Is it better to transfer domain first then setup a multisite?

  • masterkong1

    (@masterkong1)


    11 years, 4 months ago

    Hi,

    I haven’t come across this exact issue in the forums yet. I’m moving a WP Multisite from a virtual host to a dedicate host. I did a fresh install of WP on the new server with a temporary URL (http://website2.com). The old WP site (http://website.com) will be archived. Is it better to activate and set up the multisite network on the new server under the temporary domain name first before transferring the original domain name or transferring the domain name then activating the multisite network? The one caveat is that the old site will need to remain active while the new site is set up.

    Your help is greatly appreciated.

    MK

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
  • Moderator Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)

    (@ipstenu)

    🏳️‍🌈 Advisor and Activist

    11 years, 4 months ago

    How big is this site? Normally moving Multisite between servers is faaaar easier if you don’t have to mess with changing domain names. It’s just as simple as picking up the files & DB and dropping them on the new server.

    Thread Starter masterkong1

    (@masterkong1)

    11 years, 4 months ago

    There are 7 sites in the network each with a different domain name (i.e. apple.domain.org, banana.domain.org).

    Moderator Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)

    (@ipstenu)

    🏳️‍🌈 Advisor and Activist

    11 years, 4 months ago

    Those are subdomains, not domains. Different domains would be like apple.org, banana.org, pizza.org. 🙂 The difference matters.

    IF you set up the tempdomain, make sure it has the same character length as the current domain (so if you’re on domain.com, the new one should be domai2.com). This way, you can do the easy search/replace for just domai2.com and not worry about data serialization. Or change your hosts file locally so the old domain points to the new location.

    Otherwise. I’d wait till the new server is up, then move the files and switch DNS. I just did that myself last weekend with a 5g DB and it was pretty painless. I ran sync between the servers a couple times, so the last day I ran a fast sync of what’d changed between dev and prod, and then moved DNS.

    Thread Starter masterkong1

    (@masterkong1)

    11 years, 4 months ago

    I’m not planning on bringing over anything from the old site at this point. I read up on the whole search and replace the domains in the DB and found a script that does a good job of finding all instances and changing them (http://interconnectit.com/124/search-and-replace-for-wordpress-databases/). My only concern is the change over from domain.org to domain2.org. If I set up domain2.org as a multisite and then change the URL to domain.org will I need to reconfigure the subdomains on domain2.org, i.e. will apples.domain2.org change to apples.domain.org automatically?

    MK

    Moderator Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)

    (@ipstenu)

    🏳️‍🌈 Advisor and Activist

    11 years, 4 months ago

    I’m not planning on bringing over anything from the old site at this point.

    Well… Then move the dns over to the new server, and install fresh.

    If I set up domain2.org as a multisite and then change the URL to domain.org will I need to reconfigure the subdomains on domain2.org, i.e. will apples.domain2.org change to apples.domain.org automatically?

    Only if you use the search and replace script.

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
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