Quarterly site updates

Our service offers two types of updates

Quarterly updates: will happen, err, quarterly. These will cover any major WordPress updates that have been released in that time. We don’t update to new versions of WordPress immediately, often these new versions require changes or have teething troubles, so quarterly is normally regular enough.
Security updates: Most security updates happen automatically on all versions, but occasionally a security release needs to be manually applied. These generally are straightforward and do not change any functionality.

How does it Work?

An update is generally straightforwards, but occasionally those updates cause issues which can cause problems to the operation of the site. To make sure your service isn’t interrupted, we create an anonymised clone of your site to our local servers, update there and test everything is working before uploading things to the live site. If there are any problems we’ll fix them before putting them live. This ensures your site is much less likely to experience bugs or be taken offline during the update process.

Will I be charged?

We’ll let you know the quarterly rate for your site, but it will be a fixed fee, and include the fixing of some bugs that occur as a direct result of the update. We’ll also do some general maintenance – making sure PHP and database versions are up-to-date, and that we’re using any new features or services our hosting have to offer if applicable.

In the rare instance that a plugin or system requires a major update we may need to put more time aside. In those cases we will contact you directly with a breakdown of the time, cost and reason it will cost extra for your approval before any cost is incurred.

Of course, if no updates are released in a given quarter then you will not be charged.

Can I opt-out of this update cycle?

Yes, of course you can. We don’t like to tie our customers into any service agreements where we can help it. There are, of course, a couple of warnings.

If you opt out any repairs that need to be done will be charged at an hourly rate. Fixing broken sites or recovering from hacks can be time consuming. We’ve priced our quarterly updates to allow us to fix issues if they arise, and if your site is up-to-date it is more secure, so hacks are less likely .

You can also choose to update WordPress yourself. Most updates are one-click. If you do choose to do this and there is an error it’s worth noting the risks – your site could break, and again the hourly repair rate will apply.

If you’ve got any questions feel free to give us a call.