Four steps to prevent your developer taking over your website
Comparison site GoSwitch was vandalised after a developer locked out the owners of the site and used it to air grievances. Here Ben May sets out four rules to follow to stop the same thing happening to your brand.
If there’s a lesson to be learned from the events with GoSwitch, it’s that entrusting your website to a development partner – whether it’s a large agency, micro studio or a freelancer – can be riskier than it appears.
Like many things in life, it comes down to managing relationships and building mutual trust and respect between both parties.
There is nothing you can do from preventing someone with unrestricted access to your systems from going rogue and defacing them, or worse.
I remember back in my student days when my little freelance web dev operation would get constantly screwed over by SME clients. I made sure I had full control for these very reasons, it made for great leverage when negotiating outstanding accounts.
Pay your developer…
Or you know… I could make sure I actually pay the developer…
The key to running outsources teams is to be good at managing the relationship. It’s pretty clear that the guy affected was bad at it and he paid the price.
For $3,000, it’s worth just paying them as you really don’t want a horde of enemies causing your downfall.
1. Pay your suppliers
2. Pay your suppliers
3. Pay your suppliers
4. Pay your suppliers
“Pay your developer” was implied under the whole “building mutual trust and respect” thing.
Agree, nothing worse than having someone “going rouge”!
I’m sure everyone was seeing red over this, but I think you mean rogue (aberrant) not rouge (red) in par 3.
It is absolutely critical that you retain control of your domain name and its DNS records. If you do nothing else, do this.
Once you lose control of those records, you’ve lost control of everything.
Penguin, does that include losing control of your bowels?
JG: Post your registrar/DNS account login details here to find out!