Clients | Perugi Web Design | Wordpress Web Design and Development | Greater Boston | MetroWest

Important: VPS Hosting Upgrade

Deborah Perugi — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 15:10:42 +0000

After extensive planning with Bluehost, I’ve decided to move all the websites on my shared area on Bluehost to a VPS or Virtual Private Server. Each client will get their own c-panel, with user name and password. I will still be able to access each c-panel, and with Tier 3 and Tier 4 expert Bluehost “white glove” service, be able to solve any issues. You won’t need to go into the c-panel for any reason.

The websites will be moved behind the scenes and you will receive more storage, faster load times and maximum security. My monthly fee for hosting will only go up enough to help pay for these improvements. It will be $16 per month instead of $12, a small hike for optimum hosting.

I also have some clients using shared hosting with Bluehost. I encourage these clients to take advantage of this great discount on improved security and speed. Bluehost will handle the move for a reduced fee. This will be easier for you, as I will be doing the billing instead of Bluehost and I can handle all of your questions.

More and more, security is a key issue with websites and I’m looking forward to offering a product my clients can trust. I will be in touch with more information and you can call me at any time.

Malware, email & plugin errors take experience to resolve

Deborah Perugi — Sat, 05 Aug 2023 20:14:39 +0000

Sometimes it’s inevitable that things don’t go smoothly. Your site is down, you aren’t receiving email or a commonly used tool does not work in WordPress. Read how three such incidences were diagnosed and corrected.

A client’s website was not being backed up by our weekly tool and was giving a 500 error message…. the site was down. A call to Bluehost identified the problem as malware somewhere on the site. A website can have a lot of code, but it is not impossible for someone with experience to find the line causing the problem. Just a little googling of the malware identified by the hosting company and the url address in the ‘scan report’ can locate it. I was able to find the bad code and site was up within a day. How did the malware get in? Most likely from clicking on a suspicious email or using an unsafe password. I recommend Last Pass or a similar tool for keeping more complex passwords.

An associate was transferring to me their control of a complex website. I sucessfully logged into the hosting but it was denying me access and needed confirmation from info@. But the director was not receiving that email “info@” for whatever reason (…a misspelled name on the email!.} So the two of us past and present webmasters worked together to create an email for me and a new one for the director. Now there is access and email success. (My suspicion that the original @info email created for the director was misspelled was correct!)

New client, new website and a page with a simple pdf download and link that was not working correctly. The client is savvy and eager to learn, but just could not figure it out. I looked at it with her and knew that there was something else behind the scenes affecting the page. Last resort: look at the plugins. Sometimes these are not compatible with your theme or builder. I turned off a few at a time and found the plugin that was causing the issue. Not an important one, it turned out. Plugins can become buggie when the developers don’t update them properly.

None of these are a huge deal but can be very frustrating to someone who doesn’t have the experience of seeing these problems time and again. Clients can consult with me when they need to and know there is a solution.

Starting January slight increase in web care

Deborah Perugi — Mon, 20 Dec 2021 20:19:31 +0000

Manage WP Webcare

WordPress is a Content Managed System. This system, like all systems, need maintenance. I subscribe to Manage WP and use it weekly (or more) to update your website’s themes, plugins and even WordPress. WordPress sends out revisions about twelve times a year and all the other elements need to adjust. I there is a WordPress update in the middle of the week, I will check into MWP again.

Other than updating, I am busy within the WP Manager dashboard watching whether backups are working. If a backup fails, I research why log into your site and fix the problem. Sometimes I upgrade the backups to once a day when a site has been offline or experiencing problems. I pay an extra fee for this.

I can see if there are spam comments populating your website. I check them to make sure they aren’t legitimate comments before sending them to the trash. Once in a while, some of your plugins fail to update, or stop updating, or cause an error. Then there are the credit card changes!

This is all to say, that I spend time keeping my customer’s websites happy and healthy. My fees have not increased ever, so 2022 seems like the time to add $2 to your monthly payments, while still offering competitive rates. I can do this on my end, so you don’t need to give me any more information. Let me know if you have any questions.

