How to move a site from a test domain to the main

Everything that is actively used by a person has a service life and, over time, requires replacement or renewal. The site is no exception, and even if the resources have not yet been exhausted, after 3-5 years it becomes obsolete morally and visually. Although resources rarely live so far, given how many new features appear during this time that must be installed on the site, as well as the natural development and content of the project. Or you just want to change the CMS to a more functional or profitable one . There may be a million reasons, but renewal is inevitable. It is usually deployed on a dedicated test subdomain. If everything is organized correctly, difficulties are unlikely. But until now, conducting site audits, experts find that some stupid mistake was made precisely during the transfer. Therefore, we read and repeat.

So, how to prepare for the transition to the main domain

The first thing to remember is that any stages of development / important edits / changes / implementations / innovations / relocations and other joys are not done on Friday and on weekends. Why? If something goes wrong, it can be difficult to correct the situation.

Even if your developer can answer at this time, it is not a fact that the same schedule is supported, for example, by a hoster. And the laws of meanness work on weekends.

For such procedures, try to choose the time at which the site visit is minimal.

Second , no one should be working with the site during the transfer. From the word "in general", including posting goods, photos, articles, etc. At the very least, all the work done may not be saved.

It is better that content users do not even breathe on the computer during this period. If something conflicts, then the results of the work of programmers will go down the drain of some animal.

Third - in no case delete the old site until the new one is uploaded and checked!

Otherwise, users will see an error, and, accordingly, you will not see orders.

Sites need to be synced before moving

For this:

• we import all the content of the old site to the new one: products, reviews, blog, visitors ...
• we transfer counters and codes of any widgets (online chats, push notifications, callbacks)
• we back up the databases and files of both sites on the hosting, download to our drive

Now we directly transfer the site to the main domain

1. On the hosting, create a new folder on the same level with the one where the current site is located (for example, " www "). Let's call it " new ".
2. We upload and unpack the archive with the new site into it. This will be faster and more reliable than file transfer.
3. We create a new database and import into it the ones that we have on the hard one. We connect it to the site: we register the path, login and password for entering - in the config / config.php file. At the same time, we follow orders, reviews, etc. on the old site. If new ones appear in time, we postpone.
4. We clear the folders / compiled and backend / compiled.
5. Rename the folder with the current site (which we had " www "), for example, to " old ", and give "new " the same name that the folder with the old site had, ie. " Www " in our case.
6. We register the full path to the site in. cml / .htaccess.
7. Do not forget to open the site for indexing! We make redirects, if necessary.
8. If necessary, create a new password file for the admin panel and synchronization with 1C.
9. We test: adding to the cart, placing an order, creating a product, uploading pictures, sending mail from the site, registering / logging in, sending a review and all the available functionality. We also connect payment services.
10. Is the site fully functional? Great, now delete the test subdomain files and the archive to save hosting space.

Done!