Website rescue · From $349
Something broke. Find the cause, then fix it.
A rescue is up to three hours of diagnosis and repair on one problem, on a site that's broken now, including one someone else built. Most single problems are found and fixed in that time. If yours needs more, I stop and tell you before anything else is done.
From $349Up to three hours of diagnosis and repair on one problem, paid before work starts. If the fix needs more, I stop, tell you what's left and what it would cost, and nothing more is done or charged without your approval.
When a rescue is the right call
- The contact form says “thanks”, but the messages stop arriving.
- An update took the site down, or left a page showing an error.
- The browser warns visitors that the site isn’t secure.
- A page that used to work is broken on phones.
- The person who built the site is gone. (If the accounts can’t be recovered, that’s quoted separately.)
How it runs
Nothing is charged until the scope and price are agreed in writing.
Tell me the symptom
What you or a customer saw, and when it started. A screenshot helps.
Access, under your accounts
Delegated access to the site and hosting where the platform allows it. I ask only for what the diagnosis needs.
Payment, then the diagnosis
The rescue is paid before work starts. The three hours begin with finding the cause.
The repair, if it fits
If the fix fits in the remaining time, it’s made and checked against the symptom you reported.
If it needs more
I stop at three hours and tell you what’s left, what it would cost at the hourly rate, and the options. Nothing more is done or charged without your written approval.
What a diagnosis looks at
The symptom is where the work starts, not where it ends. A form that stops sending can be a plugin, the server, the mail settings or the inbox itself.
The server
Error logs, the PHP version, disk space, and the hosting account’s own limits.
WordPress
Core, theme and plugin versions, recent updates, and conflicts between them.
The address
The domain’s DNS records and the security certificate behind the padlock.
The path to your inbox
How a form message is sent, and the DNS settings that decide whether it lands in the inbox or in spam.
What changed
The last updates, edits and hosting changes before the problem started.
What you get on paper
You receive the rescue note in writing. Here's the format, filled in for an invented business.
Rescue note
Barbagallo DigitalOne page
- Problem
The quote form shows “Thanks”, but nothing arrives
Reported by the owner after a customer called to ask why nobody had replied.
- Diagnosis
The server was sending mail it wasn’t permitted to send
The form sent mail as the business’s domain, but the domain’s DNS didn’t authorize the web server to send for it, so receiving inboxes rejected the messages.
- Repair
Form mail sent through an authenticated mail service
The form now sends through a mail service the domain authorizes, with the matching DNS records added. Time used: 2 hours 10 minutes of the 3.
- Checked
Three form messages arrive in the inbox, not in spam
Sent with the owner’s permission, from a phone and a desktop, and confirmed by the owner.
The terms, in short
- What it covers
- Up to three hours of diagnosis and repair on one reported problem, on a WordPress site someone else may have built.
- Payment
- $349, paid before work starts.
- If it needs more
- I stop at the three hours, explain what's left, and estimate it. More work only with your written approval, at $110 an hour.
- Quoted separately
- Sites with an existing compromise, blocked account transfers or unusual migrations.
Included
- Up to three hours of diagnosis and repair on one problem.
- Sites someone else built, on WordPress.
- A short written note of the cause and what was done.
Not included
- A site with an existing compromise, or an account transfer that’s blocked: quoted separately first.
- A redesign or new pages: that’s a rebuild or development.
- Ongoing care: that’s what the care plans are for.
Questions
Something else? Send me a message.
What if three hours isn’t enough?
I stop and tell you what’s left, with an estimate at the hourly rate. You decide whether to go on. Nothing extra is done or charged without your written approval.
What if you find more than one problem?
The rescue is for the problem you reported. Anything else I notice goes in the note, with an estimate, for you to decide on.
Do I have to sign up for a care plan afterwards?
No. A rescue stands on its own. If you want the site looked after every month afterwards, that’s a separate choice.
What if the site isn’t on WordPress?
Tell me what it runs on. If it’s something I can diagnose responsibly, I’ll quote it individually. If not, I’ll say so.
Also on this site
Not sure which you need? Start with the check.
The free check ends with the next useful step. If nothing's wrong, it says so.