SOS is designed to provide website visitors with a more useful and professional fallback experience when certain fatal errors prevent a WordPress website from operating normally.
We have tried to keep these terms straightforward. SOS is intended to help protect the visitor experience when something goes wrong, but it does not replace proper website maintenance, monitoring, backups, security or technical support.
1. About SOS
SOS is software for WordPress websites. When technically possible, it can display an alternative visitor-facing experience when a fatal error would otherwise result in WordPress displaying its standard critical-error message or another supported failure state.
SOS does not diagnose or repair the underlying cause of a website failure. The website owner, administrator, developer or hosting provider remains responsible for investigating and resolving the problem that caused the failure.
2. Independent use of SOS
SOS is designed around a simple principle:
Independent at the core. Enriched by integrations.
You do not need to create an apluskdesign account, connect SOS to an external apluskdesign service, provide a licence key or register your website in order to use the core SOS plugin.
The core plugin can be installed, activated and used independently on a compatible WordPress website.
Some optional features or integrations may use external apluskdesign services. Where this applies, the connection will be identified separately and will not be required simply to use the core SOS plugin.
3. Open-source software licence
SOS is open-source software distributed under the GNU General Public License, version 2 or later (GPLv2 or later).
Your rights to use, copy, modify and redistribute the software are governed by that licence.
Nothing in these Terms is intended to restrict rights granted to you under the GNU General Public License.
These Terms instead explain matters relating to the operation, support and limitations of SOS and the use of optional services provided by apluskdesign, including Geneva.
4. What SOS can and cannot do
SOS is designed to respond to supported WordPress and PHP failure conditions where the plugin is technically able to execute and provide its fallback experience.
However, not every website failure can be intercepted by a WordPress plugin.
For example, SOS may be unable to operate where a failure occurs before WordPress or SOS can load, or where the website is unavailable because of circumstances such as server failure, hosting infrastructure problems, network outages, database failures, DNS problems, resource exhaustion, corrupted files or other conditions outside the plugin’s control.
For this reason, SOS does not guarantee that its fallback experience will appear for every error, outage or failure.
SOS also does not guarantee website availability, uninterrupted operation or recovery from an underlying technical problem.
5. Your responsibilities
You remain responsible for the administration and operation of the WordPress website on which SOS is installed.
This includes maintaining appropriate backups, keeping WordPress and other software appropriately maintained, managing website security and hosting, and investigating and repairing technical problems affecting the website.
If SOS displays a fallback experience following a fatal error, this should be treated as an indication that the underlying problem still requires investigation.
SOS should not be treated as a substitute for website maintenance, backups, security, monitoring, professional technical support or an appropriate hosting service.
6. Compatibility
SOS operates within the wider WordPress environment and therefore depends on software and infrastructure that apluskdesign does not control.
This may include WordPress itself, PHP, web servers, hosting platforms, databases, themes, plugins, caching systems, security software and other third-party technologies.
We aim to maintain reasonable compatibility with supported WordPress environments, but we cannot guarantee compatibility with every combination of WordPress version, PHP version, theme, plugin, server configuration or hosting environment.
Changes made by WordPress, hosting providers or third-party software developers may also affect how SOS operates.
7. Updates
SOS may be updated from time to time to improve functionality, compatibility, security, reliability or the user experience.
Where SOS is distributed through the WordPress.org Plugin Directory, updates to that edition will normally be made available through the standard WordPress plugin update system.
You are responsible for deciding when to install available updates and for maintaining appropriate website backups and recovery procedures before making changes to a live website.
8. Support
We aim to provide reasonable documentation and support for SOS, but the availability, scope and response time of free support are not guaranteed.
Support for SOS does not automatically include investigation or repair of problems caused by WordPress itself, hosting services, third-party themes or plugins, custom code or other systems outside SOS.
Support and security enquiries relating to SOS can be sent to support@apluskdesign.com.
9. Optional Geneva connection
SOS can optionally connect to Geneva, an apluskdesign service used to identify and support compatible apluskdesign product installations and provide additional operational capabilities.
Connecting SOS to Geneva is optional.
SOS does not require a Geneva connection in order for its core functionality to operate.
SOS will not make its routine Geneva connection merely because the Geneva capability is present in the plugin. An authorised administrator must deliberately choose to connect the installation.
Before the first connection, SOS will provide information about the connection and the information that will be transmitted.
10. Information sent to Geneva
When an administrator chooses to connect SOS to Geneva, SOS may transmit limited information necessary to identify the installation, understand its technical environment and provide the connected service.
This may include:
- the SOS product identity;
- the installed SOS version;
- a persistent installation identifier generated for the WordPress installation;
- the website URL;
- the WordPress environment type;
- the installed WordPress version;
- the installed PHP version;
- declared SOS and Geneva capabilities; and
- information necessary to record the applicable terms version and connection acceptance.
