Make sure you get your ENTIRE website before switching hosts

Using any content management system will make your website easier to maintain. But what about moving your site to a new host? It’s usually not that difficult, if you make sure you get your entire site.

There are two basic components to a content management website:

1. the site files
2. a database

The site files

This is the part of the website most of us are used to seeing. Before content management systems became commonplace on the internet, websites were done in “static” HTML for the most part. A website coder would use an editor to create individual pages for a website and upload them to a server for viewing on the internet. If you wanted to move to a new server, you would grab everything on the server and move it to your new one and you would be back up and running.

If you look servers running WordPress (my content management system of choice), you’ll notice a list of files with a “.php” extension, rather than the “.html” one of static websites. These PHP files contain instructions on how to create the pages you see in your browser, but do not contain the content itself; that is mostly in the database, which we’ll get to shortly.

If you copy everything visible on your server from your current host, you will get all of the php files, your custom files (themes, plugins, etc.) and some of your content (mostly images you have uploaded). These files by themselves are not going to allow you to recreate your website.

The database

The database is the real content of your website. This is where most of your text, links, website preferences and image references will be kept. With all popular content management systems, there is some sort of database and you will need a backup of it in order to move your website. You can not get to your database through your FTP account or web browser directly. You need to use a control panel for your server or a plug-in built into your existing website; this is not your “normal” type of file and will need to be exported/backed up differently than other files.

My favorite to use for WordPress is xCloner, which will back up both your files AND database in one ZIP file. You can then take that file to most web hosting companies or webmasters and they can upload your site with a minimal amount of effort.

Next time you need to change hosting companies, make sure you get all of your content and you’ll have a smoother transition for your audience.

Disclaimer

This is a fairly generic overview of the content management system structure and your website/server may have different structure.