Domain Name
The domain name is your address on the internet. It is similar to www.yahoo.com, www.google.com, www.facebook.com.
The domain name was already registered on my behalf and I wanted to have the control over it.Domain name registration is easy. many websites offer this for a nominal cost.
I had used the services of namecheap.com
The company who registered it for me finally transferred the ownership of the domain to me. Now I have a username, password and an e mail linked to my account on namecheap.com.
This transfer of ownership was easy.
Migrating web-hosting
Our website (web page, links, media etc.) was created by a company and it also hosted it on a web server.
Host server or web server is the computer where the content files of the website/domain reside. When users enter the websddress in a web browser, the web browser retrieves the content from the host computer and displays the content to the user.
e.g. you want to book air ticket and you visit the website of the airline of your choice which offers the flight for your connections. This website then displays all the relevant information and guides or navigates you to all the steps such as selection of route, date of travel etc. Then it lets you enter the name and other details of the passengers and before issuing ticket it collects payment also. All the relevant files for this task reside on web host or web server.
For bloggers or simple sites the number of files and the memory space required on the host computer is very small compared to big corporations and e commerce companies.
Big corporations prefer to have their own web servers/host computers with dedicated internet connectivity and backups.
Their are many web hosting companies in the world which provide this service on a nominal fee. Namecheap, Siteground, bluehost, godaddy etc. are a few to name. One can search it on the internet and select a proper host and the hosting plan based on the price and services.
I had to move the website from the previous host (word press host). I chose word press hosting on namecheap and enrolled for their plan with 10 GB storage and 50k visitors per month. Unfortunately it did not come with a SSL certificate. To resolve this I purchased SSL certificate for one year in $10 (US dollar) and applied to it my domain name/website.
MIGRATION OF WEBSITE FROM ONE HOST TO ANOTHER HOST
My website was hosted on a WordPress web host. WordPress is a content management system (CMS) used by many companies/persons for creating and managing websites. Other CMS available are Joomla, Drupal etc. There may be many more CMS or ways of creating and managing websites, but I went for WordPress because it was chosen by the company who did work for me, and the website was created using WordPress CMS and hosted on a WordPress server/host (which can run WordPress code).
Now let me put down the steps
Step 1 I logged into the account on the existing webhost by using the following link
www.mywebsite.com/wp-admin/ (mywebsite is just for reference here, it will be the name of your website)
It took me to a screen on my browser where I was asked to enter user name and password.
Once done it took me to the Word Press Dashboard (it is a display on your computer screen from where you can edit, delete, control, change, delete content on your website. It is similar to car dashboard which allows driver to control the car completely)
Step 2 Downloaded All-in-one WP Migration Plugin through the dashboard and activated it.
Step 3 Run the plugin all-in-one WP migration and export website content to a file on your computer. Only works for file size up to 512 MB. In case your website is having files larger than this size then probably some other methods are required.
Strep 4 Log out of your dashboard
Step 5 Log into WordPress dashboard of your new host (where you wish to migrate your website). We already purchased subscription for the new host. So go to new webhost and enter your username and password, to enter the dashboard. It will be for a temporary domain where you will upload your file exported under Step 3
Step 6 Download and activate All-in-one WP migration plugin from the dashboard of your new web host (if this plugin is not already installed)
Step 7 Run the plugin from your dashboard and import the file (exported under Step 3)
Step 8 Change domain
Step 9 Relogin to your existing/previous web host from where you exported website files and look for permalinks in dashboard and save the changes.
Step 10 Login to your domain name registrar. select your domain and Manage it to change the Nameservers as provided by your new webhost. (for me both name and new webhost was from namecheap). nameserver will direct the website requests to the correct host. In my case I had set it to Namecheap Basic DNS
Step 11 The website was hosted on temporary domain initially and then it was moved to the registerd domain name.
Setting up SSL certificate
Once the migration of website from previous host to new host was completed, the website could be opened in the browsers. As i took basic service, it did not come with SSL certificate. Without this the web browsers keep telling the users that it is not safe website and block the opening of the website until you accept to continue to the website even if it is unsafe.
to overcome this issue I purchased subscription of SSL certificate from Namecheap for one year initially in $10 dollars and then started its application to my website. it is bit tricky and I followed the guidelines and took live chat support from Namecheap
Do go through the steps before installing SSL.