The routine Geneva connection is not intended to transmit visitor behavioural analytics, visitor personal information, visitor cookies, website-user credentials, authentication credentials, filesystem paths, PHP stack traces or unnecessary fatal-error diagnostic information.
Additional functionality introduced in the future that requires different information will be documented appropriately before that information is transmitted.
11. Why Geneva receives this information
The information transmitted through the optional Geneva connection may be used to:
- identify an SOS installation;
- associate SOS with the relevant website installation;
- understand the installed SOS version and supported capabilities;
- understand basic compatibility information about the WordPress environment;
- provide and maintain optional connected functionality;
- support operational, compatibility and product-management features; and
- maintain appropriate records relating to the connection and applicable service terms.
The Geneva connection is not intended to operate as visitor advertising or behavioural tracking.
12. Connecting to Geneva and acceptance of these Terms
Where SOS presents these Terms as part of the first Geneva connection process, deliberately selecting Connect to Geneva after being provided with the relevant connection information constitutes acceptance of the applicable SOS/Geneva service terms.
The version of the Terms accepted and the date and time of acceptance may be recorded locally by SOS and by Geneva so that the connection has an auditable record.
Acceptance relating to the Geneva connection is separate from your rights to install and use the open-source SOS software.
If you do not wish to accept the terms applying to the optional Geneva service, you can choose not to connect. You may continue to use the core SOS plugin independently.
13. Disconnecting from Geneva
You may disconnect SOS from Geneva using the controls provided by the plugin where available.
Disconnecting prevents SOS from continuing its normal connected relationship with Geneva but does not necessarily delete legitimate historical records already held by apluskdesign, such as records showing that an installation was previously connected or that a particular version of the service terms was accepted.
Information will be retained only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, for legitimate operational or security requirements, or where retention is required by law.
Further information about how apluskdesign handles information is available in the apluskdesign privacy information.
14. Future optional services
apluskdesign may introduce additional optional services, integrations or features for SOS in the future.
Where an optional feature requires additional external communication or information processing beyond that described here, appropriate information and choices will be provided before that functionality is enabled where required.
Using the core SOS plugin will not automatically constitute consent to unrelated marketing communications.
15. Availability of SOS and Geneva
We aim to maintain SOS and any optional connected services responsibly, but we cannot guarantee that the software, documentation, support services or Geneva service will always be available, uninterrupted or error-free.
Temporary interruptions may occur because of maintenance, upgrades, technical problems or circumstances outside our reasonable control.
A temporary or permanent interruption to Geneva should not prevent the core SOS plugin from performing functionality that does not depend on Geneva.
16. Third-party services and software
SOS operates as part of a WordPress website and may interact indirectly with software and services supplied by third parties.
apluskdesign does not control and is not responsible for WordPress hosting providers, third-party themes or plugins, server software, internet service providers or other third-party systems.
The use of those products and services may be governed by separate terms and privacy policies provided by their respective operators.
17. No warranty
SOS is provided in the hope that it will be useful, but without any guarantee that it will prevent, detect, intercept or resolve every website failure.
To the extent permitted by applicable law and subject to rights that cannot lawfully be excluded, the software and optional services are provided without warranties regarding uninterrupted availability, universal compatibility or suitability for a particular purpose.
Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits any liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.
18. Limitation of liability
To the extent permitted by applicable law, apluskdesign will not be responsible for indirect or consequential loss arising solely from the use of, inability to use, or reliance upon SOS or its optional connected services.
This includes circumstances where SOS cannot display its fallback experience because WordPress, PHP, the server or another required part of the website environment is unable to execute the plugin.
Website owners and administrators remain responsible for maintaining appropriate backups, security, recovery procedures and technical support arrangements suitable for their website.
Nothing in these Terms limits liability where doing so would be unlawful.
19. Changes to SOS or these Terms
SOS may evolve over time and these Terms may occasionally need to be updated to reflect changes to the software, connected services, legal requirements or the way the service operates.
The current version of these Terms will be published on the SOS website with its version and update date.
Where a material change affects an optional connected service such as Geneva, we may require an administrator to review or accept an updated version before continuing to use functionality affected by those changes.
An updated service-terms requirement will not remove rights already granted under the open-source licence governing the SOS software.
20. Governing law
These Terms and any dispute or claim arising from them are governed by the laws of England and Wales, subject to any mandatory rights or protections that apply under the law of the country in which you are based.
The courts of England and Wales will have jurisdiction in relation to disputes arising from these Terms, except where applicable law gives you the right to bring proceedings elsewhere.
21. Contact
SOS is developed and maintained by apluskdesign.
For questions about SOS, these Terms, privacy or security, please contact:
apluskdesign
Email: support@apluskdesign.com
Website: https://apluskdesign.com/sos/
Further SOS documentation, support information and current product information can be found at apluskdesign.com/sos/.