Service Description
WP Dev is intended for web development and testing prior to publishing a website and its production use. WP Dev offers an affordable option when the site is not yet meant for public use, but its functionalities need to be tested as thoroughly as possible in a server environment that is as close as possible to production use. It is also the right choice when there is a need to develop features such as an e-commerce store or a multisite, which normally belong to more expensive hosting plans. WP Dev is particularly suitable for demanding and long-term web development projects.
The WP Dev hosting plan is not intended for production use. The plan must be upgraded to another plan before the is published and its use in production begins. Seravo’s customer service advises on determining the appropriate hosting plan, if needed.
The site must not be publicly accessible on the web, nor may it be used as an active online store. However, the site may be shared internally within organizations and its stakeholders, for example, for staff testing or for presentation purposes when dicussing the project with a client. If it is detected that the site has been published and is used in production, Seravo may block access to the site.
Service Content
The service is subject to Seravo’s Terms.
WP Dev offers an opportunity to get acquainted with Seravo’s hosting service for WordPress. It is also a solution in cases where using a local development environment is not an option. This way, the site can be developed and tested as well as possible in a state that corresponds the production environment, before making the site accessible to public. This way, the site’s functionalities can be ensured beforehand, as it is developed in its actual hosting environment, and data does not need to be migrated upon the site’s completion.
When publishing a WP Dev site and putting it into production use, the plan must be upgraded to a more suitable one (WP Start, WP Pro, WP Business, WP Corporate, or WP Enterprise). Upgrading the plan is done by contacting Seravo’s customer service.
The WP Dev plan includes one website environment intended only for development use, including one database and one WordPress installation. With WP Dev, it is permitted to install an e-commerce plugin, such as WooCommerce.
With WP Dev plan, the WordPress installation can also be converted into a WordPress network installation, which supports the multisite feature.
The site environment provides a rich set of developer tools pre-installed. In addition, Seravo’s own tools and commands are available to facilitate your work.
The service plan includes updates to the WordPress core, plugins and themes, which are implemented using Seravo’s own update system. Seravo’s proprietary update system tests site updates in a separate shadow environment before deploying them in production, to ensure the updates do not break the site and cause problems with its functionalities.
All Seravo’s plans include automatic 30-day on-site backups. Backups are performed once a day, usually at night. The backups are freely available to customers, and the site can be restored at any time up to one month in the past. Automatic backups do not use up the disk space quota of the plan. A separate off-site backup is also available in the event of exceptional circumstances, such as server failure, and is included in the plan.
The WP Dev plan includes 15 GB of disk space. Additional disk space is available at an additional cost, or the plan can be upgraded to a bigger plan if needed.
If the site environment is not used exclusively for development purposes, the plan can be upgraded. The WP Dev plan is also suitable for backend or headless use, but even in such cases, the site must not be in production use. Website resources are usually not limited at Seravo’s premium hosting service, but Seravo may on a case-by-case basis limit the resources of websites on the WP Dev plan.
The WP Dev plan does not include additional staging environments (shadows).
WP Dev includes 1000 SMTP requests per month. Seravo uses SendGrid for emails sent by WordPress sites. You can also use another SMTP service if you wish.
The WordPress experts of Seravo’s customer service respond to issues and inquiries via email, phone, or the chat found on the seravo.com website on weekdays. Calling customer service is free of charge (local network charge/mobile call charges apply). Customer service includes, for example, guidance related to using the service, changes related to the hosrting plan, or restoring the site from a backup.
Should any issues arise, customers are required to contact Seravo’s customer service.
Additional Services
Extensive troubleshooting or website development, such as code modifications, theme development, or updates to site content, are not included in the plan. Help with web development can be purchased from Seravo as an additional service (invoiced separately). Extensive optimizations and fault diagnostics can also be be purchased as specialist expert work. All additional services and expert work are agreed upon on a case-by-case basis.
The WP Dev service package does not have an availability SLA level (99.9% on other plans). However, Seravo’s Security Guarantee applies.
PHP upgrades are not included in the service plan. Seravo provides tools and instructions to update the PHP version on your site.
The limits of the plan are contractual and the site’s bandwidth or resources will not be throttled or blocked even if the plan’s limits are temporarily exceeded. The plan will need to be upgraded if the site’s traffic increases, and resource usage repeatedly exceeds the plan’s limits. Once a service plan has been set up, it is not possible to adjust limits such as HTTP or SMTP request volumes, but additional services (disk space, email, etc.) can be ordered.
SMTP requests for the service plan are for email traffic sent by the WordPress site. For personal mailboxes, a separate email service from the provider of your choice can be used. It is also possible to purchase an email service through Seravo or get advice and recommendations on purchasing email services.
The WP Dev plan does not include a dedicated account manager, nor does the service include any debugging or development consultation. All support requests, especially urgent ones, should be directed to Seravo’s customer support, preferably by e-mail, to help@seravo.com.