If you can't move your website, you're renting it, whatever the invoice said. The way to find out is the move test. You ask for everything it takes to run a copy somewhere else: the files, the data and the setup instructions. Another developer restores that copy in an account you control, and you click around. Do the pages load? Does the form send? Then the check people forget, the one that costs you a rebuild: the rights, in writing.
Having the login doesn't settle it. You've got a login to your gym too, and you don't own the treadmill. So here's all of it: the email that asks for the kit, what a complete kit looks like for WordPress, custom code and website builders, the restore without touching your live site, the click-around checklist, the rights questions for your lawyer, and a prompt that has Claude or ChatGPT check what you got back.
And I'll say it up front: renting isn't always wrong. If it's cheap and it works and you know you can't take it, that's a fair trade. I just want you to know which one you bought. We build websites too, so yes, ask us for the kit as well.
Start here: paste this into ChatGPT or Claude
Not technical? Start here. Copy this prompt into ChatGPT or Claude (the free versions work) and it walks you through the whole guide, one step at a time, in plain English. It asks before it assumes anything and checks with you before anything that costs money, reaches a real customer or deletes something. The rest of the page is the same guide, written out, if you'd rather do it yourself.
Hi! Please be my patient guide for this step-by-step guide from Receipts Group: "The move test: find out if you own the website you paid for"
The guide is here: https://receiptsgroup.com/guides/website-move-test (open it if you can; if you can't, everything you need is below).
About me: I run a small business and I'm not technical. Use plain words and short sentences.
My goal: find out whether I own my website or I'm renting it. I ask whoever built it or runs it for everything it takes to run a copy somewhere else (the files, the data, the setup instructions), have a different developer restore that copy in a hosting account in my business's name, click around to see if the pages load and the form sends, and get the rights in writing: the code, the design, the text and the images are mine. If it turns out I'm renting, I want to know what I'd keep and what I'd rebuild, so I can decide if it's a fair trade.
How to help me:
1. One step at a time. For each step, tell me in a sentence what it's for and exactly what to do (what to send, who to ask, what to check). Then stop and wait until I say "done" or tell you what I see.
2. Ask before you assume anything about my business, my website, my developer or my agreement. One question at a time.
3. If you use a technical word, explain it in plain English the first time (for example: files, database, hosting account, repository, test copy, restore, DNS, registrar, license, assignment).
4. Stop and check with me before anything that costs money (hiring a developer, opening a hosting account, a lawyer), anything that reaches a real customer or another company (sending an email, a test lead), and anything that deletes or changes something on my live website or my domain.
5. Use only what I tell you or show you. Never make up names, prices, answers or contract terms. If something's missing, ask me.
6. You're not my lawyer. Don't tell me an agreement makes me the owner or not; flag it for my lawyer.
7. Never ask me for a password, a key or a login. If I paste one by accident, tell me to change it. Logins go in a password manager, never in an email or this chat.
8. Never touch my live website or my domain settings. The test copy lives at a separate test address.
The steps, from the guide:
Ask for the move kit:
Step 1. Find out what my site runs on.
Ask whoever built it or runs it: "What's our website built on?" The answer is one of four: WordPress, custom code, a website builder like Wix or Squarespace, or the agency's own platform. The kit is different for each one (see "What a complete kit looks like" below).
Step 2. Send the email.
Email, not a phone call, so the answers are in writing. Help me fill in the brackets of the email below. No passwords in it, and none sent back. Show me the finished email and wait for my yes before I send it.
Step 3. Check what came back.
Go through the reply with me against "What a complete kit looks like". Mark each piece GOT IT, MISSING or UNCLEAR. A gap is a to-do, not a fail: help me ask for what's missing. If they sent a login instead of a kit, that's access, not a copy, so we ask again for the files, the data and the setup instructions.
Step 4. Keep it where the business controls it.
The kit goes in a folder in the business's own cloud storage, not one person's inbox, with the date on it. Remind me to ask for a fresh one once a year and any time the developer or agency changes.
What a complete kit looks like:
- WordPress: All the files (WordPress itself, the theme, the plugins, the uploaded images) plus an export of the database. WordPress's own docs say you need both to fully restore a typical site. The file from Tools → Export isn't the kit. It holds posts, pages, comments, custom fields, categories, tags and users. The theme, the plugins and the image files aren't on that list.
