Web hosting, changing from Mr Site, total novice
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sophiejames
Posts: 90 Forumite
in Techie Stuff
Hi,
I am looking for recommendations to swap hosts for my low key website (info only) with Mr Site.
I set it up with help from my local Business gateway years ago. I have literally no idea how to do any of this. Mr Site charges me £50/year, which I believe is not MSE at all.
Are there any hosts that are easy to transfer to for total novices like myself?
Any help would be much appreciated. Tia
I am looking for recommendations to swap hosts for my low key website (info only) with Mr Site.
I set it up with help from my local Business gateway years ago. I have literally no idea how to do any of this. Mr Site charges me £50/year, which I believe is not MSE at all.
Are there any hosts that are easy to transfer to for total novices like myself?
Any help would be much appreciated. Tia
0
Comments
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Very easy. Buy a new hosting plan, Upload all your files the same as the old site. They give you DNS settings, change that on your domain name wherever you bought that and after a few minutes/hours your site will be on the new service.
Making sure you cancel the old contract..
I use 50 webs because i get to host upto 10 domain names for one price.Censorship Reigns Supreme in Troll City...0 -
Thanks for your reply. A couple of questions, since I am totally clueless.
Who would I buy a hosting plan with?
When you say upload files, do you mean my website content?
What are DNS settings?
I currently pay AuthSMTP, is this something I can avoid with using another host?
Sorry I have to ask, I honestly have no idea.0 -
forgotmyname wrote: »Very easy. Buy a new hosting plan, Upload all your files the same as the old site. They give you DNS settings, change that on your domain name wherever you bought that and after a few minutes/hours your site will be on the new service.
Making sure you cancel the old contract..
I use 50 webs because i get to host upto 10 domain names for one price.
A quick look at Mr Site suggests it wont be as easy as that as they appear to be using a bespoke website builder... it's very likely the OP simply uses a drag and drop type system to edit the site and has no access at all to the actual back end files.
Then again their help pages to suggest it's possible to FTP into the site files; http://www.mrsite.co.uk/tipsandhelp/article/Backing-up-your-website
It's unclear really if the OP can easily transfer or not. OP if you do have FTP access as above then you can do as forgotmyname said, however if no FTP access then the transfer will be difficult to impossible depending on your abilities with code etc...0 -
A quick look at Mr Site suggests it wont be as easy as that as they appear to be using a bespoke website builder... it's very likely the OP simply uses a drag and drop type system to edit the site and has no access at all to the actual back end files.
Then again their help pages to suggest it's possible to FTP into the site files; http://www.mrsite.co.uk/tipsandhelp/article/Backing-up-your-website
It's unclear really if the OP can easily transfer or not. OP if you do have FTP access as above then you can do as forgotmyname said, however if no FTP access then the transfer will be difficult to impossible depending on your abilities with code etc...
No abilities at all I am afraid and what is FTP access? I believe I used drag and drop when I set up my website years ago, unfortunately I can't remember much about it.
Due to my lack of knowledge am I best sticking with Mr.Site and coughing up £50/year plus £20 AuthSMTP?0 -
sophiejames wrote: »No abilities at all I am afraid and what is FTP access? I believe I used drag and drop when I set up my website years ago, unfortunately I can't remember much about it.
Due to my lack of knowledge am I best sticking with Mr.Site and coughing up £50/year plus £20 AuthSMTP?
Most websites are easy to transfer if you have access to the "back end" files that actually make up your website, to access them you usually need FTP (which is a way of transferring the files to and from your computer) or access to the files via a control panel.
Your best bet would be to contact Mr Site and see if you can be given FTP access to your files; if you can it should be fairly easy, download the files to your computer and then upload them to a new host.
HOWEVER a few things to remember;
- You'll need to find a new host
- Likely learn a new control panel; change mail settings if you use email @yourwebsite; setup a new email account with the new host to handle email
- You'll need to download the files to your computer and upload them to your new host, which sounds easy, but you may run into possible issues due to software variations between old host and new host. Your website may have glitches or not work at all on the new host (although unlikely if it's just a basic info website).
