There are no official terms referring to those actions, but we call them as follows: Domain Transfer;<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 Website Migration<\/em><\/strong>; Complete Website Migration<\/em><\/strong>; and Complete Website Migration (to separate providers).<\/p>\n As you can imagine, to execute any of these tasks, you\u2019ll have to go through a bit different process each time. Let’s examine every one of your possibilities step by step.<\/p>\n To transfer the domain of your website to a new registrar means to change whom you are paying for the domain, but to keep your present hosting provider (the place where your website is located). A text field will appear. There is a falling menu next to it, where you can choose the TLD of your domain. Once you\u2019ve put the correct domain name and TLD, click the\u00a0Transfer Domain<\/strong> button.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll be presented with the option to buy another TLD of the same domain. If you don\u2019t need it at the moment scroll down to the Domain Transfer<\/strong> option. There you\u2019ll have two options \u2013 either click the Add Domain(s) and search again<\/strong>\u00a0button if you want to transfer more than one domain or just click Continue<\/strong>. Tune all the following options in the way that suits you best and enter the correct Contact Details<\/strong>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1.3 Unlock<\/strong>\u00a0domain at current registrar\u00a0<\/strong>if necessary. Domains are sometimes locked by the Hosting Provider in order to prevent unauthorized transfers. The steps you should follow in order to unlock your domain (if locked at all) differ from one domain provider to another. So, if you are unable to find how to unlock your domain, contact the support, they are obliged to help you out. Here are the steps you need to follow in order to move \u0430 WordPress based website from one hosting\u00a0provider to another:<\/p>\n 2.1 \u00a0Export the WordPress database and site files<\/strong>. The fundamental elements of a WordPress-based website are its database and website files. So, the first thing you need to do is to make a copy of your database and website files from your current hosting provider to your local computer. This step is mandatory for the migration of your website, but at the same time, it allows you to create a backup of your website on your local computer, which is never a bad idea.<\/p>\n Export the WordPress database: No matter what type of control panel your current hosting provider uses, in order to export the WordPress database, you need to go to the so-called phpMyAdmin<\/strong>, and choose the database you want to download. Click the Export<\/strong> button.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A new page will open, where you can find a falling menu, to choose the extension of the database. Choose SQL<\/strong>\u00a0and click Go<\/strong>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The SQL should be automatically downloaded to the Download<\/strong> directory of your primary hard drive.<\/p>\n You can download your website files using an FTP client like FileZilla. Alternatively, you can download your website files through the File Manager of your current hosting provider if it supports downloads of directories<\/p>\n Here we’ll show you how to use the FileZilla FTP client software because it is universal for most hosting providers.<\/p>\n First and foremost – download and install the FileZilla client. \u00a0The software is free, so you can go to the FileZilla website<\/a>\u00a0and download it from there.<\/p>\n Now that you’ve downloaded and installed the FTP Client you can start it. What you will see resembles strongly the Windows File Explorer. There are few fields in the top area of the FileZilla client that you need to fill, namely:<\/p>\n These credentials should be accessible for you somewhere in the Control Panel of your current hosting provider.<\/p>\n On the left side (Local site) you can browse the files\/folders of your local computer and on the right side (Remote site) you can browse through the files of your account with your hosting provider. On the left side, you need to open the location where you want the backup files to be saved.<\/p>\n These files you’ll find on the right side. You should search for your website files because their location might differ, depending on the file structure of your hosting provider. On our servers, your websites have their own directories, so you need to look for a directory with the name of your website, i.e. directory with the name \u201cdomainname.com\u201d. To make a copy of your files, you can just drag the entire folder from the right side to the left side. Alternatively, you can right-click on the folder and select \u201cDownload\u201d, which will download the folder to the left side\u2019s current directory.<\/p>\n In the bottom area of FileZilla, you can monitor the file transfer queue, once all the files are transferred your file backup will be completed, taking you one step closer to finishing the WordPress migration.<\/p>\n 2.2\u00a0Register at\u00a0AwardSpace<\/strong>. If you are migrating a WordPress website, we highly recommend you use our WordPress Hosting<\/a> solution. We’ve crafted it with attention and care so that at least one of the plans will meet your needs. \u00a0If the website you are moving to is not based on WordPress, you can choose the Hosting Solution<\/a> that suits you best.