- Custom code: The code in a repository (an online folder that keeps every version of every file, usually on GitHub) that sits in the business's own organization, a database export, the setup instructions, and the settings the code needs, by name only. Code that only lives in your developer's personal account. Someone with admin access can transfer the repository to your organization: on GitHub, the repository's Settings, then Transfer in the Danger Zone section at the bottom.
- A website builder (Wix, Squarespace and the like): Often there's no full kit. Wix says a Wix site has to run on Wix's servers. Squarespace exports some content to a WordPress-format file (basic pages, one blog, text, image and gallery content), not store pages, style settings or custom CSS. Squarespace warns that imported images can come in as links that stop working once you cancel. Download your images yourself.
- The agency's own platform: Whatever they put in writing when you ask what happens when you leave (question 6 in the email). “It lives on our platform” with no answer about leaving. If the answer is “you'd start over”, you're renting.
Have another developer restore it (WordPress and custom code; a website builder site skips to step 10):
Step 5. Get a hosting account in the business's name.
The account and the card are the business's, and the developer gets their own login on it. If I'm thinking about moving anyway, use the host I'd move to, so the test doubles as a rehearsal. For custom code, also make a GitHub organization for the business: on GitHub, click the profile picture, then Settings, then Organizations, then New organization, and follow the prompts. GitHub's Free plan is $0. Check with me before anything I'd pay for.
Step 6. Hire a developer who didn't build it.
It has to be someone else, because the test is whether the kit works without the person who made it. Help me send them the brief below and ask for a fixed price for the restore and a short written report. No calls to the first developer: every question they'd have to ask is a gap, and it goes in the report. Check with me before I agree to a price.
Step 7. Restore it at a test address, hidden from Google.
A separate test address, never my real one, and nobody touches my domain settings. Ask for it to be password-protected: Google says that's how you keep private content out of Search. If they use a noindex tag instead (a line that tells Google not to list a page), the copy can't also be blocked in robots.txt, or Google never sees the noindex.
Step 8. Turn off my tracking on the copy.
Ask the developer to take my ad and analytics tracking off the copy, so my test form fills don't show up as leads in my ad accounts.
Click around:
Step 9. Go down the click-around checklist below, on my phone and on a computer.
Use my own name and number on the form, put TEST in the message, and tell the office a test lead is coming so nobody tries to book me. Pass: everything ticks and the developer's report says it restored from the kit alone. Not yet: anything broke or needed the first developer. Then we send the report back to whoever built it, ask for the missing pieces, and run it again.
The rights:
Step 10. Check the rights in writing.
In plain words, from the US Copyright Office: ordinarily, the person who actually creates something owns it. Work by someone who isn't my employee is only "made for hire" (mine from the start) when it's one of nine kinds of work listed in the law and we both signed a written agreement saying so. A website isn't on that list by name. Otherwise, moving ownership to me takes a transfer in writing, signed by whoever owns it (lawyers call it an assignment). A license is different: permission to use something I don't own. That's normal for a paid theme, plugins, fonts and stock photos, as long as the license is in my name or moves with the site. Go through the rights check below with me, then I take it to my lawyer.
Step 11. If it lives on their platform, ask what happens when I leave.
In writing: what I get, in what format, how fast, and whether it costs anything. The domain matters most, because it's my address. If it's registered in the agency's name, I ask for a change of registrant to my business, which starts with the current registrar.
Step 12. Decide: own it, or rent it on purpose.
- Kit complete, restore worked, rights signed: You own it. Keep the kit fresh: a new one once a year, and any time the developer or agency changes.
- Restore worked, nothing about rights in writing: You can move it, but it might not be yours. Get the transfer signed now, while everybody's friendly.
- Restore failed, or needed the first developer: A gap, not a verdict. Send the report back, get the missing pieces, run it again.
- It lives on a platform and can't leave: You're renting. Fine if it's cheap and it works. Write down what you'd keep (the text, the photos, the domain, the form entries) and what you'd rebuild, so it's a choice and not a surprise.
