Live ChatIndividuals with no expertise in coding or understanding about any programming language can hope to build or manage websites owing to user friendly platforms such as WordPress hosting. This is not the only reason for amazing popularity of WordPress CMS hosting platform that is extensively used for creation of compelling and well developed websites that can cater to individuals as well as enterprises. WordPress has remarkable capability of integrating with a plethora of third party scripts or coding that underlines its rock solid functionality.
WordPress hosting excels in the domain transfer, an attribute that has contributed significantly to its growing popularity. The process of transferring domain of any website was viewed as one of the most dreadful tasks. It was common for many a website administrator to shun the task as far as possible. Thanks to WordPress, transferring of a website from one domain to another is far less difficult than it used to be.
This can be best understood by systematically going through the domain transfer process and by knowing the vital things that need to be noted while transferring a website to another domain on your WordPress hosting account provided by your service provider.
WP install
Initially, you need to install WordPress to your Linux VPS hosting account or any other hosting account that has been availed by you from your hosting provider. Ideally, you need to deploy a blank version of WP to a temporary URL.
There are few established hosting service providers that offer a program to facilitate deployment of third party software applications to your account. Users can install WordPress to the sub-directory or to root of their website. In order to install WordPress users need to access cPanel account provided by WordPress hosting service provider. After initial login into cPanel account you need to access ‘Website’ section and proceed by clicking ‘Install’ button on ‘Install WordPress section.
Setting up ‘ManageWP’
In the next step you are required to create a new WordPress hosting account by signing up at ManageWP.com for free. This is quite simple and can be done by accessing their home page and clicking the option of free trial by submitting your email address. Now, you will be directed to add the existing website to ManageWP dashboard.
In order to facilitate ManageWP to automatically install ManageWP plugin you will have to enter username and password. This will link your site to ManageWP dashboard and enable you to add new website with temporary URL by pressing ‘Add Website’ button on the sidebar. Having finished adding of both websites to the dashboard, you are all set to initiate the process of migration through your WordPress hosting platform.
Migration of your site
- Access the button of ‘managewp-clone-migrate’ in the Quick Access tool box
- By ensuring that your site is listed under ‘Existing Website’ click ‘managewp-select-source-temp’
- You need to choose the destination after ManageWP has finished creating a snapshot of your site and then select the site that is supposed to be migrated and click ‘managewp-migrate-destination-temp’
- You will be presented with a new window showing the website that is being cloned to. Confirm the correctness of the same and then click Clone button as ‘managewp-migrate-clone-temp’
- If the process of cloning is accomplished, you will be presented with a message that says ‘clone was successful’. Now you may press ‘Done’.
Process of changing URL
The name servers should be made to point the DNS here after you have finished the process of migration. The name servers are ns1YourHost.com and ns2YourHost.com.
Subsequent to pointing name servers here, you need to proceed to changing the WordPress URLs for reflecting your domain name in place of the Temporary URL. Make sure that Site Address as well as WordPress Address are one and the same and should be changed to your domain name.
Access your WP dashboard on your WordPress hosting account and choose ‘General’ from ‘Settings’ and then proceed to update the Site URLs and Home by clicking ‘wordpress-settings-url.
Now, you need to update internal links and references to images because these are still pointing to your old domain name. This issue will be fixed by VelvetBlues by facilitating you to change old ULS as well as links in your website.
You have almost finished the process of migration and all you need to do now is to save your new URL setting by saving permalinks by clicking ‘Permalinks’ in ‘Settings’. Remember that you are not supposed to make any changes at this juncture and only need to press ‘Save Changes’.
Now you can rest assured that every link present on your website is pointing to your domain in place of the Temporary URL. Choose the destination after ManageWP has finished creating snapshot of your site. Under ‘Existing Website’ select the site that you are migrating to and click next.
