Website Migration Best Practices

My company’s website is ten years old.
It was written by me in iWeb.
It is hosted at Network Solutions.

I am in the process of re-recreating this website in RapidWeaver.
I hope to one day host it at Chillidog.
My question has to do with how best to make this happen.
I cannot afford to have any crashes as my company truly depends on this existing site.

It has been a very long time since I did anything in iWeb. I remember absolutely nothing about the software though vaguely remember that I uploaded it via some FTP. I remember that it used to time out periodically during the upload.

It has been so long since I worked in iWeb that I am not even certain which backup I have is the real back up. I am not entirely sure any of these backups are reliable.

I am currently re-building this site in a parallel format. The new RW website emulates the old iWeb site as closely as possible. I am trying to recreate each page so that 301-redirects will have something familiar to point to. I want to have as many ducks lined up as possible before I make this migration.

MY QUESTION IS THIS: Should I try to upload the new RapidWeaver site to the old Networks Solutions host THEN move it over to Chillidog or should I first try to upload my old iWeb site onto Chillidog then republish the new RapidWeaver over the top of the old iWeb?

This seems to be a three part campaign:

  1. Create the new website in RapidWeaver
  2. Change the host from Network Solutions to Chillidog
  3. Replace the iWeb file with RW file.

I am just not sure how to do this elegantly with minimal opportunity for failure.

Chillidog @barchard will help you to transfer your data from your current Hoster if I am not mistaken.

Do so first and kindly see if Chillidog can backup the old iWeb files on the server for you. (For the 301rules you need the new hosting and not the one who will be canceled soon.)

On Chillidog make a test folder to publish the RW new site and test it.

If everything is ok, delete the iWeb files from the main directory (not the backup) and publish all RW files to the main directory.

3 Likes

Hi @cabinetmaker

The easiest it to let us transfer your old site over, then you just publish to Chillidog Hosting whenever you’re ready. No need to publish multiple times in multiple different locations. Just focus on what’s new. Let us focus on the nitty gritty. :slight_smile:

-Greg

2 Likes

Thanks Jan.
(It was your recommendation that caused me to hire Chillidog the first time.)

Greg, I have some more questions:

So my old site is currently at Network Solutions.
When I transfer the site over does the whole shooting match come with it?

I know that the URL will be hosted at Chillidog but do the contents (old iWeb site) come along with the transfer of URL?

I would like, if possible, to not have to muck with (republish) the old iWeb site at all as I am not confident that I have a viable back up software (or even a compatible OSX to do it with).

Would the iWeb site be just as it is now from the web user’s perspective (until I republish over it with the new RapidWeaver project?

Tim I took @barchard advise a few years ago and have never looked back.

Greg provides an awesome and efficient service.

I too was once a client of Network Solutions - the difference in service and support via Chillidog is simply the difference between night and day!!

Paul

1 Like

Greg @barchard took good care of me when I had to transfer a site. It was easy and painless, and Greg was extremely helpful throughout.

1 Like

Hi @cabinetmaker

To answer your questions:

When I transfer the site over does the whole shooting match come with it?

There are a few parts here:

  1. domain registration
  2. website files
  3. database files
  4. emails

When you transfer your site, the following should be migrated together:

  1. website files
  2. database files

If you’re also using your web host for email, then this is included. Some people use a 3rd party provider, so this is not applicable.

For your domain registration, this is independent of web hosting. Be aware, however, that some hosts will cancel domain registration when you cancel your hosting! I’d advise transferring the domain first if you’re using one of these providers.

I know that the URL will be hosted at Chillidog but do the contents (old iWeb site) come along with the transfer of URL?

The domain will continue to point at your current provider until it is explicitly switched to Chillidog. This gives us time to migrate your site and the appropriate content. When we change the name servers, that’s when everything goes live. You’ll provide me with FTP and other appropriate details and I’ll be able to copy things over.

I would like, if possible, to not have to muck with (republish) the old iWeb site at all as I am not confident that I have a viable back up software (or even a compatible OSX to do it with).

Sure, sounds good.

Would the iWeb site be just as it is now from the web user’s perspective (until I republish over it with the new RapidWeaver project?

Yep :slight_smile:

Cheers,
Greg

This topic was automatically closed 30 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.