Shifting WordPress from Manual to Automattic

Alex Sirota, Director
NewPath Consulting
@alexsirota
Shifting WordPress
from Manual to Automattic
Podcamp Toronto 2016
February 20 and 21
Copy of this presentation is available online.
Robin Macrae
@robin_macrae

About Alex and Robin
Alex Sirota, Director of NewPath Consulting, is a pioneer in orchestrating cloud-based systems to meet the
needs of small and medium sized business (SMBs). NewPath Consulting provides technology advice,
services and training to educate and enable SMBs to optimize business activities through the cloud.
NewPath curates and integrates a suite of cloud-based products that transform businesses into more
productive and profitable organizations. Alex is an organizer of the Toronto WordPress Group Meetup and
leads the Toronto WordPress Group Meetup | North Edition launched in January 2016.
@alexsirota, @newpathtech, http://www.newpathconsulting.com
Robin Macrae works with NewPath Consulting in several roles. He is a content strategy and development
consultant with a background in information architecture, content management, software development and
marketing. He has been a thought leader in professional systems and digital work methodologies for many
years. He has been a WordPress consultant and a member the Toronto WordPress Group Meetup since its
inception in 2010 and a speaker at WordPress, SharePoint and content management events throughout
North America.
@Robin_Macrae, https://www.linkedin.com/in/robinmacrae,
http://workspacebuilders.com/
2

What we will talk about
● Building and managing WordPress websites can be a challenge. There is a lot
to know.
● Things can go wrong, and we will show a few examples of how.
● There are several different ways you can go about managing your website
○ Do it yourself (DIY)
○ Managed hosting and support
○ Agencies
○ Digital Workplace
● We will discuss each and detail and describe technical and business benefits
of each approach.
3

WordPress is awesome, but it can become a
headache.
● You started on shared hosting, installed WordPress, read
some DIY articles and thought:
“WordPress is so easy! Anyone can do this!”
● To run WordPress well, you should know about
○ security and corrective measures
○ performance issues
○ disaster recovery
○ development best practices
4
R

A thought exercise
Don’t update WordPress — several months pass.
Watch it get hacked.
Tip: Set the admin account’s password to admin or password
Call your shared hosting company and ask them to fix it.
Rebuild your site from scratch.
7
R

How much does this 1 page website cost to build and maintain?
8

WordPress management options
9
Managed Hosting
Agencies
Managed Support
DIY Management
Digital Workplace
R

The new WordPress ecosystem
10
Third party (3p) plugins, themes and
services (DIY)
use the WordPress plugin directory and 3rd party plugin vendor’s
website to choose, install and manage them
Managed hosting scalable hosting, backend management (security, etc.)
Managed support monthly subscription service for minor maintenance, fixes, updates
Agencies Use WordPress to build sales, marketing and operational
capabilities for your business
Digital workplace Use WordPress as part of a business platform along with business
advice and training
R

● Self-trained configuration of hosting environment
○ (nginx vs Apache vs IIS, PHP 5.x/7, HHVM, VPS)
● Plugins
● Web Services
● Freelance markets
Some DIY management recommendations
11
R

Plugins
● Caching WP Rocket, WP Super Cache, W3 Total Cache (resource)
● Backup: Backup Buddy (resource)
● Security plugins: WordFence, iThemes Security (resource)
12

Web Services
● Backup: Vault Press (resource)
● Security: Sucuri.net (resource)
● Security/Load Balancing: CloudFlare.com
13

Freelance Marketplaces
● Envato Studio: find talent, supply brief, manage job online, approve job
● Upwork (formerly eLance)
● WordPress theme design at 99designs.ca - $679 - $2799 for a design
competition
● Guru - over 87,000 “WordPress” resources, 400 in Toronto
14
R

Managed hosting
15
Build your own car ($-$$)
Public transit ($)
Uber for Hosting ($$-$$$$)
Host specific implementation
R

WordPress hosting options
Shared
● GoDaddy Hosting
● 1and1
● BlueHost
● DreamHost
● Hostgator
● Thousands more
Virtual private server
● Many major
shared hosts
offer VPS options
● Digital Ocean
● Amazon Web
Services
● Linode
● 100s more
Managed WordPress
● 20+ options
available today (⅓+
of managed WordPress Hosts
are shared hosts as well)
● Really just a
marketing term
● We will look
closer at 3 hosts,
all quite different
16
R

