We use the following
Harvest
All of our development time is tracked using Harvest. Invoices are also sent via Harvest and can be paid online. Learn more at GetHarvest.com
Stripe
All online transactions including one-time and subscription payments are handled through Stripe.
OnlyOffice
Full office productivity suite with real-time collaboration and NO scanning of your documents and personal information.
Gitea
Our privately hosted version control server. Because there is no greater risk to your app than someone having the source code.
Teamwork
All of our projects are managed online using Teamwork. Urgent support is available for non-project items.
Jitsi
Private videoconferencing on our own hosted platform. Use the app or any modern web browser!
Sorry, we will not join your Slack team.
We understand that you want to get in touch with us immediately. So do other clients. And that has turned into a problem.
Slack is great for productivity in small groups. But in our experience it is a thousand hands knocking on our office door. At all times. And if you know developers, the worst thing you can do is interrupt us when we are in the middle of writing code.
Slack also has some questionable privacy practices. As the saying goes, "if something is free then you are the product" and being owned by a data hoarder like SalesForce, Slack is a data vacuum.
Working with us
This section has been created to help you better understand how we work, the services and technologies we use and how to easily integrate those technologies into your workflow.
Databases
By default we do not offer support for phpMyAdmin unless it is specifically requested. Giving full root access to your data to the entire internet 24/7 is a bad idea.
Our database access is configured to allow MySQL Tunnelling over SSH. This way only those with the same shared key PLUS database username and password can access your database. The following software packages offer MySQL Tunnelling over SSH:
File Transfers
By default we do not offer support for plain FTP over port 21. This is because plain FTP traffic is sent in plain text and can be intercepted along the route. Instead, we use software that support SFTP over port 22:
We DO NOT support
- cPanel - unless you really need it ($50 per month license fee)
- FileZilla - Known for malware injections when downloaded from SourceForge.
Version Control/git
We host our own git repositories at git.wmdigital.net.
WHY NOT USE GITHUB OR SOMETHING ELSE?
Have you been paying attention? Source code is an application's DNA. Having that hosted elsewhere could lead to compromised sites/applications. We avoid this by doing things the hard way and that starts with hosting our own version control system.
Invoices & Payment
Invoices
It is our goal is to issue invoice around the 1st of the month. We do not send invoices on Fridays. All invoices contain work performed during the previous month unless specified in our agreement. Since we are a small team we often cannot make time for invoices right on the 1st so they may arrive later.
All invoices are due upon receipt.
Payments
We offer several ways to pay your invoices, based on order of preference:
- Direct deposit (log in for routing information)
- Paper check mailed to 550 N Liberty Street, Suite #387, Winston-Salem, NC 27103
- Online
How we charge.
As a small company that offers both web application as well as hosting and server management we fill a niche others do not, whereas they are either one or the other. Since we build web applications and know them well we are better positioned to host these applications. This is where the line gets blurry between being a development shop and a hosting company. Here we hope to help understand how we charge for our services.
What am I billed for?
Projects/Contracts:
If we quoted you a price in an agreement we will perform the deliverables outlined in that contract for the price indicated. Any out-of-scope items will be billed separately. Our agreements typically contain a grace period to address bugs or problems found after a project is made live. Outside of this window we invoice hourly for any work performed.
Services:
Web hosting:
Invoiced monthly, based on server specs (CPUs, RAM, hard drive space, backups retained). We do not bill for bandwidth nor visitors. You are still charged for servers even if they are powered off.
What is covered:
Web server hosting hardware (CPUs, RAM, hard drive, networking/internet connectivity), initial software installation and setup, CMS installation and setup and basic backups, basic server monitoring (uptime only)
What is not covered/what we bill you for:
- Software updates and patches
- Server software updates and patches
- Malware removal
- Immediate rollback of something someone accidentally deleted (it takes time to retrieve it from backups)
- Coordination with 3rd party vendors regarding support issues
Why is it not covered?
Some clients prefer to update the software on their own. We offer a monthly maintenance and management package - WMD Shield - which covers server software updates, redundant backups, CMS (WordPress/Drupal) updates and malware removal. We cannot be responsible for others' actions when managing files on a server.
E-Mail accounts:
Invoiced monthly, based on the maximum number of accounts used and account quotas within each calendar month. If you are using 5 accounts and brought in someone for 2 weeks you will be billed for 7 licenses for that month.
What is covered:
- E-mail account hosting with a fixed quota
- E-mail server software updates
- E-mail server security updates
- Basic spam & virus monitoring and phishing filter
- Nightly backups
What is not covered:
- Individual message recovery
- Advanced spam filtering
- Quota increases
How can I get what is not covered?
We have partnered with Securence, who offers e-mail shadowing (they keep a copy of everything you receive) and advanced spam filtering. For quota increases the cost is based on your service plan.
Why is it not covered?
Unlike other email providers offering an unlimited quota we do not read your email and try to sell you stuff or market your information to whomever is willing to pay for it. We also will not delete your e-mail account for an unexplained reason or an arcane excuse like, "you violated our Terms of Service". Free comes with a price.
Expenses:
If we purchase something on your behalf we will invoice you for the expense. So when that staff person who managed all domain names goes on to a better job you are not left panic-scrounging for the renewal information the day after the domain names expire (this has happened).
Managed WordPress:
Please see our page about WMD Shield to learn more about our managed WordPress services. Plans are billed monthly.
NameCheap
Our go-to for domain registration and SSL purchases is NameCheap. We chose NameCheap over other providers for several reasons but the top being that they are first in the web business, not in the sales business. They do not try to up-sell you on stuff you do not need. They also offer other advantages over other registrars:
GoDaddy: The worst offender when it comes to up-selling. GoDaddy is cheap because they are all about bulk. They also have a history of nabbing a domain name you may search for to see if it is available and then attempting to sell it to you later for a much higher price.
Network Solutions: Just because they are one of the oldest does not mean they are the best. Network Solutions' domain name and SSL prices are typically 3-4 times higher than NameCheap. They also charge a premium for basic services that other registrars provide for free such as web forwarding (sending one domain to another) for $12 per month. Their DNS management is painfully antiquated and can take up to 3 days to take effect. By comparison WMD's custom DNS changes show up in around 5 minutes. We have had instances where it has taken a month to have single DNS record changed which required intervention by Network Solutions support staff.
Register.com and Web.com: Just no. Network Solutions bought both.
Header photo by Scott Blake on Unsplash
Blackboard photo by Ekaterina Novitskaya on Unsplash