4) Testing your site at the new host

This step may seem obvious and for most site switches there won't be any problems. Going through the process methodically, however, can help assure that nothing is missed.

Typically this step is done at the same time as the upload step but we break it out separately here.

1. Using the temporary URL or IP address provided by your new hosting company go through every link on your site if possible. Be sure that the URL shown in your browser still shows the temporary URL or IP address. If the URL displays your actual domain name then your are accessing your old site rather than the new site. This is typically the case if web page links in your html include the fully qualified domain name. To test these pages, either modify your HTML to use a relative path (remove the "http://yourdomainname.com") or after clicking the link and going to the old site, change the URL in your browser to use the alternate URL/IP address to assure the page comes up correctly at the new host.

   Best Method: Trick your computer into thinking that your domain points to the new IP address. On a windows pc there is a file called "hosts" (in Vista this is most likely in "C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc"). Add a line to the bottom of this file with your IP address and domain name (in our example below we are using 123.123.123.123 as the new IP address and "mydomain.com" as the domain/site that we are moving). Save the file and close your web browser and re-open it. When you go to your domain it should be showing the new location. It is also a good idea to make a minor modification on the "new" site that does not exist on the old site so you can be sure you are seeing the new location.

   # Copyright (c) 1993-2006 Microsoft Corp.
   #
   # This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
   #
   # This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
   # entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
   # be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
   # The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
   # space.
   #
   # Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
   # lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
   #
   # For example:
   #
   #      102.54.94.97     rhino.acme.com          # source server
   #       38.25.63.10     x.acme.com              # x client host
   
   127.0.0.1       localhost
   123.123.123.123	www.mydomain.com
   

2. Confirm that any programs you are using in your site work properly. If you are using fully qualified domain names in your html forms you may want to modify them to use only the relative path (take out the "http://www.yourdomainname.com") in order to assure that you are accessing the program at the new hosting company and not your old account. If you are using the hosts file modification we mentioned above you should not need to make this modification for testing.
3. Update your email client (outlook, netscape mail, eudora, etc) so that the mail servers are the new account mail servers and test sending and receiving mail to yourself. Because your actual domain is still at the old host, testing email can be difficult and confusing. Some hosts offer some sort of web based email that can also be used to test your email.
4. If you spot a problem that you can not easily handle, contact the new hosting company's support team (preferably a contact person established when you opened the account).

Once you are satisfied that everything is working properly you can move on to the next step.