When we get to it, use "The email" from the guide (fill in the brackets with my details):
---
Subject: Our website: the move kit
Hi [name],
We're checking all our systems, and I'd like a copy of
everything it takes to run our website somewhere else.
Nothing's wrong. We just want to know we could move it
if we ever had to.
THE KIT
1. The files: everything the site is made of, including
the images, the theme or design, and any plugins.
2. The data: a full export of the database (where the
pages, posts and settings are stored), plus the form
entries if the site keeps them.
3. The setup instructions: what the site is built on and
which versions, where it's hosted, how to restore it
somewhere new, how to publish a change, and what it
connects to (forms, email, our CRM, call tracking,
analytics). Settings by name only, never the
passwords or keys.
THE ACCOUNTS
4. Whose name is each of these in: the domain, the
hosting, Google Business Profile, Google Analytics,
Search Console, our ad accounts, and our tracking
phone numbers?
THE PAID PIECES
5. A list of anything paid the site uses (a theme,
plugins, fonts, stock photos), whose name each
license is in, and whether it can move with the site.
IF WE LEAVE
6. If the site lives on your platform: what happens when
we leave? What do we get, in what format, how fast,
and does it cost anything?
THE RIGHTS
7. Do we own the code, the design, the text and the
images you made for us? Please point me to where
that's written in our agreement.
A link to a shared folder is fine for the kit. Please
don't email any passwords: we'll set up logins
separately.
Thanks,
[your name]
---
When we get to it, use "The brief for the second developer" from the guide:
---
MOVE TEST: BRIEF FOR THE RESTORE
What this is: a test of whether our website can run
without the people who built it. Please don't contact
them. If you need something that isn't in the kit,
write it down: that's what we're testing.
What you get:
- The move kit (a shared folder): the files, the data
export, the setup instructions
- A login to our hosting account, in the business's name
- Any other logins through our password manager, not
by email
Please:
1. Restore the site from the kit into our hosting
account, at a test address. Not our real domain.
Don't change any of our domain or DNS settings.
2. Password-protect the test copy so it stays out of
Google.
3. Take our ad and analytics tracking off the copy.
4. Don't send email or texts to anyone from the copy.
A test lead to our own inbox is fine.
5. Send me the test address when it's up.
The report (one page is fine):
- Did it restore from the kit alone? Yes / No
- What was missing, and what you did about it
- Anything that only works on the old setup (a key
tied to the old address, a service in someone else's
name, a paid license that didn't come with the kit)
- Hours spent
When we're done, I'll remove your access to the test
account unless we agree otherwise.
---
When we get to it, use "The click-around checklist" from the guide:
---
MOVE TEST: CLICK-AROUND
Test address: ______________ Date: ________
PAGES
[ ] Home page loads
[ ] Every page in the menu loads
[ ] Each service page loads
[ ] A city or area page loads (if you have them)
[ ] Blog posts are there (open three old ones)
[ ] Same pages as the live site (compare the menus)
PICTURES
[ ] Photos show on the home page
[ ] Job photos and galleries show
[ ] Logo shows
THE FORM
[ ] The form sends (your name, your number, TEST)
[ ] The thank-you message or page shows
[ ] The test lead lands where your leads go:
inbox ___ CRM ___ text alert ___
THE REST
[ ] Tap the phone number on your phone: it dials
[ ] Booking or calendar works (if you have one)
[ ] Looks right on your phone
[ ] The copy asks for a password (it's hidden)
What broke: ______________________________
In the developer's report? Y / N
---
When we get to it, use "The rights check" from the guide (for my lawyer):
---
RIGHTS CHECK: OUR WEBSITE
Agreement with: ______________ Date: ________
WHAT'S OURS
[ ] The code made for us: transferred to the
business, in writing, signed
[ ] The design made for us: same
[ ] The text on our pages: same
[ ] Photos they took or made for us: same
[ ] Photos we gave them: still ours
WHAT'S LICENSED (fine, as long as it's listed)
[ ] Stock photos: where each one was licensed,
in whose name, and can it move with the site?
[ ] Paid theme, plugins, fonts: in whose name?
