Four Implementation Models

And one Care Plan to service them all!

Stacks

Stacks...

Layers

Layers...

Capabilities

Capabilities...

Models

Models...

Compare Implementation Models

Implementation Models differ from each other only in terms of the capabilities that their layers have and the layers that are included in their stacks. The underlying technologies, the craftsmanship, and the quality of care are all identical across all Implementation Models. The differences that do exist, as summarized in the following table, are borne of the differing purposes of each Implementation Model, as detailed above.

Substrate Layer

The infrastructure we provide includes web hosting, perimeter services, performance optimization solutions, and the various applications that together constitute the Substrate Layer of your project. We craft this layer to maximize the quality of your project, even though it lives separately from your project and creates no dependencies that might lock your project to any provider (including us).

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SubstrateManaged server pairProduction and Staging servers (Compute Optimized C2 containers in Google Cloud Platform).
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Substrate Now
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Included
Included
Included
Included
SubstrateOptional SuperStagersAdditional special-purpose Staging server with Production server power.
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Substrate Now
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Available
Available
Available
Available
SubstrateOptional R&D ServersAdditional specialized servers for Remote Dev (RemDevs), Quality Assurance (QA), and more.
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Substrate Now
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None
Available
Available
Available
SubstrateSelective server syncsMaintain parity between Dev, Prod, Staging (and others).
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Basic
Advanced
Advanced
Advanced
SubstrateManaged DNSUnlimited changes + anti-tamper testing (if DNS hosted at our provider).
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Substrate Now
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Included
Included
Included
Included
SubstrateDNSSEC and CNAME FlatteningUnlimited qualified configs (ongoing monitoring and testing if using our DNS).
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Substrate Now
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Build and Design
Included
Included
Included
Included
SubstrateSPF, DKIM, and DMARCUnlimited qualified configs (ongoing monitoring and testing if using our DNS).
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Substrate Now
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Included
Included
Included
Included
SubstrateMultilayer securityFirewall with DDOS protection + SSL/TLS with wildcard support.
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Substrate Now
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Included
Included
Included
Included
SubstrateActive monitoring24/7/365 automated and human monitoring with qualified emergency response.
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Substrate Now
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Included
Included
Included
Included
SubstrateHack RecoveryHack recovery for guarantee for qualified cases.
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Substrate Now
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Basic
Extended
Advanced
Advanced
SubstrateDatacenter backupsDaily backups stored off-server, within the Google Cloud Platform datacenter.
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Substrate Now
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Build and Design
Included
Included
Included
Included
SubstrateOffsite backupsBackups stored in external datacenter with daily, 6 hour, hourly, and near-real-time options.
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Substrate Now
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Build and Design
Available
Available
Available
Available
SubstrateDatabase optimizationsRecurring database cleanup and optimization operations.
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Substrate Now
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Basic
Extended
Extended
Advanced
SubstrateMultilayer cachingAdvanced server-level caching + global HTTP/3 CDN.
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Substrate Now
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Included
Included
Included
Included
SubstratePerimeter image optimizationServe images with auto-optimized sizing settings from a specialized remote service.
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Substrate Now
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Build and Design
Available
Available
Available
Available
SubstrateDynamic Asset SwitchingIntelligently auto-disable plugins where not needed (improve perf and security).
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Substrate Now
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None
Available
Included
Included
SubstrateModern Dev toolingMultiple Dev stacks (with Composer, Git, etc) + Dev environments + atomic deploys + rollbacks
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Substrate Now
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None
Included
Included
Included
SubstrateOptimized Creative EnvironmentStreamlined WP Admin, in-Admin help content, industry-leading Dev environments.
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Substrate Now
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Build and Design
Limited
Available
Included
Included

Application Layer

WordPress Core, together with all themes, plugins, and remote services that work together to form the behaviors and capabilities of your project are, collectively, your Application Layer. This layer is crafted to balance efficient interaction between the many components of your project while also allowing them to exist as separate from one another as possible, which in turn allows them to be updated as needed or even replaced or retired.

