Working on a Site We Host: A Guide for Developers

If a business we host has brought you in to work on their WordPress site, this is the short version of how it works here. We run the servers, and you get what you need to build: the site's files, a private copy to try things on, and a password to keep unfinished work out of sight.

What you can do yourself

The business owner, or anyone they have added to their account with access to websites, can do all of these from the site's page in the Reggio dashboard. If you do not have access, make your own Reggio login and ask them to add you on their Team page, or ask them to do it for you and pass on the details.

• Get into the files. Turn on file access and upload or download anything in the site's folder over SFTP. See Getting into your site's files over SFTP.
• Make a staging copy. A private copy of the whole site, database included, on its own address. See Setting up a staging site.
• Put a password in front of the site. Handy before a launch or during a rebuild. See Putting your site behind a password.
• Read the logs. The Files and logs tab shows the site's visitor requests and errors, newest first.
• Keep pages out of the cache. Under Pages that are always fresh on the Speed tab, list pages that should be built fresh for every visit, like a members area.
• Log in to WordPress as normal, install and configure plugins and themes, and change content.

What stays with us

Some things change how the server runs the site, and a wrong setting there can take a live business offline. Ask us and we make those changes:

• The PHP version
• Moving the site to a different server
• How and when WordPress, plugins and themes are updated
• Server settings such as upload limits, caching rules beyond the pages you keep fresh, and scheduled tasks

See What we look after on your site, and how to ask for a change for how to ask.

Before you start

• Sites are backed up automatically every day. Before a big change, ask us for a fresh backup, so there is a restore point from just before you started.
• Build on staging, not on the live site. A mistake there costs nothing, and the live site keeps taking orders while you work.
• Keep your login details to yourself. Every login we give out belongs to one site. If one leaks, it can be replaced from the same page.

Getting help

Open a ticket from the dashboard, or ask the business owner to. Say which site, what you are trying to do, and what you have already tried. The people who run the server read and answer it.