[ ] Their own tools or platform: what we can keep
using if we leave, if anything
IF WE LEAVE
[ ] What they hand over (the move kit)
[ ] How fast, in what format, and the cost
[ ] The domain, the hosting and the Google
accounts stay in the business's name
Words to look for in the agreement:
"assign" or "assignment", "work made for hire",
"license", "owns" or "ownership"
---
Watch out for these:
- A login instead of a kit. A login is access, not a copy. Ask again for the files, the data and the setup instructions.
- "It lives on our platform" with nothing about leaving. Ask what happens when I leave, in writing.
- A WordPress "kit" that's one .xml file. That's the Tools → Export file, not the theme, plugins or image files. Ask for all the files plus a database export.
- The form won't send on the copy. Check the spam protection first: a reCAPTCHA key is tied to a list of domains, so the test address has to be added. It goes in the report either way.
- Passwords in an email. Never. They go in the password manager.
- The domain in the agency's name. Ask for a change of registrant to my business. ICANN says that after a registrant change, I can't move to a different registrar for 60 days (some registrars offer an opt-out), so do it before I need to move.
- The agreement says "license". A license lets me use it; it doesn't make me the owner. That one goes to my lawyer.
When we're done, give me a short recap: what we did, what was in the kit and what was missing, whether the restore worked, what the agreement says about ownership (quoted), and whether I own this site or I'm renting it.
Start by asking me a few quick questions about my business and my website, one at a time. Then begin with step 1.How the pieces connect
Four checks, in this order. Each one is cheap until the restore, and the restore only happens on a copy, never on your live site.
- 1The askOne email to whoever built or runs your site→ the move kit: the files, the data, the setup instructions, the account list
- 2The kit checkYou, or the Claude/ChatGPT prompt below→ what's in it, what's missing
- 3The restoreA second developer, in a hosting account in the business's name, at a hidden test address→ a working copy that isn't your live site
- 4The click-aroundYou, on your phone and a computer, with the checklist→ the pages load, the pictures show, the form sends
- 5The rightsYour agreement, read by your lawyer→ in writing: the code, the design, the text and the images are yours
- 6Your callOwn it, move it, or rent it on purpose→ a decision instead of a surprise
Words you'll see
- Files: everything the site is made of: the pages, the design, the code, the images.
- Database: where a site like WordPress keeps its pages, posts and settings. The export is a copy of it in one file.
- Setup instructions (a README): the written steps for getting the site running somewhere new, and what it connects to.
- Hosting account: your account with the company whose computers serve your site.
- Repository: an online folder that keeps every version of every file of a coded site, usually on GitHub.
- Restore: taking the files and the database and getting a working site out of them somewhere else.
- Test copy: a working copy at a separate address, hidden from Google, so your real site isn't touched.
- DNS: the settings that point your domain at your website and your email. They stay exactly as they are for this test.
- Registrar: the company you rent your domain (your web address) from.
- Assignment: a signed, written transfer of ownership. License: permission to use something you don't own.
Ask for the move kit
Find out what your site runs on
Ask whoever built it or runs it, in one line: “What's our website built on?” You'll get one of four answers: WordPress, custom code, a website builder like Wix or Squarespace, or the agency's own platform. The kit is different for each one, and the table under these steps shows what a complete one looks like.
Send the email
Email, not a phone call, because you want the answers in writing. It asks for the three things from the video (the files, the data and the setup instructions), then the accounts, the paid pieces, what happens when you leave, and the rights. Fill in the brackets and send it to whoever built the site or runs it now.
No passwords in this email, and don't let anybody send them back in one. Logins go in a password manager; my five-things guide covers that part.
