WordPress Web Hosting Operations

InterServer DirectAdmin (legacy)

Control panel: DirectAdmin

Origin IP pattern: 192.64.86.202 (shared)

The original FFC origin host. Most charity sites pre-2024 live here. Nonprofit deal is brokered through sales@interserver.net with a copy of the IRS 501(c)(3) letter. Account creation requires the "Powered by InterServer" footer link within 30 days.

InterServer RS1 (managed) (legacy)

Control panel: DirectAdmin

Origin IP pattern: 216.158.234.18

A handful of larger charity sites (e.g. legion-in-the-woods, technologymonastery) run on RS1 instead of the shared DA. Same nonprofit deal, same footer-link requirement.

Hostinger hPanel (current default)

Control panel: hPanel

Origin IP pattern: 153.92.213.212 (shared)

Default host for new FFC WordPress onboardings since 2024. Nonprofit pricing applied via the Hostinger nonprofit program; footer link is "Powered by Hostinger".

HostPapa (legacy)

Control panel: cPanel

Origin IP pattern: 204.44.192.77

Used for a small set of For-Profit + .com charity pairs. Not a default for new onboardings.

Provisioning a new hosting account

1. Confirm the charity has cleared the wordpress-charity-validation gate.
2. Open a nonprofit account with the chosen host (Hostinger is current default) using the charity-domain mailbox.
3. Email host nonprofit support with the IRS letter + the registered domain.
4. FFC admin co-signs as tech sponsor.
5. Once approved, install WordPress via Softaculous / hPanel one-click installer.
6. Create the globaladmin@freeforcharity.org admin user on the new install.
7. Verify SSL provisioning, set Cloudflare DNS, run a baseline Lighthouse, save the result in the intake record.

Monitoring an existing hosting account

1. WPMUDEV Hub dashboard surfaces uptime + Defender alerts. Check weekly.
2. Cloudflare zone analytics shows traffic anomalies (large 4xx spikes, sustained bot traffic).
3. Snapshot Pro reports red runs in the Hub; investigate before they chain.
4. For PHP version drift: hosts auto-upgrade minor versions; major upgrades (PHP 8.x → 8.y) require a manual smoke test on staging first.

Migrating between hosts

1. Take a full backup on the source host (see wordpress-cpanel-backup-sop).
2. Spin up an empty WordPress install on the target host.
3. Restore the database + uploads onto the target install.
4. Update wp-config.php with new database credentials.
5. Run wp search-replace from the old hostname to the new (or the same hostname if just changing host IP).
6. Swap Cloudflare A record to the new origin IP only after smoke-test passes on staging.
7. Run Lighthouse on the new origin; investigate any > 10-point regression.
8. Decommission the source account 7 days after the swap (long enough to catch propagation issues, short enough that the charity is not billed twice).

Migrating off WordPress entirely

1. Run a Simply Static export per docs/ffc-simply-static-config.md.
2. Convert the export into a Next.js / Tailwind site using the FFC_Single_Page_Template scaffold.
3. Cut DNS to GitHub Pages (185.199.108-111.153) once the static site is verified.
4. Keep the WordPress origin running for 30 days as a fallback (read-only).
5. Decommission the WP hosting account after the 30-day soak.