a few questions

[darrenii]

Need to upgrade to a new host and hostgator seems like the right place to move to, but I have a few simple queries before I take the step.

I have heard stories of problems with forums at hostgator... I have a forum with a bit over 100 members, probably over half being active posters, with at most 10 online at a time. It is running on phpbb. Can anyone see any issues with this forum running well, or any issues with several more such forums running well (should I add more later)?

Also what is the norm when having a forum transferred, should I temporarily close it down just before the transfer so as not to lose users posts/data, or is there any other way of handling it?

Thanks,

Darren.

[smp]

I'm quite a big HG fan and if you're considering moving to them I would recommend you do.

HG will be able to handle your forum without problems; can I ask what kind of stories?

Transferring your site wouldn't take that long and your site would only suffer a minor downtime while your domain is propagating towards HG's server when you make the dns changes to the domain.
(i've never waited longer than 30 mins for a domain to propagate!)

If your concerned about posters leaving your forum because it's down - put a message somewhere on the forum that you'll be changing your hosting provider and the site will be down for a little while on date...

[darrenii]

Thanks smp,

it's a movie star/celebrity chat foum.

I've put throught the transaction and requested for hostgator to transfer my main website and forum (which their sales staff previously said they would do). Also asked them to tell me "when" they do it so I can take appropriate actions with dns etc.

Can I ask, as my website email is set up in the cpanel with my other host, will hostgator transfer this across too?

Darren.

[GvilleRick]

The cPanel transfer is dependent on the old host allowing them. If they do not have transfers blocked then everything should transfer over. I would suggest logging into the cPanel on the old host and running a full backup and then downloading it to your local computer. That way if there are problems you can transfer the backup file to your account here and ask to have it restored.

[smp]

Like GilleRick create a full back up in cPanel, to do this go into cPanel -> backups and click on 'Generate/Download a Full Backup'

This will back up everything including your email and mysql databases as well, once your HG account is setup send them the bk up and just ask them to restore it on your acct.

Regards, Steve Xx

[darrenii]

Thanks guys,

I've made this backup, but it is stored in cpanel - file manager - home

How do I go about sending this to the hostgator team, and is there anyone in particular that I should direct it too?

Thanks again,

Darren.

[GvilleRick]

I would download the file to your local machine using an FTP program. That way you have the files available should there be minor problems in the transfer. You would also then have it available to upload to your account with HG using an FTP program should it be necessary.

[darrenii]

Thanks GvilleRick,

I've got a fairly large site but I've only ever used an ftp program once, and don't even have it anymore. Not very good at using ftp - I think I fluked it when I did get it to work that one time.

I'm not sure how the whole site transfer works - hostgator said they will do it for me... Anyway, is there another way to send that backup to hostgator without using an ftp?

Darren.

[smp]

Originally Posted by GvilleRick

I would download the file to your local machine using an FTP program. That way you have the files available should there be minor problems in the transfer. You would also then have it available to upload to your account with HG using an FTP program should it be necessary.

I also reccomend you do this - you can download cute ftp pro 8 (free 30 days) from download.com HERE

when setting up the site connection in cute_ftp

Label: can be anything (forum)
Host address: ftp.yoursite.com
Username: Cpanel username
password: Cpanel password

then click connect.

if all goes well it will show all your files and folders - your bk up will show up on the first screen - Click on the backup file -> click on the green download button on the top menu bar - and it will download it to your comp.

Regards, Steve Xx

[charlesgan]

10 users simultanously online is not that much. .. not seeing any problem. as long the forum script is optimised. i seen that smf is not that optimised, and highly recommend vbulletion.

[slapshotw]

If you let HG do the transfer, they'll go into your old cPanel server, make the backup, and send it to the HG server. No need to worry about that.

[darrenii]

Thanks again to everyone for the advice,

I actually got that ftp program to work!

Hostgator has transfered my site for me, the dns has been reset, my forum is online with them now, but my main website is not online yet. Is it normal for the forum to propogate across the net quicker than the main site?

Darren.

[slapshotw]

Originally Posted by darrenii

Is it normal for the forum to propogate across the net quicker than the main site?

If they're at different subdomains it could happen like that--if it looks like it's taking too long, may be a config problem.

[darrenii]

Originally Posted by slapshotw

If they're at different subdomains it could happen like that--if it looks like it's taking too long, may be a config problem.

thanks, there was a problem with the way hostgator had set it up when they transfered it but they have fixed it :-)

Darren.