U.S. Army veteran · Palm Bay, FL · Taking contract work

I build web systemsthat hold up.

I rescue failing WordPress sites, untangle hosting, and wire the systems behind them — CRMs, call tracking, data. Nine years shipping. 30+ production sites owned at once.

See the proof Send me the problem
John Barbagallo

Combat vet. Builder.

228M

rows validated in a browser

30+

production WordPress sites owned at once

9

years shipping WordPress

7

years U.S. Army

A lineman climbing a utility pole under a storm sky
IBEW Local 351 · 2016–18Before code, I hung wire.

Proof

Two jobs that show how I work. Problem, fix, result. No adjectives.

SplitForge · Founder · 2025–

10.4 GB through a browser tab

PROBLEMExcel stops at 1,048,576 rows. Cloud CSV tools want your data uploaded to their servers — a non-starter for anyone handling customer, patient or payroll files.

FIXBuilt 27 tools that stream files through Web Workers entirely client-side. Split, clean, convert, validate, mask — the file never leaves the machine.

RESULTA 10.4 GB, 228-million-row file validated in the browser on a standard laptop. Zero uploads, zero server costs, zero compliance surface.

splitforge.app →

Guardian Recovery · Webmaster · 2022–25

One person, 30+ production sites

PROBLEMA growing network of 30+ separate WordPress sites carrying paid traffic, with no dedicated infrastructure and no single owner of the stack.

FIXTook ownership end to end. Stood up a dedicated Linux/Plesk cloud server, standardized SSL, backups and caching across every property, led rebuilds of the flagship sites, and wired Salesforce and CallTrackingMetrics in so marketing could attribute every call to a page.

RESULTOne person ran the entire platform — sites and servers — for three and a half years, through redesigns, campaigns and 2 a.m. outages.

What I fix

Contract or retainer. Framed the way the problem lands on your desk.

"The site is broken and nobody knows why."

Rescue & rebuild

WordPress sites other people gave up on. Custom themes and plugins, builder cleanups, WooCommerce, full rebuilds.

PHPMySQLWooCommerceElementorCustom themes

"Hosting is a black box we're afraid to touch."

Hosting & migrations

Server setups, moves without downtime, DNS, SSL, backups that actually restore. I ran the servers under 30+ sites.

LinuxPleskDNSMigrationsGit

"It's slow, and Google noticed."

Performance & SEO

Core Web Vitals, caching, image pipelines, technical SEO, analytics that actually attribute.

Core Web VitalsTechnical SEOGA4Tag ManagerSchema

"Our tools don't talk to each other."

Integrations & apps

Wiring sites to CRMs and call tracking, and building browser apps that crunch data nobody wants to upload.

SalesforceCallTrackingMetricsREST APIsJavaScriptReact

Also mine

The businesses behind the work.

WPGrowthPro WordPress maintenance and growth for small business. Nine years of client sites — and the vehicle for the contract work above. wpgrowthpro.com →
WARSPUR Premium patriotic and athletic apparel. The crest is the fighting bird hidden inside my family name. First drop in production. warspur.com →

Service record

Not a straight line. Every job on it taught me something the next one needed.

2002–09U.S. Army — Sergeant, E-5. Transport security. Two Iraq deployments.
2012–13Refinery operator — PBF Energy, alkylation unit.
2013–16Cell tower technician — climbing steel, hanging antennas.
2016–18Lineman apprentice — IBEW Local 351.
2017–Taught myself to build websites. Freelanced on Upwork. That became WPGrowthPro.
2019–22Web developer — Level 10 Contractor. Agency pace, real deadlines.
2022–25Webmaster — Guardian Recovery. Owned 30+ production WordPress sites and the servers under them.
2025–Founder. Building my own things now. Still taking contract work.

Send me the problem

Site broken, slow, or needs to talk to your CRM? One paragraph on what's wrong is enough. I answer my own email.

jbarbagallo@mail.com LinkedIn