Help Desk - Troubleshooting Issues with UW Websites

This document contains a decision tree designed to determine the proper support path for issues or outages reported for a UW-related website.

What is the customer calling about?
Questions related to editing content on a website and/or uploading files to the server
- Is the customer using a content management system (CMS), such as OpenText, WordPress, or Drupal?
- They are using WordPress
  - Are they a WiscWeb customer, or are they using a locally-managed instance of WordPress?
    
    Note: WiscWeb customers will see "My WiscWeb Sites" in the top left corner of their editing dashboard. Supported sites are listed under "WiscWeb Prod" in WiscWeb - Full WiscWeb website list
  - They are a WiscWeb customer
    - If they are a WiscWeb customer, refer to kb.wisc.edu/wiscwebcms/ for information regarding editing content on a website, uploading files to the server, and more. WiscWeb is supported by the DoIT Help Desk and further support may be requested via WiscWeb Advanced Support Teams Channel or a case escalation using WiscWeb Handling Information.
      
      New WiscWeb users looking for help with editing may benefit from documentation and tutorials at WiscWeb - Getting started.
  - They are using a locally-managed instance of WordPress
    - Is their site hosted by DoIT Web Hosting?
    - Yes, their site is hosted by DoIT Web Hosting
      - If the customer is getting a 403 error when attempting to access the WordPress admin environment and/or the "test" instance of their website, let them know that they need to be connected to campus Ethernet or WiscVPN to access these sites.
        
        If they are having a different issue, inform them that DoIT is only able to support their hosting specifically, and that there is currently no central support for these content management systems. Refer them to the options outlined here: Web Hosting - Wordpress Usage Guide. Log the call per Web Hosting Service Handling Information.
    - No, their site is hosted elsewhere
      - Inform them that there is currently no central support for these systems through DoIT, but that the unit hosting their site may offer local support. If they are unsure who hosts their site, follow the procedure here: Help Desk - Determining Where a Website is Hosted and provide them with the name of the hosting unit. Log the call per Referrals Handling Information.
    - Unsure whether their site is hosted by DoIT Web Hosting
      - Inform them that there is currently no central support for these systems, but that the unit hosting their site may offer local support. To determine who hosts their site, follow the procedure here: Help Desk - Determining Where a Website is Hosted.
        
        If their site is hosted by DoIT, refer them to the options here: Web Hosting - Wordpress Usage Guide. If the site is hosted elsewhere, provide them with the name of the hosting unit, as they may be able to provide local support. Log the call per Web Hosting Service Handling Information or Referrals Handling Information accordingly.
- Drupal or other CMS
  - Is their site hosted by DoIT Web Hosting?
  - Yes, their site is hosted by DoIT Web Hosting
    - Inform them that DoIT is only able to support their hosting specifically, and that there is currently no central support for these content management systems. Refer them to the options outlined here: Web Hosting - Wordpress Usage Guide. Log the call per Web Hosting Service Handling Information.
  - No, their site is hosted elsewhere
    - Inform them that there is currently no central support for these systems through DoIT, but that the unit hosting their site may offer local support. If they are unsure who hosts their site, follow the procedure here: Help Desk - Determining Where a Website is Hosted and provide them with the name of the hosting unit. Log the call per Referrals Handling Information.
  - Unsure whether their site is hosted by DoIT Web Hosting
    - Inform them that there is currently no central support for these systems, but that the unit hosting their site may offer local support. To determine who hosts their site, follow the procedure here: Help Desk - Determining Where a Website is Hosted.
      
