When a website stops working, identify the scope first: is the entire site unavailable, only the administration area, or one function? Record the time, URL and error message. Specific evidence helps support investigate instead of guessing what “broken” means.
Check the customer experience
Try another network and a separate browser. Check the homepage and an important internal page. If a form reports success but no email arrives, delivery may be failing while the website remains available. Write down the steps that reproduce the problem.
- Exact URL and the time the issue was first noticed.
- Screenshot or error text without personal information.
- Recent code, plugin, DNS or hosting changes.
- Affected actions: enquiry, login, basket or payment.
- Available backups and their creation times.
Avoid changing everything at once
Random edits and mass deactivation of extensions can obscure the original cause. Appoint one person to coordinate the response. If compromise is suspected, preserve available logs and discuss access restrictions and replacement of affected credentials with the technical team.
Recover without losing recent records
Restoring yesterday’s database may remove today’s orders. The recovery plan should distinguish file restoration from data restoration. After the repair, complete a real customer journey and confirm that the expected notification arrives. An accessible homepage alone is insufficient evidence of recovery.
Request an incident report
Ask for the cause, repair and proposed preventive work. Available logs may not establish every detail; a useful report separates confirmed findings from hypotheses. This helps you decide whether to change hosting, monitoring or the maintenance process.
Does emergency support mean an immediate fix?
No. An agreed response time describes when service begins, while resolution depends on the cause. For ongoing coverage, compare the scope and cost of maintenance and establish the incident reporting route in advance.
Discuss your project with Studio Algorithm
Explore our services and send an enquiry with your website address, business goal and project constraints. This gives us a practical basis for discussing the scope.
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