Terms of Service

Web Hosting

  • All Elmnet websites hosted on our own VPC server will be backed up regularly by us on your behalf. Database backups will be taken daily with a retention period of one month, and files backups will be taken weekly with a retention period of four months. Backups will be stored on a separate backup server, and can be restored at any time if required, on request. We’ll attempt to action any requests on the same day.
  • Our server has a dedicated hardware firewall, but in addition, it is required that your website runs the Wordfence software firewall. We will set up and configure this on your site for no charge.
  • We take server security very seriously. In the unlikely event that your site is hacked, we’ll restore it to its last working state for no charge.
  • We do not provide FTP access to our server or access to your server web hosting account. This is solely managed for you by Elmnet for security reasons. We manage the entire server environment on your behalf.
  • Elmnet operates a managed hosting environment with security controls designed to protect all websites hosted on our infrastructure. As part of this security model, we do not provide third-party developers, agencies, contractors, or clients with direct access to server infrastructure, hosting control panels, SSH, FTP, or SFTP accounts. All server and hosting management is carried out exclusively by Elmnet.
  • Clients who choose to engage third-party developers or contractors remain fully responsible for all actions carried out by those parties within the WordPress administration area. Elmnet accepts no liability for security breaches, malware infections, website downtime, data loss, performance issues, or other problems arising from third-party code, plugins, themes, integrations, or development practices.
  • Elmnet strongly recommends that all website development work carried out by third parties is done so within a separate staging or development environment and deployed using controlled release processes. Direct development work on live websites is discouraged and carried out entirely at the client’s own risk. At our own discretion we may block this if we deem it to be a security risk.
  • We aim to provide a 100% uptime for our server. We may on occasion schedule a server reboot to install security updates. A reboot may result in your site being unavailable for up to five minutes, but we’ll endeavor to carry out all reboots during quiet times, such as the early hours of the morning or over a weekend.
  • We update our server operating systems regularly in order to keep all websites as secure as possible. If your site is running an old theme which is incompatible with current software versions, we reserve the right to remove it from our dedicated server and host it on our shared platform instead. This platform has options to run legacy versions of the operating system software, but is not as powerful or reliable as our dedicated server. Should you find yourself in this position, we would always recommend an upgrade to a more modern theme. We will contact you to discuss this before taking action.
  • If you wish to add plugins or additional page builders to your website, please consult us first. Abandoned plugins can pose significant security risks, and we strongly recommend using a single theme and page builder framework for optimal performance and stability. We cannot be held responsible for any related issues if these guidelines are not followed.
  • If we suspect that your site has been compromised in any way, we reserve the right to suspend it for security purposes. Additionally, if any security plugins are disabled by you or your team, we will re-enable them and will not be responsible for any security issues that have arisen as a result of your actions.

Bandwidth and Data Transfer

  • Elmnet does not generally impose bandwidth restrictions as part of its managed website hosting service. However, we may apply reasonable bandwidth thresholds to hosting accounts as a security and operational safeguard.
  • These thresholds are intended to help identify and contain abnormal levels of data transfer, which may indicate a compromised website, malicious activity, excessive automated traffic or another technical issue.
  • Where a website approaches its configured threshold, Elmnet may investigate the cause and, where appropriate, increase or remove the threshold for legitimate website traffic. In exceptional circumstances, a website may be temporarily restricted if the threshold is exceeded.
  • Bandwidth thresholds are not intended to limit normal legitimate use of a website. Customers will be provided with the bandwidth they need.

Storage Usage and File Retention

  • Elmnet’s hosting platform is designed and optimised exclusively for the operation of websites and their associated content. It is not intended to be used as a file archive, backup repository, media storage platform, document management system, or general-purpose file storage service.
  • Website storage may only be used for files that are actively required for the operation, display, or functionality of the website. Clients must not use their hosting allocation to store files retained primarily for archival, historical, backup, or storage purposes. This includes, but is not limited to, website backups, database exports, email archives, large media files, video footage, document repositories, software distributions, or other files not directly required by the live website.
  • Content retained solely for historical, archival, or backup purposes may be deemed unsuitable for the hosting environment, regardless of whether it is publicly accessible through the website.
  • Elmnet reserves the right to investigate unusually high storage usage and to require the removal of files that, in our reasonable opinion, are not necessary for the operation of the website. Where storage usage is excessive, adversely affects server performance, increases backup requirements, or impacts other hosted websites, Elmnet may undertake corrective action, impose additional storage charges, suspend access to the affected files, or require the client to migrate such data to a more appropriate storage solution.
  • Clients are responsible for maintaining their own long-term archives, backups, and file storage arrangements outside of the Elmnet hosting environment. Failure to comply with requests to reduce inappropriate storage usage may result in the suspension of hosting services.

