Help! My Web site is being held hostage by my Webmaster!

Dave,

I totally disagree with you on this. I, myself is a freelance webmaster as well.I have dealt with customer like this hundreds of time. This kind of customers always want to change thing on the website but do not know how to change. So they asked me to chang eit for them? am I going to charge them? Heck yes, I am because that costs my time to do it. If they want to do it, that is fine with me. DO it but if they mess up HTML, that is entirely their fault.

Now, going back to this poster, if he wants to change th content of his website and if he sure know how to do it, simply just ask the webmaster the username, password and FTP info of the website. She/HE will be happy to give it to you, because you own it. Once she/he gives that info to you, you are now making change to your web site on your own.

BUT if she/he denies not giving you the username/password, then you need to contact your hosting company and have them change it for you because you pay for the host.

Just my 2 cents.

Good advice Dave. I would add one more thing to it.

In the event you find yourself having to switch webmasters, one option is to look for someone who can provide a website which is more user maintainable than the traditional write-your-own-HTML and upload via FTP to some file directory structure you don't understand, praying it all works. There are plenty of web platforms these days that offer users the ability to easily edit text on the website, upload pictures, or even change how the various site is organized.

One such platform is Microsoft SharePoint. I plan on kicking off a part-time business doing this very thing for small businesses and individuals, but I'm certainly not the only one out there--do a google search on SharePoint websites and have your pick!

Good luck to the original poster on resuming control of your site!

I too take issue with this answer. I am a freelance web designer who has been in this situation before. Most of my clients hire me because they want a website for their business but they have no idea how to proceed. I am very clear how I bill out for my services and what can be expected after the site goes live. If they want to take over maintenance, I have NO PROBLEM with that. However, if they mess it up beyond repair and want me to fix it, then I absolutely must bill out for that time since that was not part of the original contract. I also offer quarterly maintenance plans for my customers that offer a total of 3 hours of my time per quarter for $79. That way, then can feel free to ask me to add links, change some sentences around, post some images, etc. This also provides me with a steady stream of income and I don't feel like I am giving away my work for free. This has worked out very well for both parties. The original question sounds like there is a communication issue between both parties or the web developer did not do a good enough job explaining the billing process.

Yes, Dave, even though I love your advice most of the time, I have to wonder why you automatically go along with the guy who sent in the question, and act as if the web site designer is a criminal of some kind.

Just as is the case with Raytracer and Michael above, I can't afford to make changes, edits, and revises on a web site without getting paid for it. And just like these two guys I'm happy to give the customer the information necessary to work on the site himself..and will even give him some "technical support" on how to get started...but chances are he's never going to be able to figure it out.

As for his complaint that his webmaster has the audacity to charge him up-front for this work...well...have you considered that maybe she's had trouble getting this customer to pay for work in the past...and now she knows that the only way to get paid is to make him pay upfront?

My advice to that complainer: Buy some books about web site design, purchase some software...spend weeks or months learning what you need to know...and then have fun.

I'm guessing that this guy is a deadbeat.

I have read people say that they will give their client the username and password and let them take over the site. But I do not want to let the people that have stabbed me in the back take over the site I have created for them. It was my work and they have gone behind my back and have someone else who thinks she is simply going to step in and take over my job. I made the site, did the research, etc..... AM I REALLY supposed to just GIVE IT AWAY?? I purchased the site in my name and there is nothing in writing saying it was on anyone's behalf and we never even discussed him having any ownership of it. I was under the impression I was providing him a monthly service and I could terminate that if I so desired as could he. If he had even told me that he had someone else he wanted to do it, and had some class about it I might have worked this out better. But he was sneaky and lied and I am not giving away my work to people like that. Am I in the wrong? He is getting a lawyer but I feel I am in the right. What do you and your readers make of this situation?

I think it is wrong for a web designer/developer to hold a client's website hostage per se but from personal experience I do think a certain element of control has to be retained by the webmaster.

I've built sites for clients who hands up tell me they haven't got a clue what to do etc and want me to look after all updates - granted 99% of the time, I get the updates done the same day. Along the way though I do show them how many of the simpler things can be done but do warn them that if they bust the layout and takes me time to fix it I will charge for that time.

I have one client who also pays me a monthly hosting fee who is a terrible payer, after invoicing I always have to send 4 or 5 reminders. She eventually asked if she could pay one lump sum yearly as she found it easy to forget monthly payments (I thought invoices might remind her of this...) so I agreed and last time I invoiced her for the full year. Guess what?.. still no payment and I'm onto reminder three already...

It's not always the webmaster who's the villain it's the client!

Anyway I've smothered her site with my Google Ads for now until she pays up. I am next considering going to her bar with a load of friends, running up a large tab and making her wait three months before I pay.

Besides, without reigning most clients in a bit their sites would end up covered in animated .gifs, scrolling marquees, background music, dead links ooh maybe even a nice fancy flash intro page... :O)

Steve.

Years ago we had a guy develop a website for us. He is no longer "anywhere" to be found. We need to make changes to our site but have no idea how to get onto the site to do that? Can you give me any advice?

Thanks!

Hi Cindy. I have the benefit of seeing your domain name, so I checked on your site, and you're right. It needs some updates. Not the least of which is it needs some contact information: how can you drive business through your site if there's no way for a visitor to get ahold of you? :-(

I did a whois database lookup on the domain name through the InterNIC

http://www.internic.net/whois.html

and found this:

Referral URL: http://registrar.godaddy.com
Name Server: NS1.EMEDIA-GROUP.NET

So I would call GoDaddy and ask them to help you out. It's possible that emedia-group.net was the company that originally registered the domain for you? Good luck.

there can be couple of reasons - no time for fixing the damage from such edits or it's just attempt to prevent the damage. I feel in heaven when client can manage routine work by himself, i believe any webmaster feels the same. It's faster to write 3 php pages that teach someone how to insert html link into footer. Hardly webmaster tried to benefit from this situation - I can't imagine someone can charge a fortune for changing html.