terms & conditions

 

DEFINITIONS

• The Client: The business or individual requesting the services of Neondragonfly Web Design ("you", "your", "client").
• Neondragonfly Web Design: Primary Developer/site owner ("I", "me", or "my").

GENERAL

• Clients should strive to maintain regular contact with Neondragonfly Web Design via email. Most business will be conducted over email.
• Clients should be familiar with basic computer usage and competent use of emails.
• Web design support services are there to help you get the most out of your website and editing its' content. Extensive I.T. support is not part of my service.
• The first consultation is free, if multiple (in person) meetings are required this may attract a call-out fee of $30. Usually only 1 face-to-face meeting is required and is inclusive of my initial service.
• The estimated turn-around time for website completion is 2 - 4 weeks and I will use reasonable endeavours to meet those timelines (as long as you perform your obligations promptly) i.e. getting text content, images and feedback to me. Delays in receiving information or replies to emails from the client may result in this time frame being pushed out.
• I shall have no liability to you nor be deemed to be in breach of this Agreement if I am delayed in performing or unable to perform any of my obligations under it due to circumstances beyond my reasonable control.

FEES & DEPOSITS

• A non-refundable 50% deposit is required before the commencement of any work.
• The remaining balance is to be paid 30 days after the initial deposit or upon completion of your website - whichever comes first. i.e. you have approved the design and it has been uploaded to the web host and is functioning correctly.
• Payments can be made by cash or direct bank deposit. 
• Pricing is subject to change without notice, however all quotes are valid for 2 weeks from the date of issue.
• All prices are quoted in Australian Dollars exclusive of GST.
• All invoices are to be paid within 7 days of the invoiced date.

OPTING OUT AND BASIS FOR CANCELLATION

• If the client wants to opt out early for any reason, the client forfeits the 50% deposit. However, if the client opts out before the end of the cooling off period which is 5 days after I have received the deposit then the 50% deposit will be fully refunded.
• If the client fails to provide Neondragonfly Web Design with website content including text, graphics, images and other media as agreed upon and maintain reasonable contact within 14 days of paying their deposit, Neondragonfly Web Design reserves the right to close the project and the 50% deposit will be considered a cancellation fee.
• If after 3 rounds of major changes by Neondragonfly Web Design, the client finds the deliverables are not acceptable, the client may be subject to additional charges that are reasonable within the project scope for completing the necessary changes to the clients' satisfaction. If the client fails to provide approval or feedback during the agreed approval period, those deliverables will be considered approved and accepted. All corrections and changes shall be subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement.
• Termination of services by the client needs to be requested in a writing and will be effective upon receipt of such notice.

CODE OF CONDUCT

• Neondragonfly Web Design will make every effort within reason to provide a quality service delivered in a friendly and professional manner. If I receive communication that is abusive, disrespectful and/or threatening, I reserve the right to discontinue or refuse service, and the non-refundable deposit will serve as the cancellation fee.

WEBSITE ASSETS & INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

• Client needs to provide/source digital assets such as logos, graphics, images etc. I can also recommend sources for images that are free for commercial use under the creative commons zero licence and also premium (paid) sources.
• Text content must be delivered via email in the form of a Microsoft office document or similar. Each section of the document must be titled and correspond to each proposed page for your website. You may include subheadings within each section if the content is lengthy.
• The rights to photographs, graphics and any third-party items such as source code, always remain the property of their respective owners and licence holders. Make sure you have obtained permissions if required for any of these properties.
• Website assets including graphics and images should be emailed directly to me or where the size is deemed too large for emailing, a cloud-based solution like Google Drive or Drop Box may be used. I do not accept images or any content that is sent via SMS.
• You must indemnify me and hold me harmless from any claims or legal actions related to the content of your website.
• Any terms of service, privacy policy or copyright notices need to be provided by the client or their solicitor.

WEB HOSTING & DOMAIN GUIDELINES

• Neondragonfly Web Design is not a webhosting provider or domain reseller, but can certainly assist in setting up suitable webhosting and help with domain registration with a suitable provider. You must follow instruction & end user agreements as set out by a third-party provider. In most cases I can also assist with domain transfers if required.
• For website development, website re-designs or existing website maintenance, the client needs to provide their hosting account login credentials also called FTP or cPanel access. This is so I can make the necessary configurations server side including: CMS database setup, PHP version selection and content management system installation so your website will function correctly. In the interests of security, after these changes have been made you may revoke my access by resetting your password(s).
• Make sure you use your ABN and Name to register your domain name and not someone else's. This will ensure that your domain name is registered to you and avoids complications. It is the client's responsibility to keep their domain records up to date and to renew webhosting & SSL certificates etc as per their hosting or domain provider.
• Neondragonfly Web Design will not be liable for any costs incurred, compensation or presumed loss of earnings due to the unavailability of your website due to: web hosting downtime, server misconfiguration, server errors, loss of index position in search engines, software or client alterations or any third-party involvement.
• In the case that the client has an existing web hosting provider, the environment of the webhost must be familiar to me & compatible with my system. The client must also provide login details for their web hosting, otherwise I cannot proceed any further, i.e.  if the web server technology or software is unfamiliar to me or introduces further complications and compatibility issues that would otherwise prevent me from designing and building a functioning website. In such a case further work may need to be referred to your I.T. Person or suitable alternative web hosting may need to be arranged.
• Please check all emails from your webhost in case of website downtime or planned maintenance that could impact the availability of your website.

