Website Takeover and Rescue
Your developer left or the project stalled. We take over the site on any stack, make it safe and stable, and keep it running.
iTech4Web takes over websites that a previous developer or agency left broken, stalled or unmaintained. Every website project rescue starts with a free takeover audit: we secure your access, back up the site, check its health and give you a written plan with prices. Then we fix what is urgent and keep the site running, on Drupal, WordPress or a custom stack.
When the developer is gone and the site still has to work
Many organizations come to us after something went wrong with their last developer or agency. These are the situations we hear about most often.
Your developer stopped answering
Emails go unanswered, small fixes take weeks, or the freelancer who built the site now has a full-time job and no time for it.
The project stalled halfway
The deadline has passed and the budget is spent, but the new site is still not live, and nobody can say how much work is left.
An update broke the site
A core, plugin or module update failed partway through. Now pages show errors, the admin area does not load, or further updates are blocked.
Someone else holds the keys
The domain, DNS, hosting or code sits in the previous vendor's account, so you cannot change anything without them.
The host set a shutdown date
Your hosting plan is ending or the host has asked you to leave, and the site has to move before it goes offline.
Nobody knows how it was built
There is no documentation, no staging copy and no version control, so every change feels like a risk.
Start with a free takeover audit
Before anyone changes the code, you should know what you have. The takeover audit answers that for free, and every step after it is quoted from what the audit finds.
Takeover audit
We check access, backups, security, code, hosting and search health, then send you a written report and a plan. It takes 1 to 3 business days once we have access.
Stabilize and fix
We fix the urgent problems, move accounts into your name, and finish or rebuild the stalled work. Each phase has a fixed price or an estimate we do not exceed without your written approval.
Keep it running
Security and software updates, backups, monitoring and an expert on call, with a monthly statement of hours.
Hosting, licenses and other third-party services are billed by their providers and are not part of our price.
Is the site down, or is the host's deadline days away?
We handle the emergency first and do the audit afterwards. Book a call, or say so in the form.
What the takeover audit checks
We work from a copy of the site wherever we can, so the audit does not put your live site at risk.
Access and ownership
Who holds the domain, DNS, hosting, code repository, admin accounts and paid licenses. You get a list of what is already in your name and what still has to move.
Backups
Whether a recent, complete backup exists and where it is kept. Before we change anything, we make our own full copy of the code, database and files.
Security and updates
Versions of the core software, plugins and modules, open security advisories, software that no longer gets updates, and admin accounts that should be closed.
Code and hosting
How the site is built, whether the code is in version control, the state of any custom code, and whether the hosting plan fits the site and what you pay for it.
Search and speed
Pages hidden from search engines by mistake, broken links and redirects, errors in the logs and the slowest pages.
Unfinished work
For a stalled project: what was planned, what was delivered and what is still missing, so you can decide whether to finish it or start over.
What you have when the audit is done
A report in plain language
What is broken, what is at risk and what can wait, ranked by urgency. We write it so you can share it with your board or your manager.
An access and ownership list
Every account the site depends on, who holds it today, and the steps to move it into your name.
A plan with prices
The fixes we recommend, in phases, each with a fixed price or an estimate, and our advice on whether to finish the current build or rebuild part of it.
A walkthrough call
We go through the findings with you and answer your questions. The report is yours to keep and use, whether or not you hire us for the next step.
How a website project rescue works
Call and access
Tell us what happened and what the site needs to do. You give us access, or we help you get it back from the previous developer or host.
Takeover audit
We copy and back up the site, check it, and send you the report, the account list and a priced plan.
Stabilize
We fix the urgent problems first, move accounts into your name, and set up version control and a staging site for safe changes.
Keep it running
A care plan keeps the site updated and secure. If you prefer, we hand it over to your team with documentation and training.
Websites we have taken over and stabilized
A publication up against a host deadline, a nonprofit after a failed update, and platforms other teams had left with unfinished or fragile work.
A US pop-culture publication
The publication had 72 hours to leave its host. We moved its WordPress site, with more than 17,000 posts, to a new server before the deadline, removed a leftover plugin that told search engines to skip every page, and sped up site search: searches that took 21 to 73 seconds now return in under one second. Read the review on Clutch
A nonprofit arts and culture organization
A failed update had broken modules and blocked further updates. We found the cause, brought the site to the current Drupal 11 release, set up version control with a staging copy, and taught the team to run updates on its own. Read the review on Clutch
Humanitarian Outcomes
During their upgrade we connected their research archive directly to Drupal, work that a previous developer team had abandoned more than a year before. Our site review also cut their website operating expenses by a factor of three. Read the case study
A US financial education nonprofit
We took over the nonprofit's Drupal 9 and CiviCRM platform from its previous agency. We moved nearly 2,000 tickets with their attachments from the agency's Jira into our tracker and the documentation into our wiki, upgraded the site to Drupal 10, and made CiviCRM full-text search 44 times faster, a fix that is now part of CiviCRM 6.19.
"iTech4Web's quality of service is the best I have ever experienced in my 9 years working with support."
Editor-in-Chief of the publication, in a review on Clutch
Questions about website takeover and rescue
Our developer disappeared and we don't have the passwords. Can you help?
Usually, yes. Domain registrars, hosts and most online services have a recovery process for the owner of an account, and we walk you through it. If the previous developer or host can still be reached, we ask them for the code, credentials and any notes. Once you are back in control, we close the access you no longer need.
Which platforms do you take over?
Drupal, WordPress, custom PHP and JavaScript applications, and static or headless sites. Drupal is our deepest expertise, from Drupal 7 to Drupal 11. If the audit shows that a different platform or a rebuild would serve you better, we tell you.
How much does the takeover audit cost, and how long does it take?
The audit is free and takes 1 to 3 business days once we have access to the site. Everything after the audit is quoted separately, so you decide on the next step with the report in hand.
Do we have to hire you for the work after the audit?
No. The report and the account list are yours, and you can use them with your own team or another vendor. If you want us to continue, the plan in the report already has the prices.
Can you finish the project our previous developer started?
Often, yes. The audit shows how sound the existing work is. If the code holds up, we finish it. If repairing a part would cost more than rebuilding it, we show you both options with prices and recommend one.
Our site is down right now. What should we do?
Tell us in the form or book a call, and say that the site is down. In an emergency we get the site working first and do the full audit afterwards.
What happens once the site is stable?
You choose. A care plan keeps the site updated, secure and backed up, with an expert on call and a monthly statement of hours. Or we hand the site over to your team with documentation and a walkthrough.
Where is iTech4Web based?
iTech4Web is a US company based in Lisle, Illinois, in the Chicago area, and works with organizations across the US and abroad. Our founder, Dima Storozhuk, scopes the work and joins the calls himself.
Tell us what happened to your website
Send the site address and a few lines about the situation. We reply with questions and the next step, which is usually the takeover audit.
