Security update: Your website is being protected

On 21 October, critical security vulnerabilities affecting PHP, the technology behind WordPress and many other websites, required urgent action across the hosting industry.

Castlegate IT worked closely with our hosting providers to prepare for the necessary security updates. Importantly, our hosting partners and Cloudflare implemented additional firewall protections before the security patches were released, helping to protect websites against attempts to exploit these vulnerabilities.

The necessary patches have now been applied across our main managed hosting environments. A small number of legacy environments remain protected by additional firewall measures while their updates are completed.

No action is required from our clients. We continue to monitor the situation and manage the necessary security measures on their behalf.

Category: WordPress

A robot coding a website

AI can build a website. A commercial website is something more.

At a glance AI can now build perfectly good websites for the right purposes, including campaign sites, portfolios, prototypes and microsites. Commercial websites are different. They are long-term digital assets that need to operate and evolve for years. Staff need …

by Jim Semlyen 17 Sep 2026
Multiple magnifying glasses to illustrate the concept of smarter search

Why smarter search belongs on your WordPress website

At a glance WordPress’s built-in search only matches the exact words used, and it struggles with typos, different terminology and question-style queries. WP Engine’s Smart Search adds semantic search, so it understands the meaning behind a query, not just the …

by Jim Semlyen 14 Sep 2026
A developer using multiple screens

WordPress hosting isn’t all the same: what are you actually paying for?

At a glance WordPress hosting varies enormously. The cheapest option isn’t necessarily the best value. Managed hosting includes more than server space, with security, backups, monitoring, updates and technical support all potentially part of the service. Performance and reliability matter, …

by Jim Semlyen 11 Sep 2026
A desktop device with a 503 error

WordPress can be a problem. We solve WordPress problems.

At a glance A problematic WordPress website doesn’t necessarily need replacing. We can often take over an existing site, identify what is going wrong and bring it up to the standards we expect from websites we build ourselves. We investigate …

Robot holding shopping bag to illustrate agentic commerce

What is agentic commerce, and what does it mean for WooCommerce?

At a glance Agentic commerce lets AI agents help people shop, from finding and comparing products to assisting with purchases. Shopping may increasingly happen through AI assistants, rather than directly on ecommerce websites. Structured product data is essential, giving AI …

by Jim Semlyen 10 Sep 2026
Illustrating Youtube not working on IOS

Why did a YouTube video work everywhere except on iPhones?

A client recently contacted us about a YouTube video embedded on their WordPress website. It worked correctly on desktop computers and some mobile devices, but on an iPhone it returned “Error 153: Video Player Configuration Error”. There was another apparently …

by Jim Semlyen 25 Aug 2026
Online security visualisation

Website security doesn’t end at launch: why WordPress needs ongoing management

A WordPress website can be secure today and vulnerable tomorrow. Plugins change, vulnerabilities emerge, staff come and go, integrations are added and AI agents are beginning to interact directly with websites. We look at why website security requires ongoing management and why, for organisations that take security seriously, managed WordPress is a governance decision rather than simply a hosting choice.

by Castlegate IT 14 Aug 2026
AI hub featured image

Castlegate’s AI hub: preparing your organisation for AI

Helping organisations understand AI, prepare for change and make informed decisions. Artificial intelligence is changing how organisations operate, communicate, and make decisions. For many, the challenge is not whether to engage with AI, but how to do so confidently, responsibly, …

by Jim Semlyen 12 Aug 2026
An image to illustrate Castlegate's technical expertise

Castlegate’s technical insights hub

Practical case studies from our work managing complex websites. Every website presents its own technical challenges, and solving them well requires more than theory. This section shares the real problems we encounter, the investigations we carry out, and the solutions …

by Jim Semlyen 10 Aug 2026
A lock to illustrate the concept of cybersecurity

10 practical cybersecurity improvements small organisations can make this week

At a glance Use MFA wherever possible, especially for email, administrator accounts and sensitive systems. Avoid shared accounts and give people only the access they need. Protect your email domain with correctly configured SPF, DKIM and DMARC. Encrypt devices and …

by Jim Semlyen 1 Aug 2026