General Terms and Conditions
Website Design –
Additional Terms & Conditions
Before We Begin
1. I provide you with an estimate for work to be carried out. The price may change if you change the requirements outlined in the estimate. I will need all website content to be provided and the functionality agreed before starting work on your project.
Payments and Deposit
1. After a price is agreed, a getting started amount will be invoiced; it must be paid and cleared in my bank account before any work starts.
2. The remaining balance will be invoiced at different stages through the project. The final payment must be paid before your website goes live.
3. The deposit is only refundable if no work starts.
4. For smaller jobs, the deposit is at my discretion and may vary.
5. If, at any stage, you change your mind about what you want to be delivered and are not happy with the direction my work is taking you’ll pay in full for the time I’ve spent working with you until that point; and we would agree to terminate the project.
Completion Date
1. I will make every effort to meet the agreed completion date. Sometimes, circumstances change and if for any reason I cannot meet the agreed completion date I will endeavour to notify you in plenty of time.
2. Any requests for extra work or changes to the project must be supplied in writing (for example, by email).
3. Requests for extra work or changes to the project specification after the specification is agreed, or are requested after the project has started, will affect the agreed completion date and agreed price. Any requests for extra work or changes to the project will be quoted for and, if agreed, will be invoiced in advance as an interim payment.
4. In addition to testing and checks that I carry out, it is the client’s responsibility to check over the finished project.
Technical Standards
1. I build the website to follow current web standards (within the agreed specification and budget). It will be tested to support the latest versions of Microsoft Edge, Opera, Mozilla Firefox, Safari and Google Chrome. If you need further browser support, this should be discussed at the start of the project and can be included in the original estimate and price.
2. I test the site on Windows and Mac platforms.
3. If the site specification includes a mobile device friendly design (a responsive design), I will test the site on Android smartphone, tablet, and an Apple iOS device. Other testing can be arranged but will add to the costs.
Payment Terms
1. I ask for payment within 7 days for completed web design projects.
2. Other work, e.g smaller web development jobs, is 7 days.
3. I am not VAT registered.
Important!
1. Paying the first deposit acts as an agreement for the above terms.
2. Paying for smaller jobs also acts as an agreement with the above.
Website Handover and Post Launch Terms and Conditions:
I enjoy working with my web design clients and see you as part of the Richard Thorne Web Design Family and want you to be an ongoing client for as long as you wish.
That being said there are a couple of important things to explain regarding post handover/launch.
The website I build is yours to keep and if you decide to go elsewhere sometime down the road you take your website with you.
There is a ‘14 day Fix Period’ after launch to fix any bugs or make any minor design changes not found in pre launch. After the Fix Period you are responsible for your website and any issues that may arise.
An Explanation:
WordPress is made of 3 main components, WordPress Core, the website theme and a set of plugins.
1 WordPress Core – This is the main framework that holds everything together.
2 Theme – This is the part that displays the website in your browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari etc)
3 Plugins – These add extra functions to your website to make it do what you want it to do (send email, Facebook share buttons, security, GDPR cookies etc.
All of these 3 components comprise of code and make WordPress very versatile, every website I build will have a set up unique to itself, now and then conflicts may occur between the different components of your website. It doesn’t happen often but if this happens you are responsible for having the issue fixed.
Thankfully I offer a Website Care Plan that will keep your website up to date, as secure as possible and monitored for downtime and any issues that may occur. My Website Care Plan is very good value for money and I also offer reduced cost for time spent on your website outside the limits of the Care Plan.
In Summary:
1- The website I build is yours to keep even if you decide to go elsewhere.
2- You are responsible for your website and any costs that may occur after your website is launched.
3- Richard Thorne Web Design will not be held responsible or liable for any Third-Party Services and any faults that may incur.
4- Richard Thorne Web Design cannot guarantee that your website will not be hacked after the handover date, however it they will do everything to prevent this from happening and restore the website back to a previous available backed up version of the website if you are on my Website Care Plan.
These Terms and Conditions may be amended and updated at any time without notice.
Last updated 8/7/2021
Web Hosting & Domain Names –
Additional Terms & Conditions
In General
* By completing your purchase, and/or logging into your account, or allowing files to be uploaded to it, you are indicating your acceptance of these Terms and Conditions.
* Registration of domain names is carried out on our clients’ behalf on a ‘best endeavours’ basis. There may be circumstances that mean we are unable to secure a requested domain name, even after it has been provisioned on our servers. Under these circumstances we will only be liable to offer a refund or to register an equivalent price domain name at the client’s request.
* If payments due are not received on schedule by Richard Thorne Web Design or my nominated agents we reserve the right to suspend, withdraw or cancel services.
* Domain and hosting renewals fall due on the renewal date. Any cancellation or change to those services must be received in writing or by email before the renewal date. If you cancel your account, no refunds will be made.
Your Webspace
* You may not store more data in your account than that allocated with your hosting product, however upgrades can be arranged quickly on request.
* Your virtual server (including FTP access to it) is for your use only. You must not divulge the password to any other person, and you should take reasonable precautions to ensure that it is not discovered by other people.
* Data stored on the servers is not guaranteed to be backed up, however backups are taken usually every 24 hours, and often older versions of files (since deleted) may be available in the monthly backups. A charge may be made for recovery of file(s). It is recommended that you keep an independent backup of all data stored on your webspace.
* You may not run server processes (eg talkers/IRC Bots) from your virtual server. Shell accounts (telnet or ssh) are not available on virtual web hosting packages.
