In November 2006 I wrote a post called 6 Easy Step to Making a Web Hosting Switch. The steps I spelled out were the basics - for moving a basic site. This past weekend the post made a resurgence when it was featured by Wendy Boswell at Lifehacker.com (Easily Switch from One Web Host to Another). I was really impressed with the quality of comments and the willingness of my new visitors to share more knowledge with my readers. There is just too much good information to leave it all in the comments. Here are more tips for making a web hosting switch.

From Pablo:

When your website uses any kind of insert data in a database (register users, add comments or anything else) it’s better to create a holder page while moving and testing everything on the new host, avoiding forgotten data on your DB. I always do that putting a holder on the old host and, on the new, keep everything working fine, because when changing DNS servers it may take a while replicating the changes to the “world”.

From Steven Rushing:

Something that very new website owners may not think about is your databases. My very first host switch, I downloaded all my files and ran. I reallly didn’t like my host.  But without the database my wordpress files were useless! This was 4 years ago now, when I was very new, but DON’T FORGET YOUR DATABASES!

From Michael:

Problems arise when people buy domains from the same web host, because transferring domains is much, much more complex (if even possible) so I would also recommend that you never buy your domain from the same company that hosts your site, even though it seems more convenient.

From Dan:

If you have access to your machine’s hosts file, do this before changing the DNS servers with your registrar:

Add entries domain name pointing to your new hosting companies IP in your hosts file (Linux, /etc/hosts; Windows, should be %SystemRoot%\System32\Drivers\etc\hosts). Then, when you go to your site in your web browser, you’ll be seeing it from your new site. You may have to restart your browser or even your computer (or just manually clear the DNS cache).

For example, if the new IP address is 1.1.1.1 and your domain is yourdomain.com, add this to your hosts file:

1.1.1.1 yourdomain.com www.yourdomain.com

This way you can test before every committing to changing DNS servers. If all looks good THEN change your DNS over.

From Michael:

Check out a Slicehost VPS. Switched from multiple shared hosting providers to a VPS and the performance has been orders of magnitude better that a shared host. It’s for the technically inclined, but if you get a VPS or dedicated server, it’s trivial to move between hosts.

From Loren:

Your list is not perfect. When you sign up for new hosting, you can have the new hosting company provide you with your IP address so you can actually see your files on the web before you change the name servers. You will also need to update your scripts as the name of your database may change depending on some hosts.

Also, some hosts (such as for .nr domains) are very picky about name server changes.. it can really be hard when some lousy companies don’t even have an online control panel for you to manage this stuff.

From Andrew:

I would not recommend having your hosting provider register your domain for you in order not to have problems later when moving to a new host.

From Barry:

I agree with a couple earlier posts–for database driven sites, the database is the most important part. Here’s a good tip if you know how to configure your databases.

First copy the files to the new host, and then also copy the database to the new host.

Then change the permissions on the new host’s database so that the OLD host has permission to access the database, and then go to the old site and edit the config files to point to the database on the new host instead of localhost.

Now if you edit the DB content (posts, comments, etc.) the changes will all be on the new host, and the database on the old host isn’t needed anymore.

Then whan that all works, switch the DNS to point to the new host….and editing your local hosts file to test the new host first is a good idea.

From Vic:

easier way - if your host is cPanel; just tell your new host to do the transfer for you - they can do it immediately within a couple moments ; all your files + emails and settings will be instantly transfered.

From webhosting:

One of the reason I prefer CPanel control panel over other control panel is because switching between Cpanel host is much easier. WHM has a feature that can helps in downloading the entire site from one server to another and thus making moving host very easy (HostGator is using Cpanel).

From Gil Megadish:

I’m an expert at this field

I have moved 5 providers in the past 2 years. The guideline above is good for static websites. I have encountered difficulties not discussed in the post. Among are:

1. While DNS update is propagating, some users see the old server, to which they register and add new content. While others see the new server and add new content to that. Within 48 hours, nobody will be using the old server, but how do you sync the old with the new?

2. Apache/PHP versions matter! PHP of one version returns warning which is an error on the other. Different versions of shutils behave differently. And last but not least, sendmail never survives the move! Remember this!

3. Always make sure your new server can handle at least the same load as the old server. If possible, make an .htaccess to force 301 redirect to the new server (by ip address of course.)

