Situations arise when you feel the need for migrating your Joomla website. Whether it is due to the outgrowth of your site or poor performance of your existing host server, you look forward to migrating your Joomla site to a new server. Shifting your Joomla website from an existing server to a leading and popular web server such as Bisend is an extensive process.
If you are thinking how to transfer your Joomla website, you need to know the following steps and execute them properly.
Create a Backup of Existing Joomla Files
To create a backup of your files is an imperative part of every process that involves the risk of data loss. As it is assumed that your website contain various important information or files, you need to create a backup of your Joomla site before migrating to the new server for better performance. Therefore, to create a backup of your existing Joomla files, you need to log into your site.
You can download the files by any of the two ways, i.e. via FTP or control panel. As FTP is more preferable, you can use any reliable FTP program such as FireFTP or FileZilla and download the files on your desktop.
Export Your Joomla Database
Once you completed downloading the files, it’s time to create a database backup. Although this step is a bit tricky, you can install and use some available tools or components to simplify it. As some experts prefer manual process over the available tools for reliability issues, it is recommendable to use the phpMyAdmin for creating a database backup.
You should keep it in mind that it takes time to complete the backup process successfully. Therefore, you should be patient while executing this procedure and do not rush to the next step until the backup of files and database is successfully created on your desktop.
Edit Configuration.php File
This is the most tactical part of the migration procedure. Hence, you need to concentrate completely to understand and implement this step to transfer your Joomla site to Bisend.
To start with, you need to navigate to the folder where you have downloaded all the files and database during the backup. Here you will find the configuration.php file, which you need to open using an effective text editor. Now, you have to change various files. It involves the actual server path to your new Joomla installation as well as cache for this installation. Apart from it, you should change the URL of your website, name of the MySQL database, database username, password for the database user and location of the Bisend server.
If you have any query in relation to the name or location of the Bisend server allocated to your Joomla site, you must get it confirmed from an expert or a Bisend executive. Once done, you can proceed to the next step after saving the settings.
However, before performing the next step, you need to create an account in the official website of Bisend and select a suitable Joomla hosting plan. Upon completion, you will receive unique login information which will be required in future use as well as in the upcoming steps. Therefore, you should save or remember the login information to avoid problems.
Upload Your Joomla Files to Bisend
As you have now created a compatible environment for your Joomla website, you can upload your files to Bisend server. For this, you will need the assistance of the FTP. It is one of the easiest steps of the transfer process and can be done within a couple of minutes. All you need to do is use FTP to upload the files from your desktop to your new Bisend server.
Import Your Database to New MySQL server
The last thing you have to do for transferring your Joomla website to Bisend server is to upload your site’s database. Most preferably, you should use the phpMyAdmin and import the database by selecting the SQL file which you downloaded from your old server.
Test Your Migrated Installation
Completion of the last step practically marks the end of the “How to transfer your Joomla site” tutorial; however, you should not forget to check the performance of your Joomla site on the new host server. You should make sure that the URL and links attached to your Joomla site get modified appropriately so that it redirects users to your site on a new server instead of the old one.
If everything runs well during the test, you have completed the transfer procedure of your Joomla site successfully. However, if you face any troubles, you must hire a professional to transfer your Joomla website to the Bisend server or you are able to contact the technical support staffs at Bisend to help you.
