Read-only mode

Read-only mode is what happens to a PDS that we can't keep running normally, but whose users still deserve a way out. The PDS stays up, and the people on it can still sign in, export their repositories and move their accounts to another PDS (migrate) - but nothing new can be posted or uploaded.

You can still look around your dashboard while your PDS is read-only, but its settings, branding, invite codes, labelers, accounts and plan can't be changed. Your dashboard shows a notice at the top of the PDS's Overview saying why it's read-only and what (if anything) you can do about it, and the status pill shows Read-only.

There are three reasons a PDS can end up in read-only mode.

A payment failed

If a payment fails, a few things will start happening. First, Stripe (our payment processor) will try for 7 days to see if they can get paid (so we can get paid). During those 7 days nothing changes on your side: your PDS keeps running as normal.

If no payment has come in once those 7 days are up, your PDS will be switched to read-only mode for the next 7 days.

Paying the outstanding amount through the link in your dashboard brings it back straight away, so long as it is within 14 days of the payment failure.

In short:

Days 0-7: Stripe retries the payment, your PDS runs as normal.
Days 7-14: your PDS is read-only. Paying brings it back straight away.
Day 14: Stripe cancels your subscription.
Day 28: your PDS and all its data are deleted.

So what happens if I don't pay at all?

Well, first, we'd be very sad. And a little miffed. If 14 days have passed where payment can't be collected, Stripe will cancel your subscription - see your subscription was cancelled below.

NOTE: once a payment failure has occurred, you will be unable to order any new PDSes - in effect you will be banned. Clearing a payment failure will of course reverse that, but once we've arrived at the step where cancellation happens, it'll be permanent

What if I'm on vacation/family reasons/my dog ate my homework/etc.

Contact us within 14 days on support@peedee.es and let us know what's going on. We're not monsters, we won't bite, and will work with you to find a solution.

A terms of service violation

If your PDS breaks our Terms & Conditions, we can switch it to read-only mode. Your billing isn't touched, and your users can still sign in and take their data and accounts elsewhere. This generally happens if we've notified you and you haven't taken action yourself and we're forced to step in.

This isn't something you can fix from your dashboard. If you think it's a mistake, or want to talk about it, get in touch with support@peedee.es. If it's resolved, we switch it back and everything carries on as before. If we end the subscription instead, it moves on to the step below.

Your subscription was cancelled

When a subscription is cancelled while its PDS is read-only - Stripe giving up on a failed payment, or us ending it after a terms of service violation - the PDS stays read-only for 14 more days, to allow your PDS users to migrate away - after all, they aren't responsible for the cancellation. Your dashboard shows the date it will be deleted, and we send you a reminder a week before. After that, the PDS and all data will be deleted.

This step is final: the subscription can't be restarted, and paying at this point won't bring the PDS back. Your dashboard for that PDS is reduced to the notice with the deletion date.

What doesn't make a PDS read-only

Cancelling it yourself. A PDS you cancel from its Subscription page has no read-only period: it's deleted, with all its data, when your billing period ends. See Cancelling.
Not paying a storage overage invoice. If an overage payment fails, new uploads are blocked, but the PDS otherwise keeps working normally.