WordPress Website Update and Error Fix

Immediate start required.

Project Brief: WordPress Website Update and Performance Optimization

We are seeking an experienced WordPress developer to update and optimize an existing eCommerce website built on WooCommerce. The goal is to resolve all current errors, perform a full technical update, and significantly improve site performance.

The current website is outdated and has a number of critical errors and warnings. It uses a custom theme (not a child theme) and has 29 active plugins. All work will be performed on a staging server to ensure the live site remains operational.

Scope of Work

The project is divided into two main stages.

Stage 1: Updates and Error Resolution

Full Site Updates: Update the WordPress core, PHP (from 8.2 to 8.3), and all active plugins.

Error Resolution: Debug and fix all known errors, including:

Fatal errors related to the contact-form-7 and WC Wishlists plugins.

PHP errors, such as a fatal error where ABSPATH is undefined, and incorrect function calls like _load_textdomain_just_in_time.

Cpanel errors and warnings.

Warnings and deprecation notices from the custom theme and various plugins.

Fix broken cron jobs.

Site Hardening: Implement several security measures, including restricting access to files and directories, and disabling file editing in the WordPress dashboard.

Plugin and Theme Management: Remove any unused plugins and themes.

DNS & Email: Reconfigure DNS using Cloudflare to improve email deliverability. This includes setting up DKIM, SPF, and DMARC.

Amazon SES Integration: Implement Amazon SES for email delivery, including bounce and complaint handling.

Stage 2: Performance Optimization

Core Web Vitals: Improve site performance to achieve a PageSpeed Insights performance score of 60 or higher for both desktop and mobile.

Technical Optimization: Configure caching, defer asset loads, and optimize files (e.g., images, CSS, JavaScript).

Discovery Tasks

Child Theme Conversion: Investigate the feasibility and effort required to convert the custom theme into a child theme.

Plugin Recommendations: Research and recommend modern replacements for outdated or custom-built plugins.

Project Logistics

All work will be performed on a staging server, which will be a duplicate of the live site.

Upon completion and approval, the website will be migrated to the production environment with minimal downtime.

We will manage the final cutover process, including the migration of new transactions and cPanel security configurations.

The final deliverable includes a handover report outlining all changes, recommendations, and a documented process for ongoing maintenance.

Known Issues

Custom Theme Issues: The custom theme has numerous warnings and errors, including a fatal error on the 404 page due to a missing get_field() function, and calls to deprecated functions and undefined global variables.

Plugin Conflicts: Specific fatal errors are tied to Contact Form 7 and WC Wishlists. There are also compatibility issues where the wordpress-seo plugin requires PHP 7.4.0+, but the site is running an older version.

Core WordPress Errors: Millions of warnings appear in the error_log file, particularly Trying to access array offset on null within wp-includes/media.php, suggesting a core bug.