Website Support andImprovements.

Support, maintenance, administration and improvements: what is the difference?

These terms often sound the same to a website owner, but they describe different work. Technical support or maintenance keeps a website operational: updating the CMS, plugins or modules, making backups, checking pages and correcting technical errors.

Administration usually means content work: publishing a prepared news item, changing a price, or adding a product, image or text. Posting supplied material can be a separate task; writing copy, preparing photography or translating content is different work. An improvement changes the logic or appearance of part of a website, such as a new form, filter, checkout flow or section. A redesign is needed when the overall presentation, page structure and visual system need to change.

What needs maintenance on different kinds of website?

Landing page and brochure site

Forms must send enquiries to the right place, contact details must remain current, and the domain and SSL certificate must be renewed. An SSL certificate provides a secure HTTPS connection in the browser. These websites also need occasional changes to services, offers or team information.

Corporate website

Alongside the technical layer, service pages, news, language versions and forms for different enquiries need attention. Check that links between language versions remain in place and that every form delivers its messages.

Online shop

An online shop needs checks of the catalogue, prices and availability, basket, checkout, payment, delivery and new-order notifications. After a module change or platform update, one error can affect the customer journey right up to payment.

Custom website or business system

Here maintenance also concerns the code, dependencies, server environment and integrations. Dependencies are third-party libraries that features rely on. Without a record of settings and access, even a small change can require an initial review.

Signs that your website needs attention now

• Form enquiries have stopped arriving: this can point to a problem with email, the form or an integration.
• Errors or broken layout appeared after an update: website components may no longer work together.
• Your hosting provider warns about an old PHP version: the code should be checked before moving to a new server environment.
• The browser says the website is not secure: check the SSL certificate and HTTPS settings.
• The administration area is slow or will not open: code, a module or server resources may be the cause.
• You cannot change a price or text yourself: access may be limited or the editor may need setting up.
• The previous developer rarely replies or has disappeared: collect access details while they can still be recovered.
• Payment or delivery has stopped working: the relevant module and connection need checking.
• Unexpected pages, redirects or spam have appeared: this may indicate unauthorised changes and needs a separate review.

Owner's checklist for taking over a website from another developer

A handover is simpler when accounts belong to the owner rather than the contractor. During the free review, we can help identify missing access and where to look for it.

1. Domain in the owner's account: without access, renewal or transfer can become difficult.
2. Hosting in the owner's account: this holds the files and database and lets the owner manage payment and settings.
3. Website administration login: needed for pages, products and CMS settings.
4. File access: FTP, SSH or a hosting file manager is needed when a change cannot be made in the administration area.
5. Database access: it commonly holds content, settings and order data.
6. Code repository, if one exists: source code and change history make further development safer.
7. Licences and accounts for paid modules and themes: without them, updates or transfer can be restricted.
8. A list of integrations: payments, delivery, CRM, messaging and analytics each have their own settings.
9. Analytics access: these accounts belong to the business because they contain its data and measurement settings.
10. A current backup: it gives you a recovery point before any work starts.

You do not need every item before your first message. A website URL and, where available, access to the domain and hosting are the best starting point. The rest can be collected from the list rather than searched for during an urgent task.

How to describe a task and accept the result

A planned change starts with a clear description of the result, not with administration access. Gather links to the relevant pages, screenshots of the current state, finished text or files, and an example of the intended outcome. This reduces assumptions, especially when a form, catalogue or checkout flow is changing.

For a form, state where enquiries should be sent, which fields are required and what the visitor should see after submitting it. For a product or service, provide the name, price, description, image, category and language for the change. For an integration, describe what data the website sends out and what should return to the page.

Before technical work, agree the working scenarios to check. For a shop, this can include finding a product, adding it to the basket, completing checkout and receiving a notification. For a corporate site, it may be the path from a service page to a submitted form. For a system with roles, it is logging in as different users and checking the actions available to each.

Check the same scenarios again after the work. Also check the mobile view, links, form messages and pages affected by the change. This checklist does not require technical knowledge, but it gives the owner specific points for accepting the result.

