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BusDreamer
10-12-2015, 03:32 AM
Hello,
I am facing some technical issues with my blog. I am intending to assign a freelancer to handle these issues. I found that I have to give here administrator access to the wordpress dashboard to solve the problem. I am not really very comfortable about this although I know the freelancer personally.

What do you think about this? what you do if you need freelancer help with wordpress issue?

turboguy
10-12-2015, 06:53 AM
I have been in that situation a few times, mostly for work on my forum. You can always change the password after they finish. I think since you know the people you don't need to worry. I was picking people I didn't know off a forum for the software but did pick people who had posted a lot and who had done a lot of projects for people.

Harold Mansfield
10-12-2015, 10:54 AM
If you have a technical issue that needs to be solved and you want someone to fix it, there is no way around it. They need access. Depending on the issue they may even need access to your hosting. If you're paying by the hour it's best to give them what they need to do the job so that they can do it as quick as possible.

Hopefully you've done your due diligence on your service provider and just as you would for any other service provider.
You can always change any passwords or delete any user accounts they've created for themselves after they are done.

Best case scenario is that you know how to create an accounts just for them that you can delete easily later.
If they need FTP access, you can create a limited account that only gives them access to your specific area where the WordPress site is, and you can back up your own files and database beforehand.

But most people don't know how to do this, and it's on the service provider to do it, which is more of a reason why they need access.

billbenson
10-13-2015, 08:22 PM
At some point, you have to trust people. Just do frequent backups of your site.

This brings up a question which I have probably asked before: How do you keep track of files which have either been added or changed on your site?

This could either be related to a freelancer per your question or viruses being placed on your site.

Brian Altenhofel
10-14-2015, 01:37 AM
create an accounts just for them that you can delete easily later

This. There is rarely any instance where a freelancer (or any other developer) needs the equivalent of "superuser" access to your site or accounts. If it's a configuration issue with Wordpress, then they just need a user that allows sufficient permissions to manipulate that particular configuration. If it's a code issue, then they only need the ability to look at the code (such as a read-only FTP account if on a cheap host - you can be the one to actually do the upload after verifying that the changes work). If they need access to your hosting provider for technical information, most providers will allow you to add an authorized user that can only discuss technical information but not make any actual account changes. This is especially important for sites that handle financial data (like ecommerce).


How do you keep track of files which have either been added or changed on your site?

If a developer isn't using version control (Git is the most popular, but Subversion, Mercurial, Bazaar, and CVS are still used by some) these days, they shouldn't be a developer.

Harold Mansfield
10-14-2015, 01:54 PM
This. There is rarely any instance where a freelancer (or any other developer) needs the equivalent of "superuser" access to your site or accounts. If it's a configuration issue with Wordpress, then they just need a user that allows sufficient permissions to manipulate that particular configuration.

They need full Admin access. If it's a network, they need Super Admin. There's no other way. Anything less is too prohibitive. Honestly if you don't trust your service provider enough to give them the access they need to fix or do what you need done, you probably shouldn't be giving them any access at all.



If a developer isn't using version control (Git is the most popular, but Subversion, Mercurial, Bazaar, and CVS are still used by some) these days, they shouldn't be a developer.

I don't use Git for client sites because clients don't know how to use Git. Git would be more for internal development of themes and plug ins.
I do perform my own backups though.

WordPress uses child themes. So if any theme changes need to be made, that's where they go so that it doesn't disrupt the main theme and you can still apply updates without changing the structure of the website. There's rarely any reason for anyone to change the WordPress core anymore so those files should always be intact and easily reinstalled if there's an issue.

Pretty much every host has automatic back ups, and roll back features. The better your plan, the better your backup options. If you have the cheapest thing offered, then you should learn how to do your own backups regularly.

Most technical issues are database (rare), theme/coding mistakes, bad/old plug ins, server issues or people just not performing regular updates and maintenance.

You have to try really hard or just have no idea what you're doing to completely destroy a WordPress site. Somehow people still manage to do it.