Subject: Our website: the move kit Hi [name], We're checking all our systems, and I'd like a copy of everything it takes to run our website somewhere else. Nothing's wrong. We just want to know we could move it if we ever had to. THE KIT 1. The files: everything the site is made of, including the images, the theme or design, and any plugins. 2. The data: a full export of the database (where the pages, posts and settings are stored), plus the form entries if the site keeps them. 3. The setup instructions: what the site is built on and which versions, where it's hosted, how to restore it somewhere new, how to publish a change, and what it connects to (forms, email, our CRM, call tracking, analytics). Settings by name only, never the passwords or keys. THE ACCOUNTS 4. Whose name is each of these in: the domain, the hosting, Google Business Profile, Google Analytics, Search Console, our ad accounts, and our tracking phone numbers? THE PAID PIECES 5. A list of anything paid the site uses (a theme, plugins, fonts, stock photos), whose name each license is in, and whether it can move with the site. IF WE LEAVE 6. If the site lives on your platform: what happens when we leave? What do we get, in what format, how fast, and does it cost anything? THE RIGHTS 7. Do we own the code, the design, the text and the images you made for us? Please point me to where that's written in our agreement. A link to a shared folder is fine for the kit. Please don't email any passwords: we'll set up logins separately. Thanks, [your name]Check what came back
Go down the table below and tick off what you got. A kit with a gap isn't a fail, it's a to-do: write down what's missing and ask for it. If they sent a login instead of a kit, that's access, not a copy, so ask again for the files, the data and the setup instructions. The free first test further down has Claude or ChatGPT do this check with you.
Keep it where the business controls it
Put the kit in a folder in the business's own cloud storage, not one person's inbox, and write the date on it. Then ask for a fresh one once a year, and any time your developer or agency changes. A kit from three years ago restores the site you had three years ago.
| Your site runs on | A complete kit | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| WordPress | All the files (WordPress itself, the theme, the plugins, the uploaded images) plus an export of the database. WordPress's own docs say you need both to fully restore a typical site. | The file from Tools → Export isn't the kit. It holds posts, pages, comments, custom fields, categories, tags and users. The theme, the plugins and the image files aren't on that list. |
| Custom code | The code in a repository (an online folder that keeps every version of every file, usually on GitHub) that sits in the business's own organization, a database export, the setup instructions, and the settings the code needs, by name only. | Code that only lives in your developer's personal account. Someone with admin access can transfer the repository to your organization: on GitHub, the repository's Settings, then Transfer in the Danger Zone section at the bottom. |
| A website builder (Wix, Squarespace and the like) | Often there's no full kit. Wix says a Wix site has to run on Wix's servers. Squarespace exports some content to a WordPress-format file (basic pages, one blog, text, image and gallery content), not store pages, style settings or custom CSS. | Squarespace warns that imported images can come in as links that stop working once you cancel. Download your images yourself. |
| The agency's own platform | Whatever they put in writing when you ask what happens when you leave (question 6 in the email). | “It lives on our platform” with no answer about leaving. If the answer is “you'd start over”, you're renting. |
Have another developer restore it
This is the actual test. A kit can look complete and still be missing the one thing only the person who built it knows. So somebody who's never seen the site restores it from the kit alone, in an account you control, at an address that isn't your real one. Your live site doesn't get touched.
On a website builder like Wix or Squarespace there's nothing to restore somewhere else, so skip to the rights.
Get a hosting account in the business's name
The account and the card are the business's, and the developer gets their own login on it. If you're thinking about moving anyway, use the host you'd move to, so the test doubles as a rehearsal.
Custom-coded site? Also make a GitHub organization for the business, so the code has a home that's yours: on GitHub, click your profile picture, then Settings → Organizations → New organization, and follow the prompts. GitHub's Free plan is $0.
Hire a developer who didn't build it
It has to be someone else, because the test is whether the kit works without the person who made it. Send them this brief and ask for a fixed price for the restore and a short written report. No calls to the first developer: every question they'd have to ask is a gap, and it goes in the report.
MOVE TEST: BRIEF FOR THE RESTORE What this is: a test of whether our website can run without the people who built it. Please don't contact them. If you need something that isn't in the kit, write it down: that's what we're testing. What you get: - The move kit (a shared folder): the files, the data export, the setup instructions - A login to our hosting account, in the business's name - Any other logins through our password manager, not by email Please: 1. Restore the site from the kit into our hosting account, at a test address. Not our real domain. Don't change any of our domain or DNS settings. 2. Password-protect the test copy so it stays out of Google. 3. Take our ad and analytics tracking off the copy. 4. Don't send email or texts to anyone from the copy. A test lead to our own inbox is fine. 5. Send me the test address when it's up. The report (one page is fine): - Did it restore from the kit alone? Yes / No - What was missing, and what you did about it - Anything that only works on the old setup (a key tied to the old address, a service in someone else's name, a paid license that didn't come with the kit) - Hours spent When we're done, I'll remove your access to the test account unless we agree otherwise.PermissionsYou're giving them the kit and a login to the new hosting account, not your live site or your domain. Logins go through the password manager, never by email, and you take their access away when the test is done.Restore it at a test address, hidden from Google
The copy goes on a separate test address, never your real one, and nobody touches your domain settings for this. Ask for it to be password-protected: Google says that's how you keep private content out of Search. If they use a noindex tag instead (a line that tells Google not to list a page), make sure the copy isn't also blocked in robots.txt, because then Google never sees the noindex.
