Is it safe to give my username & password to my Wordpress site to someone else!

bsugar

Member
Hiya,

Just wanted to get some helpful feedback from anyone if possible.

I've had a number of Wordpress lessons with a private tutor on line. Before taking him on for lessons he said that we could re-build a previous site that I built in Dreamweaver in 5 2 hour lessons. The 5 lessons have passed but the site is not finished. He has offered a free 2-3 hour lesson to get every thing finished. We were supposed to have this lesson today but he notified me at the last minute saying that it would be pointless to meet today as he did not have time to prepare for our lesson. To be fully prepared he says he needs to have full access to my site before we meet and for this he needs my username and password.

He says that most of my issues are browser compatibility issues. I told him I would get back to him but I am a bit uneasy giving someone else full access. I've invested a lot of time and energy on the site which is going to be a site for my business. I don't want to get held to ransom, have my site over-taken or have anything dodgy planted in my code. Am I paranoid?

Any feedback is appreciated :icon_rolleyes:
 
That is an impossible question for us to answer. Fundamentally, no it isn't safe but you've spoken to this guy and spent time with him. Only you can decide if you can trust him or not.
 
Hi Corrosive,

Thats true. The actual decision I've made is to see what feedback I get from these type of forums and those that I know that are in the web design field. I'm totally new to website building and Wordpress so just trying to be safe.

What do you think is the worst that he could do if I gave access? Do you know what issues require that much access? He says my issues are mainly browser related and because of my hesitation he has since suggested that I create him a user account on my site instead which provides him with administrative privileges. Once all issues are resolved, he says I can delete his account from the site and he will not be able to access the site again.

He says the reason he needs this type of access is because a lot of what I have requested is specific to how I have styled my site and he needs to find the best way for us to enable it to be compatible with all other browsers by looking at how each area of the site is being styled.
 
It's down to how much you trust this guy to be honest. He could do some damage if he wanted to with admin rights so use your best judgement. Has he got any reason to mess you around?
 
I hear you.

I really don't know for sure. I don't need as many lessons from him these days as I am a bit more knowledgeable than before. All of a sudden he asked for full access which made me a bit wary.

Someone suggested that I copy my site to a sub-domain and can give him full access from that site (obviously using different usernames/passwords). Does that or giving him a user account sound like a better option to you?
 
tbh I cant see why he'd need admin access as most 'browser issues' wouldn't be fixed from within the user area. However, you could set up a user area for him and if theres an issue just delete his account.
 
That does sound like a better option, to give him access to a copy of the website is better than the real thing. Alternatively you could just back up your site (database and files) and then you will have a fresh copy in case anything goes wrong. That is something I'd generally recommend before any major changes anyway.
 
tbh I cant see why he'd need admin access as most 'browser issues' wouldn't be fixed from within the user area. However, you could set up a user area for him and if theres an issue just delete his account.

I'd tend to agree with bigdave here. I don't understand Wordpress so don't know what access levels are required to do what. If it is just CSS then he could use Firebug or similar and send you the revised CSS files(s).
 
Thanks Big Dave & Corrosive.

I think I'l copy my site to a sub-domain and he can access it there.

You have been so much help. It can feel like your walking blindly when starting out sometimes.

Thank you :icon_hug:
 
Out of interest, is the site you're making based around a downloaded theme or is it a theme you've developed yourself? If its the latter it's probably that this bloke needs to be able to check if/how the user area responds to adjustments?. Still seems odd that he'd want your admin UN & PW but not the FTP details though.
 
The site is based on the Twenty Twelve theme and we have been changing parts of the code.

He didn't ask for my FTP details. I only use my FTP account to upload and download files. Other than that I don't normally touch it. So is there a chance he might need this as well?
 
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