Transferring to a different hosting company

[broadhat]

Got a nasty feeling I should have asked this before I did it...

My old hosting company was charging extortionate rates so I've changed to a new company.

I have an exact copy of my website on the new hosting company servers, and have just completed the transfer of the domain name but haven't attempted to move the shop yet.

I think I'm right in saying that over the next few days hits will drop off from the old host site and be transferred to the new host site.

How do I go about moving the shopping cart over to avoid losing sales? Should I keep it where it is for now or make a copy of it on the new host and check both sites? That seems an inelegant solution but I can do it.

Is transferring the shopping cart as simple as updating the FTP details in the network setup and uploading the site or is there something important I should know?

Any tips would be gratefully received!

Thanks

[leehack]

Is transferring the shopping cart as simple as updating the FTP details in the network setup and uploading the site or is there something important I should know?

Once transfer is complete and the network test PASSES on the new settings, just do a website | refresh and all should be dandy. A busy site would generally suspend ordering through the transfer though.

[broadhat]

Thanks for that but how do I know when the transfer is complete and what happens until then? Or does the transfer happen very quickly and I don't need to worry about it? My understanding was that it could take a few days for the change to propagate around the internet.

Also am I right in thinking that the transfer only starts when I change the nameservers?

Thanks

[Fairyglass]

Hi- I've just changed a couple of sites, like this:
1. Suspend ordering- under business settings/ordering, uncheck the ordering allowed box and tick the ordering suspended box. Publish the new settings to the web. Wait a couple of hours and download any orders that might have been placed while this change was taking place.
2. Change nameservers- the method of doing this will vary depending on your host I guess- in my case simply a question of typing in the new settings into the relevant box on my old control panel.
3. Wait.... while waiting input the new host settings to Actinic. I found after an hour or so that when trying to access the site via a browser I got the holding page for the new host. At this point, test network settings. Assuming all work ok, refresh the site which will publish it to the new host.
4. I understand that DNS can take up to 24 hours to propagate across the web, so be prepared for fewer orders over the next day or so, as some people will find it hard to access the site.

A couple of notes:
Before beginning the change, I placed a prominent notice on the site warning of the switch and giving a phone number for urgent enquiries.
I was advised that if my site was a busy one, that I should also change CGI permissions via FTP to ensure anyone trying to order using a cached version of my site in their browser would be unable to.

Don't take this as gospel- I'm not an expert! But it's worked for me- no trouble at all so far. Hope this helps.

[broadhat]

That sounds like great advice - thanks a lot. I'll give it a shot later!

[fergusw]

Thanks for that but how do I know when the transfer is complete and what happens until then? Or does the transfer happen very quickly and I don't need to worry about it? My understanding was that it could take a few days for the change to propagate around the internet.

Also am I right in thinking that the transfer only starts when I change the nameservers?

Thanks

Some tips and practices we put in place for our clients when transferring sites to us are:
- Replicate site to new server whilst traffic still routing to old area
- Increment order sequence number on new, duplicated site, by a number that is large enough to avoid cross over of order numbers between sites.
- Change something subtle on the home page of the new site e.g. Add "..." to the title. This way you know when you are seeing the new site, and hence can download orders.
- Wait 24 hours and check for any remaining orders on old site*

*there are several ways to do this, e.g. copy/paste order files via ftp (if versions same), change local PC host file to allow download from "old" site etc

[TraceyHand]

Top tips, Fergus and exactly what I do/did recently.
I choose to copy the .ord files from old server to new, although that is dependant on you still being able to access the old site via FTP (ie via non ftp.site.co.uk settings)

You probably need help from both sides to be able to do it without the need to suspend orders on a busy site.

[pinbrook]

if you can't get access to old site after dns transfer - here's another method

1 upload to new server using temp url
2 remove site from old server, leave an index page only with message and redirect to new temp url, set up 404 to redirect to index
3 change dns

[fergusw]

, although that is dependant on you still being able to access the old site via FTP (ie via non ftp.site.co.uk settings)

Another tip here is to ping your old host's ftp.domain.co.uk address BEFORE you change DNS and log the IP address.
Most hosts allow you to connect to them via ftp with IP address, username and password, hence even after transfer it is easy to connect via ftp to retrieve files.
If a host does not allow IP ftp connections then a change of the local host file can get round that.

[broadhat]

When I move hosts, will the old orders (pending, completed etc) still be there?
If not, can I export and then import them back in? And how?
Thanks!

[pinbrook]

old orders (pending, completed etc) still be there

these are on your pc within actinic software - nothing to do with the server