Geoff Graham Takes Independent Ownership of CSS-Tricks, Brings Ads Back

Geoff Graham has taken independent ownership of CSS-Tricks, the front-end reference site DigitalOcean bought in March 2022, and says ads are coming back. He announced it on October 26, 2026, in a post on the site, and wrote that "Advertising will certainly be needed now."

The post gives no price and does not name a seller. It implies DigitalOcean released the site, but I did not find a DigitalOcean statement on the transfer, so that part is unconfirmed. Graham calls himself the publisher and says he will work with "a small, awesome team."

What Graham says changes

The post lists the plan in concrete terms. The site will be self-hosted. A members-only Discord community with perks is planned, along with a new CSS-Tricks store. An HTML and CSS course for beginners is in development, and Graham writes that "a course is one of the first things you'll see."

The newsletter returns after a hiatus, and the footer on the post says "Coming back November 10." Publishing slows to "maybe one or two articles most weeks."

The guest submission form is back, though new submissions will wait because of a backlog.

Item	Status in the October 26 post
Advertising	Returning, site self-hosted
Newsletter	Coming back November 10
Publishing pace	One or two articles most weeks
Beginner HTML/CSS course	In development
Members-only Discord, store	Planned

What DigitalOcean promised in 2022

DigitalOcean announced the purchase on March 15, 2022, in a post credited to Yancey Spruill. It said CSS-Tricks "will continue operating as a standalone site supported by DigitalOcean" and that "all content will continue to be free and open to anyone." It also said Chris Coyier, the founder, "will support CSS-Tricks in an advisory capacity." No financial terms appeared in that post either.

The 2022 promises were about content staying free and the site staying standalone. Graham's post adds four revenue lines to that: advertising, a course, memberships and a shop.

Graham says he will work with "a small, awesome team," and the summary of the post I read names none of its members, so who else is on it is not confirmed here. The guest submission form is back as part of the same plan, though Graham says new submissions will wait on a backlog, which means outside writers should not expect quick replies in the first weeks.

What is unknown

Two things are missing from the October 26 post. It states no sale price, and it does not say whether DigitalOcean kept any stake or hosting arrangement.

The first evidence of how the site will fund itself arrives on November 10, when the newsletter is due back. Graham has already told readers to expect one or two articles most weeks.

For other projects where the business model shaped the code, see our reports on Stalwart developing new features in a private repository and the licensing questions around VoiceStudio.