My Struggles with Transferring a site to WA hosting
My head is about to explode!
Moving hosts is a major undertaking when you have never done it before.
My current hosting is cheap and is only causing me problems. On my one site, I can't even use my contact form, and my online store isn't delivering files that people are purchasing.
I have 2 sites I want to move but for now I am just working on moving one of them. I tried last month to move it, but I ran into too many issues. I couldn't get an FTP program to work and my uploads file was too big (because I never optimized my images - BIG NO NO. Plus every time I changed themes, I was creating multiple file sizes in my uploads folder that were taking up space). So after much frustration to try to get my site smaller (I did get it smaller but not small enough), I gave up.
Now I am trying again. I installed a plugin called All in One WP Migration and it was so easy to create a zip file of my site, but when I went to import it to a new site it said I was over the 512 mg limit and I would need to purchase the pro plugin to move my site! (face palm)
So back to the drawing board. So I uploaded my wp_uploads folder onto my computer to delete some of the large images and unnecessary image sizes to shrink the size of my site (my site is just over 800 mb). I sure hope this works and doesn't mess up a bunch of my posts. I will then re-upload the new wp_uploads folder and hopefully my site will be under the 512 mb limit.
Out of all this I have some advice to give to others:
1. Do not get cheap hosting, it is NOT worth it at ALL.
2. Optimize your images right from the start, do not upload large image files.
3. Don't change themes 5 times like I did
4. Moving your site is a pain if you don't know what you are doing. I would honestly pay someone to do it for me.
Anyways, that is what is happening in my world of online business at the moment. I hope to have all this sorted out in the next month!
Recent Comments
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It is great of you in midst of your struggles to share what you have learned to help others! Try to keep smiling! :)
5. Don't assume you'll never have to transfer away from WA at some time in the future. Always be prepared for change.
Totally get what you mean Andrea, I tried moving my website from Hostgator and it was a gruesome experience, my website was having downtime for 2 weeks!
I tried the migration plugin too and the upsell put me off. In the in end I had to do it the old fashion way - Backing up my webhost and transferring the files to Wealthy Affiliate through FTP. After a month, I made a training out of it ;) How to Move Your Website From Hostgator to WA Hosting?
You need to go into your DNS server where you purchased your domain and just transfer your DNS to WA. Do a search in the box above for DNS by Kyle for directions.
Put in a support ticket at WA tech support. They will help you move your website and take a lot of the pain away. See: Submit a Support Ticket to SiteRubix Hosting Technical Support ~Marion
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Did you contact Support for assistance?