[jesusfreak101]

i have done some research and wanted to know what is the best way (that you) to go about switching a domain's host that is currently on another server?

[iblastoff]

upload files. import database if necessary. pretty much it.

[jesusfreak101]

I was leaning more towards the name servers or A record.....

[pgo]

Log into your domain registrar's control panel and set nameservers or create DNS records?

[jesusfreak101]

Originally Posted by pgo

Log into your domain registrar's control panel and set nameservers or create DNS records?

yea some people tell me its better to change the A record than the Name Servers cause its a lot cleaner. I still don't get it...

[iblastoff]

Originally Posted by jesusfreak101

I was leaning more towards the name servers or A record.....

oh my mistake! thought you just needed info in moving your site to another host.

but yah i just change the dns settings to reflect the server addresses of your new host.

[herkalees]

Another helpful thing to do is this: After you establish an account with the new hosting provider and after you upload all of your files/dbs there, but *before* you switch the name server records with your domain registrar, it's best to make sure the site is operational on the new server. The simplest way to do that is to temporarily edit your hosts file and aim your domain name at the new server's IP address.

This will allow you, and only you, to browse to www . yourdomainname . com to see how the site is behaving on the new server. This gives you the opportunity to work out any bugs before switching name servers and exposing the world to your untested site that now lives on the new server.

[weldo]

a decent host will probvably provide you with an IP address so you can do the same thing as described above - until your name propogates through ...

[haku]

This will allow you, and only you, to browse to www . yourdomainname . com to see how the site is behaving on the new server.

Oh man, I wish I had known that six months ago! Would have saved me about 6 hours of stress I had one day when switching one of our sites over!

[herkalees]

Originally Posted by weldo

a decent host will probvably provide you with an IP address so you can do the same thing as described above - until your name propogates through ...

Naturally, but what if some of the code within the site has absolute paths using the domain name? If so, my little tip solves that issue.

[pgo]

Originally Posted by jesusfreak101

yea some people tell me its better to change the A record than the Name Servers cause its a lot cleaner. I still don't get it...

As I understand it (and it confuses me, too) if you just set nameservers, you're moving your DNS settings to your host, which creates A records, CNAMEs, MX, etc.

Or you can do all your DNS manually.