4. Use Amazon S3 for user uploaded media!

5. Another trick I haven’t tried yet, is to set two A record on your DNS, with priority for the old server. Then let it propagate for 48 hours before simply shutting down the old server and removing it from DNS. That way, clients are supposed to try both IPs, so for the first 48 hours, they will always fail on the first IP before moving to the second. Haven’t tried it yet, but time will come to move again

From Vaibhav:

I had a similar post some time ago.. This one is specific for wordpress blogs. If anyone is interested, it is at: http://blog.gadodia.net/steps-to-move-your-blog/

From Baz L:

These steps work great if you have just HTML content. Things get a bit more complicated when you have MySQL databases involved. This will help: http://www.webdevelopment2.com/moving-wordpress-to-a-different-domain/

Have you done a hosting switch? If so, what would you do differently next time or what did you learn in the process?

One of the most daunting tasks for beginning bloggers and web site owners is figuring out how to get files from their personal computers on to the web. Most blogging platforms and content management systems offer some level of upload capability, but there are times when you need to do something a little more advanced (like uploading a new theme or plugin), and that usually means using FTP.

What is FTP?

Well, it stands for File Transfer Protocol, but all you need to know is that it is a way to connect your PC to your web host so you can transfer files from one place to the other.

It’s as easy as 1-2-3…

1. Get an FTP program

Most of the FTP programs work basically the same so once you get the hang of one of them you should be able to handle any of them. If you use Firefox, you can download FireFTP for free. It is an extremely easy FTP program to use.

Other good FTP programs include:

• CuteFTP
• CyberDuck
• Filezilla
• WS FTP Pro
• CoffeeCup Direct FTP
  

2. Set up your connection

For the purposes of this tutorial, I am going to use FireFTP instructions and screen captures. Your FTP program may not have exactly the same screens, but they all ask for the same information.

Launch FireFTP and then choose Manage Accounts. Select New. You will now see a screen that looks like this:

1. Give your site a name that makes sense (most likely your site’s name).
2. Fill in your host address - this is usually your IP address, but depending on your web host, it may be your full domain name or it could be ftp:yourdomain.com. When you set up your hosting account, this information should have been provided to you.
3. Fill in your user name and password and then choose OK. (Don’t worry about those other two tabs right now)
4. Next click the Connect button to establish a connection between your computer and the web server.

3. Drag and drop

One side of the screen will show the files on your computer and the other side will show the files on the server.

1. Navigate to the folder/file you want to upload FROM on your computer. Look at the other side of the screen and navigate to the folder you want to upload TO on the server. (See step one in the graphic)
2. On the “local” side (also known as your computer), highlight the file(s) you wish to upload.
3. The buttons in the center represent the direction of the file transfer -  you want to click on the  arrow pointing towards your server  (upload).
4. The file will arrive on your server and be listed in the folder you selected.

Most programs, like FireFTP, allow you to do this process via Drag and Drop, too. In other words, you can select the file on your local computer and drag it to the folder on the server that you want it to go to.

As for downloading - the whole process also works in reverse. You can select a file on your server and transfer it to your local computer side by following the same instructions as above, just start on the server side of the screen.

Obviously, these are just the very basics of FTP, but with a little practice, even the novice can become proficient at moving files from one place to another.

Related Posts:

• Tutorial - How to create your own FavIcon
• CSS Classroom - Div vs. Span
• 6 Easy Steps to making a Web Hosting Switch
  

When it comes to web design and web coding, for that matter, there is usually more than one way to accomplish what you are trying to do. Often, the reason for choosing one method over another is efficiency (or logic). In talking with a friend/client the other day, the topic of CSS came up. One of the things she was asking me was, how do you know when to use the DIV element and when do you use SPAN? (Rather than confuse WordPress with trying to display the code or installing another Plug-in, I am going to use all CAPS when referring to elements)

In a nutshell, DIV is a block level element. In other words, you use it to define the characteristics you want a whole block of code to follow. It is used to break up sections of a page and it can contain additional tags. If you are familiar with HTML, the DIV element is very similar to the P (paragraph) element.

On the other hand, SPAN is an inline element. Inserting a SPAN tag into a line of code lets the browser know to apply the indicated style to a small section of text, but not to break the line. It cannot contain any additional elements. It is kind of like the old FONT element that you would apply in HTML.

Here is another way to remember it - a DIV can contain a SPAN but a SPAN cannot contain a DIV.

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• Terminology - What is CSS?
• Tutorial - How to create your own Favicon