We Thought You'd Never Ask
Considering giving us a try? Here are some FAQs we’ve assembled to help anticipate some questions or concerns you might have. Don’t see your question here? Send us a quick email.
General FAQ
We’re a 100% remote team based all over the world, but we call Atlanta, GA, our home and HQ.
We never outsource work to other companies. Every project we work on is coded by our in-house team.
We’re your secret weapon. We white-label all of our services by default. You’ll never see any mention of Reliable in your projects, and WordPress themes will be branded as created by your company or agency. We even have a white-label email address we use in WordPress dashboards to make sure we’re always working behind the scenes, or we can use an @yourdomain.com email when managing your projects.
We’re happy to sign a non-disclosure agreement. We can also provide you with one to sign if you don’t already have one. Whether we sign an NDA or not, we treat all projects as white-label and with strict confidentiality. We don’t even include samples on our website.
We’re happy to get you an approximate ballpark estimate no matter how far along you are in the design process. Email us at [email protected] or fill out our quote form. For the most accurate quote, it’s best to include the number of unique templates you expect to design, along with any notes about the project’s anticipated functionality.
Hey Reliable uniquely shines among dev agencies due to our meticulous quality assurance and stress testing. Unlike others who might rush, we invest time to ensure each project meets our top-notch standards. Every project goes through four tiers of rigorous stress testing across modern browsers and devices before it reaches you, ensuring smooth operation.
Also, our attention to client care sets us apart. We’re a compact team of experts offering individualized service. No complicated hierarchies or struggles for support; just direct access to our skilled team. With Hey Reliable, you enjoy the perks of a big agency with the care of a small, dedicated team, all aimed at delivering top-tier project results.
Turnaround times can vary significantly depending on the length and complexity of your designs as well as the number of pages to be coded. Reach out to us for a more accurate turnaround estimate.
After paying your deposit invoice, we’ll need your finalized design files and any fonts used in your designs. If you used Adobe Fonts, we’ll need the script from your font kit. If you used a Google font, we’ll just need a link to the font family. If you used a custom font from another foundry, we’ll need TTF/OTF and WOFF/WOFF2 files.
For HTML/CSS or React/Vue, we start by coding the first page of your project then send that over to you for review. From there we finish the rest of the pages, then package and deliver files or share via a repository like GitHub or BitBucket.
For WordPress, the process depends on the page builder. Using Advanced Custom Fields, you’ll get to review the HTML/CSS/JS for your entire project before we create your fully custom theme. With page builder tools like Elementor and Oxygen, we start directly with WordPress development and send the project over for your review when all pages are complete.
We love helping our clients make the Internet a more accessible, inclusive place. Just mention your accessibility requirements, i.e. WCAG Level II, when you reach out for a quote, and make sure your design is accessible too.
We usually build proposals to offer the fastest turnaround time possible. If you have a specific launch date in mind, please let us know when you reach out so we can explore potential rush options for you.
We can usually start new projects in 1-2 business days. If we’re on a wait, it could be a bit longer. We’ll be sure to let you know if that happens.
Front-End
We accept all major design programs, so design in whichever is most comfortable for you! Figma, Sketch, and Adobe XD are typically the easiest and fastest for our coding team to work with. We’re happy to use tools like Adobe Illustrator or Adobe InDesign but may need a bit more time during development.
We test every project in the following browsers to ensure cross-browser compatibility:
- Chrome (desktop and mobile)
- Safari (desktop and mobile)
- Edge (desktop)
- Firefox (desktop)
- Opera (desktop)
- Samsung Internet (mobile)
This list is periodically updated as guided by the browser market share.
Yes, we add rollovers/hovers to any clickable elements in your design. If you have specific rollover or hover effects in mind, just let us know. Some clients choose to include a style guide with their project designs to show what should happen when links, buttons, etc., are hovered or clicked. If you don’t specify, we’ll take care of this at our discretion and go for something tasteful and in-line with your design.
If you have something very specific in mind for the mobile and tablet versions of your project, feel free to send separate mobile and tablet designs over.
Otherwise, we can take care of the mobile and tablet breakpoints at our discretion using just your desktop designs.
