Shafail Shafa
Available for new work · I reply within a business day · UTC+6

I upgrade and customise phpBB forums

I set up and maintain Linux servers

I fix broken or hacked WordPress sites

I transfer websites and emails between hosts

Thirteen years of keeping small-business web infrastructure working: forums, sites, servers, mailboxes and the moves between them. Beyond WordPress that includes Joomla, Drupal, Laravel and plain PHP applications, plus self-hosted automation and private AI. You deal with me directly, not with an agency.

5.0 ★ · 2,200+ reviews · 100% job success · 13 years
5.0 ★
rating
2,200+
reviews
3,200+
orders
100%
job success
13
years

Some of the work

All case studies →
AUTOMATION & AI

Production self-hosted n8n with tested disaster recovery

An n8n instance running in production on my own hardened VPS, with a restore I've tested end to end on a clean server.

n8n · Docker · nginx · PostgreSQL 16 · Prometheus · Grafana · Uptime Kuma · Tailscale
AUTOMATION & AI

Private self-hosted AI stack

A private AI setup on self-managed infrastructure. Local models by default, with a cloud API used only where local hardware isn't enough.

Ollama · OpenWebUI · SearXNG · Claude API · Linux · nginx
PHPBB

Five years of phpBB work for one publisher

Six separate phpBB contracts with the same client between 2016 and 2021. It started with a single extension install and ended with a version upgrade that had to carry a whole set of modified extensions along with it.

phpBB · PHP · MySQL · HTML/CSS · Cloudflare · WordPress
PHPBB

A sixteen-year-old phpBB 2 board brought up to the current version

A bulletin board that had been running phpBB 2.0.11 since around 2005, moved onto the current phpBB 3 release with its posts and user base intact.

phpBB 2 · phpBB 3 · PHP · MySQL
PHPBB

A community forum kept current across seven updates

The same client hired me seven times between 2019 and 2024 to update one phpBB board and adjust it as their branding changed.

phpBB · PHP · MySQL · CSS · cPanel · Google AdSense
PHPBB

A forum where no email worked and nobody could reach the admin panel

Signup confirmations and alerts had stopped sending, so new members couldn't register, and then the admin account locked itself out because password resets went through the same broken email.

phpBB · PHP · MySQL · SMTP
WORDPRESS

Old phpBB forum moved into bbPress on WordPress

An old phpBB board moved into bbPress on WordPress. I carried across the whole category structure, the posts, attachments, users and groups, so none of the forum's history got left behind.

phpBB · bbPress · WordPress · PHP · MySQL
WORDPRESS

A WordPress site that turned into a monthly retainer

This one started as a site build with a learning app attached and turned into a standing monthly arrangement to keep everything maintained. By value it's the largest single contract in my Upwork history.

WordPress · PHP · MySQL · HTML/CSS
SERVER CARE

Maintaining a long-standing client's Linux servers

A client I'd been doing phpBB work for since 2016 brought me onto their Linux servers: configuration, maintenance, security policy, backups, and a disaster recovery plan behind them.

Linux · Debian · MySQL · PostgreSQL · Bash · TCP/IP
MIGRATION

Four years of hosting work for a web agency

Forty-eight orders between 2021 and 2025 for one agency: certificate installs, moves between hosting accounts, server setup, and whatever else broke on the sites they host for their own customers.

cPanel · Linux · Let's Encrypt · DNS · WordPress · VPS
SERVER CARE

A site that broke every morning

A small business site went down most mornings, and the owner had been bringing it back by re-uploading one file. The real cause was the hosting company overwriting that file every night.

Apache · .htaccess · PHP · cPanel
MIGRATION

A forum and its image gallery after a server move

A community forum with a separate image gallery had been moved to a new server by someone else. Image links across the board were dead, and a large part of the gallery had never arrived.

phpBB · Piwigo · Plesk · rsync · FTP
PHPBB

A scheduled forum upgrade, and a thumbnail that came out sideways

A version upgrade booked for a fixed hour, so the members could be told when the board would be down, followed by two image problems that both turned out to be somewhere other than phpBB.

phpBB · PHP · GD · EXIF · Cloudflare

What clients say

All 2,200+ reviews →

A few out of 2,200+, across 13 years. 58 percent of them are from clients who came back.

★★★★★ Fiverr

“I appreciate the honesty as one site was already transferred and I was advised. Also work was done on time. Professional outfit”

e*** · South Africa · Migration · Jul 2017
★★★★★ Fiverr

“My hosting wanted 150$ to do this and delivery would be in 5-7 days. This guy is outstanding.Did it for 5$ , amazing communication and in less than 24 hours.”

j*** · Greece · Migration · Jul 2015
★★★★★ Upwork

“I asked Shafail to install a wordpress template and customize it. He did all that successfully and to my satisfaction despite my host server is in another country and sometimes gave him trouble with access. Regardless, he was patient and made a great website.”

V*** N*** · United States · WordPress · Jun 2018
★★★★★ Upwork

“If you need phpBB work done on your site, Shafail is your man. We have worked with him over the past couple years now and will continue to work with him because he produces excellent results and often suggests improvements that we end up implementing, which has really been a huge help. He has done various projects with us, and has proven himself to be dependable and trustworthy, which is very important when finding freelancers. He has my highest recommendation and you will enjoy working with him, as his communication skills are top notch too.”

D*** M*** · United States · phpBB · Aug 2017
★★★★★ Fiverr

“I collaborated with a skilled freelancer who expertly adjusted the domain of my existing WordPress site. He deftly navigated through numerous challenges, including uncooperative agents at GoDaddy, and managed the entire process with competence and efficiency. His technical expertise and attention to detail ensured a smooth and successful transition. I can confidently recommend this freelancer for his top-notch service and exceptional results. A well-deserved 5/5 stars!”

t*** · Germany · WordPress · Jul 2023
★★★★★ Fiverr

“This is the first time i used this gig, and i must say i was very impressed how quickly and efficiently he fixed my Joomla problem. Great person to work with so far!”

n*** · Thailand · Migration · Jul 2016

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