Take your tracking off the copy
The copy carries your site's code, and that can include your ad and analytics tracking. Ask the developer to take it off the copy, so your test form fills don't show up as leads in your ad accounts.
Click around: do the pages load, does the form send?
Once you have the test address, open it on your phone and on a computer and go down this list. Use your own name and number on the form, put TEST in the message, and tell the office a test lead is coming so nobody tries to book you.
MOVE TEST: CLICK-AROUND
Test address: ______________ Date: ________
PAGES
[ ] Home page loads
[ ] Every page in the menu loads
[ ] Each service page loads
[ ] A city or area page loads (if you have them)
[ ] Blog posts are there (open three old ones)
[ ] Same pages as the live site (compare the menus)
PICTURES
[ ] Photos show on the home page
[ ] Job photos and galleries show
[ ] Logo shows
THE FORM
[ ] The form sends (your name, your number, TEST)
[ ] The thank-you message or page shows
[ ] The test lead lands where your leads go:
inbox ___ CRM ___ text alert ___
THE REST
[ ] Tap the phone number on your phone: it dials
[ ] Booking or calendar works (if you have one)
[ ] Looks right on your phone
[ ] The copy asks for a password (it's hidden)
What broke: ______________________________
In the developer's report? Y / NPass: everything ticks, and the developer's report says it restored from the kit alone. Not yet: anything broke, or they needed the first developer. That's fine, and it's the whole point: now you know what's missing while everybody's still friendly. Send the report back to whoever built it, ask for the missing pieces, and run it again.
The one people forget: the rights
This is the check that costs you a rebuild. The copy can load fine and the form can send, and the code and the images still might not be yours.
Here's how US copyright works, in plain words, from the Copyright Office. Ordinarily, the person who actually creates something owns it. Work by someone who isn't your employee is only “made for hire” (yours from the start) when it's one of nine kinds of work listed in the law and you both signed a written agreement saying so. A website isn't on that list by name, so I wouldn't count on it. Otherwise, moving ownership to you takes a transfer in writing, signed by whoever owns it.
So what I'd want in the agreement is a signed transfer (lawyers call it an assignment) of the code, the design, the text and the photos made for you. A license is different: it lets you use something without owning it. That's normal for the paid pieces, like a theme, plugins, fonts and stock photos. You don't need to own those. You need the license in your name, or one that moves with the site.
RIGHTS CHECK: OUR WEBSITE
Agreement with: ______________ Date: ________
WHAT'S OURS
[ ] The code made for us: transferred to the
business, in writing, signed
[ ] The design made for us: same
[ ] The text on our pages: same
[ ] Photos they took or made for us: same
[ ] Photos we gave them: still ours
WHAT'S LICENSED (fine, as long as it's listed)
[ ] Stock photos: where each one was licensed,
in whose name, and can it move with the site?
[ ] Paid theme, plugins, fonts: in whose name?
[ ] Their own tools or platform: what we can keep
using if we leave, if anything
IF WE LEAVE
[ ] What they hand over (the move kit)
[ ] How fast, in what format, and the cost
[ ] The domain, the hosting and the Google
accounts stay in the business's name
Words to look for in the agreement:
"assign" or "assignment", "work made for hire",
"license", "owns" or "ownership"If they say “it lives on our platform”
Then ask what happens when you leave, and get the answer in writing: what you get, in what format, how fast, and whether it costs anything. Some answers are fine. “You keep your text, your photos and your domain, and you'd rebuild the design” is a straight answer. “Don't worry about it” isn't one.
