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.

★★★★★ Upwork

“Working with Shafail is always very easy. He knows his stuff and works very quickly. He has proven he has excellent skills in his field and we have always been very satisfied with his work. He is also very helpful in providing us with additional ways to improve our site and goes above and beyond what we have expected. He is someone you will be glad you're able to hire, as he has excellent communication skills and is work is top notch. We will continue to work with him on other projects.”

D*** M*** · United States · phpBB · Oct 2016
★★★★★ Fiverr

“Absolutely great. Went above and beyond to do more than we even asked of him and came in on time. Will definitely come back if we need any other jobs done. Even asked for an extension after the job was done so we could iron out any gremlins that snuck in.”

w*** · United Kingdom · phpBB · Jul 2025
★★★★★ Fiverr

“Shafa is a total professional and completed the job quickly, while communicating with me the entire way. We ran into an issue and he fixed it immediately, even helping me to troubleshoot the problem on my end. I had an old phpbb forum database that had not been live for 5 or 6 years, he was able to restore the forum and get it updated to the newest version. It's always a little nerve-racking to give out login and password info to someone on the other side of the world, but I can definitely recommend Shafa as a trust-worthy, professional individual who will get the job done correctly and quickly.”

d*** · United States · phpBB · Jul 2024
★★★★★ Fiverr

“Seller properly duplicated and moved php backend to a new hosting account. The work was done quickly and all issues were resolved promptly. I recommend this gig for host transfers !”

a*** · Canada · Migration · Jul 2021
★★★★★ Fiverr

“Restored an old phpbb3 forum for me and got it working locally as requested. Great experience working with them. Very professional service.”

s*** · Canada · phpBB · Jul 2025
★★★★★ Fiverr

“Rating: ★★★★★ Review: I had the pleasure of working closely with Shafa on the development and launch of our AI agent, and I cannot overstate how impressed I am with his expertise, dedication, and professionalism throughout the entire process. From our very first interaction, Shafa demonstrated a deep understanding of artificial intelligence and its practical applications. He meticulously analyzed our project requirements, offering insightful suggestions and innovative solutions tailored to our specific needs. What truly sets Shafa apart is his exceptional ability to communicate complex technical concepts with clarity and precision. He effortlessly bridged the gap between our team's varying levels of technical expertise, ensuring that everyone was fully engaged and informed at every stage of the development process. Shafa's commitment to excellence was evident in the quality of his work. He consistently delivered results of the highest standard, meeting or exceeding all agreed-upon milestones and deadlines. His proactive approach to problem-solving and meticulous attention to detail played a crucial role in overcoming challenges and ensuring the success of our project. Thanks to Shafa's expertise and dedication, our AI agent was launched successfully and has since become an indispensable asset to our business. Its performance and functionality have far exceeded our expectations, thanks in no small part to Shafa's invaluable contributions. In summary, I wholeheartedly recommend Shafa to anyone seeking a talented and reliable freelancer for AI-related projects. His technical proficiency, professionalism, and exceptional communication skills make him an invaluable partner in any endeavor. Thank you, Shafa, for your outstanding work and unwavering commitment to our project's success. I look forward to the opportunity to collaborate with you again in the future.”

j*** · United States · Server care · Jul 2024

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