Onboarding an Inherited Website
Taking over a website built by someone else — whether a previous agency or a freelancer who has moved on — needs care. Before we can maintain it confidently, we need to understand how it works and what state it is in.
This article explains our onboarding process for inherited sites.
Common Surprises We Find
Taking on an unfamiliar site frequently turns up issues the previous owner never knew about — missing backups, overdue updates, or undocumented quirks holding the whole thing together.
Surfacing these early is the point of onboarding. Once we know what we are dealing with, we can stabilise the site and bring it up to a safe, maintainable standard.
- Backups that were never actually working.
- Long-overdue security updates.
- Undocumented customisations.
- Expired or soon-to-expire renewals.
The Discovery Phase
We start by mapping the site: how it is built, where it is hosted, what it depends on, and what condition it is in. This often surfaces issues nobody knew about.
- Identifying the platform and key technologies.
- Gathering access to hosting, domains and accounts.
- Checking for outstanding updates and risks.
- Establishing whether backups exist and work.
Stabilise, Then Maintain
- Secure access and take a full backup.
- Apply urgent security updates.
- Document how the site is built and run.
- Move it onto a regular maintenance routine.
Frequently Asked Questions
What if the previous developer left no documentation?
That is common. Our discovery phase reconstructs the picture so you are no longer dependent on missing knowledge.
If you need a hand with any of this, your Progressive Robot delivery team is ready to help. Raise a ticket from the Support area of your client portal or speak to your account manager and we will guide you through the next steps.