Seriously
Security is Our Top Priority
Every decision about the design, structure, and the technology and services that we are using has been carefully considered and researched.
The goal of this page is to provide full transparency about the processes, technologies and software that are running behind the scenes.
LAYERS OF SECURITY
Click a button to skip to the section
Controlled
User Access
Much of the content on the site is public, however we are building features such as Our Collection that will contain private family content. In order to get access to private content, users have to sign up and be manually verified.
The verification process involves checking their contact information against our records, or requesting relatives references to verify their membership in the family. Because this process is done manually (by our webmaster, Rachel Sherard) we are able to keep tight control over who has access to private content.
Every single piece of content on the site has visibility controls that can be set to determine who can and cannot see it based on assigned levels of access. When you submit content, you always have individual control over its visibility as well.
This website is actually a network of several sites, which are set up at subdomains and connected by a common navigation bar. You may notice as you’re browsing that the URL switches to connect.sherardfamily.com or members.sherardfamily.com – this is set up to increase the security by separating content completely.
Built Solid
Reliable Tech & Services
The software we’re using have been carefully vetted and chosen to ensure that privacy and security are as important to them as they are to us. Because we operate on a tight budget, we’re using many “open source” software options, which means that the people responsible for building and maintaining them are volunteers, and the software is free (with paid upgrades available in most cases).
WordPress
The single most popular system for building a website, WordPress (WP) powers over 40% of the internet. The main software is free and open source, requiring third party services and platforms for many functions. WordPress is built to be accessible, responsive, and is highly customizable to meet all our needs.
BuddyPress
An open source social networking plugin for WordPress, also owned by Automattic. Full site members get a BuddyPress profile, and access to the social features of this site. There are several features that we have yet to employ. Being open source means that our Webmaster Rachel can go to town customizing features we need.
WooCommerce
An open source e-commerce platform that is one of the most popular on the web. When you shop in our Family Swag Shop your order is processed by WooCommerce, (and Stripe or PayPal). They’re owned by a well reputed company in the WP community called Automattic, whose privacy policy you can read at this link.
Matomo
Matomo collects web analytics—data about how visitors are using our website which helps us make improvements. Matomo was built to protect privacy, (unlike the free Google Analytics), and its free version has impressive features. It’s self-hosted, which means all data is kept on our server.
Mautic
To manage our contact database and send out emails and marketing, we are using the open source software called Mautic. It is self-hosted, which means that we own 100% of the data which stays on our servers. This allows us to maintain privacy and security control over your precious information.
Forminator
We’re using Forminator, a free WP form building plugin for all the forms on our site, including the Reunion Registration and Donation pages. It’s built by a company called WPMU DEV, whose privacy policy you can read at this link. All submitted data is stored on our servers, with PayPal and Stripe for processing payments.
Defender
Another free plugin by WPMU DEV that offers security features to protect all of the sites in our network. WordPress’ popularity makes it attractive to hackers and bots. WPMU DEV’s Defender plugin provides regular website malware scanning, brute force attack blocking, and other important protections.
Files & Data
Secure Server & Storage
A server is the physical hardware, rented from a web hosting provider, to store all the files that make up a website and make them accessible via the internet. SherardFamily.com uses Cloudways Managed Cloud Hosting to provide a Virtual Private Server for hosting this site.
You can learn more about Cloudways Security measures by clicking this link (opens in a new window/tab and takes you to their page that explains all the security measures that they take to protect our servers).
After some of the experiences of the 2022 Reunion, we’ve rebuilt the site as several separate sub-sites in order to increase stability and security. All of these sites share the same design layout and a common header navigation that links them together for a seamless front-end user experience.
We also keep regular backups of the data, in multiple locations to protect against the failure of any single system. Our Webmaster, Rachel Sherard has made it her personal life mission to protect and preserve all the precious files and information that we collect.
Let’s Get Legal
Want more of the nitty gritty?
To get the full details on how we handle data privacy and your usage of this site, check out our official legal statements.