Connecting SOS to Geneva

Learn about the optional Geneva connection, what it provides and what happens when you choose to connect SOS.

Last Updated: 01/10/2026

Version: 1.0

SOS Documentation

Geneva is optionalSOS works independently and does not require a Geneva connection for its core Critical Error Page functionality.

SOS can optionally connect to Geneva, an apluskdesign service used to provide additional installation and product context.Connecting to Geneva is a deliberate administrator action. Simply installing or activating SOS does not connect your website to Geneva.

Independent at the core. Enriched by integrations.

What is Geneva?

Geneva is part of the apluskdesign product infrastructure.

For SOS, Geneva can provide an optional relationship between the SOS installation and the apluskdesign service, allowing relevant installation, product, entitlement and connection information to be recognised and maintained.

Geneva is not required to display your Critical Error Page.

The visitor-facing SOS emergency experience remains locally prepared on your WordPress installation.

Do I need to connect SOS to Geneva?

No.

SOS can provide its core Critical Error Page without a Geneva connection.

Without Geneva, SOS can continue to:

prepare your Critical Error Page;
maintain its local resilience profile;
manage an SOS-owned php-error.php drop-in where the location is available;
provide its supported visitor-facing fatal-error experience;
preserve WordPress Recovery Mode; and
provide local Developer Tools information.

You should therefore think of Geneva as an optional integration rather than a requirement for using SOS.

Find the Geneva Connection area

Open SOS from your WordPress administration menu and locate the Geneva Connection area.

If the installation has not previously been connected, SOS clearly shows that Geneva is not connected and explains that the connection is optional.

Geneva Not Connected

Before connection. SOS explains what operational information will be shared
and makes clear that Geneva is optional.

Before you connect

Read the information provided in the Geneva Connection area before making a connection.

SOS explains that:

Geneva is optional;
SOS works independently without Geneva;
limited installation and product information is shared when you connect;
the applicable privacy information is available to review; and
the connection is subject to the applicable SOS/Geneva service terms.

A deliberate choiceConnecting to Geneva should be an informed administrator decision rather than something that happens silently during plugin activation.

Review SOS Privacy & Data →

Connect to Geneva

When you are ready, select Connect to Geneva.

SOS will attempt to establish the installation relationship with Geneva.

Public users do not need to enter a Geneva server address or manually obtain a licence key as part of the normal Community connection experience.

The technical connection details are deliberately kept away from the normal setup flow.

Geneva Connected

After connection. SOS shows the active Geneva status,
entitlement and relationship while remaining independently usable if disconnected.

What happens during the first connection?

When an installation connects for the first time, SOS sends the limited installation and product information required by the Geneva connection.

Geneva can then recognise the website and installation and return the relevant connection information.

For an eligible public SOS installation that is not already known to Geneva, the normal Community connection can establish the website and installation relationship and provide the applicable free SOS entitlement.

The process is designed so that a public user does not need a pre-issued licence simply to connect an eligible SOS installation.

Free / Community SOS entitlement

SOS is available free of charge.

Where the public Geneva Community connection is used, Geneva may associate the SOS installation with a Free / Community entitlement.

This entitlement describes the SOS product relationship.

The entitlement does not activate SOSThe core Critical Error Page does not stop working simply because an installation has not connected to Geneva or received a Community entitlement.

Website relationship and product entitlement are different

Geneva treats the website relationship and the SOS product entitlement as separate concepts.

For example, an independently operated public website may be recognised as:

Independent / Community

while its SOS product entitlement may be:

Free / Community

A website that already has an established managed relationship with apluskdesign can retain that website relationship while SOS remains a free product.

This distinction helps Geneva describe the installation accurately without changing the nature of the website simply because SOS has been connected.

Existing apluskdesign-managed websites

If Geneva already knows the website through an existing authorised relationship, connecting SOS should not replace that established website relationship with a generic Community relationship.