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ApplicationAgile NextGen Design SurfaceYour choice of 4 Page Builders and expansions: Beaver Builder, Elementor, GeneratePress, Oxygen.
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Substrate Now
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Limited
Included
Included
Included
ApplicationAdvanced Child ThemeIncludes bundled CPTs, taxonomies, and shortcodes. SASS and Closure Compiler support.
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Substrate Now
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None
Included
Included
Included
ApplicationChild Theme Feature SyncReceive optional new features and feature augmentations (if compatible).
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Substrate Now
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None
Limited
Included
Included
ApplicationAnalytics and Tracker AppsUnlimited qualified site installs of Google Analytics, Console, and TagMan + Facebook Pixel + Matomo.
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Substrate Now
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Limited
Included
Included
Included
ApplicationTested UpdatesMonthly 3 step process: Dev ➜ Staging ➜ Prod. Beacuse "Untested Upgrades are Downgrades!"
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Substrate Now
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Included
Included
Included
Included
ApplicationViability TestingOngoing compatibility and stability tests of covered components + replacement support as required.
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Substrate Now
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Limited
Included
Included
Included
ApplicationYour on APIOptionally expose your content via REST API with custom endpoints, or GraphQL for more even power.
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Substrate Now
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None
Limited
Available
Available
ApplicationPPCSSPull premium licensed plugins and themes from our Premium Plugin Composer Source Server.
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Substrate Now
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None
Available
Included
Included

Info Architecture Layer

The key is making your content easier for your user to find, understand, and use, no matter what format it’s in...

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Info ArchUnlimited Custom Post TypesOptimize content development and perf with unlimited CPTs (created with native code; no plugins)
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Substrate Now
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Limited
Available
Included
Included

Custom Content Control Layer (C3L)

Custom fields (metadata) that enrich Custom Post Types (as well as native WordPress post types), meta boxes that enable users to manage metadata content, custom database tables that store these metadata (thereby controlling postmeta bloat), powerful suites of shortcodes for rendering metadata in a wide variety of ways, and the capability to dynamically link these fields to page builder modules, custom templates, and more, are known together as your the project's C3L (Custom Content Control Layer).

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C3LHigh-performance databaseDedicated metadata database tables, and secondary app-specific DB’s as needed.
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Substrate Now
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Build and Design
Limited
Available
Included
Included

Design Layer

Your project's Look and Feel (LAF) may be implemented with Page Builders, themes rich with Theme Hooks for assembling visuals with carefully crafted blocks of server-side and client-side code, custom themes that directly form your LAF or some combination of these. When organized as an independent yet connected Design Layer, this area of your project is safe from accidental or misdirected violations during content development. And content can be developed freely without being unduly affected by your design.

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Substrate Now
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Build and Design
DesignOptimized Page Builder processesEfficient design system that uses global templates rather than per-page design.
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Substrate Now
Rebuild As Is
Build and Design
Limited
Available
Included
Included
DesignOptimized Theme Hook processesDesign in code as efficiently as possible when Page Builders cannot be used.
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Substrate Now
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Limited
Available
Available
Included
DesignApp/SASS based Design SystemsStrict Design System options for both Builder-based and Builder-free designs.
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Substrate Now
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Build and Design
Limited
Available
Included
Included

Guided Content

Use native editors made available by WordPress itself as well as custom editorial interfaces that are custom tuned...

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ContentAI-Generated contentFully editable content generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI) for default or starter materials.
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Substrate Now
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Limited
Available
Included
Included
ContentGlobal Content BitsStore frequently used bits of data (addresses, prices, program names, etc), print to any supported output with shortcodes and widgets, and update globally at will with a single simple action.
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Substrate Now
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Limited
Available
Included
Included
ContentContent Refresh BotRevisit content areas that need to be refreshed over time with flagging and scheduling tools that ease content refreshes, even when excuted by staffers other than those that authored the content.
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Substrate Now
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Limited
Available
Included
Included
ContentEmbedded Content StagerBuild experimental content safely or even pass all new content through a "soft" built-in Stager (instead of burning valuable time in Staging, which is normally used for proofing new code).
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Substrate Now
Rebuild As Is
Build and Design
None
Available
Included
Included

Notes

Notes...

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