UB WordPress Terms of Service

UB WordPress (UBWP) is a multi-tenant, shared WordPress implementation specifically designed to provide a Web blogging platform to supplement other web content management platforms such as UBCMS.

UBWP is not intended as a general-purpose content management system for official university Web communications or for personal weblog pages.  Departments are directed to UBCMS as an official web communication platform.

Owing to the multi-tenant nature of the UBWP system, there are certain restrictions: child themes cannot be created (there are optional themes available designed to support the UB brand as styled within UBCMS); no custom coding can be supported; and, plugins must be requested, approved and installed by UBWP system administrators to ensure system stability. Also e-commerce and financial transactions cannot be processed via UBWP since the system has not been architected to be PCI compliant.

UB departments, organizations and departmental programs that do not fit the criteria for a site on UBCMS will have UBWP available as an alternative tool for hosting a website.  UBWP is restricted to active University faculty, staff and authorized students whose role is to author or publish official university web pages. UB WordPress is not intended to be used for class projects.  
 
Individual UBWP sites requested by faculty, staff and authorized students must use the sites for the purposes of academic, teaching, learning and research.   All site requests for authorized students require a sponsoring faculty or staff member. Requests should be made from the sponsor on behalf of a student.  The requesting faculty/staff will be the primary contact and will be responsible for the site content and support of the site after the authorized student leaves the University.

Requests for access to UBWP must be made through the online form in the UBIT Help Center Online.  Requestors must have an active UBITName.

UBWP service is available 24 x 7.  Support for UBWP service is restricted to business hours, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Availability of the UBWP service may be interrupted for maintenance and other updates during maintenance windows.  Announcements and alerts are posted through the Alert System and communicated with the UBWP Listserv.

• For technical problems including non-response of the system, people should contact the UBIT Help Center to open a support ticket or the Network Operations Center outside normal university business hours.
• For system integrity problems, or to request additional features, please contact system administrators using the plugin or theme request form.
  

WordPress upgrades and patches to will be applied to the WordPress environment as they are released.  

Application related updates will occur in the development environment first, time will be given for testing in this environment and then applied to production. Timeframe between the development and production upgrades will be based on criticality.  Production upgrade will be 2 weeks from the date of the development upgrade.

Tenants are strongly encouraged to verify the functionality of their sites in development environment when the changes are announced and production after the upgrades.  Sites that are not functioning will need to be corrected by the tenant/site developer.  Rolling back to previous versions of a plugin may not be honored depending on the criticality of the patch release of the product/plugin.

Plugins will be part of the application upgrade process and will follow the schedule as outlined above.  Individual plugins may require additional updates if a patch is released to address a security vulnerability.  These patches will be fast tracked based on the criticality of the issue.

Access to the development environment is from UB address space only.  

The support of the WordPress infrastructure is a joint responsibility for CIT (EIS) and the tenant.

• It is recommended that tenants have both development and production sites.
• There will be no automatic content synchronization between the development and production environments.
• Upgrades will be coordinated with the tenants and security related upgrades will be fast tracked from development to production in an expedite timeframe.

• Manage content of their site content. Includes:
  • The creation and editing of content.
  • Synchronizing the content between the development and production sites
• Follow UB policy and standards
• Properly secure code and files, including proper access to files.
• For any development, you are responsible for ensuring the security of the code and any files utilized within the code and associated sites.
• Responsible for the cost of any purchased plugins/modules for their site and any ongoing support cost going forward.
  • Renew the support contract for any purchased plugins/modules for their site.
  • Any purchased plugin that requires licensing support will be disabled if that support is no longer renewed by the tenant.
  • When purchasing plugins, the UBWP system administrator’s team alias (csps-support@buffalo.edu) needs to be included to allow for the ability to download and install the plugin.  This will also include notification for patches and upgrades that become available for the plugin.
• Assist in Patching/Upgrades of system components (WordPress product upgrades/patches, operating system patches, etc.).
  • Test site in development environment after system upgrades to verify site is displaying and functioning properly.
  • Make the necessary modifications to the site based on changes within the upgrade process.
  • Verification of the production site after the upgrade/patching the production WordPress environment.
• Routinely back up the blog content of their site.
• Train departmental staff on how to develop and maintain sites in WordPress.

• System administration of the central servers which include routine patching and backup of the servers.
• Periodic upgrades of server software and hardware.
• Review of all plugins for general security and stability risks.
• CIT will monitor UBWP service to ensure a stable and secure environment using automated system-monitoring tools.
  • Reports regarding inappropriate use of UBWP service may be sent to abuse@buffalo.edu

• There is no cost of using the WordPress environment.
• For site owners looking for licensed plugins/modules will be responsible for the cost of any purchased plugins/modules for their site and any ongoing support cost going forward.
  • Renewing the support contract for any purchased plugins/modules for their site.
  • Any purchased plug that requires licensing support will be disabled if that support is no longer renewed by the tenant.