Should you give full access to your website backend to a web development company?

We have been working in the field of web development for more than 5 years, and almost every day we are faced with the problem that clients do not give us full access to their site.

We finally decided to answer some important questions from our clients regarding the full admin access backend of the website:

• Why do I need to give you full admin access to my website?
• Should I Give My Web Developer My Username and Password?
• Can I trust my web development company?
• Maybe web developers want to steal my website?

and other similar questions.

Today, our Drupal support team will explain why web-development companies need to access the backend of your website.

So, make yourself a coffee and read it carefully!

What is the backend of your website?

Your website backend is the backbone of your entire website. This is all the most valuable information, something that is not visible to a simple visitor. The website backend is what web developers work with in the event of a site breakdown, malfunction or to add something new.

Let's give you a simple analogy from everyday life.

You drive to work. Suddenly, your car breaks. You understand that something went wrong. To fix it, you need the car to be inspected from the inside by an auto mechanic.

Allowing an auto mechanic to inspect the car from the inside is like giving access to the backend of your website.
An auto mechanic cannot fix your car (or website) just by looking at it unless they have some kind of supernatural ability.

What is the safest way to allow a developer access to your site?

Let's take a look at the main types of access to your site that you can give web developers.

1. Give a username and password to your site

The first way is to give access to the production site. It can be either your login and password to the admin panel or you can create separate admin access for them with limited access to certain information.

2. Hire a reliable web development company

The next way is to simply hire trusted web developers who have a good reputation. Then you can give them all the necessary access without thinking about the risks.

3. Give access to a copy of the site

There is almost no reason to worry about giving access to a copy of the site. This way all changes are rooted in a copy of the site and only if everything goes as it should are they transferred to a production site.

4. Be near the developer

The fourth way is to give all access to the site and stand above the developers to control everything that they do. But, this is not convenient, since often developers and customers are located in different countries. Plus, if the developers are smart, this won’t stop them.

5. Give one-time access to your site

 A one-time password allows only one user to enter your site once. This is not very convenient, because if a whole team is working on your project, then sooner or later someone else needs access to the site.

6. Hire reliable Drudesk web developers and be calm

The best solution of all would be to hire our web developers — our experience and feedback speak volumes about us.

3 main reasons why web-development companies need access to the website:

1. To evaluate the problem.

When you give access to the site, you allow us to see exactly what's wrong on your website and what we need to do. We don't try to steal your website, we just want to help you and make a complete assessment of the task. Otherwise, we have the same access as a user, which does not allow us to see the whole picture. Also, with access to the website, we can do a faster and better inspection of your website. 

2. To fix your website code.

If you give access to the site and the code, we can make code estimates and fix the errors. Also, we will understand how to correct the error and complete the functionality of the site, without damaging other parts of the site. Without access to the site, we have the same access as a random user and we can see only the content of the site. We won’t be able to see problems which are on the site and find out how to solve any problems.

3. To change the configuration and logic. 

In addition to all of the above, thanks to access, we have the opportunity to view the settings you have made on the site, which helps us better understand its structure. Also, we have access to logic and search query settings on the site.

To sum up

Giving full access to your website's backend isn't scary. The main thing is to find reliable web developers.
In general, if you are contacting a web development company and want to make changes to your site, you must provide them access to it. If the company is reliable you do not need to be afraid that something will threaten the security of your site.

Otherwise, it is impossible to make an accurate assessment of the task and carry it out. If you are afraid to give a developer access to your website, you always can make a copy to give a web-developer space to work. 

In any case, every specialized web-developer makes a copy of a website before they start working so that you can always undo any changes you don’t like.

We want to assure you that giving full access to your website's backend is easier than recovering the entire site afterward a major breakdown.