[Lucy101]

Hi everyone,

I have just been told that within the next few days I have to migrate a website from one host to another. long story will try to make it short, client/friend has been told by her current developer that he is no longer providing any hosting or maintenence of her site from midweek onwards, he has provided her with all the ftp details and passwords etc which she has no idea what to do with and has asked me to deal with it all. Now I am not going to pretend I know anything much beyond the basics about this kinda stuff beacause I don't. I run a small personal static website and have stuck with the same host for years (HeartInternet).

My question is she runs a Dating site, I have been helping her with a few issues as her developer has been totally unhelful, never around to answer questions etc.. (I believe he was more a business man than a programmer/designer and in it for the money rather than having any knowledge of the industry) anyway sorry back to my question...The dating site current shows as having 4000+ members and I am completely stumped as to how to decide firstly the host and secondly the level of hosting to go for. I was thinking about sticking with HeartInternet but after reading some reviews on here I am not so sure, I am not sure how much traffic she has but wanted to go with something that I wouldnt have to upgrade to that would give enough space for the forseeable year? I hope that makes sense?

Cost isn't the first concern although I wouldnt want to pay to much on her behalf for space that wouldnt be required. If anyone could help I would really appreciate it, this is part 1 of a 2 part question..will come to number 2 later once my head is unscrambled with the hosting issue!! Part 2 is a question on the actual migrating!

Thanks in advance anyone and everyone!

Lucy

[wesh.co.uk]

Hi Lucy

Sadly there isnt any "1 plan fits all forever" so to speak due to traffic usage or space, and how subscribed you want the hosting to be.
Sure, you can find endless amounts of "Unlimited everything" for next to nothing", but as you have already seen, it doesnt often end well..

The most ideal thing to do is pick a host you want to migrate to and let them take a look at the current hosting account, and its usage history, which should then allow the new host to recommend a suitable plan that fits perfectly...

Your new host can also take care of the entire migration for you too, leaving you to get on with other things...

This is of course something we could do, but there are other host's here too, so were not allowed to plug ourselves..

Basically though, the entire lot shouldnt take more than a few hours, job done, then a quick swap of the DNS, job done :-)

[Lucy101]

wesh.co.uk, on 30 January 2012 - 04:21 AM, said:

Hi Lucy

Sadly there isnt any "1 plan fits all forever" so to speak due to traffic usage or space, and how subscribed you want the hosting to be.
Sure, you can find endless amounts of "Unlimited everything" for next to nothing", but as you have already seen, it doesnt often end well..

The most ideal thing to do is pick a host you want to migrate to and let them take a look at the current hosting account, and its usage history, which should then allow the new host to recommend a suitable plan that fits perfectly...

Hi and thanks for the quick response, especially at this screwed up time in the morning!! in response I can only say current(ex) developer wont disclose who host was (It think he was a reseller) as he was charging an extortionate amount a month (in my eyes) but then again perhaps it was fair I cant be too sure..so no idea how to find this info out. Thanks again for your help

[wesh.co.uk]

Lucy101, on 30 January 2012 - 04:33 AM, said:

Hi and thanks for the quick response, especially at this screwed up time in the morning!! in response I can only say current(ex) developer wont disclose who host was (It think he was a reseller) as he was charging an extortionate amount a month (in my eyes) but then again perhaps it was fair I cant be too sure..so no idea how to find this info out. Thanks again for your help

So long as you have the login details, finding out who it is, is the easy part.
The login details should also work using just your domain name too... All easily done in seconds/minutes...

We cant use email or PM's here, but your welcome to contact us directly via our website should you want any further help and not have to broadcast details publicly

[Lucy101]

wesh.co.uk, on 30 January 2012 - 04:47 AM, said:

So long as you have the login details, finding out who it is, is the easy part.
The login details should also work using just your domain name too... All easily done in seconds/minutes...

The site is hosted by the actual developer I believe, just checked the ftp details, however, I don't think he would ever tell me or in fact his client what plan he had her on, is there an easy way to check this out? I hope my questions are making sense I am a complete newbie with all this stuff! Thanks for your help

If I do email you details via your website who should I ask for?! wouldn't want your colleagues thinking some nutter was on the loose!!!

[wesh.co.uk]

Dont worry, the email will come to me... If the others see it they will just ask "Is this for you" lol
It can all be checked with the account details...

[Lucy101]

wesh.co.uk, on 30 January 2012 - 05:00 AM, said:

Dont worry, the email will come to me... If the others see it they will just ask "Is this for you" lol
It can all be checked with the account details...

Email sent, Thanks for your help, still open to suggestions from others too! Thanks in advance everyone!

[4colourprogress]

Some hosting companies such as Media Template can actually do the transfer for you.

http://mediatemple.net/sitemover/

[eCenica]

Using some of the various domain tools on the web it's actually pretty easy to discover who's hosting any domain name. A nerdy sounding tool called 'dig' is once such example.

As 4colourprogress says there are quite a few hosts that offer WordPress migration from one host to another. If you've got your FTP details then you'll have enough info to switch your WordPress site across.

MT is a US company so that might not be suitable if you're targeting UK users/Google.

