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Hosting Switch: Transferring my WordPress Blog to 1&1 from Vidahost

By Technology, The WebNo Comments

My blog has been hosted on Vidahost for a number of years. But they recently emailed to inform me a price hike. So I decided to switch to another hosting provider, this blog post is about the process of transferring my WordPress blog from one server to another.

I should add that it wasn’t just the price hike that caused me to make this decision. Customer support is much poorer now than it has been in the past. For example: I got an email stating I was running out of disk space. I opened a ticket to see if I could increase disk space without upgrading package. The Customer Agent basically said no.

Then when I was transferring my files from Vidahost’s (old) server to 1&1’s (new) server (more details below) I noticed huge error logs (2.5GB one of them) and many .core files (100-200MB each). These files had eaten up my disk space (from the usual 2GB of 10GB used). At one time a Vidahost’s Customer Agent would have looked at my files on the server to see why I had run out of space all of a sudden, spotted the problem and resolved it.

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I recently switched hosting provider to 1&1’s.

 I asked my friends on Facebook if they could recommend a good, UK-based Hosting provider. One of my friend’s husband recommended 1&1’s.

I decided to transfer my hosting as 1&1 offered a better price, unlimited bandwidth (which I was always in the red on Vidahost), unlimited disk space and more up-to-date servers (I’d recently had a few problems updating WordPress plugins on Vidahost servers due to PHP version).

But the prospect of moving my WordPress blog from one server to another was daunting. How the hell do I do that? I thought to myself. So I Googled it and found this great Step by Step Guide by WPExplorer.

There were a few hiccups. I successfully exported my WordPress database, but when I went to import it on the new server it timed out. I checked the database on the new server and found it was missing the last few fields. So I googled and found this site Exporting Your Database from Your Previous Host by WPEngine, which explains how to export specific fields. I exported the missing fields and then imported them. First problem solved.

Then I downloaded my files from the old server and uploaded them to the new server using ForkLift by Binarynights without any problems. I changed my wp-config.php and uploaded it. My second problem was an Error Establishing Database Connection. I googled the error and found How to Fix Error Establishing Database Connection by wpbeginner. This site helped me realise what I hadn’t updated in the wp-config.php.

My final step was to change the NameServers for my domain. I did this and my blog and emails went down for about 24 hours while NameSever propagation took place.

Once my blog and emails were back up, my final problem was that my blog wasn’t displaying right. Nothing I did fixed the problem. In the end I opened both the old server and new server’s File Explorers in Google Chrome.

It was then spotted the problem, all folders and files had different file permissions on the new server. So I changed them to match the settings on my current server, which solved the problem. Here is an article that explains more about file permissions: Ask Unbuntu – What is meaning of 755 permissions.

Another website I found extremely helpful in this transfer process was: WordPress Migration Problems and How to Fix Them by Nelio.

So there we have it. Job done.

Blog soon,

Antony

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I aim for posts on this blog to be informative, educational and entertaining. If you have found this post useful or enjoyable, please consider making a contribution by Paypal:


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Sunday 16 July 2017

Minor Tweaks

By The Web, ThinkingNo Comments

The internet giants like Amazon, ebay & Google only make small tweaks to their sites, rather than design overhauls. The reason for this, is that it gives visitors a sense of familiarity. Over the years my blog has had many designs (see Geeky Post: Website Development). I love the current site design of my blog, but like any design their are flaws and things that could be improved.

So here’s a list of minor tweaks I’ve recently made to the design and functioning of the blog:

  • WordPress Menu functionality added.
  • Booklist pages now have book image covers, along with a link to Buy The Book on Amazon. Pages include: Book List 2014 & Book Lists.
  • Older Book Review blog posts now all have had image book covers.
  • Rearranged layout of comment form, including: changing title to ‘Your Comment’ and adding ‘Name:,’ ‘Email:’ & ‘Website:’ labels before respective textfields rather than after.
  • Removed spam-stopper Plugin, which required an extra question on the comment form to confirm that you’re human. This was removed as already have Conditional CAPTCHA for WordPress which is sufficiently effective. This overall makes commenting/interacting on my blog easier.
  • On comments, Authors websites (appear as link on their name) open in new window/tab.
  • On sidebar, added an Amazon banner that isn’t java based. This increases compatibility with Apple devices, such as the iPad and the iPhone.
  • On sidebar, shorted About Me section to less than 50 words (46 words to be precise).
  • On sidebar, added Book Chic Club and Urbangay under Blogs of Interest.
  • On sidebar, removed several blogs that haven’t been updated in sometime under Blogs of Interest.

I’ve got more small tweaks planned over the coming months, along with the usual reviews and other great content.

Write soon,

Antony

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Monday 21 April 2014

Vidahost Review: Reliable Hosting, Outstanding Customer Service & Discount Coupon

By Reviews, TechnologyNo Comments
vidahost-logo Just over two years ago, I was chatting with a friend about how unhappy I was with my old hosting provider. He suggested that I checkout Vidahost and I’m so glad that I did.

I decided to give Vidahost a go; it was really easy to sign up, quick to transfer my blog and without any downtime. It didn’t affect my search engine ranking either. Vidahost offered me more features for less money. Vidahost features include:

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  • Really easy to transfer my domain name, website and email accounts.
  • More disk space: great for images and an ever growing blog/website.
  • Reliable Hosting, hardly any downtime. EVER.
  • Fast Servers – meaning that your website, uploads, images, music and videos load super quick.
  • Plenty of email accounts, subdirectories and SQL databases allowed. (Many more than my previous provider).
  • Easy to use through CPanel and My.VidaHost Dashboard. CPanel comes complete with WordPress and the other software/scripts you’d expect.
  • Truly outstanding customer support via live chat, email and a support ticket system. All Vidahost Staff I’ve wrote to have been friendly, quick and efficient.
  • They Back Up their Servers regularly.
  • Competitively priced with a range of packages, one that will suit everyone’s needs.
  • The ability to host multiple websites on one hosting package.
  • Unlimited Password Protect Directories.