$10 monthly fee changes to $12.

$20 monthly fee changes to $22.

$50 monthly fee does not change.

$100 monthly fee does not change.

Consider these important aspects when building a web site.

Customer Support: Are they available 24/7 by email and by phone?
Ease of Use: Does it have Drag and Drop which is the new design and editing tool?
Bandwidth: Are there limitations on space?
Advertising: Will they require an ad placed on your site?
Overall Cost: Are there additional costs for more pages or bandwidth?
Theme design: Are you limited by the number of well designed themes?
Ownership: Do you own the website if you want to change hosting?

New Website for a Manufacturing Company

Deborah Perugi — Sat, 12 Jun 2021 19:06:26 +0000

David’s website was at least six years old. I know because I made the first one. It was way overtime for a refresh and so we got busy finding a new layout, but using the same content, more or less. This layout is an exclusive Divi Builder layout that fit David perfectly, since it had enhanced graphics that matched his work.

I save on resources using Divi for all my designs, because the interface is the same for all the websites I produce… no wasted time learning a new theme, no additional fees for a new theme. And we can easily edit the layout with Divi’s versatile modular sections.

I recommend you don’t hire a developer that will provide a uneditable unique theme and who abandons the design and you for brighter pastures. Go with a self-hosted website that you own and use a builder such as Divi to make your website.

For inspiration, check out David’s new website at hatchmanufacturingsolutions.com.

Beautiful New Website for Inclusive Fitness

Deborah Perugi — Fri, 13 Dec 2019 21:48:51 +0000

Can’t wait to share this great layout and imagery that helped form the striking website for Greg Austin of Framingham. Greg is starting a new company and his story is very compelling. He quit his job in the high end marketing industry to help his son, who has autism. Greg’s vision is that people who are neurodiverse can become healthy through regular exercise and good nutrition. And he includes in that vision the families and caregivers who will also benefit from wellness exercise. Check out Perugi Design’s latest website, which takes advantage of header options in the new Divi 4.0…. and pass the word on to anyone who may have loved ones who could use some exercise! https://inclusivefit.net. (Note: This site is Phase One…more to come!)

New Website for Framingham Library Foundation

Deborah Perugi — Mon, 11 Nov 2019 17:36:29 +0000

Last week Perugi.com launched a new website for the Framingham Library Foundation. The old site was also designed by Deb Perugi, but was already more than a few years old and needed a do over. Perugi uses the powerful WordPress builder Divi with built in functionality that can reduce the time and add new features to a website. The site should be seen live to be fully appreciated. Here is the link.

Framingham Library Foundation’s Board wanted a site that could also work well as a fundraiser for helping to bring new projects that benefit the two libraries in the city; the Main Library and the McAuliffe Library. The home page highlights the projects already providing new or improved services. Namely, the McAuliffe Library itself, the Bookmobile, Spark Lab and Teen Room. A handy Donate button makes it easy to give and another button for volunteering.

Photos of the exteriors of the libraries are © Damianos Photography.

Fundraising Focus – New Company With Good Planning

Deborah Perugi — Wed, 03 Jan 2018 20:39:36 +0000

Susan Stendahl has helped nonprofits find their fundraising focus. “Her deep-rooted involvement in the nonprofit arena spans two decades, a broad mix of organizations and a diverse array of engagements involving nearly all aspects of nonprofit development.” Now, with good planning, she has started her own company to offer her clients her resources and wide ranging experience.

Susan was introduced to me by Nancy Wolff Leary, of Online Amplify. Nancy provides marketing solutions to companies that help them grow through an improved online presence. Nancy and I worked together to provide Susan with a head start on her new company website Fundraising Focus. Nancy is an expert on content writing and she asked me to provide the design piece of the puzzle.

Nancy wanted to have a design in place before providing web copy, which is something I did not anticipate. My usual strategy starts by meeting and discussing objectives with the client, looking over text (either a previous website or brochure) and building a wire frame (or layout sketch) from that. But I had a solution. I would find a Child Theme site layout with dummy copy that was approved by Susan and myself for Nancy to view. Susan and I easily agreed on one. I made suggestions on where headlines and links should go based on what I knew Susan needed. And Nancy would have enough sections to consider.