We’re happy to use the CSS framework of your choice and have experience with popular ones including but not limited to Bootstrap, Bulma, Tailwind, and Foundation. Just mention which one you’d like us to use when you reach out for your proposal and make sure your designs are compatible with the framework grid.
You don’t need to worry about using a particular grid system or template in your designs unless you’re looking for a specific framework such as Bootstrap, in which case, your designs need to be compatible with the Bootstrap or framework grid before we can get started.
We work with a wide range of JS frameworks, including React, Vue.js as well as related popular frameworks such as Next.js, Gatbsy and many others. Our team is constantly up-to-date with the latest developments in the JavaScript world and we’re always expanding our knowledge base to provide the best solutions for our clients.
We love coding animations and transitions. By default, we add a super smooooooooth fade in and up effect to all projects. If you have something more custom in mind, let us know what you’re envisioning, and we’ll be thrilled to bring your ideas to life.
We currently do not offer email development services to the general public. While we understand the importance of email marketing, email development is complex and often requires extensive testing to ensure a consistent experience across all email clients. Unfortunately, the investment of time and resources required for this level of testing is not always aligned with the value that many people place on email development services. However, we do offer email development to our established retainer clients and agency partners on a case-by-case basis.
WordPress
We’re happy to use your choice of Advanced Custom Fields, Elementor, Gutenberg, or Oxygen.
Yes! Making text or image changes on your website will be as simple as updating your status on Facebook or posting a photo to Instagram.
We exclusively build themes from scratch and start all projects with a super light minimal framework that we created ourselves. We do not find pre-existing themes to be the best choice for most clients and do not take on theme customization projects at this time.
Advanced Custom Fields is a lightweight WordPress plugin that makes your dashboard very easy and intuitive to update and maintain. We use a feature with ACF called flexible content. This splits your design up into content blocks that can then be used on any page of your website.
However, ACF is not a drag-and-drop page builder, and you can’t design in the browser. If you’re looking for this type of interface, we recommend asking for Elementor when you reach out for a proposal.
One free site migration to standard web hosts is included with every project. We launch sites Monday – Thursday (excluding holidays) and usually just need notice at least 1 business day in advance.
While we’re happy to send you your site files on Fridays, we do not offer site migrations on Fridays as we are closed on weekends and don’t want to be unavailable to you in case of an emergency or issue after launching.
We’re big on privacy here, which means no branding on your site and strict confidentiality. Given our non-disclosure agreements, we can’t showcase all our work. But, if you’re itching to see what we do, shoot us an email! We’ll send you some projects that are okay to share and even let you play around with some demo sites. This way, you can experience our user-friendly WordPress tools first-hand. We’re confident you’ll be impressed with what you find!
We’re always here for you whether it’s weeks, months, or years after your project is complete.
If you chose Advanced Custom Fields for your project, yes – after writing and testing the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for your project, we’ll send you a link to review and approve it before we start WordPress development.
If you chose Elementor or another page builder tool, no, as we jump straight into WordPress development (skipping the front-end phase).
We always try to keep the number of plugins installed to an absolute minimum, but actual plugins used can vary from project to project. Some we use often (although not on every project) include:
- Advanced Custom Fields Pro
- Gravity Forms, Forminator, or Contact Form 7
- Elementor Pro
- Fly Dynamic Image Resizer
- Safe SVG
- Smush Pro
- Post Duplicator
- Yoast SEO
We love Gutenberg and find it works best when paired with Advanced Custom Fields – check out this article to learn more, and let us know you’re interested in Gutenberg when you reach out for a proposal.
WooCommerce
Yes, we create fully custom WooCommerce themes (we do not work with pre-existing themes).
WooCommerce is a highly flexible platform that can be used for a wide range of e-commerce needs beyond standard storefronts. It offers many extensions and integrations that allow for advanced features, such as membership sites, subscriptions, bookings, and auctions. With WooCommerce, you can also create custom product types, set up personalized pricing and discounts, and integrate with various payment gateways, shipping providers, and tax systems. Additionally, its open-source nature allows for endless customization options, making it a great choice for businesses with unique e-commerce requirements.
