Moving WordPress – without downtime.

The order decides

Almost every mishap during a move has the same cause: something was switched off before its replacement was running. That is why:

1. Prepare the new environment, the old one stays online unchanged.
2. Copy files and database.
3. Test the copy thoroughly.
4. Only then switch the domain over.
5. Only cancel the old contract once everything has been running smoothly for a while.

Prepare

• Take a complete backup at the old provider before touching anything.
• Update WordPress, plugins and theme. An outdated plugin may no longer run on a newer PHP version at the new server.
• Lower the TTL of the domain – to around 300 seconds, a day or two before switching. Other servers then only remember the old address for five minutes, and the change arrives everywhere quickly.
• Gather the login details: FTP or SFTP, database, DNS management of the domain.

Transfer files and database

A WordPress installation consists of two parts: the files (above all the wp-content folder with themes, plugins and uploads) and the database with all content and settings. Both have to move, and the new database's login details go into wp-config.php afterwards.

If the domain changes too, the addresses in the database have to be replaced. Do not do that with search and replace in a text file: WordPress stores some settings in a format that counts the length of every text, and a wrong length makes the setting unreadable. A migration plugin or wp search-replace on the command line do it correctly.

Test before the world sees it

As long as the domain still points to the old server, visitors see nothing of the new one. Use exactly that time: click through pages, submit forms, test sign-in, place a test order in the shop.

If you move with us, we test the new site through a preview address of its own before anything is switched over.

Switch over – and do not forget email

The switch happens in DNS: the domain's records then point to the new server. Thanks to the lowered TTL this has arrived almost everywhere within minutes.

The most common mistake at this point does not concern the website but email. If the mailboxes are with the old provider, the MX records must keep pointing there – or the mailboxes move too. If you only change the A record and forget the rest, you notice it by no mail arriving anymore.

Or let us do it

If you switch to us, we take care of moving your website, your mailboxes and your domains – usually at no extra charge for standard projects (with the migration assistant you always move yourself for free) and in exactly the order above: copy first, then test, then switch. You send us your login details through a secured channel, not by email.

How it works and what we need from you is on the page Moving to ProMedia24. Prefer to do it yourself? The migration assistant in the customer center copies website, database and mailboxes in the same order – at the old provider it only reads.