Geneva can return the authoritative relationship it already holds for the website while maintaining the appropriate SOS product entitlement separately.

Installation identity

SOS maintains an installation identity that can be used to recognise the installation consistently where supported product functionality requires it.

When a Geneva connection is established successfully, repeated check-ins should preserve that installation identity rather than creating a new installation every time.

Installation identity is not visitor identityThe SOS installation identity describes the plugin installation. It is not an identifier used to create a behavioural profile of individual website visitors.

Learn more about installation identity and privacy →

SOS Terms acceptance

The Geneva connection may require acceptance of the applicable SOS service terms.

Where this applies, the connection process can record information such as:

the relevant Terms version or identifier; and
the time at which the connection acceptance occurred.

This provides an auditable record associated with the optional service relationship.

Using the core SOS Critical Error Page independently does not require a Geneva connection.

What information is shared?

The Geneva connection uses limited information required to establish and maintain the installation and product relationship.

This may include:

the website URL and basic site identity;
the SOS installation identity;
the installed SOS version;
relevant WordPress and PHP environment information;
product and release information;
connection and entitlement information;
the website relationship returned by Geneva; and
applicable Terms acceptance information.

The connection should remain limited to information that has a legitimate purpose for the service being provided.

What routine communication does not include

Routine SOS/Geneva communication is not intended to transmit:

visitor analytics;
visitor cookies;
request payloads;
fatal-error stack traces;
server filesystem paths; or
website credentials.

Read SOS Privacy & Data →

What happens after connection?

After a successful connection, the Geneva Connection area can show the current relationship and connection status.

Developer Tools can provide additional technical information for authorised administrators, including information such as:

connection status;
installation identity;
last check-in information;
the most recent HTTP status where available;
the returned SOS entitlement;
the returned website relationship; and
the most recent Geneva status message.

Understand SOS Developer Tools →

Manual Geneva check-in

Developer Tools can provide a Check in with Geneva now action for an already-connected installation.

This is primarily a technical troubleshooting and validation control rather than something most users need during normal operation.

A healthy connection should not require an administrator to manually check in every time they use SOS.

Use manual check-in when you need evidenceIf you deliberately perform a manual check-in, review the resulting connection status and response rather than repeatedly triggering the action.

What if the connection is interrupted?

A connection attempt can occasionally be interrupted by a network, hosting or service problem.

SOS and Geneva are designed to preserve installation identity where possible so that a later successful attempt can continue the relationship rather than unnecessarily creating duplicate installations.

If SOS reports a connection problem, review the current status before repeatedly attempting to reconnect.

What if Geneva is unavailable?

The core SOS Critical Error Page does not depend on Geneva being available.

If Geneva cannot be reached, that should not make the locally prepared Critical Error Page dependent on the remote service.

The connection may be unavailable. The core SOS experience remains independent.

Troubleshoot a Geneva connection →

Disconnecting from Geneva

If an authorised administrator disconnects the installation from Geneva, the core Critical Error Page remains a local SOS capability.

Disconnecting the optional service should not turn off the locally prepared emergency visitor experience.

After disconnection, review Developer Tools if you want to confirm the current connection status.

Does Geneva identify website visitors?

The normal SOS/Geneva installation relationship is not designed to identify individual website visitors.

The installation identity describes the SOS installation rather than the people browsing the website.

SOS does not need visitor analytics in order to establish the normal Geneva Community relationship.

Do I need Geneva to receive support?

No.

If you need help with SOS, you can contact apluskdesign whether or not the installation is connected to Geneva.

Email support@apluskdesign.com.

Continue exploring

Where next?

Privacy

Privacy & Data

Review what stays local and the limited installation information used by the optional connection.

Privacy & Data →

Technical

Developer Tools

Review connection status, installation identity, entitlement, relationship and check-in evidence.

Developer Tools →

Troubleshoot

Troubleshooting SOS

Find out what to investigate if a Geneva connection or another SOS status needs attention.

Troubleshoot →