* I shall not be held liable for any loss or damages caused by the use or misuse, unavailability or removal of services. When your account is closed, all files (including web pages) will be deleted. We reserve the right to cancel your account at any time without notice.
* If your site uses excessive bandwidth that has an adverse effect on other clients we reserve the right to disable your site until you can reduce your bandwidth usage, and bill you for bandwidth used over and above your allocation. Each hosting product includes a set bandwidth. If you exceed this usage, you may be required to upgrade your hosting account to cover bandwidth used.
* As a general guide, virtual hosting accounts are recommended for sites requiring up to 15GB of data per month. If you exceed your bandwidth allocation, additional charges may be made.
Email usage
* To protect your privacy we never distribute your name or email address to any third parties. Users must not participate in any form of un-solicited bulk emailing or spam. If you have a legitimate requirement to bulk email you must contact me first.
* Commercial use of hosting and email services is permitted. You will be responsible for the content of your website and emails, including obtaining the legal permission for any works they include and ensuring that their contents do not violate UK law.
* There a size limit on email attachments of 10 Mb.
* By default, all email accounts on the servers are screened from persistent senders of SPAM and UBM. To opt out of this service, please email richard@richardthorne.net – I cannot guarantee you will never receive junk emails, but their occurrence should be reduced as much as possible.
* By default, all emails are examined electronically for virus content. Any suspect emails may then be subject to individual scrutiny by one of the security team. I cannot guarantee emails are totally virus free and strongly recommend the permanent use of active anti-virus protection on any computer connected to the Internet.
* We don’t allow .exe files (or .zip files containing .exe files) to be sent by email.
Domain Names
* Purchase, transfer, renewal and use of domain names on Richard Thorne Web Design and our partner company’s equipment will comply with the relevant Nominet, TuCows OpenSRS, CentralNic and ICANN rules and guidelines as amended from time to time and published on their respective websites.
* I do not make a charge to transfer domain names to another register, however such transfers will only be effected once all outstanding invoices from Richard Thorne Web Design have been settled in full.
Legal
* You will be held responsible for, and accept responsibility for, any defamatory, confidential, secret or other proprietary material available via your web site or email. We reserve the right to remove material deemed inappropriate from your web pages, without prior notice. Richard Thorne Web Design does not allow the servers to be used for any illegal purpose. For the avoidance of doubt Richard Thorne Web Design does not permit the use of its servers for adult content.
Web Hosting Costs
1. Web hosting is payable yearly in advance or monthly by standing order. You must notify me by email to cancel. No refunds are given if hosting is cancelled.
2. Web hosting accounts will be suspended a week after the invoice is due if payment has not been received. This means that a website won’t be visible to visitors. It can be restored on full payment of the invoice.
Domain Names
1. Domain names are purchased on your behalf and registered in your name or Company name meaning you own the domain name.
These Terms and Conditions may be amended and updated at any time without notice.
Last updated 12/6/2020
Website Care Plan –
Additional Terms & Conditions
By placing an order with Richard Thorne Web Design, you confirm that you are in agreement with and bound by the terms and conditions below.
Definitions:
- The Client: The company, organisation or individual requesting the services of Richard Thorne Web Design.
- Richard Thorne Web Design: The freelance business of Richard Thorne and any associated partners or appointed agents.
- Contract Cycle: the agreed period of time for when WordPress updates are performed which for this contract is once every month.
Richard Thorne Web Design’s Maintenance Contract:
What is included:
- Updates to WordPress core once per week
- Updates to WordPress Plugins once per week
- Updates to WordPress Theme once per week
- Uptime Monitoring to inform me if your website goes down so I can take action if needed
- Installation of Wordfence (free version) security plugin to help prevent attacks and to scan website for malicious code.
- Daily visual change monitoring (3)
- Daily backup of Database
- Daily backup of Files
- Unlimited email support Monday to Friday between 10am and 5pm
- Phone support Monday to Friday between 10am and 5pm
What is not included:
- Addition of new features to the website or modification of existing features
- Changes to the design of the website
- Changes to the existing page content
Important Information/Disclaimer
I will always have your best interest at heart and do everything I can to keep your website safe and secure.
1- If after updates to WordPress core, WordPress plugins or WordPress themes are performed it is determined that one or more of the updates cause problems for the overall functioning of the website, then the site will be ‘rolled back’ to the state before the updates were performed using the latest website backup. Richard Thorne Web Design will then contact the Client to discuss options as to remedy the issue.
2- Website Hack/Cleaning. I can’t promise that your website won’t get hacked, but I will do everything within the scope of my Website Care Plan I can to prevent that and will be ready to restore your site back to normal. However, if your site is hacked and I can’t restore it using available backups, the cost is around £400.00 to clean your site and get it back in working order.
3- The Visual Monitoring Service I provide checks both your website home page and shop page (if you have an ecommerce store) every day for changes to the content on these pages, as well as the uptime monitoring and other checks that happen, your website is very well monitored but this doesn’t guarantee changes won’t go undetected. Due to the number of websites I manage it would be impossible for me to physically visit and check the content on every website within the cost of your Care Plan.
I am looking for a more effective way to check your website content without physically visiting it and without having to increase the plan price but until I do, if you don’t visit your site for updates, publishing posts etc on a regular basis I recommend you take a little look now and then to ensure your site is showing as it should. I can offer physically visiting your website once a week as an added service for £10.00 p/month if you wish.
These Terms and Conditions may be amended and updated at any time without notice.
Last updated 25/8/2021
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