Looking to make the switch

[jamestl2]

I've been having problems with my first host, plus it has been getting expensive, and Hostgators features (Your "baby" shared plan) appealed to me, so I had a few questions if I am to make the switch (It's my first time, so go easy on me ) :

1. The actual Transfer
I'm quite new to this, and don't have much experience amongst many webhosts, so what exactly do I need to do to transfer everything to my new account (backups, downloads, etc.) from my previous webhost? Will I lose any specific data when switching, such as possibly my email accounts or getting site downtime during a switch?

2. Forums and and blogs
One of my site's is a vBulletin powered forum, another is a WP blog, and I wanted to add another site into the mix too, for a current total of 3 sites. For now, I'm expecting each to have around 100 hits a day, will your servers be able to handle that much?

3. Cpanel accounts
I have two cpanel accounts for my current two sites I run, how will I control them with one plan over here? Will I still keep seperate cpanel login usernames and passwords? Or will you just give me a whole new interface to work with? (Plus when I start adding more sites I want to create)

I had looked at your charts, faq's etc., but these issues slipped by me.
I may have more questions, issues raised later.

Thanks

[Sam]

Originally Posted by jamestl2

1. The actual Transfer
I'm quite new to this, and don't have much experience amongst many webhosts, so what exactly do I need to do to transfer everything to my new account (backups, downloads, etc.) from my previous webhost? Will I lose any specific data when switching, such as possibly my email accounts or getting site downtime during a switch?

If your old host used cPanel you won't loose anything as HG can transfer your entire site over, there may be minimal downtime

2. Forums and and blogs
One of my site's is a vBulletin powered forum, another is a WP blog, and I wanted to add another site into the mix too, for a current total of 3 sites. For now, I'm expecting each to have around 100 hits a day, will your servers be able to handle that much?

Yep they can manage that

3. Cpanel accounts
I have two cpanel accounts for my current two sites I run, how will I control them with one plan over here? Will I still keep seperate cpanel login usernames and passwords? Or will you just give me a whole new interface to work with? (Plus when I start adding more sites I want to create)

If you are wanting multiple sites in 1 account you will have the same cPanel for them

[jamestl2]

Thanks for the quick response, Sam

Originally Posted by Sam

If your old host used cPanel you won't loose anything as HG can transfer your entire site over, there may be minimal downtime

Yes, my old host uses cpanel. However, I haven't told them I'm switching just yet. Would it be a good idea to register a plan here, switch server names through my registrar, etc. then cancel my accounts over there, once everything is up and running over here?

Originally Posted by Sam

Yep they can manage that

just so I'm absolutely sure, the baby account would be the best plan for me, right?

Originally Posted by Sam

If you are wanting multiple sites in 1 account you will have the same cPanel for them

So how would I do that? Just tell them which cpanel account I want to use, then they'll set up all the other domains through that particular cpanel account?

[Sam]

Originally Posted by jamestl2

Yes, my old host uses cpanel. However, I haven't told them I'm switching just yet. Would it be a good idea to register a plan here, switch server names through my registrar, etc. then cancel my accounts over there, once everything is up and running over here?

- Signup with HG
- Have HG transfer your account
- Change Nameservers
- Leave old account running for a week or so (so you can make sure everything is working fine on HG
- Cancel old host

just so I'm absolutely sure, the baby account would be the best plan for me, right?

If you want multiple domains, you might want to look at a Reselleraccount (http://www.hostgator.com/resellers.shtml)

So how would I do that? Just tell them which cpanel account I want to use, then they'll set up all the other domains through that particular cpanel account?

You would sign up with 1 domain and then when you get cPanel access you would need to login to cPanel and setup an addon domain.

[jamestl2]

Originally Posted by Sam

You would sign up with 1 domain and then when you get cPanel access you would need to login to cPanel and setup an addon domain.

How would an "add-on" domain differ from the main domain chosen? Are their any significant differences, or connections?

Originally Posted by Sam

If you want multiple domains, you might want to look at a Reselleraccount (http://www.hostgator.com/resellers.shtml)

I really can't afford a reseller account ATM, which is why I noticed that the "baby" plan offers unlimited domains to be hosted, (which is what appealed me to HG). Why would one need a reseller? Is it for extra bandwidth, higher traffic nos., additional features not included in normal packages, etc.? (In case I decide to upgrade later.)


