If you read my post from 2023 about tearing down and rebuilding this site, you might be thinking: "Aaron, didn't you JUST do this?"
Yeah. About that.
The Squarespace Years
Let me back up. Before the 2023 rebuild, I was on Squarespace. And look, Squarespace is fine if you want a website that looks like every other Squarespace site. But I spent two decades in IT, fifteen years as a DJ curating experiences, and I've always been someone who needs to create things my way.
Squarespace felt like renting someone else's vision. I couldn't customize the things I wanted to customize. I couldn't integrate the way I wanted to integrate. And every month, I was paying for the privilege of feeling constrained.
So I knew I needed to rebuild. But the question was: how do I get the control I want without the maintenance nightmare?
The Squarespace Problem
Here's what drove me away from Squarespace:
Every time I wanted to do something custom (integrate a tool, modify a layout, add specific functionality) I'd hit a wall. Either it wasn't possible, or I'd have to use some clunky workaround. And the whole time, I'm paying monthly for the privilege of being told "no, you can't do that."
Want to manage your content in your own Git repository? Nope. Want full control over your deployment pipeline? Sorry. Want to write from a local editor without their web interface? Not happening. Need to integrate with your own tools and workflows? Good luck with that.
I was renting digital real estate where the landlord controlled everything. Every feature I wanted meant another plugin, another monthly cost, another dependency on someone else's platform staying online and not changing their terms.
The Breaking Point
The real wake-up call came when I found myself avoiding writing. Not because I didn't have things to say, but because logging into Squarespace's web editor felt like work. I'd think "I should write about that Trinidad trip" and then remember I'd need to fight with their WYSIWYG editor, hope the draft auto-save worked, and pray nothing broke when I hit publish.
Plus, as someone who's spent two decades in IT security, the thought of all my content locked in someone else's database made me uncomfortable. What happens if they go down? What if they change their API? What if I need to migrate to something else in five years?
I needed ownership. Real ownership, not just of the visual design, but of the content, the code, the infrastructure, everything.
Building HexCMS
That's when I started building HexCMS. The core idea was simple: what if Git could be your CMS? All your content lives in Git repositories where it's versioned, backed up, and controlled by you. But you interact with it through a desktop app that handles all the Git complexity behind the scenes.
Want to write a post? Open the app, write, hit publish. The app handles the Git commits, pushes, and deployment triggers. Want to write from anywhere? Clone your repo on any device and use the app. No database to maintain, no server-side admin panel to secure, no monthly fees to a platform that owns your content.
The 2023 rebuild was when I migrated this site off Squarespace and onto HexCMS. And yeah, it was a full tear-down-and-rebuild. But this time, I owned everything.
I won't get too deep into the technical details here. If you're curious about the architecture and security approach, I wrote a detailed breakdown on the Hexaxia blog. But for this site, here's what matters: I can now write as easily as I could on Squarespace, but I own every byte of my content and have complete control over how it looks and works.
What I Learned
Tearing it down and rebuilding it taught me something important: ownership isn't just about control, it's about sustainability.
Squarespace gave me convenience but cost me control. A pure custom build would give me control but cost me convenience. HexCMS gives me both. And honestly? That's what I should have been aiming for all along.
The Bigger Picture
Building HexCMS solved my problem, but it's solving other problems too. I'm using it for Ham Radio Today, for client projects, and I'm working on making it available for anyone who's tired of the same old CMS compromises.
Because here's the truth: most people don't need all the features that platforms like WordPress or Contentful offer. They need something simple, secure, and sustainable. They need to own their content without needing a CS degree to maintain it.
Moving Forward (For Real This Time)
So yeah, I rebuilt it again. But this time feels different. This time I didn't just solve the immediate problem. I solved the class of problems that led me to rebuild in the first place.
Will I rebuild it a third time? Maybe. But if I do, it'll be because I want to, not because I have to.
And that makes all the difference.
- Aaron
