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A website migration is the process of moving the files of a website from one web hosting company to another. A migration can happen for many reasons:

1. You have expanded your website and need more web space;

2. You need more features (i.e. a database, shopping cart or multimedia file hosting);

3. You found a better deal on web site hosting;

4. Or a relative/friend/colleague has server space and has offered to host your website for little or nothing.

Regardless of the situation, doing a website migration is inevitable. It is like moving from one home to another. In this article, I am going to give you several tips to make the big move as smooth as possible.

Tip 1: Schedule the Migration.
Its best to schedule the migration when there are not as many web users visiting your website. Check your website traffic (or get your online marketing department) to see when traffic levels are low, which for some cases may be the evening or the weekend, depending on the website. For a corporate website, it may be the weekend, but for a gaming website, it may be midweek.

Tip 2: Notify ALL Stakeholders.
Inform anyone and everyone who has an interest in the site, not only internally (employees, stockholders) but externally as well (supplies, customers and website visitors). A simple link redirecting to the date and time of the migration as well as the anticipated completion date should suffice.

Tip 3: Set a cutoff date for edits.
Set a deadline for all content updates to be submitted. Postpone any major additions to the website (i.e. new sections, new features) until after the migration. A good measure has been 3 business days before the migration. Any changes submitted beyond the deadline date would have to wait until after the move.

Tip 4: BACK-UP the website.
The day after the content deadline date, back-up the website. This means all files, images, scripts, multimedia and other files. One can back-up the website on a CD-RW (CD rewritable disk), Zip Drive, or an external hard drive. It is important to back-up a website not only for a migration, but weekly or biweekly if possible. The bonus is that you have an archive of the website.

Tip 5: Make sure you have the new web hosting information.
This includes:
1. FTP (File Transfer Protocol Information):
a. The Hostname. This can be the Internet Protocol (IP) address. This is a numerical address of the physical server (big computer that is almost always on) where the website will reside.
b. The account username
c. The account password

2. The Control Panel login information.
This is the Operations manual for the web host will be located. This may or may not be the same information as the FTP login. You will need this information to activate features for your website such as web submission forms, databases, shopping carts and other interactive features.

3. Domain Name Servers.
These are the addresses of the servers where the new website will reside. Most web hosts have 2 to 3 domain name server addresses reserved. You will need this information to transfer the domain name (www.yourcompany.com) to the new web hosts server(s) after all the web site files have been transferred.

Tip 6: Test the new website.
Test the new website by typing in either the dedicated IP address or the shared hosting address. Check that all links are working and are not going to error pages. This is the time to correct them.

Tip 7: Fix the form(s)
If you have any forms on your website, also be sure to go to the control panel of your account for directions of how to customize the form to work with the new server. Most web hosts have plug and play web forms that are easy to implement. If you are unsure about how to implement a form, contact a web programmer and/or the support department of your new web hosting company.

Tip 8: Test the form(s)
Make sure that all forms are working by doing several tests. This may mean that the form is sent (emailed) to the right people and/or making sure the information is entered in the database.

Tip 9: Step away from the website for a while and test it out again.
It is good to step away and look at the website again. If possible, ask someone who is not a stakeholder to look at the website to make sure nothing is out of place. Something is almost always found at this stage.

Tip 10: After everything checks out, you can go to your domain registrar and change the domain name servers (DNS) to you new webhost. Login to your domain registrar account and replace the old DNS addresses with the new addresses. Web server changes typically take 2 to 3 days to take effect online. Therefore, it is recommended that this should be done during a low traffic period, such as a weekend, so that it would not interfere with business operations.

Post Migration Tips:
1. Wait a day or two to see if the migration worked by typing in the domain name to see the website on the new server. Test out the website again to make sure all links work and all forms are operational.
2. Continue to test out the site at least 2 to 3 weeks before notifying the old web hosting company to cancel the account. It is not uncommon to forget to move something. The transition time will help to ensure that everything had moved successfully.
3. Also continue to actively test the website and pay attention to usage patterns. It is not uncommon to see changes as to how visitors access information on the website.
4. Archive the old website from the previous web host. You never know when you will need to reference it again, especially if the decision comes to go back to the original web host.

A website migration does not have to be stressful if the process is broken down and planned into steps. When a website migration is handled accordingly and done well, your website visitors would not even noticed that a website migration occurred.

As the owner of NextSTEPH (http://www.nextsteph.com), Stephanie M. Cockerl helps organizations define and implement goals for their websites. She also works with clients and audiences to effectively and safely harness the power of the World Wide Web for information gathering, information sharing, marketing and career pursuits.