      If their site is hosted by DoIT, refer them to the options here: Web Hosting - Wordpress Usage Guide. If the site is hosted elsewhere, provide them with the name of the hosting unit, as they may be able to provide local support. Log the call per Web Hosting Service Handling Information or Referrals Handling Information accordingly.
- They are not using a CMS to manage site content
  - Is their site hosted by DoIT Web Hosting?
  - Yes, their site is hosted by DoIT Web Hosting
    - Refer them to the following doc for help: Web Hosting - Publishing and Managing Your Web Account. Log the call per Web Hosting Service Handling Information and escalate if needed.
  - No, their site is hosted elsewhere
    - Follow the procedure here: Help Desk - Determining Where a Website is Hosted and use best effort to find contact information for the site. Log the call per Referrals Handling Information
  - Unsure whether site is hosted by DoIT Web Hosting
    - Follow the procedure here: Help Desk - Determining Where a Website is Hosted and log the call per Web Hosting Service Handling Information or Referrals Handling Information accordingly. If hosted by DoIT, refer the user to Web Hosting - Publishing and Managing Your Web Account and escalate if needed.
Reports that a particular webpage is not rendering or working correctly (e.g. broken form)
- Is the caller an end user of the website or an administrator?
- The caller is an end user.
  - Generally, it is best to try to find contact information or a feedback form on the website itself. This is most often found in the site footer, published directly as an email address, a "Hostmaster" link, or under a "Contact Us" link (examples shown below).
- The caller is a website administrator.
  - Is the customer using a content management system (CMS), such as OpenText, WordPress, or Drupal?
  - They are using OpenText
    - If they are using OpenText, log the case per WiscWeb Handling Information and transfer them to Help Desk Level 2 for further assistance: Help Desk - Transferring a Customer to Help Desk Contract Partner Support (CPS).
  - They are using WordPress
    - Are they a WiscWeb customer, or are they using a locally-managed instance of WordPress?
      
      Note: WiscWeb customers will see "My WiscWeb Sites" in the top left corner of their editing dashboard. Supported sites are listed under "WiscWeb Prod" in WiscWeb - Full WiscWeb website list.
    - They are a WiscWeb customer
      - If they are a WiscWeb customer, log the case per WiscWeb Handling Information. Perform standard browser troubleshooting (clear cache, retry links, etc.) and contact the WiscWeb team if the issue persists via Help Desk Advanced Support Channel or escalation.
    - They are using a locally-managed instance of WordPress
      - Is their site hosted by DoIT Web Hosting?
      - Yes, their site is hosted by DoIT Web Hosting
        
        If the customer is getting a 403 error when attempting to access the WordPress admin environment and/or the "test" instance of their website, let them know that they need to be connected to campus Ethernet or WiscVPN to access these sites.
        
        If they are having a different issue, inform them that DoIT is only able to support their hosting specifically, and that there is currently no central support for these content management systems. Refer them to the options outlined here: Web Hosting - Wordpress Usage Guide. Log the call per Web Hosting Service Handling Information.
      - No, their site is hosted elsewhere
        
        Inform them that there is currently no central support for these systems through DoIT, but that the unit hosting their site may offer local support. If they are unsure who hosts their site, follow the procedure here: Help Desk - Determining Where a Website is Hosted and provide them with the name of the hosting unit. Log the call per Referrals Handling Information.
      - Unsure whether their site is hosted by DoIT Web Hosting
        
        Inform them that there is currently no central support for these systems, but that the unit hosting their site may offer local support. To determine who hosts their site, follow the procedure here: Help Desk - Determining Where a Website is Hosted.
        
        If their site is hosted by DoIT, refer them to the options here: Web Hosting - Wordpress Usage Guide. If the site is hosted elsewhere, provide them with the name of the hosting unit, as they may be able to provide local support. Log the call per Web Hosting Service Handling Information or Referrals Handling Information accordingly.
  - Drupal or other CMS
    - Is their site hosted by DoIT Web Hosting?
    - Yes, their site is hosted by DoIT Web Hosting
      - Inform them that DoIT is only able to support their hosting specifically, and that there is currently no central support for these content management systems. Refer them to the options outlined here: Web Hosting - Wordpress Usage Guide. Log the call per Web Hosting Service Handling Information.
    - No, their site is hosted elsewhere
      - Inform them that there is currently no central support for these systems through DoIT, but that the unit hosting their site may offer local support. If they are unsure who hosts their site, follow the procedure here: Help Desk - Determining Where a Website is Hosted and provide them with the name of the hosting unit. Log the call per Referrals Handling Information.
    - Unsure whether their site is hosted by DoIT Web Hosting
      - Inform them that there is currently no central support for these systems, but that the unit hosting their site may offer local support. To determine who hosts their site, follow the procedure here: Help Desk - Determining Where a Website is Hosted.
        
