Memorial day weekend, I made a change on my blog that no one really would be able to see. I took it upon myself to switch hosts. I basically just went from one place holding my files in the background, to another place doing the same thing. I’ve never done something like this on my own but I was convinced that I could do it, even if it took me a couple of months. So I decided that I would post about my experience to help others make the change in case they wanted to.
Switching hosts isn’t as hard as you think it would be. Here are the steps that I made to make sure that the switch was easy for me and didn’t disturb anyone trying to reach my blog. I’m also happy I had the help from blog friends and was able to call my new host 24/7 if I had issues.
- Pick your new host:
That decision is totally up to you. Any blogger will recommend a host that they love. I wasn’t a fan of mine and was tired of unexplained down time. I checked a couple of places for reviews and chose one that fit my budget and had great reviews. It also matters how much space you will need so keep that in mind. - Download a Open-source FTP client:
To help download the files I needed from the old host, I downloaded FileZilla to make the process easier. It will connect you remotely into your hosts’ files so you can download them to your own computer for safe keeping. That is how some people back on their site so that if they were to lose all their files, it could be back up soon without losing a post. - Download the wp-content folder from your current host to your computer:
Using filezilla, pick the wp-content folder and upload it to your computer. Filezilla makes it easy but if you are confused, check out their website to figure it out. They have plenty of videos to explain how this all works. It took me about 45 minutes to get the file imported. It may be less or more depends on how many themes and plug-ins you have installed. - Install WordPress on your new host:
The best way to figure that out is just to check your host. Most have a click and install option that takes minutes to install and will e-mail you the log in information as soon as its done. - Create a temporary link (test site) for your site so you can view it before it is live:
This one is important if you don’t already have a domain name. You won’t be able to view your new WordPress site on your domain until you switch the nameservers so creating a test site will give you a way to see everything before it is live. - Download the wp-content folder from your computer to your new host:
You are going back to Filezilla for this. You’ll need to log out of your old host and into your new host before uploading. It takes about as long as downloading did. You will also want to replace the folder instead of just copying it over. That will take care of you having to do it later on. - Export your posts onto your computer:
For some reason, the export function under tools wasn’t working for me at all. It worked at the beginning but then refused to work. So I installed a plug-in called Advanced Export for WP & WPMU. You can export all your posts or just some of them with this plug-in.It doesn’t take long and saves the file on your computer. - Import the file into your new WordPress:
You can use the import option (under tools) on your new installation of WordPress to import the posts you just exported. This also doesn’t take long and will move over all your categories, tags, and SEO information with it. - Set up your blog to your liking:
By just adding the folders and the posts, it doesn’t make your blog look the way the old one did. You will have to make sure the theme is all set up, copy and move the widget codes as well. You will also need to reactivate your plug-ins and possibly add some of the customizations back in. I think it took me between 30-60 minutes to make sure it was all done. Nothing big. Don’t forget to check the permalinks. That was one thing I forgot. They need to match so it sends people to the same place as before. - Set up e-mail addresses so you don’t lose any e-mails once the nameservers change:
This one is one that I forgot about. My blog’s e-mail is set up through Google because that’s who I bought my domain name though. But when I changed the nameservers, it wiped out those codes. Make sure you have those before changing the nameservers or just set up the new e-mail with your new host right after you change the nameservers. - Update your nameservers:
Are you sure you are finished? Do one last check over before switching. Once you switch, the old blog will slowly disappear for everyone and the new one will show up. It took about 2 hours (but can take up to 48 hours) for my new host to show up. Once that is done, you can delete your files from the old host and you are done.
I’m not going to say that this process was easy for me. Matter of fact, I spent a couple nights cussing at my computer and starting over the next day because I couldn’t handle it. I tried a couple different methods before realizing this one worked for me. Confused? Feel free to e-mail me (blog@andthelittleonestoo.com) and I’ll help you out. Found an earlier way to do a step above? Let me know in the comments and I’ll check it out.
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