A Pattern That Repeats Constantly
Developer finishes the work. Hands over the site. Everything looks good. Client is happy.
Three months later: site loads slowly. Or a plugin stopped working. Or payments fail. Or the site goes down completely. Developer isn't answering.
This is not bad luck. It's a predictable consequence of how most small web projects are handed over.
Reason 1: WordPress and Plugin Updates
WordPress is updated. WooCommerce is updated. Each plugin is updated — sometimes weekly. These updates are necessary for security, but they can break things.
When a developer builds your site, everything works with the versions that existed at that moment. When WordPress releases version 6.5 three months later, and your theme was built for 6.3, things can break.
This isn't the developer's fault for building it — it's part of the reality of running a WordPress site. But it means someone needs to manage updates, test after each update, and fix incompatibilities. If no one is doing this — the site gradually breaks on its own.
What to do: Log into your WordPress admin. Go to Dashboard → Updates. You'll see a list of plugins with available updates. Do not click "Update All". Instead, update one plugin at a time. After each update, visit your site's key pages (homepage, product page, checkout page) to check for errors. If everything looks fine, proceed to the next plugin. If something breaks, use a free plugin like WP Rollback to revert to the previous version. Alternatively, ask your hosting provider if they offer a staging site — a copy where you can test updates safely before applying them to the live site. Never walk away after clicking "Update All".
Reason 2: Hosting Plan Expires or Changes
Hosting providers change PHP versions. What worked on PHP 7.4 might not work on PHP 8.2. Hosting plans expire. Resource limits change.
A site that worked perfectly on one server configuration can break when the server is upgraded. This is infrastructure drift — the site was stable, the environment around it changed.
What to do: Know your hosting provider (e.g., SiteGround, Bluehost, Kinsta). Set a calendar reminder for your hosting renewal date — don't rely on email alone. When you receive an email about a PHP version update or server migration, log into your hosting control panel. Before accepting the change, check your current PHP version (usually found under PHP Settings). If a staging environment is available, test your site on the new PHP version there. If not, ask the host to apply the change during low traffic and immediately test your site's core functionality: place a test order, submit a contact form, browse a few pages. If things break, revert to the old PHP version temporarily (most hosts allow this) and fix compatibility issues.
Reason 3: Third-Party Services Changed Their API
Your site connects to payment gateways, delivery services, CRM systems, email providers. Any of these can update their API, change authentication methods, or discontinue a feature.
When Liqpay updates their checkout flow, your WooCommerce payment integration might stop working. When Nova Poshta changes their API version, your address autocomplete breaks. These are not bugs in your site — they're external services changing.
What to do: Make a list of every third‑party service your site uses — payment gateways (Liqpay, Portmone), shipping providers (Nova Poshta, Ukrposhta), email services (Mailchimp, SendGrid), CRM tools (HubSpot, Salesforce). Each service has a status page or changelog. When something breaks, visit the service's developer documentation (e.g., Liqpay's API update notes) to see if they announced a change. Often the fix is to update the plugin that connects to that service (e.g., WooCommerce Liqpay Gateway). If no plugin update exists, you'll need a developer to modify the integration code. Keep login credentials for each service handy so you can check announcements and update settings.
Reason 4: The Site Was Never Fully Stable
Sometimes the developer delivered something that worked in their test environment but had underlying issues in the production setup. It ran okay for a while, then something pushed it over the edge — a traffic spike, an extra plugin, a database growing larger.
This is harder to catch without proper staging and load testing, which most small projects don't include.
What to do: Before final acceptance, create a test checklist. Go through a full purchase from product selection to order confirmation. Test on different devices (phone, tablet, desktop) and different browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari). Submit contact forms with unusual inputs (long text, special characters). Test search, filters, and login if applicable. Try edge cases like empty carts, rapid clicking, or entering invalid data. The more you test at handover, the earlier you catch instabilities. Ask the developer to fix any issues before you make the final payment.
Reason 5: No One Is Watching
Many sites break silently. An error appears only in certain conditions. A page that rarely gets traffic has a bug no one notices. The site works fine for 95% of visitors but fails for the 5% using a specific phone or browser.
If nobody is monitoring the site, problems can exist for weeks without being caught.
What to do: Sign up for UptimeRobot (free account). Add your site URL and set it to check every 5 minutes. You'll receive email alerts if your site goes down. Additionally, set a recurring weekly calendar reminder to manually visit your site on a phone and test a few actions — add an item to cart, fill out the contact form, browse a product page. This catches issues that monitoring alone might miss.
The Maintenance Question No One Asks
Before the project ends, ask: "What does this site need to keep running well, and who does it?"
The honest answer for a WordPress/WooCommerce site is:
- Plugin and theme updates: monthly
- Security monitoring: ongoing
- Backups: daily or weekly automated
- Periodic check of payment flow and key pages: monthly
None of this is the developer's ongoing responsibility unless you specifically pay for it. If nobody is doing it, the site will degrade.
Setting Up for Long-Term Stability
At project handover, ask your developer for:
- A list of all plugins and their purposes
- Hosting and domain login credentials
- How to update plugins safely (update one at a time, check after each)
- Who to contact if something breaks
- Whether automated backups are configured
Five minutes of handover documentation prevents hours of crisis management later.
If you've tried the steps above and your site is still not fixed (or you'd rather not do it yourself), that's when we can help. DevCev Digital provides ongoing maintenance and support so you don't have to worry about your website breaking again.