<\/p>\n 2.3. \u00a0Host your domain<\/strong> in your account. Enter your AwardSpace Control Panel and go to the Domain Manager<\/strong> section, once there select the \u201cHost a Domain<\/strong>\u201d option, enter your domain name in the form and click the \u201cHost\u201d button. It is important to note, that using the host option you will use AwardSpace as a hosting provider only and your domain will remain with your current domain provider, so you will not<\/em> transfer<\/strong> your domain. After you host your domain a pop-up window will show up with a message providing details on how to point your domain to us: 2.4\u00a0Upload the website files to your domain folder<\/strong> using the File Manager or FTP client, like FileZilla. If you prefer using an FTP client, you can find your FTP credentials in your AwardSpace Control Panel -> FTP Manager section. When you sign up with us, we create a default FTP account with your log-in username and password. 2.5\u00a0Create a new database<\/strong>\u00a0using your AwardSpace Control Panel -> Database Manager section, which you will use to import your MySQL backup file.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Now enter the desired database name and password in the form. Afterward, click the Create Database<\/strong> button.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n You will need the Database password, name, and host shortly, so remember them or write them down.<\/p>\n 2.6\u00a0Import your SQL backup into the database that you created<\/strong>.\u00a0Open the new database by clicking on the phpMyAdmin<\/strong> button. To find it go to \u00a0AwardSpace Control Panel -> Database Manager section. You’ll be redirected to the phpMyAdmin page.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Once you are in the phpMyAdmin interface, select Import<\/strong> from the top navigation menu.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Click Choose File<\/strong>. After you’ve found and opened the SQL file, just click Go<\/strong>\u00a0at the bottom of the page. We highly recommend not to change anything if you really don’t know what you are doing.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 2.7\u00a0Update the wp-config.php file<\/strong> to use the new database settings. Go to the Dashboard of the Control Panel. Choose File Manager<\/strong>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Open your website\u2019s directory and find the wp-config.php<\/strong> file. Click twice on the file, thus opening the text editor, where you can change the needed information.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n You have to replace the old\u00a0DB_user<\/strong>, DB_name<\/strong>, DB_pass, <\/strong>and\u00a0DB_host<\/strong> credentials with the credentials of your new AwardSpace database (those you used when creating the database in our Control Panel).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 2.8\u00a0Change the NS records at the current registrar<\/strong>. Go to your domain provider\u2019s account and change the NS records\u00a0to ns5.awardspace.com<\/em> and ns6.awardspace.com<\/em>. Please be advised that these changes can take up to 72 hours.<\/p>\n 2.9\u00a0Enjoy your time with AwardSpace.<\/strong><\/p>\n Well, migrating between hosts is not the easiest task, but if you are smart enough to know that you should be on the web, you are smart enough to transfer a WordPress website to another host. Now that we’ve covered how to separately transfer a domain and migrate a WordPress website, you know all the steps that you need to take to completely migrate the website. But! There is always a ‘but’. Here the steps are in quite a different arrangement. Since we’ve covered all the steps in detail, here we’ll just mark and arrange them in the correct order. If any of the steps is unclear to you, just open the needed toggle from above.<\/p>\n So to completely migrate a WordPress website you need to follow the steps here:<\/p>\n 1.1\u00a0Make sure that the domain doesn\u2019t expire very soon.<\/strong><\/p>\n 1.2\u00a0Order a domain transfer service.<\/strong><\/p>\n 1.3\u00a0Unlock<\/strong>\u00a0if necessary\u00a0domain at the current registrar.<\/strong><\/p>\n 1.4\u00a0Check if the registrant information is accurate and up to date.<\/strong><\/p>\n 1.5\u00a0Request EPP key from the current registrar.<\/strong><\/p>\n 2.1 Export the WordPress database and site files.<\/strong><\/p>\n 2.2\u00a0Register at\u00a0AwardSpace.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n 2.3 Add the domain of your website to our system, by using the\u00a0Host a Domain\u00a0<\/strong>option.<\/p>\n 2.4\u00a0Upload website files to your domain folder\u00a0<\/strong>using the File Manager or FTP Client.<\/p>\n 2.5\u00a0Create a new database<\/strong>.<\/p>\n 2.6\u00a0Import your SQL backup into the database that you created.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n 2.7\u00a0Update wp-config.php file\u00a0<\/strong>to use the new database settings.<\/p>\n 2.8\u00a0Change NS records at the current registrar.<\/strong><\/p>\n 1.6\u00a0Once you obtain the\u00a0EPP key, send it to our support<\/strong>.<\/p>\n 1.7\u00a0Once we receive the EPP key,\u00a0we\u2019ll send you a confirmation message\u00a0<\/strong>at the registrant’s e-mail address.<\/p>\n 1.8\u00a0After the transfer is approved\u00a0the process of transferring may take from 7 to 10 business days<\/strong>.<\/p>\n 2.9\u00a0Enjoy your time with AwardSpace.<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n1.1\u00a0Make sure that the domain doesn\u2019t expire very soon<\/strong>. The transfer takes up to 10 business days. Also, bear in mind that it is not possible to transfer a domain that is less than 60 days old.
