Welcome to PDStig, LLC

Hello! I am Patrick Schmalstig, a web developer and systems administrator. Below, you will see the services I offer through my company, PDStig, LLC. 

All of my work is insured through State Farm's General Liability Insurance. When contacting me, you can request to see my certificate of insurance.

Services marked "flex rate available" have a flex rate option available. Instead of the base price, you can name your own price on a project, and priority will be assigned to it according to how much you offer relative to how much other clients with active projects are paying for their projects. For example, you can offer more than the base rate for higher-priority projects, and I will work on them / complete them sooner than the initial quoted time. For lower priority projects, you can offer less, and I will work on them later.

Service Managed web hosting
Average Price (USD) $20 / month
Description

"Web Hosting" is hosting a website and services on one of PDStig, LLC's dedicated servers (rather than the Client hosting it on a server / VPS which they have purchased themselves). This service only covers the bare minimum maintenance necessary to run the client's websites. Any personal development or maintenance the client wishes PDStig, LLC to complete falls under "website development", "website maintenance", or "emergency maintenance".

Web Hosting includes the following:

  • Access to the Plesk Control Panel, where the client has full control over their website
  • 100 GB total disk space use
  • unlimited bandwidth (but the client is expected to be reasonable about bandwidth use)
  • FTP / SSH access
  • MariaDB databases
  • Webmail access with email accounts (clients are expected to refrain from sending spam; outbound email rate limits are applied, and each email address is limited to 1 GB mailbox space)
  • Metrics / Analytics
  • Uptime Monitoring / public status page (includes notifications / emails when a website or service goes down).
  • CloudFlare services (free tier; client is responsible for paying for their own paid tier if they desire, but PDStig, LLC can help manage it)
  • SSL certificate provided by Let's Encrypt (the client is responsible for purchasing their own SSL certificate if they want to go with a different company or get a higher validation level; PDStig, LLC can assist)

The client is responsible for purchasing and renewing their own domain name. PDStig, LLC can assist the client with this process.

This service has an "opt-out" strategy for price changes. Due to how frequently the price changes to offer this service, by signing a web hosting contract with me, you automatically agree to all prices changes within the contract period (with 30 days notice) unless you make a written request to terminate the contract (with 14 days notice). 

Service Moderation
Average Price (USD) $20 / hour (flex rate available)
Description

Patrick Schmalstig has moderated several online communities in the last several years, the largest containing over 10,000 members. "Moderation" is the observation of any online community for troublesome users and taking necessary action to remedy the situation. It could also include running online community events. Patrick has written several documents in the past about effective leadership and moderation of communities. They will put these to use and will follow any requests or procedures for moderation as defined by the client. Patrick's primary goal with moderation is to provide opportunities for education and reformation while keeping the rest of the community safe. They also have a sharp and intuitive eye for detecting trolls quickly.

Usually, an agreement will be made between PDStig, LLC and the client for this service on the number of hours per week PDStig, LLC will moderate the community. The client will be invoiced for the time spent on a monthly basis. Clients wishing for PDStig, LLC to be present for moderation at specific times of the day will be asked for a rate of $30 / hour during those times.

Service Website Development
Average Price (USD) $35 / hour (flex rate available)
Description
"Website development" is any non-recurring projects / tasks for PDStig, LLC to complete. This may include but is not limited to developing new features or modifying existing features on a website, or performing one-off maintenance.

Usually, website development payment structure is as follows:

  • A client will make a project request
  • PDStig, LLC will provide a time estimate for the project
  • The client will be invoiced for 33% of the estimated time as a down payment towards the project; work will not begin until the down payment is paid.
  • PDStig, LLC completes the work.
  • Once the client has indicated they are satisfied with the work, PDStig, LLC will invoice the client for the remaining actual time spent on the project.
  • Projects which take 12 or more hours to complete will require milestone payments.
  • Clients can make down payments in advance to avoid spending extra time exchanging the initial 33% payment or milestone payments.
Service Website Maintenance
Average Price (USD) $35 / hour (flex rate available)
Description

"Website maintenance" is recurring tasks to be performed on a website. This includes but is not limited to routine maintenance, backups, content reviews, health checks, etc.

This service is contracted for a pre-defined / agreed upon period of time with regular invoices every month, quarter, bi-annually, annually, or for the contract duration, as desired by the Client. Changes to the necessary maintenance will require an addendum to the contract.