Not sure of the rules on this forum, but hopefully I can say "feel free to get in touch if you would like some help with how to move a WP site". Just ask for me.

Rich

This post has been edited by eCenica: 30 January 2012 - 09:49 AM

[Lucy101]

4colourprogress, on 30 January 2012 - 09:07 AM, said:

Some hosting companies such as Media Template can actually do the transfer for you.

http://mediatemple.net/sitemover/

Thank for that link, checked them out, good for future reference but think I will need a UK host this time round, thanks for the info though!!

[Lucy101]

eCenica, on 30 January 2012 - 09:48 AM, said:

Using some of the various domain tools on the web it's actually pretty easy to discover who's hosting any domain name. A nerdy sounding tool called 'dig' is once such example.

As 4colourprogress says there are quite a few hosts that offer WordPress migration from one host to another. If you've got your FTP details then you'll have enough info to switch your WordPress site across.

MT is a US company so that might not be suitable if you're targeting UK users/Google.

Not sure of the rules on this forum, but hopefully I can say "feel free to get in touch if you would like some help with how to move a WP site". Just ask for me.

Rich

Thanks Rich,

I know who the domain is held with as I did a Nominet search, and is still on their servers so I believe it is just pointed to the current host, site owner is not sure she has the password for her domain name registrars or if the developer dealt with all of that, he unfortunately is uncontactable so will get her to try reset it and get access to her domain name and once a I have choosen a host and plan all I will need to do is change nameservers? I am correct in thinking this?

Thanks again all help very much appreciated!!

[AdvantageDigitalMedia]

Lucy101, on 30 January 2012 - 09:11 PM, said:

Thanks Rich,

I know who the domain is held with as I did a Nominet search, and is still on their servers so I believe it is just pointed to the current host, site owner is not sure she has the password for her domain name registrars or if the developer dealt with all of that, he unfortunately is uncontactable so will get her to try reset it and get access to her domain name and once a I have choosen a host and plan all I will need to do is change nameservers? I am correct in thinking this?

Thanks again all help very much appreciated!!

That depends, if you want to move the domain to a new registrar you will need the current registrar to change the IPS tag (.co.uk) or supply you with an authorization code (.com) to facilitate the move to the new registrar. If you just want to change the nameservers you'll still need to get in contact with the current registrar to do this, unless you have DNS control of the domain.

It depends what you're trying to achieve as if you change the Nameservers you will no longer be in control of the DNS, unless your new hosts provide such a feature. If you just wish to change where the domain is pointing, well you can do this yourself by changing the A record, no nameserver changes required at all and you remain in control of your domain.

Hope this helps.

[eCenica]

Just to clarify. If you're having problems with a .co.uk domain name, you can pay Nominet directly and submit a request to change the IPSTAG for you. The form is available on their website. This allows you to side-step the old domain name company.

Once the IPSTAG is updated to your new domain name company, you can then go in and setup the domain as you want.

We're a Nominet Accredited Member / IPSTAG holder, so feel free to ask any questions. If we can't answer them we can relay them to our Nominet contact.

Richard

This post has been edited by eCenica: 31 January 2012 - 09:37 AM

[rallport]

eCenica, on 31 January 2012 - 09:36 AM, said:

Just to clarify. If you're having problems with a .co.uk domain name, you can pay Nominet directly and submit a request to change the IPSTAG for you

Unless you;re a pretty big company they won;t be paying Nominet directly - their fees are very high - http://www.nic.uk/re...es/feeschedule/

[Lucy101]

Thank you all, friend managed to find username password, so less hassle about gaining access, phew! so its better to change the A records and not the nameservers? I always thought that if the domain name was always held by the registrant (owner) they go log in to their control panel and change their nameservers to anyone and they retained control of the name?

Thanks for your help guys!

[eCenica]

rallport, on 01 February 2012 - 09:17 AM, said:

Unless you;re a pretty big company they won;t be paying Nominet directly - their fees are very high - http://www.nic.uk/re...es/feeschedule/

Yes Nominet do have higher registration costs than some domain registrars. That's where Nominet Tag holders come in

That said, the cost to submit a change of IPSTAG to Nominet is currently £10+vat. This is actually cheaper than some companies charge.

For anyone reading this who is thinking of submitting the IPSTAG change to Nominet. It's very important to note that changing an IPSTAG through Nominet does not affect any legal agreements you have with the previous IPSTAG holder. So you could find that you get doubled-charged.

Cheers

Richard

[rallport]

eCenica, on 02 February 2012 - 01:55 PM, said:

Yes Nominet do have higher registration costs than some domain registrars. That's where Nominet Tag holders come in

That said, the cost to submit a change of IPSTAG to Nominet is currently £10+vat. This is actually cheaper than some companies charge.

For anyone reading this who is thinking of submitting the IPSTAG change to Nominet. It's very important to note that changing an IPSTAG through Nominet does not affect any legal agreements you have with the previous IPSTAG holder. So you could find that you get doubled-charged.

Cheers

Richard

I was referring to goijg to Nominet directly to resolve a dispute - as their fees are very high.