- Domain; the actual address itself for your website, are you keeping this with Mr Site (therefore you'll still have to pay them something annually) or will you transfer this to a new host?
- DNS; you'll need to edit this so that your website address points to the new host instead of Mr Site; do Mr Site allow such changes? You maybe forced to use them solely if not. Mr Site may also charge an outbound fee for transferring your domain away from them
- I'm not sure why your using authsmtp to begin with or even paying 20 quid for it?
Basically the pros would be you could reduce that 70 quid per year to around £30 however there would be a lot of reading up to do and work involved
A lot of people say it's easy to transfer a site, but if you're a total beginner most of these things probably sound alien I would not bother as it's more hassle than it's worth unless you have someone who can help you transition.0 -
Most websites are easy to transfer if you have access to the "back end" files that actually make up your website, to access them you usually need FTP (which is a way of transferring the files to and from your computer) or access to the files via a control panel.
Your best bet would be to contact Mr Site and see if you can be given FTP access to your files; if you can it should be fairly easy, download the files to your computer and then upload them to a new host.
HOWEVER a few things to remember;
- You'll need to find a new host
- Likely learn a new control panel; change mail settings if you use email @yourwebsite; setup a new email account with the new host to handle email
- You'll need to download the files to your computer and upload them to your new host, which sounds easy, but you may run into possible issues due to software variations between old host and new host. Your website may have glitches or not work at all on the new host (although unlikely if it's just a basic info website).
- Domain; the actual address itself for your website, are you keeping this with Mr Site (therefore you'll still have to pay them something annually) or will you transfer this to a new host?
- DNS; you'll need to edit this so that your website address points to the new host instead of Mr Site; do Mr Site allow such changes? You maybe forced to use them solely if not. Mr Site may also charge an outbound fee for transferring your domain away from them
- I'm not sure why your using authsmtp to begin with or even paying 20 quid for it?
Basically the pros would be you could reduce that 70 quid per year to around £30 however there would be a lot of reading up to do and work involved
A lot of people say it's easy to transfer a site, but if you're a total beginner most of these things probably sound alien I would not bother as it's more hassle than it's worth unless you have someone who can help you transition.
Thanks so much for taking the time to explain.
I would like to transfer the domain to the new host. I believe Mr Site charges £15 for this.
I need to use & pay for AuthSMTP as MrSite doesn't offer it, one of the reasons I want to leave MrSite. Unless this has now changed and I pay for it unnecessarily? When I first started using iPhones I had to sign up for it so I could receive emails on my iPhone...
(I am a childminder, my website just gives some info and the possibility for parents to contact me)
I don't have anybody to help me, unfortunately... Thinking I am best sticking with them, although I grudge paying this much!0 -
Lots of companies for hosting, depends on how much data you need to store, how many domains etc.
I use 50 webs because it suits me and was the first one i came across that offered 10 domains for a one off price, others may do it and for less money but im lazy
How many emails do you send out a month? Is AuthSMTP really neccesary?
I have lots of email accounts on my phone and easy to have an account with all the parents email addresses stored as a group to send a mass email should i need it. Any particular requirement on the email side?Censorship Reigns Supreme in Troll City...0 -
I would suggest to the OP that, because the transfer is so complicated and the website almost needs to be crow-barred from Mr Site, that she asks nicely for someone on here to give her a hand on a 1-to-1 basis.
There's a huge amount of pitfalls in the process regarding domain transfer, emails, custom website plugin's and the like.0 -
DNS,which stands for domain name system, controls your domain name's website and email settings
FTP stands for file transfer protocol
AuthSMTP is the outgoing SMTP email service for your e-commerce website, mailing list or email application
SMTP stands for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol and is an Internet standard for electronic mail (email) transmission0 -
If you OP wants help I'll more than help out as I don't have much to do atm, All for free,
Just PM me the name of site and I'll be able to take a look,
As for hosting then you just need this, https://www.tsohost.com/web-hosting/cpanel-hosting £14.00 a year.0
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