Transferring your website to Fastdot

Already hosted with another provider? Want to move your website to Fastdot? This tutorial will outline the steps for transferring your site to Fastdot.

Step 1 – Backup your files

First of all, you need to download the site from your old host. You can do this in one of two ways:

Backup your site through cPanel

If your old host uses cPanel, and the Backup feature is enabled, you can download your entire site in a couple of clicks. Follow the tutorial below which shows you how to download your site from your old host, and how to restore it on your Fastdot account.

Backup and Restore your website through cPanel

Backup your site via FTP

If your host does not use cPanel or they do not have the backup function enabled, then you should backup your site using FTP. Typically you need to connect to your website via FTP, download your www or public_html folder (the names for this folder differ; it is the folder that contains your website) The tutorials below will show you how to connect and transfer files using the popular free FTP client Filezilla.

1. Download Filezilla
2. Connecting to your website with Filezilla
3. Transferring files to/from your website with Filezilla

Step 2 – Backup and restore your MySQL databases

If you do not have any MySQL databases, you can skip to Step 3.

To transfer MySQL databases from your old host to Fastdot, there are two methods you can use:

Backup/Restore MySQL databases via cPanel

This uses the same cPanel function as the file backup section does. Simply follow the tutorial below to backup/restore your MySQL databases in a few clicks.

Backup and Restore your MySQL databases through cPanel

Backup/Restore MySQL databases via phpMyAdmin

If your host does not use cPanel/the backup function is disabled, you can backup and restore MySQL databases using phpMyAdmin. Follow the tutorials below for instructions on how to import and export MySQL databases in phpMyAdmin.

Exporting MySQL databases in phpMyAdmin

Importing MySQL databases in phpMyAdmin

Step 3 – Upload your files to your Fastdot account

Now you need to upload your files to your Fastdot account. If you backed up your files using the cPanel backup feature, you can upload them easily through your Fastdot cPanel by following the tutorial above (“Backup and Restore your website through cPanel”)

If you backed up your files using FTP, simply connect to your Fastdot account using Filezilla and upload your files into the public_html folder.

Step 4 – Create email accounts on your Fastdot account

Before you point your domain to your Fastdot account, its a good idea to create the email addresses through cPanel first. Simply create the email addresses you want on your Fastdot account by following the tutorial below:

Creating email accounts in cPanel

Step 5 – Point your domain to your Fastdot account

By this point your account with Fastdot should mirror your account at your current host; you should have uploaded your site files and MySQL databases and created your email accounts. Once you are sure you have completed all the steps above, its time to change the name-servers of your domain.

Login to your domain control panel at your registrar and modify the name-servers for your domain to the ones we sent you in the welcome email. Video guides for modifying nameservers for most of the major registrars are listed here:

Update your DNS settings at various registrars

Once you have done this, wait for your domain to propagate. This can take between 6-72 hours, depending on your location. To see if your domain has resolved correctly to your Fastdot account, type your domain name into the tool below and hit Lookup. On the next page scroll down to the Whois Record section. If the Fastdot name-servers are listed here, then your domain name has resolved.

www.whois.sc

Check your domain name is displaying correctly, and then proceed to the next step.

Step 6 – Cancel your account at your old host

Once you have updated your name-servers and your domain name has resolved correctly, you can cancel your account at your old host. Make sure you backed up all your files; getting data back after you have cancelled your service with a provider can be quite difficult.

Congratulations, you have successfully moved your website to Fastdot!

Notes: This tutorial covers the main aspects of transferring a website. Keep in mind that if you have other features such as sub-domains, parked domains etc at your old host, you will also need to recreate those on your new Fastdot account.