Deep dive on managed WordPress
Cost + support
● Diverse customers
(SMBs, Agencies,
Development
shops)
● Support varies from
light configuration
to development
● Very competitive
market and you do
get what you pay
for!
Architecture
The architecture affects:
● level of caching and
optimization
● workflow
● security
Great custom UI make
complex processes user
friendly. No cPanel.
Bells & whistles
● Migration support
(free to fantastic)
● Pre-packaged
proprietary plugins
and themes (e.g.
Genesis comes free
with WebSynthesis,
5-minute quickstart
on GoDaddy Pro)
17
20
min

3 approaches to managed
WordPress hosting
18

GoDaddy
Managed
WordPress
cheap ‘n cheerful
19

Go Pro with GoDaddy
● Super user-friendly including automatic migration from
most WordPress installations, simple DNS configuration
● Premium support available through GoDaddy Pro
● Free “GoDaddy Get Started” plugin to build a site in less
than 5 minutes, start with 5 domains + 5 staging sites
● Staging -> production deployment for a complex
WordPress site can be finicky
● Improving all the time
20

Simple migration user interface...
21

WP Engine
5+ year WordPress pioneer
and performance champion
23

WP Engine
● Focus on WordPress for 5+ years, a pioneer
● Technical support is exceptional for large scale, complex projects
● A “labs team” researches performance improvements (eg HHVM, geoIP,
Steven Word gets paid by WP engine to contribute to WordPress core)
● Innovated early to create staging->production workflow, proprietary caching
can handle tremendous loads, especially peaks
● In March 2015, WP Engine received investment of $23M, can upgrade to
WordPress VIP
● Saucal testimonial from January 2016
● No trial available
24

Backup interface. Note backups before and after WordPress core upgrades.
25

Cloning/Templating Interface
26

Pantheon
● DevOps-for-hire for organizations without a DevOps team
● Dev->staging->production workflow
● Uses existing Linux container technology (like Google App
Engine, Heroku), your SLA = largest Customer SLA
● Free developer sites, pay only for production
● Began with Drupal, added WordPress, runs PHP execution
engines, HHVM available
28

What could go wrong?
29
From Josh Koening’s Workflow is a Dance presentation (Pantheon).

Multidev: an innovation for DevOps
30
5 things you can stop dealing with
now:
- “It worked on my machine.”
- Wrangling with local dev tools
- Praying new feature will scale
- Reconciling out-of-sync
development databases
- Delaying sign-off because there
wasn’t a stable environment for
review

Public managed
WordPress
survey
http://bit.ly/wpsidebyside
The survey was conducted February
2015 with feedback from
WordPress Hosting Group on
Facebook (>2,000 hosting experts
across the world). Join today!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/wphosting/
31
Scope: Only managed Wordpress (cached,
tuned, automatic backups, auto-updated
core) hosting

Managed support
WPMU DEV reviewed 7 managed support services providers. Their typical services
included:
○ custom development including complex design changes as well as tweaks
○ updates to WordPress core, themes, and plugins
○ backups
○ security
○ performance optimization
○ website monitoring
○ site migration
32

Examples of managed support companies
● WP Tweaks: $50-$190/month, 3 month minimum commitment, 30 minute
“tweaks” on just about any improvement or fix, one time tweak $50
● WP Maintainer: $99 per month for security, backups and updates. $99/hour
for customizations.
○ Interesting Q&A: What happens if my site breaks when you update WordPress or my plugin(s)/theme(s)? We
will spend up to one (1) hour of time fixing/troubleshooting the issue – if we cannot fix within that time, we
will give you a time/cost estimate and let you decide if you’d like us to move forward.
● WP Site Care: $99 and $349/month
○ $349 plan offers core managed services plus priority support, uptime monitori
staging environment, performance optimization, CDN and SEO Audit
33

Examples of managed support services
● WP Curve has 39 staff in 8 countries and ~800 customers (Feb 2016)
○ $79 unlimited 30 minute jobs, 1 request at a time
○ $99 includes unlimited jobs plus upgrade, backup and security
○ $199 includes up to 3 jobs at the same time, Quality Assurance review, 4 hour turn around
● WP Butler offers customized service plans from $40 - 150 / month
● Automattic’s WordPress VIP’s services provide support/hosting for high
volume sites from $1,200 - 5,000 per month
34

