Spent a full week chasing a weird bug in a simple contact form

I took on a quick site fix for a local bakery, just updating their contact form. Should have been two hours, tops. The form kept sending blank emails, but only when filled out on a phone. I checked the PHP mail function, the HTML, the server logs. Nothing. I rebuilt the form three times from scratch. Turns out, the bakery owner had installed some random 'SEO booster' plugin a year ago that was stripping data from mobile submissions before the form could even process it. Seven days of my life, gone, for a $150 job. How do you even quote for that? What's the weirdest hidden plugin or setting that's ever blown up your timeline?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_alex9d ago

Should've charged a big finder's fee for uncovering that mess.

fisher.thomas9d ago

Seriously though, what if they try to sue you for finding it? Like, for causing trouble by exposing it. Wild thought.

robert_ross959d ago

Did you ever find out what that SEO plugin was actually supposed to do? @fisher.thomas has a point about hidden messes causing real trouble. That kind of find should come with a bonus.