Email Accounts

  • Elmnet recommends that for business email, our customers subscribe to Microsoft 365.
  • If required, we can provide IMAP email accounts with a UK-based shared hosting provider.
  • Though we’ll endeavor to provide support wherever possible for these email accounts, we cannot accept responsibility for any downtime or loss of emails which occur because of any downtime.
  • Elmnet is not responsible for backing up any email accounts – customers should include them in their own backup routine and ask their business IT service provider for assistance with this if necessary.

WordPress Core, Themes & Plugins

  • Your site has been built on WordPress, which is free, open-source software. Elmnet is not responsible for the code of the WordPress platform or of any themes or plugins used. Sometimes, though quite rarely, a theme or plugin may break after a WordPress update. Usually, these issues are resolved by the theme or plugin authors relatively quickly, but we will contact you to advise what will need to be done to resolve the situation. If the issue cannot be resolved quickly, we will roll the site back to the last working version and make an assessment.
  • We will update all WordPress core files, themes, and plugins for you at least once per week. A large proportion of the plugins we use are free, but sometimes we’ll use ‘paid for’ ones if we need something to carry out a specific task. We’ll purchase these on your behalf, but the initial cost and ongoing annual license are your responsibility and will be charged for. We’ll let you know if we use any such plugins for your site.
  • If the annual license of a plugin or theme is not renewed, then your site should still continue working as usual (though we can’t guarantee this). You will, though, no longer receive security, compatibility, and feature updates from the theme authors. If after a WordPress update an old theme or plugin begins to cause problems, then you will be responsible for any costs incurred in the renewal and installation required to resolve the issue.
  • If a theme used on your site becomes obsolete and no longer supported, then it will eventually need to be replaced by a more modern one. This may require a site rebuild, depending on the framework used. If so, then our hourly rate will be charged, or alternatively a quote prepared for the project as a whole.
  • If you wish to transfer your site to another designer, then you may need to purchase your own license for your website theme. We purchase some of our themes under an annual developer license. You would need to set up your own subscription with the theme provider at your own cost.
  • You will be provided with a WordPress ‘Admin’ login. With this, you will be able to add new users to the site. You are solely responsible for protecting your usernames and passwords and for all website activity that happens under your account. You are also responsible for ensuring that you use a strong unique password.
  • Clients are responsible for ensuring that all WordPress user accounts under their control use strong unique passwords and multi-factor authentication where available. Elmnet reserves the right to require password resets, remove insecure accounts, or enforce additional security measures where necessary to protect the hosting environment.

Website Design & Build Process

  • As part of your website project, Elmnet includes up to two rounds of revisions during the design and development phase. A “round of revisions” is defined as a set of consolidated feedback provided by the client following review of the work.
  • Any additional revision rounds, or requests that fall outside of the agreed project scope, may be subject to additional charges at our standard hourly rate or quoted separately.
  • To ensure an efficient workflow, clients are encouraged to provide clear, consolidated feedback at each stage of the project.

Content, Updates and Revisions

  • All content can be managed through the WordPress dashboard. You may either add or edit your own content, or ask us to do it for you, where hourly rates will apply.
  • You will be allocated a fixed amount of disk space appropriate to your needs. It’s unlikely that you’ll need to increase this, but if you do, then we can raise your disk quota. Additional storage charges will apply.
  • Disk space allocations are provided for website content and functionality only and must not be used for long-term file storage, archiving, or backup purposes.
  • Once a website has been completed and signed off, any updates carried out will be charged at the current hourly rate.

Domain Name Renewals

  • If your domain name is managed by Elmnet and is approaching expiry, we will send you a renewal invoice at least four weeks prior to the expiry date, and then an additional reminder two weeks after that. If payment has not been received by the expiry date we will assume that the domain name is no longer required.
  • If you allow your domain name to expire, then you risk your website and email services stopping working, and depending on the kind of domain name you have, you may incur additional charges from the registrars. Provided payment is made, Elmnet will take responsibility for your domain renewal and ensure that the process goes through smoothly.
  • Please ensure that we have up-to-date contact details for you. In the event of an unpaid invoice, we will endeavor to contact you via other channels, but Elmnet cannot accept responsibility for expired domain names as the result of unpaid invoices.

Copyright & Exclusion of Liability

  • Elmnet does not allow any content on its server which violates any intellectual property rights, or breaches any copyright legislation. By uploading any content to your site, or submitting content to us to upload for you, you’re confirming that you either own or control the rights to that content, or have purchased a license for its use. You accept that you indemnify Elmnet from any copyright breach claims that may arise from the use of copyright-protected material.
  • In the event of a claim being made, we will investigate and, if necessary, we will remove the content from your website.
  • Elmnet shall not be liable for any loss or damage that may result to you or a third party as a result of the use of your website.
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