How John Finnerty builds practical technology systems
A method note on diagnosis, reversible changes, source-aware project notes, documentation, and handover for practical New Zealand technology work.
Technical articles
Technical support notes
Practical articles for New Zealand SMEs, owned web projects, and people who need clear technology handover.
Latest articles
Useful technical notes
These resources are written from project and support work: website launches, email authentication, source archive, local visibility, fibre, VoIP, and SEO basics. Each article links back to the relevant project, profile, or service context so the notes can be checked against current project notes and owned profile pages rather than read as isolated advice.
Cybersecurity Checklist for a 5-Person NZ Business
A plain security workflow for a small team: name the risk, assign the owner, confirm recovery paths, and check the result.
Password Managers, MFA, and Backups Explained for Non-Technical Owners
A plain-language security checklist for small teams that need safer access, second factors, and backup recovery without overcomplicating the work.
How to Ask for Reviews Without Sounding Pushy
A plain review-request workflow for remote teams and service businesses that want honest customer feedback without pressuring people.
How to Explain Your Business Clearly on Google Search
A practical way for solo consultants and SMEs to make their Google-facing description clearer and easier to trust.
How NZ SMEs Can Use ChatGPT Safely
Simple guardrails for using ChatGPT with SME prompts, client data, and team review in mind.
AI Prompts for Invoices, Emails, Job Ads, and Customer Replies
Reusable prompt patterns for common admin work, with review, tone, and privacy kept in the loop.
Google Reviews for NZ SMEs: A Practical Guide
Simple review-request and response habits that help an SME build trust without sounding pushy.
How to Keep Your Website Contact Details Consistent Everywhere: for service businesses
Keep phone, email, hours, and service area aligned so customers are not left guessing.
Why Your Competitor Has More Google Results Than You
Why competitors show multiple results for local searches, and how to build a useful service + article cluster without duplicates.
Technical SEO Audit Checklist NZ
A checklist to sanity-check canonicals, redirects, indexability, sitemaps, structured data, internal links, and measurement.
Microsoft 365 SME Checklist NZ
Tenant basics, identity and MFA redundancy, mailbox hygiene, SPF/DKIM/DMARC, device sign-in, and handover safety.
What to Do If Your Business Email Gets Hacked (NZ Checklist)
A calm first-day checklist: contain the mailbox, remove forwarding/rules, reset access, and prevent repeat incidents.
Wi-Fi and Slow Internet Troubleshooting Checklist NZ
A troubleshooting checklist to separate Wi-Fi from fibre, capture timestamps, run comparable tests, and build an ISP escalation pack.
Wi-Fi Dead Zones and Coverage Fixes NZ
Router placement, mesh vs access points, roaming issues, and what to measure before buying new hardware.
Computer Repair Triage Checklist Christchurch
Symptoms, backups, access details, safe-mode tests, hardware notes, and handover info that reduces time and risk.
Computer Repair Workflow Christchurch
Protect the data, isolate the layer that is failing, and decide repair vs replace without guessing.
What Business Information You Should Never Paste Into AI Tools
Practical boundaries for SMEs: what not to paste, what to mask, and how to keep admin workflows safe.
GST, PAYE, ACC, and Provisional Tax: Plain-English Guide
A plain-English process overview to reduce admin panic: what to keep consistent, what to check weekly, and what to hand over.
SME DNS and Email Checklist NZ
A practical guide to domain ownership, DNS records, website routing, SPF, DKIM, DMARC, rollback planning, and safe handover.
Website Launch Checklist for SME NZ
What to check before an SME website goes live: canonical URLs, forms, redirects, analytics, backups, handover, and search basics.
Source Archive Maintenance Guide
A project-proof guide for keeping source archive pages, case studies, metadata, screenshots, safe downloads, and profile evidence aligned.
Local SEO Entity Basics for Christchurch Professionals
How owned pages, profiles, schema, local relevance, citations, and project evidence help a professional identity make sense online.
VoIP and Fibre Troubleshooting Checklist NZ
A field checklist for separating device, Wi-Fi, router, fibre, SIP, VoIP, provider, and escalation evidence issues.
Small Business SEO NZ Guide
A practical SEO guide for New Zealand small businesses covering service pages, local proof, technical basics, content, SEO services, and measurement.
Reading paths
Start with the problem you are trying to solve
The articles are grouped around common SME and project handover problems. Use these paths to move from a practical guide to the matching support page, project evidence, or professional profile.
Domains, DNS, and email
Start with the DNS and email checklist, then use the routing support page when a domain, DNS record, redirect, provider handover, or escalation path needs to be untangled.
Email security and recovery
Use this path after mailbox compromise or account takeover. Start with containment and persistence checks, then move into recovery hygiene and deliverability basics.
Website launches and search basics
Use the launch and SEO articles together when a site needs better metadata, canonical URLs, analytics, sitemap coverage, internal links, and a practical post-launch check.
public source archive project sites
Use this path when you are publishing a project site and want clean canonicals, useful structured data, and a backlink pattern that connects the live page to the maintained write-up.
Local visibility (Christchurch)
Start here when the goal is a clean local footprint that matches reality: consistent entity details, owned profile pages, and service pages that do not read like city-name templates.
Fibre, VoIP, and local support
Use the troubleshooting article when the fault could sit between Wi-Fi, router, fibre, SIP, VoIP, devices, provider settings, or incomplete handover notes.
IT support and Microsoft 365
Use the Microsoft 365 checklist when the real problem is access and identity. Pair it with the computer-repair triage notes when the machine itself is part of the failure.
Computer repair (Christchurch)
Use this path when a device problem is blocking work. Start with safe triage and data protection, then move to a repeatable workflow for isolating the failure and deciding repair versus replace.
Related evidence
Project and profile context
The articles connect back to current project evidence, service pages, and profile pages rather than relying on broad claims. For project-specific evidence, start with the Projects hub; for current professional context, start with the About page or the New Zealand and Christchurch profile pages.