Step 1 Generate CSR code. The link was avialable through namecheap after the purchase of SSL.
I just followed the instructions. The only important thing was that I copied and saved the key to a notepad file.
It looked like
-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----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 zfgorg zrgorg iuryg9o8dug oyrtgohdoygoxiyg bxzhoyobigixyr9gbia87paunQR iuho
b+E1aRaSuuCgMFM6oALodEzg1hQPN4IocwohoTrL168BiAB8R3rQyrTTMfQ05zlr
4Z3WKgECgYEA8jXOP6owFai+FhTeCXCB6xzSRq+EpaRFqO5SRv1fvpyaRdSx852Z
2CatJKNw9G4c8kL52n0WQ1bPF86UpJBPXtw7Mx/TKFPW6AxpPgC5V5FwBcYPZmCM
RAIiOGn/PD1udVGoWpHN51cZ3XrXJHXFqn+d/8hAsevfgSr9nX71lKECgYEAxB0F
lkdsgfcuy[a846fnmnbaiyc82-028^%)bofjgpjjYGUTIljgulj73-49n;izdgkjbbk8e0n;lx=mlgi-d
Gv/jZNFw70uN7xAIl4di3jnygm6VaUycbVIpER3U7DexF2fN9ktSD0a1496YXtnI
6RqWCcLqEXTPFA3Z2uyzz4jbFQprXTiP4r9dg6cCgYAdjDjUBXQGQGaoFPWdWy9O
Ol7gpqrc9jRVTnWVGXXjsAEWAcOPv6sz9kvrC1FNUF2RpGAMqnPb1SxAcEAr7zrv
jJhgPUKqScgO2OzB1p7FswVifu4EBEU4SrZYAX5Un/3orASIv/7JeRO7tC+o0AFE
KYhpesotmgop5lk923-4r9986njpjfdljlsjgosnli[w8rbglsJGYTljikgJIHlloHOpohooppooiyo
kfmqW0pNyZtGAsNQxe4piZnnbgTG6+MkdqNi1uf307X8hx6tXsFgRk3rJL9LO+TD
f5KCEYUyXyuaCMCZmk1KUx8y+h2fWVloao0zVefY/cW5yleUJFJd7CMLdZFpzvto
+0AfCQKBgQDYDWhZlcmJEeoBq6UlpKzZdD6L1yTid0nNJ+c0sBqeo6R6+Drr1pA8
yldyql9RAfoFWOhoTTwWNXo57PntlbYS98DRv5loHmjos6WAlfPof+Sc9XEyJrN4
Y8A5UVWBYH3dRsJsUnn/bNT8mP0al8DZ5eyGkEjn7B2V+75waEF/sg==
-----END RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
It is important to save this RSA private Key as it will be used later for validation of SSL certificate.
Also I was asked to submit a different email address (different from my account on namecheap) to receive the certificate files through e mail from the SSL certificate provider company.
Step 2 I forgot exact steps but as per instructions I copied the CNAME record (Host and Target values). I copied it from display on the screen and saved in notepad editor.
The host value ends with the name of the website for which it is to be used. So while copying host record we are not supposed to copy the last part (which is website name for which SSL is being purchased).
Step 3 Log in to namecheap account and click on domain in the dashboard. then manage it and click Advanced DNS. under advanced DNS add new record CNAME. Copy the host and target values in this record and save it. Now the domain name has a record which indicates its SSL status.
Step 4 Click on SSL certificates in dasboard of domain name admin panel. Activate the SSL certificate as it will be indicated there.
Step 5 Next is DCV or domain validation or certificate validation
Step 6 Download the files received from the certificate provider. One will be .cert file and another .ca-bundle
Step 6 Go to Apps in namecheap domain panel and click on the website and locate to manage SSL certificate.
Step 7 Under Manage Upload the RSA Key, .cert file (certificate) and .ca-bundle files and finish.
And it was done.
