Trying to find out what happened to my website.
October 16, 2024 12:15 PM
My website is down. I am not technically savvy. I have relied in years past on my website developer. I believe he has Alzheimer's based on recent repeated chats and how he keeps asking questions I just finished answering. I've given up on trying to get through to him.
So, what do I know and what I can figure for myself.
godaddy tells me my domain is paid through 1/15/2025.
My website was built in WordPress.
I don't know who the host of my website is.
I have not received any emails asking that their hosting be renewed.
I have gone to https://lookup.icann.org/en/lookup but I'm not sure which information is relevant.
It does list godaddy in several places at lookup.
Trying to query through Godaddy, they don't have anything registered to my email.
My website is mdhillortiz.com.
Note: I am willing to pay a reasonable amount to someone who can fix this. I thought of posting this under jobs, but it seems that those posts are years old there and I was wondering if it is visited enough.
Another note: I am wondering if it is ethical to try to contact the local social services to check in on my website developer. He seems quite confused.
So, what do I know and what I can figure for myself.
godaddy tells me my domain is paid through 1/15/2025.
My website was built in WordPress.
I don't know who the host of my website is.
I have not received any emails asking that their hosting be renewed.
I have gone to https://lookup.icann.org/en/lookup but I'm not sure which information is relevant.
It does list godaddy in several places at lookup.
Trying to query through Godaddy, they don't have anything registered to my email.
My website is mdhillortiz.com.
Note: I am willing to pay a reasonable amount to someone who can fix this. I thought of posting this under jobs, but it seems that those posts are years old there and I was wondering if it is visited enough.
Another note: I am wondering if it is ethical to try to contact the local social services to check in on my website developer. He seems quite confused.
Is the account username my email account? I have certainly logged in in the past but I've done so with autofill.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 12:46 PM on October 16
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 12:46 PM on October 16
Am I hosted by godaddy? Is that what all the info is saying?
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 12:47 PM on October 16
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 12:47 PM on October 16
Based on the last entry in the wayback machine, your site is hosted on WP.com
If you can login to godaddy but not WP.com, then your best option may be to just open a new wordpress account, then in the godaddy control panel, point your DNS to it and then restore some backup files.
posted by Lanark at 1:04 PM on October 16
If you can login to godaddy but not WP.com, then your best option may be to just open a new wordpress account, then in the godaddy control panel, point your DNS to it and then restore some backup files.
posted by Lanark at 1:04 PM on October 16
Your domain name itself is registered with GoDaddy, and expires on 1/15/2025. That is not currently the problem - although it may be, come January of 2025.
Your Godaddy domain name is set to point your domain's name servers to Pressable. Pressable is a hosting firm for Wordpress sites, which yours appears to have been. (Pressable is operated by the same company as wp.com, mentioned above, although wp.com uses different name server addresses these days - it's likely that Pressable's support can get to the heart of the matter.)
I would get in touch with Pressable via help@pressable.com to explain the situation. This isn't a mere tech issue - if Pressable took your site down for lack of payment from a third party, you'll need to provide ID and payment information to try to reclaim ownership of the site and change those things over to your own contact information and payment methods. We likely can't help with that.
After that's resolved, if your developer is still not available, you will likely need to go through the same process at GoDaddy Support to attempt to transfer ownership of your domain to your own contact information and payment methods.
I hope your web developer is well, but can't comment on the ethics of calling someone on them.
posted by eschatfische at 1:21 PM on October 16
Your Godaddy domain name is set to point your domain's name servers to Pressable. Pressable is a hosting firm for Wordpress sites, which yours appears to have been. (Pressable is operated by the same company as wp.com, mentioned above, although wp.com uses different name server addresses these days - it's likely that Pressable's support can get to the heart of the matter.)
I would get in touch with Pressable via help@pressable.com to explain the situation. This isn't a mere tech issue - if Pressable took your site down for lack of payment from a third party, you'll need to provide ID and payment information to try to reclaim ownership of the site and change those things over to your own contact information and payment methods. We likely can't help with that.
After that's resolved, if your developer is still not available, you will likely need to go through the same process at GoDaddy Support to attempt to transfer ownership of your domain to your own contact information and payment methods.
I hope your web developer is well, but can't comment on the ethics of calling someone on them.
posted by eschatfische at 1:21 PM on October 16
Be careful with wellness checks if they will involve police. It may depend on how well you know this person and what his background is (how does he feel about police? is he experiencing any kind of dementia-related paranoia that might make him behave strangely towards police? is he a straight white cis dude? does he live alone?)
Last year someone sent police to do a wellness check on my partner, who is very stressed out by cops. It escalated, it was traumatic for her and for our housemates, it was not at all helpful.
posted by needs more cowbell at 4:51 PM on October 16
Last year someone sent police to do a wellness check on my partner, who is very stressed out by cops. It escalated, it was traumatic for her and for our housemates, it was not at all helpful.
posted by needs more cowbell at 4:51 PM on October 16
And yet it can also be helpful: I sent cops in NJ to check on an elderly Japanese couple who were stuck in their house without power, as it turns out, and were very happy for the visit. (That request came from their family in Japan through my family in the Midwest up to me in New England and down to NJ. It really was a boon.)
So YMMV, but yeah, it is important to know your friend -- and to prepare the local cops as best you can.
posted by wenestvedt at 6:52 PM on October 16
So YMMV, but yeah, it is important to know your friend -- and to prepare the local cops as best you can.
posted by wenestvedt at 6:52 PM on October 16
He's 77 white and a widower. I don't know him that well. He does complain about piled-up parking tickets but I haven't gathered that he is especially hostile to the police.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 6:57 PM on October 16
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 6:57 PM on October 16
Have you paid godaddy, wordpress, a hosting site, the site developer? get your payment records. You may be able to recover accounts by showing you paid for them, and that the developer is unable to respond.
You may own the domain name MDHILLORTIZ.COM but if the host is unpaid, they may have dropped services. But this is fixable.
You may be able to recover some of the content through the wayback machine.
The developer's wellbeing is a separate question, worth asking.
posted by theora55 at 9:04 PM on October 16
You may own the domain name MDHILLORTIZ.COM but if the host is unpaid, they may have dropped services. But this is fixable.
You may be able to recover some of the content through the wayback machine.
The developer's wellbeing is a separate question, worth asking.
posted by theora55 at 9:04 PM on October 16
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Your domain name doesn't resolve any more, so even though the DNS is paid up, it's not in the public DNS database. Normally I would suggest asking GoDaddy, the registrar -- do you have the account username & password?
posted by wenestvedt at 12:34 PM on October 16