You have full creative control over your WooCommerce site. Simply send us your designs.
If you don’t have specific designs in mind for all of the WooCommerce templates, such as my account, login, etc., we can style default WooCommerce layouts to have the same fonts, colors, and spacing as the rest of your project.
Absolutely! Our team has extensive experience working with third-party APIs and integrating them seamlessly into WooCommerce projects. Whether it’s integrating with popular services like Mailchimp or Google Maps, or more specialized APIs, we have the expertise to help you achieve your goals. Just let us know what you’re looking to do and we’ll work with you to make it happen.
We can help you connect with popular shipping carriers like USPS, UPS, and FedEx, as well as other shipping services that may better suit your business needs.
Whether you need to set up custom shipping rates based on weight, location, or other factors, or integrate your store with a third-party shipping management platform, we have the expertise to help you find the best solution for your unique needs. Our team will work with you to ensure that your shipping integrations are configured correctly and that your customers are provided with accurate shipping rates and delivery estimates.
Our team has extensive experience working with popular payment processors like Stripe, PayPal, Authorize.net, and eProcessingNetwork in custom WooCommerce configurations.
The WooCommerce templates we use in your project depend on your specific needs. But don’t worry, we can help you determine which templates would be best for your products. Some common templates we can use include simple product, variable product, grouped product, external product, and downloadable product. And if there’s a custom option you need, we’re happy to create that for you too! Just let us know what you’re looking for and we’ll make sure your WooCommerce storefront is tailored to your needs.
WooCommerce and Shopify are top e-commerce solutions, but they differ. WooCommerce is open-source, fully customizable, offering a host of features and extensions without expensive plugins.
Shopify is a hosted, all-in-one platform for online stores, with a user-friendly interface, built-in payment processing, and shipping options. It’s ideal for businesses wanting a simple, ready-to-go solution.
The best choice depends on your project needs. At Hey Reliable, we’re WooCommerce experts, ready to craft a custom e-commerce solution just for you.
We totally understand the appeal of Shopify, and it’s a great platform for many, but we don’t offer Shopify development. Our reason? It’s not as customizable as we’d like. Unlike WooCommerce, which is open-source and highly flexible, Shopify often requires expensive plugins for each function. This can limit how much we can tailor the platform to your specific needs. So, we’ve chosen to focus solely on WooCommerce development, where we can really dig in and create a truly custom e-commerce solution for you.
Maintenance
After managing WordPress websites for the last 10+ years, we designed our maintenance plans to include everything we consider absolutely essential to your website’s health, continuity, uptime, security, site speed, and more. With a free site transfer and set up in 1 business day or less, you can sit back, relax, and rest easy knowing that your website is in the very capable hands of our expert development team. While you must be a maintenance client to have your site hosted with us, you do not have to host your WordPress site with us to be a maintenance client.
You can use your support hours on everything from changing images or text on your website to adding blog posts or even new pages or features. Our annual-only plans offer the most flexibility by giving you an entire year to use your hours whenever and however you like.
For our maintenance clients, we process a security scan of your website once per month, use an uptime monitoring tool, keep your website up to date, and utilize best practices for site safety and security. If you add our annual hosting to your maintenance plan, we secure your website with WP Engine’s Global Edge Security, which includes a web application firewall and advanced DDoS mitigation.
While it’s rare for a website to get hacked, no website is 100% bulletproof. If you’ve added annual hosting to your annual maintenance plan, we go to great lengths to protect your site through state-of-the-art tools like firewalls, SSLs, whitelisting, and more.
In the unlikely event your site is hacked despite these efforts, we’ll quickly patch up any vulnerabilities and clean any infected files, and/or quickly roll your site back to a backup.
If you aren’t signed up for a hosting plan, not to worry! We can still help you clean your site. Reach out to us at [email protected].
We’ll email right away if this happens and ask you to upgrade your hosting to a customized plan so we can accommodate your popularity. 🙂
After 10+ years of hosting WordPress websites, we ourselves use and recommend WP Engine. From their simple control panel to their migration plugin to their truly amazing support team and more – we can’t sing their praises enough. As a WP Engine Agency Partner, you can use our link for 4 months free.