Over the years, Stephanie has become an award winning web designer, developer, professor and web consultant. She is a Certified Webmaster, awarded by the International Association of Webmasters and Designers; listed on Who's Who on the Web, has been featured as "Webgrrl of the Week" by Webgrrls.com, an international networking organization for Women in New Media; Silicon Salley, a magazine that recognizes women in technology; in iVillage.com, a leading online community for women as a "Featured Technodiva".

LunarPages is a host that will appeal to just about everybody. It's Shuttle Shared Plan has attractive features than can be used to create any website, be it a blog or a site for recipes. It offers 1500 GB of storage and 15 TB of data transfers per month. Although this may be a far cry from the unlimited space and bandwidth offered by other hosts, there are other aspects of the LunarPages Shuttle Shared Plan that will suit your fancy.

The Features

This plan gives you unlimited POP3 emails accounts and applications that can be used to maximize your site's performance. These applications are plenty and there is an application for every site possible. For example, there is Moodle for education sites, PHPauction for auctioneers and many more. There also support programs like PHP, Perl, FrontPage, MySQL, PostgresSQL databases and a CGI directory

Aside from that, there also general applications that can be used on any website, such as a Fantastico Script Library, a FAQ builder, Image and Coppermine Photo Gallery. For blogs and the like, LunarPages can support up to three blogs per account with chat and forums features.
For those who require multimedia support, streaming video and audio is available on LunarPages. Standard players such as Real Media, flash and shock wave can also be used on the sites.
In terms of email capabilities, LunarPages include forwarding, auto responders, catchall, spam protection and SMTP. Sub-domains are also supported in a "www.subdomain.website.com" format.
If you're running a business and need an eCommerce feature, LunarPages offer shopping carts (Zen and Cube). For security, the sites are equipped with Open PGP /GPG encryption and a shared SSL Certificate.

The Performance
LunarPages guarantee a 99.9% uptime and a 2,000 Mbit Connectivity. Their servers are considered to be of the highest quality with tape backup, DDOS protection and a power generator to protect against power outages. They claim to monitor their servers 24 hours a day.

For Newbies

Rookie webmasters will be delighted to know that this host has a Quicksite plan. It basically ensures you an up and running website a mere two hours after signing up. This plan is targeted at those who are not that well-versed in creating a site from scratch and facilitates users by giving them ready-made sites that only need to be added content.

The Help

Customer service can help in many ways; email, support tickets and forums. You can also call them at their toll free number, but only from 6.00 am to 8.00 pm and on from Monday to Friday. If you encounter a problem during weekends or after office hours, you can email them, but expect a late reply unless you have a support ticket. These tickets are a record of your problems that have been kept by customer service in case of its reoccurrence.

There have been several complaints about their support team by users on a third-party monitoring site. It is said that they are unreliable and slow in fixing problems. So, if your problems are minor and you rather not wait long, it is better to read the FAQ articles. LunarPages has an array of articles and manuals that will certainly help you understand more about web hosting.

The Verdict

The final word on LunarPages is, this host is quite decent. It's not the best available, but it's not the worse either. Although it may have some problems with the customer service, there are other features to keep webmasters entertained. And for a $6.95 per month service with a 30-day money back guarantee service, it's a crime not to sign up.

If you enjoy reading this, you may enjoy to read more about Web Hosting Reviews and read LunarPages Web Hosting Review

I know you have seen these folks who seem to be able to get levels fast in World Of Warcraft and race to level 70 with lightning speed. These are the same people who spur on all those searches online for cheat codes because that has to be the only way they are able to do it right?

Well the fact of the matter is there are no cheat codes that allow you to level fast. What these people have done is picked up the WoW guides and programs built by advanced and pro gamers who have tried and tested every avenue to get levels fast in World Of Warcraft and documented the very best methods for leveling as quickly as possible.

These gamers have the ability to dissect a game and look for things the average gamer would never think about trying. They have been able to do what every one of us desires to do which is build characters very quickly any time we want to be able to experience the higher level, and let's face it, more fun aspects of the game. The interesting thing about WoW is not only was it the first in a high tech generation of gaming but it also promoted a brand new generation of ways to help people play the game.

Gaming guides have always been the retail store versions that teach you all the basic information you need to learn to play the game. These new hybrid guides are in digital format so you do not have to go anywhere but your computer to get them. This is also the generation that has developed programs that install right into the game and provide in game step by step power leveling guidance.

So when you are looking for the very best ways to get levels fast you can stop searching for cheat codes and take a look at the guides and programs developed that are the real reason people are leveling at seemingly light speed.

If you would more information about how these guides are helping to get levels fast in World Of Warcraft you can visit my guide resource site at:

Joniki's Top World Of Warcraft Guides & Programs