CSS Killswitch lets you non- destructively black out a difficult client's website with the click of a button.
Because sometimes, no matter how diplomatic you are, people are... well... mean.
Through the magical power of an external, dynamic CSS file. It's quick, safe, and painless.
CSS (short for "Cascading Style Sheets") is the markup that makes the internet look the way it does.
CSS Killswitch works by creating a unique, inconspicuous, and innocuous stylesheet that you'll link the potentially problematic client's site to. Should negotiations go south and passwords get changed before you receive payment, that stylesheet can be activated to superficially black out the site, returning to you the upper hand. *
When relations return and you've received payment, the killswitch is easily deactivated and its traces removed.
Not convinced? Try a two second demo of what it could do to this page.
Oh, did I mention this is free? Because it's free.
* This technique, while clever, is not foolproof. A savvy recipient could eventually find the offending CSS link and remove it. Keep that in mind.
By using CSS Killswitch you abide to the following:
My attempt at a web killswitch is predated by a couple others, so the idea is not new. Furthermore, my CSS version is far from ideal. In fact, of all the ways to do something like this, mine is probably the easiest to diagnose and override… but it is the easiest to implement.
In no way will this ever be 1% as good as a contract, and it undoubtedly has some serious ethical and legal implications.
You can contact me via my blog's contact form if you have any questions, suggestions, or thoughts about CSS Killswitch or any of my other projects.