But this solution was not without its challenges. Three women who each have their own ideas about website development made for some interesting discussions. I think we can agree the site is the better for it. It incorporates Susan’s precise objectives, Nancy’s lively and thorough text and my sense of appropriate color, layout and photography. Go see for yourself and if you know an organization that could use fundraising help, go here! To ask me about this project, contact me.

Schoen Photography is Now Ready for Mobile

Deborah Perugi — Wed, 29 Nov 2017 17:12:26 +0000

Robert Schoen is a exceptional professional photographer who needed a new website that would work on mobile. His old site was hobbling along with a mobile ready plugin, that was anything but ready. He wanted something clean and uncluttered, so that his expert photography would take center stage. His site uses the builder theme, Divi, which makes it easy for him to switch out photos and update the layout. The Gallery module makes does not crop his images, so that they remain in the format intended.

I recommend Robert to clients who are impressed with his work. Check out his new site at https://schoenphoto.com.

The Twelve Days of a Website Consultancy

Deborah Perugi — Tue, 20 Dec 2016 22:32:24 +0000

Being a website consultant is not all fun and games. Much of the time the work can be tedious. Which is why you want me to do it! Here are some of the things I do on a daily basis to help website owners get the best out of their internet presence. These scenarios are based on real help we have given to clients on a daily basis.

On the first day… you are notified that your domain will expire in 6o days. The domain was purchased years ago and the registrar is a place you never heard of before. Worst case scenario: You ignore the message and your site goes down. The domain goes public and someone buys it. He asks for $6,000…. Best case scenario: We transfer the domain to our host and update it for you without you having to worry about it again.

On the second day… your WordPress website gets hacked because you followed a scam email. Worst case scenario: you never made a back up and you have to hire a security company to clean your website. It takes a month and you have to take your site offline. Best case: Luckily, you signed up for a maintenance plan with us so there is a backup of your website that we restore for you. But no worries, our maintenance plan should prevent it in the first place.

On the third day… you are having problems with your website made by an acquaintance who is now too busy to help you update it. We find out your custom hand-built theme has never had security updates and it has malware. We recreate your site using our module based theme that gets regular security updates.

On the fourth day… the free plugin on your site is abandoned by the developer and is no longer working correctly. We replace the plugin with one that is similar but supported. When using free plugins we like to contribute to the developer so they can continue working, but they are still a good value.

On the fifth day… the Paypal Donation button stopped working on your website. It could be a number of reasons including someone changed your pp password. We reset the code and fix the problem.

On the sixth day… your company is moving and you need the addresses and Google maps to be changed. We also help you by creating an announcement on the website prior to the move.

On the seventh day… you have been adding images to your blog posts but forgot to reduce their size. Your site slows down because each image is over one megabyte. We reduce the sizes of your images and recheck the performance of your site.

On the eighth day… you want to highlight a new service or product but don’t know the best way to do it. We make recommendations and make the changes for you.

On the ninth day… You want to send your clients a holiday email card but don’t have an image to use. We find a great inexpensive image from a stock agency and send the samples for you to choose. We set it up for you.

On the tenth day… You forgot how to add a photo to a newsletter, so you call us and we help you by walking you though it over the phone.

On the eleventh day… One of the plugins on your WordPress website won’t update in the dashboard. You call us and we download a new version from the developers website and replace it.

On the twelfth day… You have text and pdfs to add on a new web page and you want help organizing the material to fit your design and brand. We are happy to assist.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

Wellesley Repertory Theatre’s New Website

Deborah Perugi — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 23:07:36 +0000

Wellesley Repertory Theatre has a new website with a lot more functionality and growth potential. Their previous site was showing wear and not easily updated. We worked together to organize their three theatre groups events into a manageable system that makes it easier for editors and visitors alike. The domain has changed from wellesleysummertheatre to its current domain. Visit their new website at http://wellesleyrepertorytheatre.org. Be sure to check out the Box Office page and consider making a reservation to one of their shows! See you at the theatre!