Tag: Support

Why web support matters

Maintaining a secure and functional website presence

Web support is the proactive management of a database, website, email service or other internet activity.

Our working relationship with many of our clients began when their previous support arrangement broke down and they could no longer access their website, update content, or control their domains.

Webstruxure has the knowledge and experience of CMS, website builders and development frameworks to fix broken or underperforming websites, provide emergency repairs, security updates, and performance optimisation.

Ongoing support works best when provider and client build up a long-term working relationship. Our track record shows that’s one of the things Webstruxure does best.

Platform management

(Something about Azure and Cloudflare)

Monitoring and first-level support

Our servers are monitored by our hosting company (Umbrellar), which sends us automated alerts when performance issues occur. Individual websites are monitored using a SaaS tool (site24x7) which notifies us instantly by email and text if there’s a problem. We follow up with coordinated investigation and response via our support team members.

Out of hours we provide “best endeavours” support to return a site to a working state as soon as possible. If required a detailed investigation will be conducted the next business day.

Website maintenance

Code base, patching, updates

Webstruxure supports sites using a range of software. As well as designing and building complex website applications we support established content management systems (CMS) including WordPress, Shopify and Squarespace as well as DotNetNuke (DNN).

For off-the-shelf CMS such as WordPress which release updates periodically, Webstruxure implements security fixes and follows up with clients whose sites are due for an upgrade. The necessity of keeping sites up to date has to be balanced with client budget and potential website downtime, so each client’s situation is considered separately.

We stay on top of updates to WordPress plugins, DNN modules, and JavaScript libraries. Fixes are implemented as required to standalone components or as part of a larger website upgrade.

Bug fixes

Software updates to correct errors are critical for performance

Software bugs are an inevitable part of development. Webstruxure works to identify and remedy software issues as rapidly as possible.

We take a methodical approach to bug fixing. We test options and make no assumptions. If a bug turns out to be more complex we communicate with the client and decide with them on the best approach for a remedy.

Security requirements

Prevention, monitoring and response to protect digital assets

Security and privacy are always key concerns. Our government clients in particular have particular security and privacy standards to meet.

Users often underestimate the security risk of giving out passwords to IT providers. Our team always follows correct procedures in this regard. We don’t ask for passwords or access to private information, and we always direct users to reset their own passwords (i.e. instead of doing it for them).

When information is sensitive (e.g. personal medical information) we minimise exposure of private information by scrambling emails and names in development environments and masking live user data.

Domain name systems (DNS) management

Managing URLS and IP addresses for website and email servers

Webstruxure manages domain name systems (DNS) for many of our clients and routinely handles DNS changes during site cutovers. We also coordinate SSL setup and setting up hosting of web sites on IIS and Apache. Increasingly DNS entries are needed to manage SPF (Sender Policy Framework) controls on email security.

We have experience with various hosting service admin tools to update DNS and understand common pitfalls when requesting third parties to make changes.

Service delivery reporting

Tracking performance standards to improve effectiveness

While a few of our clients request monthly service statistics for their sites, we put most of our performance monitoring in place pre-emptively. Often we identify issues and resolve them before our clients and their users even know they’re there.

Most reporting concerns support effort and request volumes, or business metrics arising from use of the sites. Some metrics are delivered as live reports allowing the site owner to monitor these themselves. Examples of this (beyond common services like Google Analytics) include reporting from tracked email services.

Whether you need a partner to deliver a substantial level of support each month, or just someone to call if things go wrong with your site, we can provide ongoing support to keep your web presence working.

Fulbright New Zealand

The site for US-NZ exchange awards programme Fulbright New Zealand is a valuable source of news and information and a key call-to-action for applicants and stakeholders. However, over time the wealth of documentation had become confusing to navigate for public users and difficult for Fulbright staff to maintain. To resolve this we revised the site navigation, information architecture and user interface to improve the user experience. In parallel, we overhauled the site’s backend functionality to make it easier for Fulbright staff to maintain. The updated site is designed to support staff, applicants and grantees into the next decade.

NZTA

NZTA Rightcar needed to collect vehicle data and publish it as safety ratings to encourage better choices for people buying a vehicle. Webstruxure developed tools and a website that assigns laboratory and real-world safety data to over 95% of new, used and imported vehicles in New Zealand. This allows ratings to be used as a general comparison tool for vehicles on Rightcar as well as sites like TradeMe.

Living Streets Aotearoa

Living Streets Aotearoa promotes walking friendly communities in New Zealand. Their existing site was dated and its Drupal platform was unsupported. Their CRM (CiviCRM) needed to be carried across to a new accessible site along with hundreds of pages of content. Webstruxure delivered new branding for LSA; redesigned and rebuilt a WCAG-compliant WordPress site; supervised the export, review and editing of all content and reinstalled their existing CRM so staff workflow could continued uninterrupted over the transition. The new site is responsive, accessible and modernised.

Tyrewise

3R needed software to support Tyrewise, a government scheme that facilitates the recycling and reuse of tyres in New Zealand. Webstruxure worked with 3R to design and build a phone app that tyre manufacturers, transporters and processors could use to track recycled tyres from start to finish, and to pay staff. Transporters scan each load of tyres at pickup and the load weight is used to keep track of each load as it travels. The app also tracks work done by individuals and provides timesheets to employers.