What to do if the developer disappeared and you have no access

First establish who the domain is registered to and which hosting provider the website uses. Put payment information, registration emails, invoices and bank records in one place. As the owner, request access through the registrar and hosting provider. They commonly ask for proof of ownership, documents or payment details, and their exact process varies.

After access is restored, change passwords, review users and remove accounts that are no longer needed. If the domain or hosting is registered to the previous contractor, the transfer may need their agreement or the provider's ownership process. Do not delete files, the database or old settings before making a backup. A file that looks unnecessary can still explain how the website works.

Typical problems on common platforms

WordPress and WooCommerce

After updates, plugins and themes can conflict, and an abandoned plugin may not work with a newer system version. Heavy page builders can slow a website, while a WooCommerce update needs a basket and checkout check.

OpenCart

Modules and modifications can break after a version change, and extensions are often tied to a particular platform version. Moving to a newer version requires checking every module, the catalogue and checkout.

MODX, Joomla and Drupal

Older major versions may no longer receive updates, and extensions can be incompatible with newer releases. Start by checking the current version, installed extensions and whether updating can preserve the required features.

Custom PHP, Laravel, Django, Next.js and React

Common issues on custom PHP sites include missing documentation, an old PHP version and code understood by only one developer. Laravel, Django, Next.js and React sites need attention to outdated dependencies, major framework changes, environment configuration and the build process. This is not a reason to rebuild automatically; it is a reason to assess the code first.

Why a hosting provider asks you to upgrade PHP

PHP is the language used by many websites and CMS platforms. Each version has a limited support period, after which security fixes stop. Hosting providers therefore move websites towards newer versions.

Old code, a plugin or a module may not work in the new environment. A safe order is to create a copy of the website, check that copy on the new PHP version, correct any errors and only then switch the live website. This exposes a problem before visitors see it.

How not to depend on a single contractor

Register the domain and hosting in the business owner's name. Share access directly rather than only in a group conversation, and change credentials when a contractor relationship ends. Licences for paid modules and themes should also live in accounts owned by the business.

Make a backup before changes and agree what is changing before the task begins. At Artbrain, the estimate is agreed before work and the changes are recorded within the task. This approach is useful whoever maintains the website: it gives the owner a history of decisions and control over access.

Improve the website or rebuild it?

An improvement makes sense when the foundation works, the structure and content still help the business, and changes can be made without recurring side effects. In that case, keeping established pages, search visibility and familiar user journeys is usually worthwhile.

Consider a new website or website redesign when the platform is no longer maintained, each change affects unrelated parts, or the structure and design no longer suit the business. Make that decision after looking at the code, access and tasks, not from the page appearance alone.

What website support costs at Artbrain

Fixes, changes, improvements and new features are estimated for your task before work starts. Maintenance scope and price are agreed individually after the free review. Depending on the website, agreed maintenance can include CMS, plugin and module updates, backups, checks that the website works and small edits. Hosting, the domain and paid third-party modules are paid separately by the owner.

Fixes, changes, improvements and new features are estimated per task before work starts. The platform and version, the state of the code, task scope, paid modules and available access all affect the estimate. The free review lets us discuss the work against the actual website rather than make assumptions.

How to start

Send the website URL and a short description of the task through the form or contact page. Do not send passwords in the first message. After the review, we will explain which access is needed for the work.

Every website developed by Artbrain remains supported by us. You can see our website portfolio or contact us to send a website for review.

What to keep after the website handover

Once access has been collected, do not leave it only in correspondence with a contractor. Store a list of accounts, login addresses, the responsible person and the date of the last password change in a secure place. Passwords do not need to sit beside that list, but the owner should know where they are stored.

Keep contact details connected to the domain, hosting, email and paid modules separately. When responsibility changes within the company, transfer these details with the website. This avoids a domain renewal or licence being tied to the personal email of a former employee.

Keep a short note about the code: what the website runs on, where files are hosted, how a backup is made and which integrations must not be switched off without checking. It does not need to be a long document. One current page of these facts can shorten the initial review when the next task arises.

Review the list after a change of hosting, domain, email or important integration so it remains useful at the next handover.