Transfering Websites

I have transferred a few websites and domain names lately. Here are two tips that I think are worth writing down for now.

First, do things in the right order. If you are switching both the web host and domain name service, doing things in the right order will eliminate any downtime. Begin by starting your new hosting service and transferring your site's data there from the old host. Next, change your DNS to point to your new host. Then you can initiate the transfer of your domain. Doing it in this order will cause the switch to be seamless. I learned this the hard way. I found that after you initiate a transfer of a domain name it takes 5 business days and the DNS is locked during the period--no updates or changes allowed.

Second, there is a great tool that can help you change a site's script code from ASP to PHP. For instance, I had a site hosted on Windows Server and wanted to transfer it to a Linux server. The tool is free and it is called ASP2PHP. I have used it a bit and had some good successes. There are a few bugs, but it is a lot better than hand coding everything all over again.

That's all for now...