How to Transfer Your Web Site to Another

How to Transfer Your Web Site to Another

Host Without Losing It.

Copyright 2002 Herman Drost



You want to change web hosts because you have found a less expensive solution for your web site. You are not happy with the services your host is providing. The response time for technical support is too slow. You make the decision to change web hosts.



Now you are faced with the daunting task of switching web hosts without losing the files and beautiful design of your web site. How do you achieve this?

Here are the steps you need to take:



1. Make a complete copy of your web site.

Use your favorite FTP utility (I use SmartFTP.com), to download all files to your computer from your web host. Don't assume you already have all the files on your computer – you may have added some scripts from the Net that are on your server but not on your computer.



If you are using Dreamweaver, use the GET command to copy all your files.



If you are using Frontpage, use the import feature to make a complete copy of the old web site.



2. Choose your new Web Host.

Choose a new Web Host that meets the needs of your web site (www.isitebuild.com/webhostarticle).

If you don't know how much space you need, read the article:

"How Much Hosting Space Do You Need?"



3. Transfer your domain name

Contact the domain name registrar (place where you registered

your domain name) and change the Domain Name Server (DNS)

or Name Server information to your new hosts DNS information.

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Your site is going to experience a downtime while your DNS

record is being changed and propagated through the world's WHOIS

servers. It will take about 24-72 hours for the process to be

completed.



Maintain any existing services set up on your old domain name

such as email forwarding, web pointing and website hosting until

the transfer is complete to ensure continuity of your service.



You can check the progress of your domain name transfer by using

a Domain Name Search facility such as Whois.net. You should see

the details change from your previous Host to your New Host when

the transfer is complete.



4. Upload all files to your new Web Host.

When you are sure your domain name has been transferred, upload

the files to your new Web Host.



Dreamweaver – define your site first, and then use the PUT

command to transfer all your files and html pages. This will

ensure that your whole web will remain intact with the transfer.



FrontPage – create a new Web from the site files you have

imported from your old host, then publish them to the new host.

Make sure your new host has Front Page extensions installed.

This process will transfer your complete site to your new Host.



5. Transferring web pages to the New Host.

Dreamweaver or FrontPage editors make it very easy to transfer

html web pages. They keep most, if not all your web site intact

for the transfer (as explained above).



Another way to transfer your web pages is to copy the source

code by right clicking on the page as you see it when you visit

the site and select 'view/source'. It will come up on Notepad.

Select 'file/save as' and save to a place of your choice as an

HTML file. To do this, at the bottom of the box just before you

save it, it will say '.txt'. Change the drop menu to 'all files'

and then change the '.txt' at the end of the name you're saving

it as to '.html', then save it. You will then have a complete

page ready to load to wherever you want. If you have images

though, you'll have to save them separately.



6. Amending your web site.

Sometimes your web site may not look exactly the same as on

your last Web Host. This is because the html code and/or files

did not completely transfer. This may happen more often with

the editors. FrontPage will do this more because it uses FrontPage

extensions for publishing (extra files for easy publishing).



Make the necessary design changes to mirror the site you had

previously hosted. You may have to eliminate or add some code to

completely reflect your original site.



7. Testing your web site.

Once the domain name and your web site files have been transferred,

you should test that all services are working on the your new Host

(i.e. email services, etc). If it's working correctly, go ahead and cancel

all your remaining services with your previous hosting service.



Transferring your web site to a new Host doesn't have to be such

a nerve-racking task, once you know the exact steps to take. Now

you can enjoy the savings and services of a new home for your

web site.





Reproduced with kind permission from Herman Drost