Guide to Moving Wordpress Blog to New Host

I have wanted to move Netwriting to a new host for a long time. But, had always put it off because of concerns over the technical difficulty. These are a few suggestions I can make about switching wordpress hosts.

1. Back up Your Database.

I recommened using this wordpress plugin for database back ups. If you want to do it manually you can follow the advice at Wordpress. However, I found the plugin very effective. I will be using it to make monthly backups to  my wordpress sites. Tip – backup to different places e.g. hard disk copy, CD and email backup.

2. Set up Site on New Host.

I added Netwriting as an account. I created a fresh installation of wordpress (2.3.1) on the new host. This installation created an empty Mysql Database.

3. Import Saved Database into New Database. 

The best thing to do is to follow the instructions on the Wordpress site. It is relatively straight forward. After importing the old database to the new site on the new host. I am basically ready to make the switch. If I had additional files outside wordpress, I could now upload them using FTP. However, Net Writing is only a wordpress database at the moment.

This process took some time but, it is important to check that you can see all the files on the new host are as they should. I doubled checked by connecting with Dreamweaver by FTP

4. Switch Nameservers. 

When the site is now ready on the new host, it is a matter of switching the nameservers to the new host. My old host allowed me to do this myself. Some providers will do it on request. When the nameservers are switched, it takes a few hours and then the www. will show the site from the new host.

5. Keep old files on old Server 

I still have all the files and databases on the old server. If there is any problem I could just switch the nameservers back to the old server.

6. Update Customisations

I made some customizations in the sidebar on the old theme. I manually saved the html, and then manually added it to the new sidebar. This theme is widget ready, which makes life easier.

Thanks to blogging tips for some tips on wordpress hosts