3:30pm PST, September 8th, 2011 was the beginning of the power outage in a lot of the Southwest United States.
I didn't realize it was everywhere at first - I thought it was just my office; the entire building at best. Sure enough, the other office tenants came wandering out asking about the others' power.
Turns out it was pretty much all of Southern California, part of Arizona and even extending to some of Mexico.
All of this had me thinking:
- What do you do when the power goes out on your website?
- What happens when things go wrong with your site?
- Do you have a backup plan?
It's always wise to be prepared.
What do you do in the event of a website emergency?
Here's a few scenarios that you may encounter as a website owner, but may not know how to handle - and how to be prepared for the unexpected.
Keep Backups
You should be performing routine backups to your website and keeping those separate from the rest of your website data.
Database Backups: 1x per week
If your website runs on a database, you should create a backup once a week or so and keep that database backup on your computer or safely hosted elsewhere.
Files/Folders Backup: 1x per month
For the rest of your website, you should probably ZIP and store your files about once a month.
The exact steps to backing up your site will depend on your hosting. You should contact the Support Team for your hosting company immediately to find out how to get this set up automatically.
Verify the Emergency
When the power turned off, everyone's first instinct was to check to see who else was experiencing the issue. If it was just us, then we could assume the issue would probably be fixed quickly and we could resume regular work. So we verified that it was in fact a real issue before making any decisions.
Sometimes you're the only one experiencing the issue. If your website is down, for example, you can check this website to see if it's also down for everyone else:
You can also call a friend and have them check to see if they're getting the same error.
Is your website having a real problem?
Take the following steps before doing anything else:
- Take a screenshot of the problem
- Create a .txt file that outlines the steps you took to find the problem (take note of your web browser, your internet connection, where you came from, and any other details you can think of)
- Try to follow the steps you outlined in your .txt file and recreate the issue to make sure it's still a problem (take more screenshots of what you're doing exactly along the way)
- If it's still a problem, zip your screenshots and .txt file together so you can easily send it to people who can help you
Resources:
Contact Information
Just like in a real life emergency, it's important to have the right information easily available to you.
Contact information you should have readily available:
- Domain company: Phone number, email, and support page
- Hosting company: Phone number, email, and support page
- Web developer: Email
Account Information
If you ever find yourself needing to go to the hospital or getting roadside assistance, you'll notice that if you want to get covered you need your insurance account information.
The same goes for getting support with your domain or hosting company. You should have:
- Domain company: Your account number, your username, the email you used to register with them
- Hosting company: Your account number, your username, the email you used to register with them, the primary domain on your account
Emergency Plan
When SDG&E told everyone that "now was the time to activate your family emergency plan", imagine how many families looked at each other without a clue of what to do next?
Don't let this be you. Have an emergency plan.
Step 1: Do some research.
Even if you're not going to be able to fix the problem yourself, you need to figure out who you should be talking to first.
- Scenario #1: Your website is showing, but there are a bunch of weird issues on the page. Start by contacting your developer/designer.
- Scenario #2: Your website isn't showing at all. You're getting a gray page with an error telling you that there's nothing there. Start by contacting your hosting company.
- Scenario #3: Your domain is leading to a website, but it's not yours. Start by contacting your domain company.
If those scenarios don't sound right, try Googling your problem to see what others have to say about it.
A great technique is to copy and paste the error into Google.
What if you run your own website and don't have a designer or developer? You can always Google the name of the software you use (WordPress, Joomla, etc) with the issue you're having to get help. Most software has a support board where you can get help.
Step 2: Reach out to your emergency contacts.
Once you've done your homework, reach out to the appropriate party. Send them your ZIP file with the steps that led to the problem and the screenshots.
Step 3: Keep calm, don't panic, and be patient.
If everyone in San Diego had freaked out, left their houses trying to evacuate, or just generally panicked... well, lets just say that there would have been a lot more issues.
Once you've done what you can do, it's time to step out of the way and let the professionals do their jobs. Don't mistreat the people who are helping you.
Your emergency will get resolved, just stay vigilant!
What do you have in place for website emergencies?
Did I miss anything? Share your thoughts in the comments.