Why WordPress?
According to OpenSource CMS, WordPress powers over half of the websites in the world. It is also one of the most user friendly and has the largest community of developers of any content management system.
Why not Drupal?
We recognize that many websites are built in Drupal, however we find that the features and tools within WordPress better suit the needs of our clients. With the current knowledge and expertise of our team, we feel we can offer the best level of support and guidance around the use of the WordPress content management system.
What can a WordPress website do?
WordPress websites can handle most web content – from plain text content to images and embedding videos. If you are not familiar with WordPress, we suggest you visit WordPress.com and register a free website to get a sense of the features.
What can’t we put on a WordPress Shared Hosting website?
The WordPress websites on the Shared Hosting service are all publicly available. This means that any content and assets you store on the website, even if not “published”, can be accessed from the Internet. Confidential, sensitive, or personally identifiable information should not be stored or collected through web forms on any WordPress Shared Hosting website. The use of web forms to collect non-sensitive information is permitted.
If your needs require you to collect or store any confidential, sensitive, or personally identifiable information, we recommend you consider dedicated hosting as an option.
What is the process of making a new WordPress website?
The creation process is relatively simple:
- Decide on a domain name, one that ends with .utoronto.ca
- Request approval of the domain name
- We’ll create a temporary website for you (we call these “staging” sites), so you can get started on content right away
- Login, add content, change theme and design
- Prepare for site launch once you think it is ready
The launch process is as follows:
- Decide on a launch date and time, preferably 10am on Mondays, Wednesdays, or Thursdays within a work week
- Let us know two weeks in advance
- We’ll register your new domain name
- We’ll confirm the launch date with you
- Once the launch date is finalized, please do not change it! (Otherwise we’ll charge you a $200 rescheduling fee).
What is the process of migrating an existing site to WordPress?
Migrating a site is a bit more complicated. Although we can offer suggestions on content migration, we ask all clients to be in charge of their own content. (The bad news is that there is no automatic content migration tool for non WordPress sites.)
The creation process is similar to the above:
- Tell us which website domain you want to transfer, usually a .utoronto.ca website
- We’ll create a temporary website for you (we call these “staging” sites), so you can get started on migration right away
- Login, migrate content, change theme and design
- Prepare for site launch once you think it is ready
The launch process is also similar:
- Decide on a launch date and time, preferably 10am on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Thursdays within a work week
- Let us know two weeks in advance
- We’ll arrange to lower the time-to-live (TTL) setting of your existing domain name
- We’ll confirm the launch date with you
- Once the launch date is finalized, please do not change it! (Otherwise we’ll charge you a $200 rescheduling fee).
If you intend to retire your old website (and it is operated by us), please let us know as soon as you arrange your launch date. You have the option to archive it (give it a new archive domain name), or erase the website completely. The former option will incur a continuous hosting fee. Contact us if you want to back up your site, for a fee.
Please note that the purpose of a staging site is solely for creating or migrating content, not for developing code.
How do I transfer an existing WordPress site?
There are two ways to do this.
Use the WordPress Export Tool to create a XML that can be imported into the new WordPress site. To send your theme over, create a zip file of the folder with the sites’s theme.
Or, you can create a zip file of the entire WordPress directory, and a SQL dump of the database. We can use those to recreate the website for you.
Can I install any plug-ins or themes I want on a WordPress site?
We do not currently provide the ability to install plug-ins and themes. With rampant cyber attacks, many plug-ins (usually poorly written ones) have become attack vectors for hackers. If you have a plug-in or theme that you are interested in using, please let us know by contacting the support address below.
How often should the WordPress site be upgraded?
You should upgrade your WordPress site as often as upgrades are available. Your website upgrade options are available to you when you login to your WordPress site. Our experience tells us that WordPress updates don’t usually break a website, unless you are not following the recommended WordPress coding guidelines, e.g. using a child theme.
For more information on how to upgrade a WordPress site, please visit the official guideline.
Can I request a back up (of database and files) of my WordPress site?
Yes, you can request a back up of your WordPress site at a fee of $50.
What level of access do I have to my WordPress site?
You will have the manager role in your WordPress site. If you need to perform function at the “admin” level, please contact us with the tasks you need to perform, and we will arrange that for you.
As of mid-2015, we no longer provide FTP access to WordPress websites due to security restrictions.
How do I make code-level modification to a WordPress website?
We highly recommend that you don’t change any code on your live WordPress site. You should treat your hosted site as a production website. Changes to code often breaks a website. If you intend to do development work, consider using a hosting service like http://pantheon.io.
You can send us the modified code in a zip package and we will install the changes for you.
What if I have other questions?
Please feel free to contact us at webservices@utoronto.ca