Waste.gov’s Royal F-up

Waste.gov just gave us a masterclass.

The subject? How to make incredibly embarrassing (and surprisingly simple) mistakes with your website. Because if you’re launching a website in 2024—especially one dedicated to transparency—there are a few golden rules to follow.

You know, basic stuff like:

• Actually putting content on the site

• Removing placeholder text

• Not making yourself the laughingstock of the internet

Unfortunately, someone forgot to pass that memo to the fine folks behind Waste.gov. So what was meant to be the Trump administration's latest attempt at accountability became a public service announcement on how not to launch a website.

A digital face-plant.

That’s what I would call this. Waste.gov was supposed to track government inefficiencies. Instead, it became one. EMBARAZZING.

The site launched with a default WordPress theme—unedited, unbranded, and still featuring lorem ipsum text from a fictional architecture firm. Rather than showcasing fiscal responsibility, it inadvertently highlighted an age-old government tradition: saying one thing while doing the complete opposite. Nice.

It gets better (or worse, depending on how you look at it).

Another government site, DEI.gov, redirected straight to the same half-baked WordPress template. That’s right—one placeholder template, two official government sites, and a whole lot of facepalms.

Transparency? More like an accidental magic trick.

When the internet caught wind of this mess, Waste.gov was promptly thrown behind a password wall. A classic move straight from the "if we hide it, maybe people will forget" playbook.

It’s a move that would be funny if it weren’t so telling. Transparency means showing your work, not locking the door the moment someone notices you haven’t done it right.

So, in honour of this monumental f&%k up, here’s what not to do when building your website:

1. Don’t leave placeholder text. I should not have to say this. But if your site still says "Études seamlessly merges creativity and functionality to redefine architectural excellence," but you’re not actually an architecture firm, you have a problem.

2. Don’t launch half-baked. If your website is a work in progress, keep it in staging. No one needs to see your “Coming Soon” page that looks like it was copy-pasted from a beginner’s WordPress tutorial.

3. Don’t forget what your website is for. If you’re preaching transparency but your website is a locked, empty shell, you might as well just put up a sign that says, “We have no idea what we’re doing.”

4. Don’t assume no one will notice. The internet will find out. They will screenshot it. And they will make fun of you.

If there’s one thing, we’ve learned from the Waste.gov debacle, it’s that websites—especially those meant to instil public trust—reflect how seriously (or not) an organisation takes its own mission.

-Sophie, Writer