The domain matters most, because it's your address. If it's registered in the agency's name, ask for a change of registrant to your business, which starts with the current registrar. My five-things guide shows how to look up who it's registered with.
Own it, or rent it on purpose
Renting isn't always wrong. If it's cheap and it works and you know you can't take it, I don't care, that's a fair trade. What I'd hate is you finding out the day you try to leave.
| What you found | What it means | What I'd do |
|---|---|---|
| Kit complete, restore worked, rights signed | You own it | Keep the kit fresh: a new one once a year, and any time the developer or agency changes. |
| Restore worked, nothing about rights in writing | You can move it, but it might not be yours | Get the transfer signed now, while everybody's friendly. |
| Restore failed, or needed the first developer | A gap, not a verdict | Send the report back, get the missing pieces, run it again. |
| It lives on a platform and can't leave | You're renting | Fine if it's cheap and it works. Write down what you'd keep (the text, the photos, the domain, the form entries) and what you'd rebuild, so it's a choice and not a surprise. |
Example (made up)
Everything here is made up: a fictional plumbing company and a fictional agency.
The office manager sends the email. The agency says the site is WordPress and shares a folder with all the files and a database export, but no setup instructions. A second developer restores it into a new hosting account in the company's name, at a password-protected test address.
| Check | What happened | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| The pages | All loaded. The photos showed. | Nothing to fix. |
| The form | Wouldn't send. The spam-protection key only listed the live address. | The developer added the test address to the key's list. The test lead landed in the office inbox. |
| Setup instructions | Missing. The developer wrote down what they had to figure out. | The agency added a one-page README to the kit. |
| The rights | The agreement said the company gets a license to use the site. | A license isn't ownership. Their lawyer asked for a signed assignment of the code, the design, the text and the photos. |
One round, two gaps, both closed while everybody was still friendly. The agency still runs the site. The difference is the plumbing company could leave if it ever had to.
First test: check the kit and the agreement with Claude or ChatGPT (free)
Do this before you pay anybody. Send the email, then paste the reply (and your agreement, if you have it) into this prompt. It lists what's in the kit and what's missing, and quotes your agreement's words about ownership, so you know what to bring your lawyer. The free plans work.
Before you paste: take out passwords, keys, account numbers and customers' names and numbers. Only the email reply and the agreement go in the chat, not the kit itself.
I run a [your trade] business. I asked whoever built my website for everything it takes to run a copy somewhere else. Their reply is below, and so is our agreement [if you have it].
Please:
1. Make a table of the kit: the files, the data (a database export), the setup instructions, the list of accounts and whose name each is in, the paid pieces and whose name each license is in, and what happens if we leave. For each one: GOT IT, MISSING or UNCLEAR, with their exact words in quotes.
2. Tell me what the site runs on (WordPress, custom code, a website builder, or their own platform), but only if they said it. If they didn't, say so.
3. If they sent a login instead of files, say so plainly: a login is access, not a copy.
4. From the agreement, quote every sentence about who owns the code, the design, the text and the images, and every sentence with the words assign, assignment, work made for hire, license, owns or ownership. Quote, don't summarize.
5. List the questions I should take to my lawyer.
6. Write a short, friendly follow-up email asking for whatever is MISSING or UNCLEAR. Make it clear nothing is wrong.
Rules: you're not my lawyer, so don't tell me I own it or I don't; flag it for my lawyer. Never guess or fill in a blank. If I pasted a password or a key by accident, tell me to change it. Plain words, short sentences.
Their reply:
[paste here, with passwords, keys and customer details taken out]
Our agreement:
[paste here, or write "none yet"]Good: a table with their exact words in quotes, MISSING where they didn't answer, and the ownership sentences quoted from the agreement. Bad: it tells you “you own the site”, or fills in an answer they never gave. Search their email for each quote. If you can't find it, the AI made it up, so ask it to redo that row.
