MinistryCentral Europe
1. Purpose of This Guide
This guide defines who governs the platform, what is protected, and how technical authority is exercised within MinistryCentral Europe.
It exists to:
- Preserve system stability
- Prevent accidental technical debt
- Enable safe delegation
- Clarify who may touch what — and who may not
This document applies only to platform administrators and designated technical stewards.
2. Governance Principle (Non-Negotiable)
Centralized technical authority with distributed content contribution.
The platform must be:
- Hard to break
- Predictable to maintain
- Stable under growth
- Recoverable under failure
Technical convenience never overrides system integrity.
3. What Is Considered “The Platform”
The platform includes:
- Hosting environment (VPS / Plesk / server config)
- WordPress core
- Themes
- Plugins
- Global styles and CSS
- Elementor global settings
- LearnDash configuration
- Performance, caching, and security layers
- Backup and recovery systems
Anything in this list is governed centrally.
4. Technical Authority Roles
Platform Administrator / Technical Steward
This role owns:
- Hosting access
- Server configuration
- Plugin installation and removal
- WordPress core updates
- Theme updates
- Global CSS
- Performance tuning
- Security controls
- Backup and recovery
This role is intentionally limited to 1–2 people.
Non-Authorized Roles
The following roles do not have platform authority:
- Content Editors
- Course Coordinators
- Instructor Coordinators
- Instructors
- General Contributors
- Media Contributors
They must not be granted technical permissions “temporarily.”
5. Permission Guardrails
Admin Access
- Granted only when absolutely necessary
- Reviewed periodically
- Removed when no longer required
Plugin Access
- No ad-hoc installations
- No “just trying something”
- All plugin changes are reviewed
Theme & CSS Access
- Global styles are protected
- No per-page hacks
- No inline CSS for convenience
6. Change Control (Technical)
All technical changes must be:
- Intentional
- Documented
- Reversible
Changes must consider:
- Downstream impact
- Upgrade paths
- Compatibility
- Rollback options
Emergency changes are logged after the fact.
7. Environment Discipline
- No experimental features in production
- No testing on live content
- No undocumented workarounds
- No “we’ll clean it up later” changes
Technical debt is avoided proactively.
8. Backups & Recoverability
The platform must always be:
- Backed up regularly
- Restorable within reasonable time
- Protected against catastrophic loss
Backups are:
- Verified
- Not assumed
- Tested periodically
9. Security Guardrails
- Principle of least privilege
- Strong authentication practices
- No shared admin credentials
- Immediate revocation on role change
Security incidents are escalated immediately.
10. Escalation & Enforcement
If a technical boundary is unclear:
- Pause
- Escalate
- Clarify
If a boundary is crossed:
- Access may be revoked
- Changes may be rolled back
- Process is reinforced — not personalized
This is about system safety, not blame.
11. Relationship to Other Documents
This guide works alongside:
- Governance & Guardrails
- Change Management Rules
- Elementor Do / Don’t Guide
- Template & Structure Strategy
It is not required reading for non-technical roles.
12. Summary
- Technical authority is centralized
- Platform changes are deliberate
- Stability is valued over speed
- Fewer hands mean fewer failures
- Clear boundaries enable trust