Services · 2 of 3
Legacy PHP modernisation, without stopping the business
PHP 5 that still takes orders. Code with no framework, no documentation and no one left who wrote it. We take it over, make it safe and bring it up to date, one careful step at a time.
What you get
- A plain-language report on what you have: what works, what is risky, what to do first.
- A test copy of the system, so nothing is tried on the live one.
- PHP 5 to 7 to 8, with old and new versions running side by side while the move lasts.
- Security holes closed as we go: queries, passwords, uploads, forgotten admin pages.
- Documentation, at last, written for the next person, who may well be us.
Typical jobs
No handover
The developer left, the passwords are in a spreadsheet, the system must keep running.1
The host stops PHP 5
A deadline from the hosting company and a system that has never seen PHP 7.
Desktop only
An internal tool from 2009 that should finally work on a phone and a tablet.
Somebody else's AI code
Generated in a weekend, broken by Monday. We fix it against clear acceptance tests.
How it goes
Audit
A copy on a test server, the code read, risks listed in writing.
Safety net
Backups that restore, checks on the flows that make money.
Small steps
One part at a time, each tested and released on its own.
Look after
Hosting and support afterwards, or a tidy handover to your team.
Price
The audit is a small fixed-price first stage; it ends with a plan and a price for the rest. The move itself is fixed per step, or time and materials when the system keeps surprising everyone. Every price is set for its task, after the scope, and our prices sit in the middle of the market: no bargain-basement hours, and no marble lobby on the invoice.
Questions
Will the system stop while you work?
No. Work happens on a copy; changes reach the live system in small, tested steps, at times you agree.
Should we rewrite it from scratch instead?
Rarely. A rewrite throws away years of fixed bugs. We suggest it only where the audit shows it is cheaper, and we say so in writing.
Our code has no framework. Is that a problem?
No. Plenty of good systems were written without one. We work with what is there.
Related work
Accounting system · Australia · since 2018
Taken over with no documentation and no handover
Since 2018 nobody else has worked on it: PHP 5 to PHP 8, an integration with the Xero API, a desktop-only interface rebuilt for phones and tablets, and the server it runs on. Still looked after today.2
1 Undocumented, business-critical and slightly haunted? Our favourite kind. We bring a debugger and a torch.
2 Shown in words only, at the client's request. It is very good. You will have to take our word for it.
Something old that must keep working?
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