You can check out the minimal fine print for Reliable’s maintenance and hosting services on our terms page.
Subscription
A Hey Reliable subscription provides you with your very own go-to dev team at your fingertips, so we can get started on your projects or tasks right away whenever you need us. By having a subscription, you can take advantage of priority service for ongoing HTML/CSS, React/Vue, and WordPress development work without having to ever worry about tracking billable hours.
You can sign up for a web development subscription on our subscription page or by scheduling a call with us. After signing up, you can start sending in your front-end HTML/CSS, React/Vue, or WordPress tasks right away.
Pre-purchased hours expire one year after purchase.
You can use your subscription for HTML/CSS, React/Vue, and WordPress services across any number of sites or projects.
A Hey Reliable web development subscription will automatically renew. We understand you may not have enough development work to fill up an entire month. That’s where pausing your monthly subscription comes in handy.
Monthly subscription billing cycles are based on a 31-day period. Let’s say you sign up and use the service for 21 days and then decide to pause your subscription. This means that the billing cycle will be paused, and you’ll have 10 days of service remaining to be used in the future.
Design services are not included in a web development subscription at this time and are offered on a per-project basis only. For a design proposal, reach out to us.
No, there is no long-term commitment to our web development subscription program. Subscriptions are non-refundable.
A web development subscription is non-refundable. You can read the minimal fine print for our subscription plan on our terms page.
A web development subscription is non-refundable.
Support
Our support team is available 24/7 Monday through Friday. We’re closed weekends and holidays.
After paying the deposit for your project, we’ll reach out with any outstanding questions as well as an ETA for the first milestone.
For HTML, we’ll send the first page of your project for you to review as soon as it has been completed and tested. From there, we’ll send additional pages as we finish them.
For WordPress, we’ll send a link to your project as well as login credentials as soon as WordPress development is complete.
The best and fastest option for reaching our support team is by emailing us at [email protected]. Our support inbox is monitored 24/7, Monday – Friday. You can also schedule a call or reach us at 404-458-8285. If you are a subscription client, we also have options for Slack Connect.
You can reach your project management team by emailing [email protected] or by scheduling a call.
We can help with sites we didn’t code originally on a case-by-case basis. Reach out to us [email protected] – we’ll be happy to take a quick look at your site and point you in the right direction either way.
We’re always here to help with your project, whether weeks, months, or even years after your project launch. Reach out to us anytime at [email protected] for help with maintenance, security, adding new pages, or anything else you may need.
We currently use Teamwork Projects. However, we do not require clients to collaborate with us in Teamwork. We’re happy to use email, or if you’re a retainer client, we can use the project management system of your choice, i.e. Asana, Jira, Trello, etc.
You’ll have a friendly, dedicated project manager based in the U.S. who is available to chat via email, phone call, or Zoom. You’ll also have a second dedicated project manager who oversees your project in the U.S. overnight hours. This way, your project is covered 24/7 during the workweek.
Billing
We accept credit/debit, Zelle, PayPal, direct bank transfer, and crypto. To arrange Zelle, bank transfer, or crypto, please email our billing team at [email protected].
Proposals expire after 30 days unless otherwise noted.
Email your designs to [email protected] or fill out our quote form. We’ll have your proposal ready in 1 business day or less.
It’s true we’re a bit more expensive than some other companies (though we’re definitely not the most expensive option out there). That’s because our main focus is high quality code and amazing customer care. In fact, we hear from clients all the time that they end up saving far more because of all of the time and hassles we help them avoid.
Our proposals are fixed price or sometimes a range based on the number of unique templates included in your designs.
Our standard hourly rate for maintenance and updates is $75 per hour.
Hey Reliable Web Development Subscription clients do not have hourly rates. 🙂
Reliable requires full payment before starting each phase of your project. For example, to begin HTML development the total possible cost for HTML development is due. After approving the HTML for WordPress, the total possible cost for WordPress development is due before WordPress development can begin. For more information, please see our terms and conditions.