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Outsourcing

Should you be interested in outsourcing the development of your WordPress website(s), please read through to ensure a smooth experience. In the interest of avoiding expensive and time-consuming surprises, all new contracts for WordPress websites development should require development to commence directly on CERN's WordPress Service (hereinafter "the Service"), rather than be developed externally and subsequently instantiated and migrated onto our infrastructure. Additionally, developers should follow https://wordpress.docs.cern.ch to setup and familiarise themselves with the Service.

The following rules apply:

  • Only the plugins and the CERN WordPress Theme included centrally in Service may be used;
  • no plugins enabled by the service can be disabled --- particularly, the authentication and authorisation is configured by the Service, and uses CERN SSO and Authorization Service, as well as role configuration via the Application-Portal;
  • upgrades to WordPress and plugins are provided centrally without the possibility of fixing a given website to a specific WordPress version; and
  • if any customisation (theme, plugins, integrations, etc.) is added, an explicit exception must be sought from the Web Governance Board (see https://governance.web.cern.ch/) before initiating development and the website owner(s) must accept that it will be their sole responsibility to ensure compatibility or fix any issues that might arise.

Additionally, we further recommend:

  • Maintenance: foreseeable maintenance tasks (such as adapting the website after WordPress or plugins upgrades, minor fixes/corrections etc.) should preferably be included, or at least agreed upon, in the original contract.
  • Ownership / Intellectual Property: CERN should be the owner of (or at least have the right to use), and should have received all the code, content, images etc.
  • If any code is created, it should be available as a deliverable prior the website reaching production and it should be hosted in CERN's GitLab Service.

If you have any questions regarding outsourcing the development of your WordPress website, please create a ticket.