What it costs
| What | Plan | Price |
|---|---|---|
| The email, the checklists and the click-around | None | $0 |
| Claude (the kit-check prompt) | Free | $0 |
| Claude, if you want more use | Pro | $20 a month billed monthly, or $17 a month billed yearly ($200 up front) |
| ChatGPT | See OpenAI's pricing page | Not checked: its pricing page didn't load for us on 2026-10-25 |
| A GitHub organization for the code (custom-coded sites) | Free | $0, with unlimited public and private repositories |
| The second developer | Their quote | Whatever they charge. Ask for a fixed price for the restore and the report |
| Hosting for the test copy | Your host's plan | Whatever your host charges. If you're moving anyway, it's the account you'd move to |
| Your lawyer, for the rights | Their rate | Whatever your lawyer charges |
When it breaks
They sent a login instead of a kit
“It lives on our platform”
The WordPress “kit” is one .xml file
Links on the test copy go to your live site
The form won't send on the copy
Pictures are missing on the copy
The test copy shows up in Google
Your test form fill shows up as a lead in your ad account
The domain is in the agency's name
The registrar won't give you the transfer code
The agreement says “license”
The second developer had to call the first one
ChatGPT or Claude can't open the guide link
A login isn't a receipt
Ask for the kit, have someone else restore it, click around, and get the rights in writing, because if all you bought was access, you bought a subscription with your logo on it.
When we move a company off WordPress onto our platform, they keep the content, the code and the accounts, and yes, you can run this test on us too.
Checked on Oct 25, 2026 against
Every claim about a third-party tool in this guide (plans, prices, menu paths, commands, limits) was checked against these official pages on Oct 25, 2026. These screens change often: if something looks different, trust the page over this guide.
- US Copyright Office: Circular 30, Works Made for HireOrdinarily the author is the person who actually created the work; a commissioned work is made for hire only if it is one of nine listed categories and both parties sign a written agreement saying so (checked 2026-10-25).
- 17 U.S.C. § 204, Execution of transfers of copyright ownership (Cornell LII)(a): a transfer of copyright ownership, other than by operation of law, is not valid unless it is in writing and signed by the owner of the rights or their authorized agent (checked 2026-10-25).
- WordPress Developer Resources: BackupsA site backup has two parts, the database and the files (core, themes, plugins, uploads, wp-config.php); you need both to fully restore a typical WordPress site (checked 2026-10-25).
- WordPress Developer Resources: Migrating WordPressMoving a site means its files and its database; a new address means changing the site URLs (Settings → General) and updating wp-config.php (checked 2026-10-25).
- WordPress Documentation: Tools Export screenThe export is a WXR (XML) file with posts, pages, custom post types, comments, custom fields, categories, tags, custom taxonomies and users (checked 2026-10-25).
- Wix Help Center: Exporting or Embedding Your Wix Site ElsewhereA Wix site must run on Wix's servers; external hosting isn't supported (checked 2026-10-25).
- Squarespace Help: Export your site contentA WordPress-format .xml file with layout pages, one blog, text, image and gallery content; not store and other page types, style settings or custom CSS; imported images can be links that stop working after you cancel (checked 2026-10-25).
- GitHub Docs: Transferring a repositoryNeeds admin access; a repository can go to an organization; Settings → Danger Zone → Transfer; issues, pull requests and wiki move with it (checked 2026-10-25).
- GitHub Docs: Creating a new organization from scratchProfile picture → Settings → Organizations → New organization, then follow the prompts (checked 2026-10-25).
- GitHub: PricingFree at $0 a month for individuals and organizations, with unlimited public and private repositories (checked 2026-10-25).
- Google Search Central: Control what you share on GooglePassword-protect confidential or private content to keep it out of Search (checked 2026-10-25).
- Google Search Central: Block search indexing with noindexnoindex drops a page from Google Search; if robots.txt blocks the page, the crawler never sees the noindex rule (checked 2026-10-25).
- reCAPTCHA: Domain/Package Name ValidationA reCAPTCHA key is normally tied to a set of individual domains (checked 2026-10-25).
- ICANN: FAQs for Registrants, Transferring Your Domain NameThe registrar must give you the AuthInfo code within five calendar days; no transfer to a different registrar within 60 days of a registrant change (some registrars offer an opt-out); a change of registrant starts with your current registrar (checked 2026-10-25).
- Claude: Plans and pricingFree at $0; Pro at $20 a month billed monthly, or $17 a month billed yearly ($200 up front) (checked 2026-10-25).
