Full Circle Group

Evergreen website support guide

Website down? Start here.

A calm checklist for confirming the problem, protecting useful evidence, reaching the right support, and keeping one outage from becoming several.

First 15 minutesEvidence before changes

First response

What to do in the first 15 minutes.

The goal is not to guess the cause. It is to confirm the impact, preserve useful information, and give the responsible support person a clean starting point.

  1. 1

    Confirm what is actually failing

    Try the site on a second device and a different connection, such as mobile data. Check the homepage, one inside page, and any critical form or checkout path. A problem on one device may be local rather than a full outage.

  2. 2

    Record the time and evidence

    Save the exact web address, the first time you noticed the problem, screenshots, error wording, and anything that changed recently. Clear evidence shortens diagnosis and creates a useful incident record.

  3. 3

    Stop making unrelated changes

    Do not repeatedly edit DNS records, renew services at random, install plugins, restore backups, or share credentials while the cause is unknown. Multiple changes can hide the original problem or make recovery harder.

  4. 4

    Contact the responsible support path

    Use the support method in your hosting, maintenance, or website agreement. Include the evidence you collected, the business impact, and whether email, forms, payments, or other systems are also affected.

Common sources

The symptom does not identify the cause.

A blank page, error message, or failed form can originate in several systems. Diagnose before replacing or reconfiguring anything.

  • Domain or DNS

    The domain may have expired, nameservers may have changed, or a DNS record may be incorrect. Domain access and renewal status are useful first checks.

  • Hosting or deployment

    The server, hosting platform, or latest deployment may be unavailable or unhealthy. Provider status and deployment history help narrow the timing.

  • Website software

    A code release, content-management update, plugin, database, or configuration change may have broken the site or a critical function.

  • Third-party dependency

    Forms, payments, maps, analytics, fonts, or other connected services can fail even when the core site is online.

  • Security issue

    Unexpected redirects, defacement, warnings, or unknown account changes should be treated as a possible security incident. Preserve evidence and restrict access carefully.

Escalate the impact clearly.

Say which customer actions are blocked and what else is affected. A site that is slow is different from a site that cannot accept payments, exposes private data, redirects visitors, or interrupts a time-sensitive operation.

  • Possible security warning, redirect, or account takeover
  • Checkout, payments, booking, or lead forms unavailable
  • Business email or domain services affected
  • Outage tied to a deadline, launch, or active campaign

Communicate without guessing.

If customers need an update, confirm the outage first. State what is unavailable, offer a working phone, email, or in-person alternative, and avoid promising a restoration time you cannot verify.

Useful structure: what is affected, when it was confirmed, the temporary customer path, and when the next update will be provided.

After service returns

Recovery is not the final step.

Confirm the customer journey, document the cause, and make only the prevention changes the evidence supports.

  • Test priority pages, forms, calls, payments, and email
  • Confirm the correct domain, certificate, and redirects
  • Record the cause, duration, impact, and actions taken
  • Remove temporary notices after verifying recovery
  • Review ownership, access, renewal, and backup responsibilities
  • Plan maintenance or redesign work if the outage exposed larger risk

Choose the next support path

Solve today's problem and reduce tomorrow's risk.

Website maintenance

Understand covered care, request paths, and support boundaries.

Explore maintenance

Website pricing

Compare current starting plans for a focused page or multi-page website.

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Common outage questions

Make the next decision with better information.

How can I tell whether my website is down for everyone?

Check from another device and network, test more than one page, and ask a trusted person in another location to try the exact address. A single browser or Wi-Fi problem is not enough to confirm a full outage.

Should I change my DNS settings when the site goes down?

Not unless the diagnosis points to DNS and you know the intended records. Unplanned DNS changes can extend the outage and affect email or other services.

Should I restore a backup immediately?

A backup can be useful when a recent site change or compromise is confirmed, but restoring before the cause is understood can overwrite evidence or reintroduce the same problem.

When should customers be notified?

Consider a customer notice when the outage is confirmed, material to customer actions, and likely to continue. Keep it factual, provide a working alternative, avoid unsupported timelines, and update or remove it when service returns.

Can Full Circle Group help with a site built elsewhere?

Possibly. Platform access, ownership, condition, dependencies, and the urgency of the situation need to be reviewed before support can be accepted.

Need a clear maintenance contact path?

Share the site, the evidence, and the customer impact.

Existing-site support depends on the platform, access, condition, and current risk. A review determines whether Full Circle can responsibly help.

Contact website maintenance