DOMAIN EMAIL

• Domain emails using your webhost: Most web hosting providers also include domain email, depending on your plan i.e.  yourname@mywebsite.com.au.  The settings will be provided by the webhost; however, I can provide instruction for setting up your domain email with a few common email clients (apps) like outlook 2019, windows 10 mail and thunderbird;  to get your email up and running, however I do not provide extensive I.T. Support for email troubleshooting, software / hardware related issues or other 3rd party software that I am unfamiliar with.
• Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace Email: If you want to use these email providers for your domain emails you will need to contact an I.T. person to assist you with changing the MX (mail exchanger) records, particularly if you are moving to another host or connecting a website to an existing domain that uses these email providers. This can result in loss of email services if not done correctly.

PROJECT DELAYS & CLIENT LIABILITY

• Neondragonfly Web Design works with momentum and will provide a swift service, but the client needs to provide timely turnaround of feedback, website content, images, and do their best to maintain regular contact. If the client fails to provide Neondragonfly Web Design with website content including text, graphics, images and other media as agreed upon and maintain reasonable contact within 14 days of paying their deposit, Neondragonfly Web Design reserves the right to close the project and the 50% deposit will be considered a cancellation fee.
• The written content is ultimately your responsibility. I will help organise your content... optimise your content... and in many cases improve your content. It is going to require some work on your end to create useful, quality content on your website. Please see blog post on guidelines for writing text content.
• Neondragonfly Web Design will NOT be held liable for any damages or loss experienced by the client due to website downtime, application misuse, content management system failure, viral or malware infection or damage caused by either the client or the involvement of any third-party including unauthorised access to the clients' website. If Neondragonfly Web Design is required to correct errors resulting from such alterations, the client will be charged at the current hourly rate or referred to the clients' web hosting provider should they need to make the necessary repairs.

WEBSITE SECURITY

• Always choose secure password(s) for all your webhosting provider accounts, most web hosts provide a means of generating strong passwords and this should be used if available. Never share your webhosting or account login details with anyone.
• Neondragonfly Web Design is not responsible for loss or damage to clients' data due to hacking of a website or web hosting account.
• Neondragonfly Web Design is not responsible for spamming, phishing, pharming or spoofing originating from a clients' website or web hosting account.

FAIR USE POLICY

• There are limits to the extent of support services. If I feel that a client is using my web design or support services excessively, Neondragonfly Web Design reserves the right to apply additional project charges if they are relevant or limit services.
• To help with the flow of the design process please specify all edits in a single email per round of changes, you a permitted up to 3 rounds of major changes to the design and layout of the site.
• Neondragonfly Web Design provides website design for smaller websites that require no more than 12 web pages and excludes complex membership login systems and eCommerce.

SEARCH ENGINES

• I will submit your website to Google for indexing, however this is no guarantee that your site will be included.
• SEO services I provide do not guarantee any specific position in search engine results for your website.
• I perform search engine optimisation to the best of my knowledge and in accordance with current best practice.
• SEO services are only offered to clients who are having or have had a website designed by me, it is not offered as a stand-alone service.

SEO OUTSOURCING

• For the most part SEO (search engine optimisation) work will be completed by myself, however I may recommend that some off-page SEO work be completed by a third party, this will usually incur an extra fee for which you will be notified of before the commencement of any such work.

CMS & WEBSITE MAINTENANCE

• Website maintenance is charged at the current hourly rate and applies to design features not initially included in my website package, extra functionality or other custom website related requests.
• It is the clients' responsibility to keep an offline backup of their website content including: text, blog posts, images and other assets. While the Content Management System allows for some assets to be backed up to your computers' hard drive it is not 100% fail safe, so it is in the clients' best interest to maintain hard copies of all text content including blog posts, images and other uploaded documents.
• The content management system (CMS) may not be modified in any way and is provided only for websites designed by Neondragonfly Web Design.
• The content management system (CMS) is provided as a way for you to edit and make other basic changes to your website and may include additional functionality or other necessary modules to help you manage your website content. Neondragonfly Web Design will not be held responsible for its misuse or any damage caused by it.
• From time to time websites do go down, so please check any emails from your web host in case of planned maintenance or other issues that may impact the uptime of your website.

TRAINING

• The client will be provided training in person for the use of their website only once. For the clients' reference, written & illustrated tutorials can be accessed via the clients' website CMS (content management system) login at any time. If additional training in person is required later on, this will incur my hourly rate and a callout fee if your location is greater than 30kms from my office.

NON-DISCLOSURE

• I agree that I will not at any time disclose any of your confidential information to any third party.

PLEASE NOTE

• Neondragonfly Web Design reserves the right to change these terms and conditions without notice.

Last updated: 16^th October 2023