websites you look after in one place and gives you one way to change, check, publish and share them, instead of a different routine and login for each site.
Does Devdwell work with sites built in other tools?
Yes, for any site you have as files: a folder or a zip. Import it and it gets its own card on the dashboard. Sites that only live inside a hosted builder can’t be imported until they’re rebuilt as files.
Is Devdwell suitable for agencies?
Yes. Each teammate and each client gets exactly the sites they work on, as “Can edit” or “Can edit and publish”, and everyone sees the same live status.
How do I get Devdwell?
Devdwell is in early access. Request access on the download page and we’ll send you the app for Mac or Windows.