Build It Up, Tear It Down

Here's another one of those questions you have to ask yourself whenever major site changes are being considered: Do you want to start again from scratch, or do you want to try to make your changes fit in the existing structure?

There are benefits and drawbacks to both approaches:

Starting Over

BENEFITS

• Can possibly utilize new tools, packages and technologies.
• Allows for approaching your site in a new way.

DRAWBACKS

• Usually involves a lot of time, manpower and resources to undertake.
• Requires a lot of additional planning.
• Doesn't take advantage of parts of your site that are already working.

Working With What You Got

BENEFITS

• Allows you to keep what's already working.
• Requires less time, manpower and resources.
  

DRAWBACKS

• Doesn't usually mesh well with new technologies or may make what you want to do more difficult.
• Requires you to determine where new features fit into what you have instead of being able to take a new approach.

Those are the benefits and drawbacks I can think of at this time, but I'd be curious to hear what other benefits and drawbacks you can think of. Feel free to leave a comment below.