Examples of managed support service providers
● WP Curve & WP Site Care considered leaders in this space
● WPUP.co is a new Toronto-based company with 6 staff in 3 countries.
○ $97 for unlimited small tasks (30 mins or less) plus proactive backup, plugin and theme
updates, and security.
○ Agency-friendly - brings bigger jobs back to the agencies.
○ Average turnaround time is less than 3 hours.
○ Team evaluated on clients' satisfaction instead of number of tickets or speed of completion.
○ Plans start from $47/mo.
● Devrix.com’s support plans from $210 - 1,400 per month
● WebDev Studios maintenance plans priced by customer
35

Agencies
● Agencies may offer managed hosting and/or managed services (usually
outsourced) but that’s not their primary value proposition
● WordPress agencies combine marketing/advertising/design agency services
with WP configuration, development (as needed) and hosting (as needed)
● Thousands of agencies employ WordPress. Here’s a review of a few well
known ones.
○ Saucal is a Canadian design firm that has been doing WordPress for several years.
○ Devrix.com started in 2010 with transparent pricing.
○ In Toronto, Kobayashi.ca and Zeitguys.com
● Agency + Search Engine Tech + Huge Sales Team
○ Advice Interactive Group - local search SEO & SEM, focus on B2C services
36

Paradigm Shift - Building Digital Workplaces
Becoming a digital workplace is a business transformation exercise. It uses the advantages
and potentials of integration and implementation of new technologies as an opportunity to
change existing business models and generate new business potential from technical,
functional and user-oriented innovations.
The paradigm shift is not about reinventing the wheel, but rather about leveraging the
excellent best-practice technology patterns that have been well established and applying
business best-practices on a continuous basis.
By focusing on the holistic care of the customer, you can transform them into a digital
workplace. Your core value proposition is to understand who your customers are, what they
need, and what success means to them—then deliver on long-term, intelligent solutions.
37
R

Building Digital Workplaces
38
● Requires a thorough review of customer’s business model to identify transformation path, not
one particular technology solution
● Pricing is pay-as-you-profit, fixed-price monthly service plans
● Use modern software to assemble solutions to business problems (no custom coding)
● Focus on continuous iteration with regular projects over duration of relationship
● Renewals and upgrades is a direct byproduct of customer growth
○ Consequently, a failure to grow can be seen as service provider failure to facilitate
transformation into a digital workplace

Conventional Business Models of Agency/Dev Shops
39
● Business consulting typically an added cost or not available
● Focused on projects over a fixed, pre-determined amount of time, sometimes
involving RFPs
● Pricing may be either fixed price contracts or time & materials
● Long-term maintenance plans usually cost extra or require moving to a different
vendor

Examples of a digital workplace business model
● Devrix.com offers WordPress development retainers at $2,800/month
○ If you are looking for a simple website running a ThemeForest theme, we are not a
good fit for you. If your business doesn’t generate revenue, we can’t help you start
from scratch. (s: FAQ)
● Valet.io specializes in “high-end service & support”
○ Provides development services using agile at $10,000 per month
○ Has maintenance plans to support ongoing support efforts
○ Specializes in UX/UI design and WordPress development services including
theme and plugin development, if required
40

NewPath Consulting
● NewPath Consulting offers a monthly pay-as-you-profit service providing your
small business with expert advice and the best cloud based tools. We tailor a
plan to help your business become more productive, powerful and profitable!
● Our team reviews and tests the best and most user-friendly cloud software.
Then we design a package of tools and services specifically for your small
business. We even do some of the work for you, at no additional cost!
● NewPath Consulting $239 - $1,799 per month for digital workplace platform
41

Let’s recap
● Managing WordPress effectively is difficult and important for everyone.
● Things can go wrong. Managed WordPress service providers are a good
choice if you don’t want to the management yourself.
● There is a lot of overlap between the value proposition of each type of
managed service provider — the key difference is the orientation and the
scope of services.
● You now have the tools and insights to make a sound decision.
42

Treats
Review your site’s security profile with SiteCheck by Sucuri and your
website’s technical and marketing health with nibbler.silktide.com.
You’ll be pleasantly surprised, and maybe somewhat shocked at how
much work there is still to do, and what is considered a “well-designed”
website.
43
R

Will you shift from manual
to automatic?
Q&A
@alexsirota
@newpathtech
(888) 781-2539
Visit newpathconsulting.
com to find out more
about how we help
businesses transform
into digital workplaces.
Please let us know your
feedback online.
44
@Robin_Macrae
(416) 255-7450

Shifting WordPress from Manual to Automattic

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