I’ve been with Vidahost for two years and have never been so impressed with a hosting provider. They’ve made continual investment in the hardware and software throughout the time I’ve been with them.

My friend was looking for hosting and I recommended Vidahost to him, telling him all about my experience. He bought hosting for a month to give it a try and was so impressed that he bought an annual subscription. He said that Vidahost had exceeded all of his expectations.

And it’s not just my friends and I that are heaping the praise on Vidahost. Here are some testimonials from other Vidahost customers:

“No matter who I speak to I always feel that you guy’s are really helpful and very professional. 10/10. Thanks and well done to you all.” – Tony

“Another designer / developer recommended that I use Vidahost and I have not regretted the decision for a moment. Support has always been accessible and responsive, and the packages come with a full featured cpanel. I have since had the opportunity to recommend Vidahost to others and have moved another 2 domains to this hosting.” – Andrew Kennedy

“In short : Does what it says on the tin.
After being messed about and being treated like an insignificant inconvenience, by some far more well known names, I discovered Vidahost.
They’re efficient, friendly, there when you need them and don’t laugh when you’ve missed something glaringly obvious.
I’ve paid five times more for a tenth of the service I get from these people, and It’s become a mission to recommend them whenever the occasion arises.
Bravo Vidahost – I look forward to many more years with you.” – Allan J Wilkinson

(From: Vidahost Page – Customer Testimonials, Last Accessed: Saturday 2nd November 2013.)

Thanks for the last two years of superb hosting Vidahost; I look forward to the next two years and beyond.

If you’re looking to transfer your hosting or get some, without any hesitation I would recommend Vidahost. You can get 10% off your hosting by entering the Coupon: HOSTRED during the sign up process.

Review soon,

Antony

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Wednesday 6 November 2013

Four Hundred Posts

By The Web2 Comments

This is my four hundredth blog post since I went back to using WordPress about five years ago, before then the site existed in other various formats see Geeky Post: Website Development for previous formats. Whether you’ve been following my blogging for the last five years, had a browse through the archives or are a relatively new reader I wanted to use this post to reflect on some of my life experiences and my growth as a person in this time.

I’ve had many Good Times some of which have been watching various comedians and musical performers. I’ve seen Dylan Moran, Russell Howard, French & Saunders, The Feeling, Tina Turner, Pink, Kylie, John Barrowman and Steps. These experiences have been shared by the most important people in my life my friends and family.

At the beginning of this WordPress blog I wrote about people that inspire me, explaining how my friends and family inspire me. It’s as true today as it was then. Among my close friends I’ve wrote about good times with Simon & Chrys, Sye, Steve, Jayne and Kay. A few recent good times that spring to mind are a trip with Simon & Chrys to Liverpool and visiting Anglesey with Simon.

There have been a few new additions to the family including Shaun the long lost brother, his wife Sarah (see The Wedding of the Year) and their family unit. Dylan and Russell, my two gorgeous bengal kittens have been brought home and added to my family unit. I’m so thankful to have the love and support from my friends and family.

My love life has included dates, relationships, relationship problems and break ups involving several different men. I’ve moved to Spain to start a new life with someone and then moved back when it didn’t work out. I’ve learned from the relationships and although I’ve not yet found that someone special to spend my life with; I’m sure I’ll meet my Mr. Right eventually.

I made the choice to go back to University to complete my Nursing Degree, successfully being awarded a BSc Nursing Hons Upper Second (2:1). I’ve moved out of Nurses accommodation to a grotty house-share and then bought my first home.

Happy times have to be balanced with sad times; saying goodbye to M and experiencing grief after my younger brother Alex passed away are among the few truly sad times in the last 5 years. These events in my life along with others have helped my paganism and spirituality flourish. This has been seen with my Reiki One qualification, my work with Apollo and through me fully embracing pagan festivals such as Samhain.

My writing has developed with changes to subject matters, style, editing, grammar and spelling. Subject matters have changed, from writing purely about me and my life to an increase in reviews of books and films. I feel I’ve managed to keep a careful balance between writing about my life and reviews. I have retained and continue to retain that this is a personal blog, that I write more for me than anyone else. A place to write about experiences I have, memories I want to keep and thoughts that I want to share or reflect upon.

My own individual writing style seems to be unfolding although I’m not sure quite how, or what it will look like when it’s fully formed. I do know my writing is increasingly descriptive and seems at times to have a voice. I used to a write blog post and hit the publish button, whereas now I spend more time editing the post than writing the first draft. This has hopefully led to better grammar and spelling – although I don’t claim these to be perfect. In the past my blogging was a spontaneous event, now I try to write a little each day and this change has probably led to the improvement in my writing.

As I have continued to experience life I’ve certainly grown and developed in many different ways. Life’s events have influenced the way I think, feel or act in situations as they do for everyone. I have enjoyed writing about these events and continue to do so, so here’s looking forward to the next four hundred (plus) posts.

Write soon,

Antony



I aim for posts on this blog to be informative, educational and entertaining. If you have found this post useful or enjoyable, please consider making a contribution by Paypal:


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Sunday 14 October 2012
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