Service Specification:

Service Features

WP Shield is the WordPress component of our technical support service.

WP Shield is included — at no extra cost — with all WP Site and WP Studio hosting plans, and is an optional add-on for sites hosted on WP Server.

• Managed upgrades of WordPress core, theme and plugin security updates
• Daily database backups – 30 days cloud storage
• Technical support from our WP Experts
• WP NET’s WordPress performance and security enhancements

Backups

As part of WP Shield we create additional, database-only backups each day and store them in secure cloud storage. These backups are an extra layer of protection, providing you with redundancy, should any issues arise with other backups.

Run at 2am each day, stored off-server and retained for 30 days.

Database backups are saved locally and then sent (via https) to a secure cloud storage repository with AES256 encryption. The local copies are then deleted.

Database backups are not directly accessible by the user. To request a copy or restoration of a database backup please open a support ticket.

What about files backups?

Where files backups are stored depends on your hosting platform:

• WP Site / WP Studio: Customer accessible Plesk Panel backups (files & databases)
• WP Server: Custom backups in cloud storage (files & databases)

Scope of Support

Technical support is provided through our website’s support ticket system only. Customers can login to My WP NET and open a support ticket. Our support team will respond to all tickets as soon as possible.

You can also open a ticket by sending an email to support@wpnet.nz. To open a ticket via email, the email must come from an address that is registered with your account on My WP NET.

WP NET’s support service only applies to the “live” site(s), hosted under the user’s account. Development, staging and test sites do not apply and are not covered by the support service. The customer is responsible for managing any other sites installed under their account.

Running additional copies of your site on a production server can have security and SEO drawbacks and is discouraged. For best security practice, host only your live site.

Scope of support includes:

• Support with the management and operation of WordPress
• Assistance with updates and installations
• Assisting with WordPress configuration and security
• Debugging and problem solving
• Advice for WordPress related technical queries

Scope of support does NOT include:

• Content management
• Technical support for 3rd party plugins and themes
• Development time required to resolve any problems, bugs or misconfiguration resulting from a customer’s actions
• Custom development
• Additional migrations, deployments

WordPress Updates

Security Updates

All WP Shield sites receive managed installation of security updates and fixes (where possible) for WordPress core, themes and plugins.

WP NET’s security monitoring and subscription services inform us of security vulnerabilities and updates on a daily basis. If any of our customer’s sites use an affected WP core version, plugin or theme — and an update is available —  the update will be installed by our WordPress management systems.

General Updates

General, non-security related updates for WordPress core, plugins and themes are not automatically installed by WP NET Support.

Customer’s can request that WP NET support perform WP core, theme or plugin updates on their behalf, by opening a support ticket. In many cases this is covered by the WP Shield support service, however, if additional time or development is required beyond our scope of support, a cost estimate will be provided to complete the work.

Summary

• Security Updates: Installed automatically (where possible) by WP NET Support
• General Updates: Customer’s responsibility or WP NET Support on request

WordPress Core Updates

By default, WordPress installs minor (including security) updates automatically. Beginning with WordPress version 5.8, WordPress can also be configured to install major releases automatically.

All WordPress core update functionality can be controlled via settings in the wp-config.php file, or by using a plugin such as Easy Updates Manager.

Except in cases of important bug-fix or security releases, WP NET Support will not install WP core updates without a customer first requesting it.

Summary

• Minor version updates: installed automatically, by WordPress updater or WP NET
• Major version updates: as configured in your WordPress site, or by WP NET on request

Different types of WordPress releases

• Major core releases = 3.9 to 4.0 or 4.1 to 4.2
• Minor core releases, such as maintenance and security updates = 4.1.0 to 4.1.1

WordPress Theme Updates

Whenever possible and practicable, WP NET will deploy WordPress theme updates that address any known serious security vulnerability, as they are released by the theme author.

It is the customer’s responsibility to ensure that all software licenses are current and that themes are authorised and activated for automatic updates.

Summary

• Important security patches and updates for WordPress themes will be installed by WP NET whenever possible
• General, non-security related theme updates are the responsibility of the customer
• WP NET recommends that customers keep their WordPress theme(s) up-to-date

WordPress Plugin Updates

Whenever possible and practicable, WP NET will deploy WordPress plugin updates that address any known serious security vulnerability, as they are released by the plugin author.

It is the customer’s responsibility to ensure that all software licenses are current and that plugins are authorised and activated for automatic updates.

Summary

• Important security patches and updates for WordPress plugins will be installed by WP NET whenever possible
• General, non-security related plugin updates are the responsibility of the customer
• WP NET recommends that customers keep ALL their WordPress plugins up-to-date

In rare cases, where a serious vulnerability remains unpatched, WP NET may deploy a “hotfix” or other temporary measures to protect our customer’s sites, until official updates are made available.