Moving Bring Me There
And so I hadn’t been active on my blog for quite some time. And when I finally found time to post one about my family’s recent field trip, I realised that my WordPress content management system was outdated and I needed to update it. But I had a lot of problems with it. It just couldn’t auto update from version 3.9.3 to 4.2.3. I read online that I may hence need to perform a manual update which I have never done before.
Reading up some FAQS, I tried to fiddle with my hosting specifications and the next thing I knew I got a 500 internal error which essentially rendered my whole site inaccessible.
I freaked out and for several days I couldn’t fix it. However I refused to let it go and ended up spending my whole weekend moving my website. Turned out that I had unwittingly changed the password to my database sql file and this was not updated on my wp-config file.
I also found out that my current server was aging so the Godaddy tech support suggested that I get a new server plan and move my entire website over. Sure but who is going to help me with that? Although I own my site, I don’t profess to be an expert.
To cut the long story short I finally shifted the entire contents of my site to a new server and loving the experience. How to do it – you can refer to the FAQ http://support.godaddy.com/help/article/7568?locale=en&ci=46061 which Godaddy shared with me. Initially I really couldn’t make heads or tail but this video http://youtu.be/xtyqQqA4C18 helped.
As I reflected on this I realised that for the average lay person, moving a site is almost akin to moving home. Let me explain step by step.
1. You need a new server host and set it up – you need to buy a new home and complete the handover transaction
2. You need to be familiar with your server details like the IP address (hostname), user ID and password – this is like your new home address and the keys to it.
3. Your current domain aka URL is like your name. You can’t have the same name on both servers so you need to remove your name from your old address so as to migrate it to the new one. You can simply rename the domain tagged to your old server to any name that is not already taken so that your new server can now take your domain name. Use a DNS tracker to check if your domain is now pinging from your new address – check that the phone directory is updated with your latest details.
4. You need to then shift/copy your contents from your old server to the new one. There are two types of content – database sql files and content files housed in your file manager. This is akin to your home furnishings. The sql files are fixtures while the content files are like your fittings.
5. Create a backup of your database using phpadmin. This saves a copy of the sql file on your local drive, then restore this on your new server. This is pretty much like making a copy of your home layout and getting the local contractor to fix up your new home with the same layout.
6. Make a copy of all your content files onto your local drive using a ftp client. There are several free ones you can download from the Internet. You will need your old and new servers’ IP address and passwords to do this. This reminds me of choosing a mover to pack up all your home contents and move it to your new home.
7. The last step is to fix broken links and update plug-ins if required. For me, this necessitated changing my permalinks settings to default, reload, then change back to my preferred mode. This is really just house cleaning to make sure that your contents are back where they are meant to be according to your home layout from your old house.
So doesn’t this make the steps to move your WordPress from one server to another seem so much more logical and simple?
Anyway in total I made three phone calls to GoDaddy’s tech support. I had expected to connect to a local helpdesk but instead my calls went halfway round the world to the US. I have to say that all in all I was really pleased with their customer service who were attentive to my needs.
The first person I spoke to gave me alot of guidance. The second sent me a link. I was initially a little put off that he didn’t offer to lead me step by step but after completing the entire migration myself, I realised that I wouldn’t have learnt a thing and gained such sense of satisfaction if I had depended on them entirely.
So the saying goes ‘Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.’