One more quick question I had about HG, I was wondering if you offer hosting extensions? (For example, an extra GB of disk space for an additional $1 per month, or something like that) I looked through different pricing pages, but didn't see anything like that immediately.

Thanks again for the info

[slapshotw]

Originally Posted by jamestl2

How would an "add-on" domain differ from the main domain chosen? Are their any significant differences, or connections?

It doesn't differ much from the main domain. You control both through the one cPanel login.

Why would one need a reseller? Is it for extra bandwidth, higher traffic nos., additional features not included in normal packages, etc.? (In case I decide to upgrade later.)

The reseller account lets you have a separate control panel for each domain. On the Baby, your one control panel login lets you control each domain. But the reseller, each domain can (but doesn't have to) have a separate login. This is better if you have multiple clients who shouldn't have access to each others' files and such.

an extra GB of disk space for an additional $1 per month, or something like that) I looked through different pricing pages, but didn't see anything like that immediately.

Do you really think you're going to need more than 600gb disk space or 6 terabytes of bandwidth?

[jamestl2]

Thanks for the reseller info, slapshotw.

I don't have multiple clients or anything with my sites, I control, administrate, etc. all of them. I have no need for multiple cpanel accounts ATM.

Originally Posted by slapshotw

Do you really think you're going to need more than 600gb disk space or 6 terabytes of bandwidth?

At this time, no, but some hosts (such as my previous one) offer the option, in case traffic popularity increases, lots of more stuff wants to be added to a site, or something. Just in case it happens.

[slapshotw]

You can always upgrade to the next plan size. You can't just add on more resources. But I really can't see anybody actually using that much space.

[Goddess Dix]

Originally Posted by jamestl2

At this time, no, but some hosts (such as my previous one) offer the option, in case traffic popularity increases, lots of more stuff wants to be added to a site, or something. Just in case it happens.

if you actually need that much space or bandwith, your site should already be generating enough revenue to pay for a dedicated server.

[jamestl2]

Alright I think I got all my issues resolved.

One more thing that confuses me here is this coupon system. I haven't seen it anywhere else and I'm not entirely sure how it works. Do you just surf the web searching for coupon codes? Or are these just provided by other members or something? Not quite sure, as it asked me for a code as I was signing up.

[Sam]

Originally Posted by jamestl2

Alright I think I got all my issues resolved.

One more thing that confuses me here is this coupon system. I haven't seen it anywhere else and I'm not entirely sure how it works. Do you just surf the web searching for coupon codes? Or are these just provided by other members or something? Not quite sure, as it asked me for a code as I was signing up.

Use coupon code: 404PAGE

to get the first month of hosting for 1cent

[jamestl2]

Alright, signed up and switched my site's DNS's . I believe they have been propagated (it says the hostgator nameservers are active, through my registrar, godaddy).

So where do I go to let HG "transfer the site" to their servers, do I contact someone specifically, give them access through cpanel, or where?

Also, once it's active, I'm still unsure about how to get my other site onto the cpanel account. Are both of my sites' pages, info, etc. all managed through the one "file manager"? And they sit in different directory folders, despite being on completely unrelated domains?

[Sam]

Originally Posted by jamestl2

So where do I go to let HG "transfer the site" to their servers, do I contact someone specifically, give them access through cpanel, or where?

www.hostgator.com/transfer.php

Also, once it's active, I'm still unsure about how to get my other site onto the cpanel account. Are both of my sites' pages, info, etc. all managed through the one "file manager"? And they sit in different directory folders, despite being on completely unrelated domains?

Yes, they are all managed in place..

you primarydomains doc root will be /home/username/public_html

any addons will be at /home/username/public_html/addondomainname

[gwyneth]

Originally Posted by Sam

you primarydomains doc root will be /home/username/public_html

any addons will be at /home/username/public_html/addondomainname

But DON'T create the directory yourself, let cPanel do it through "Addon Domains".

[jamestl2]

Is this normal?

I used the transfer form as mentioned above yesterday (http://www.hostgator.com/transfer.php) to move everything, but now there is nothing in my site's directory. What happened to all my pages, etc.? Are they still being worked on moving or what?

(see my primary domain for what I mean: www.toptenlisted.com)

[slapshotw]

I'd ask live support--and give them your transfer ticket number if you have it.