        If their site is hosted by DoIT, refer them to the options here: Web Hosting - Wordpress Usage Guide. If the site is hosted elsewhere, provide them with the name of the hosting unit, as they may be able to provide local support. Log the call per Web Hosting Service Handling Information or Referrals Handling Information accordingly.
  - They are not using a CMS to manage site content
    - Is their site hosted by DoIT Web Hosting?
    - Yes, their site is hosted by DoIT Web Hosting
      - Refer them to the following doc for help: Web Hosting - Publishing and Managing Your Web Account. Log the call per Web Hosting Service Handling Information and escalate if needed.
    - No, their site is hosted elsewhere
      - Follow the procedure here: Help Desk - Determining Where a Website is Hosted and use best effort to find contact information for the site. Log the call per Referrals Handling Information.
    - Unsure whether site is hosted by DoIT Web Hosting
      - Follow the procedure here: Help Desk - Determining Where a Website is Hosted and log the call per Web Hosting Service Handling Information or Referrals Handling Information accordingly. If hosted by DoIT, refer the user to Web Hosting - Publishing and Managing Your Web Account and escalate if needed.
Reports that information published on a webpage is inaccurate
- Generally, it is best to try to find contact information or a feedback form on the website itself. This is most often found in the site footer, published directly as an email address, a "Hostmaster" link, or under a "Contact Us" link (examples shown below).
Reports that a website is completely unavailable
- Is the caller an end user of the website or an administrator?
- The caller is an end user.
  - Follow the procedure here, specifically as described for outages: Help Desk - Determining Where a Website is Hosted and log the call per Web Hosting Service Handling Information or Referrals Handling Information accordingly.
- The caller is a website administrator.
  - Is their site hosted by DoIT Web Hosting?
  - Yes, their site is hosted by DoIT Web Hosting
    - Do they use WordPress to manage their site content?
    - Yes, they are using WordPress.
      - Verify whether the problem is occurring in the WordPress admin environment, their website's "test" instance, or for their live website. If they report that they are getting a 403 error when accessing their admin or test sites, let them know that they need to be connected to campus Ethernet or WiscVPN in order to access these sites.
        
        If their live website is down, contact SNCC to report the outage, give them the website address, and let them know that it is a DoIT-hosted site. If SNCC determines that the server hosting the website is experiencing an outage, follow normal outage procedures.
        
        If SNCC reports that all DoIT Web Hosting servers are operating as expected and the outage is limited to that specific website, the website itself may not be eligible for outage posting. Please see [Link for document 25603 is unavailable at this time.] for more information and let the customer know whether an outage will be posted.
    - No, they are not using WordPress.
      - Contact SNCC to report the outage, give them the website address, and let them know that it is a DoIT-hosted site. If SNCC determines that the server hosting the website is experiencing an outage, follow normal outage procedures.
        
        If SNCC reports that all DoIT Web Hosting servers are operating as expected and the outage is limited to that specific website, the website itself may not be eligible for outage posting. Please see [Link for document 25603 is unavailable at this time.] for more information and let the customer know whether an outage will be posted.
  - No, their site is hosted elsewhere
    - Please refer to [Link for document 25603 is unavailable at this time.]. While there are exceptions, in most cases, you will need to inform the customer that the Help Desk is unable to post or manage outages for websites not hosted by DoIT. If they do not know who to contact, follow the initial steps in Help Desk - Determining Where a Website is Hosted and attempt to find suitable referral information for the website in question.
      
      If you are unsure as to whether a website is eligible for outage posting, contact SNCC.
  - Unsure whether their site is hosted by DoIT Web Hosting
    - Follow the procedure here, specifically as described for outages: Help Desk - Determining Where a Website is Hosted. If the site is hosted by DoIT, log the call per Web Hosting Service Handling Information and follow the outage procedure described in the document.
      
      If the site is not hosted by DoIT, please refer to [Link for document 25603 is unavailable at this time.]. While there are exceptions, in most cases, you will need to inform the customer that the Help Desk is unable to post or manage outages for their website. If they do not know who to contact, attempt to find suitable referral information for the website in question based on the hosting information you found by following the procedure above.
      
      If you are unsure as to whether a website is eligible for outage posting, contact SNCC.

Help Desk - Troubleshooting Issues with UW Websites

Help Desk - Troubleshooting Issues with UW Websites

See Also