Best way to moving a site with domain, but keep pages live

If your new host cannot transfer the site intact, get
a newer host. There's no reason why a simple thing
like a site transfer cannot be done. It's done all the
time.

Now in the past, what with various versions of ways
servers did scripts and databases, there was a very,
very small chance of things not working right.

But those days should be over. Any reputable host
that is getting your site can do it blindfolded and has
a server to match.

If you cannot contact customer service to do this,
and most do it free or with a very nominal fee, then
like I said. Get a new host.

There is no reason to keep an old site intact on an old
server.

Things can get switched very quickly these days, with
probably either minutes or seconds of down time, to
even zero. I've seen sites transfer almost immediately.

Your host actually transfers sites all the time. People
upgrade, get faster, etc. It's done all the time and
very, very fast. Most big sites, like the warriorforum,
would need a little time to test everything. But most
normal sites do not need such a thing.

The only benefit, would be to just leave the site at the
old host and link to the new one.
Build a brand new one, different content.

But then, the option of copying the site to a new server
works too. You would then have identical sites, different
servers. There is nothing bad about this, in most cases.
There are mirror sites for various reasons. But you would
need a brand new domain name.

Paul

Thanks for your input.

Now, I want to install Joomla on top of my existing index page, and knowing the fact that during this process, my existing index page will be covered the 'unfinished and empty' Joomla default homepage.

By doing this, I will also lose sales due to downtime. I probably need 2-3 weeks to populate and design my new Joomla site.

How should I go about processing this? Thanks

• Develop your new site on a new domain.
• Make sure it is blocked to search engines so you dont get dupe content indexed.
• Make sure you have a plan in place to map your old url structure to the new one using 301 redirects. You need to consider this in the design of the new site.
• Add the htaccess file with the 301 into your new site files.
• When you are ready to move over switch your domain setup to point at the new folder location

Think thats it... more or less

here's how you do it.

make an exact copy on your new host (no, unlike what some said, you dont need a new domain). transfer all files & database. a few minor changes need to be made within your mysql (if running wordpress) such as the root directories. if u need assistance i can provide further info on how to do that.

then just...

update your nameservers

DONE

after 24-36 hours delete old host

after you update nameservers they will propagate all over which takes some time (1-3 days). some people will view the old version some ppl the new one. but after some time theyll only get the new version.

You're getting conflicting advice because it's not quite clear what you want to do. You're talking about moving hosts but then you mention going from Wordpress to Joomla. Two very different things.

If you want to move your website from Host A to Host B. That shouldn't be a problem. Unless you really know what you're doing, have Host B move it for you. But don't cancel Host A right away. Once your site is live on Host B, some traffic will go to Host B and some traffic will still be going to Host A. It can take a couple of days until all traffic goes to Host B.

Changing from Wordpress to Joomla is another matter. That's something you wouldn't want to do live. You could do it on Host B, while keeping the WP site alive on Host A. And then once it's ready, point your nameservers to Host B. Or you could just move from Host A to Host B, and then create a test domain where you would transfer from WP to Joomla and then switch over (as LinkVariety suggested).

Suzanne

Thanks guys.

Well. Actually, i want to do 2 things.

1. From Host A to Host B
2. Change existing html site to Joomla/Wordpress

Which step should I take first?
I realize my domain (with the host) when setting up Joomla/Wordpress? Is that true?

Thanks in advance.