WebCitz started working with this client in 2022
- Client: Fresno Audubon Society
- Platform: WordPress
- Industry: Government / Community, Non Profit / Religious
- Services: Maintenance / Support, Web Development, Web Hosting
The Challenge
As an active community organization, Fresno Audubon relies heavily on its website for event coordination, educational resources, and membership communication. Their primary challenges have included:
- High-Frequency Malicious Crawls: Recently, their site was targeted by aggressive bot activity, with dozens of crawl attempts per second hitting their calendar plugin through various URL and date parameters. This caused significant server strain and potential data vulnerabilities.
- Platform Reliability: The society needs a professional, fast, and secure platform to manage their recurring field trips, birding classes, and community events.
- Non-Profit Budget Stewardship: They require enterprise-level support and hosting delivered with the cost-efficiency necessary for a local non-profit organization.
The WebCitz Solution
We provide a comprehensive “security-first” management model that allows the society’s leadership to focus on their conservation mission:
- Spam & Crawl Remediation: We implemented advanced technical measures to harden their WordPress calendar plugin against aggressive bot activity. By optimizing how the plugin handles URL parameters and filtering out high-velocity crawl attempts, we restored site performance and significantly reduced spam.
- Managed WordPress Maintenance: Since 2022, we have handled all routine backend updates, including WordPress core, theme, and plugin management. This ensures that their complex event management tools remain functional and secure.
- Performance Web Hosting: We provide a 10GB Performance Hosting environment specifically optimized for WordPress. This high-reliability infrastructure ensures that the site remains fast and responsive for birders and volunteers, even during periods of heavy community engagement.
- Managed DNS & Security: We handle their DNS management, including DMARC, SPF, and DKIM configuration, to protect their professional reputation and ensure that their community newsletters and communications reach their intended recipients.
- Responsive Technical Support: We act as their “on-call” web department. Whether they need assistance with a layout adjustment or a specialized security audit, our team provides the professional support required to keep their digital “front door” welcoming and functional.
The Result
By partnering with WebCitz, the Fresno Audubon Society has secured a stable and resilient digital foundation. Our proactive approach to security – particularly in resolving the aggressive bot activity on their calendar – has allowed the organization to maintain its focus on bird conservation and community education without technical disruption. The partnership serves as a model for how specialized technical support can empower local non-profits to reach their full potential online.