\n1.2\u00a0Order a domain transfer service<\/strong>. To order a domain transfer service, you need to go to the Control Panel -> Domain Manager -> Transfer a domain.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Enter-the-Doman-Manager.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Transfer-a-Domain.png\"){kind=spacer}
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Continue-domain-transfer.png\"){kind=spacer}
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\n1.4\u00a0Check if the registrant information is accurate and up to date<\/strong>. This is quite an important step. To be able to perform it, you’ll have to turn off all the cloaking\/WHOIS\/Privacy Protection services if there are any enabled. You have to be sure about the truthfulness of the entered data because once you\u2019ve requested an EPP key<\/strong> (which we\u2019ll cover in the next step), it will be sent to the e-mail that you\u2019ve entered in the registrant details of your domain. You can use this tool<\/a> to check the so-called WHOIS information or any other that you prefer. Once you are sure that the information is correct you can move forward.
\n1.5\u00a0Request the EPP key from the current registrar<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/strong>An EPP key (a.k.a. Authorization Code) is a string of characters, but it functions as a master password for your domain. By using this password you allow the transfer process of your domain between domain providers or registrars. Some of the registrars (Domain Providers) will allow you to obtain the key without contacting them. However, with others, you\u2019ll need to contact the support in order to get it. So, there is no universal way to finish this step.
\n1.6 Send the EPP key to our support team, once you obtain it.<\/strong> To do this use the trouble ticket system in the Control Panel. You can open a Trouble Ticket by going to the Control Panel -> Support-> Trouble Ticket
\n1.7 We’ll initiate the transfer process a<\/strong>fter we receive the EPP key<\/strong>.\u00a0You’ll receive a confirmation e-mail message to the registrant e-mail address of the domain from info@transfer-approval.com<\/a>. Before you start the operation it is very important for you to make sure that the registrant’s e-mail address is correct and that you have access to it (we’ve covered that in Step 1.4<\/strong>). In the message, you will find a link, where you have to approve the domain transfer process from your current registrar to AwardSpace.
\n1.8 After the transfer is approved the process of transferring may take from 7 to 10 business days<\/strong>. When the operation is completed and your domain is transferred to AwardSpace, we will send you a notification e-mail regarding the success of the process.
\nThe second possible situation we’ll examine is when you are about to change the hosting provider, but want to continue to use the same registrar for the domain. Migrating a WordPress website is a task that may take a while, but if you know what you are doing shouldn\u2019t scare you.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/How-to-Export-Database.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Export-Database.png\")
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/connect-to-FTP-Client.png\")
<\/p>\n
\n\u201cPlease go to your domain registrar control panel and change your DNS nameservers to ns5.awardspace.com<\/strong> and ns6.awardspace.com<\/strong>.\u201d
\nPlease note that DNS changes may take between 1 and 24 hours to take effect.<\/p>\n
\nOnce you connect successfully to your AwardSpace account with FileZilla, you need to open the directory, where you stored your WordPress files on the left side (Local Site) and on the right side (Remote Site) open your website directory. Next, you need to drag the files from the left side to the right side, alternatively, you can right-click on the files and select “Upload”.
\nIn the bottom area of FileZilla, you can monitor the file transfer queue, once all the files are transferred your file backup will be completed, taking you one step closer to finishing the WordPress migration.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Enter-The-DataBase-Manager.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Create-a-New-Database.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/open-phpMyAdmin.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Import-MySQL-database.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Choose-MySQL-database.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Open-The-File-Manager.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Open-wp-config.php_.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Edit-wp-config.php_.png\")
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Change-the-WordPress-Domain-Adress.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Enter-The-File-Manager.png\")
<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/This-is-how-the-FileManager-looks-like.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Select-all-Files-and-Move-them.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/choose-the-new-domain-directory.png\")
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