Good evening to all,
I have tried for the past 2 days to launch a Wordpress website that I have created for my church. I downloaded the Apache XAMPP software so that I could have the site on my computer for testing. I am now ready to make the site live on the internet, and I am unable to figure out how to do this. I am using the FTP client Filezilla, but I can't find the files!!! Can any Wordpress/FTP experts help me with this?

Thanks,

Lynn Mallory

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Lynn Mallory
AM/PM Virtual Office Assistants, LLC

Hi Lynn,
You need to save a copy of your database in a zip or gzip file then you also want to zip your theme files together(to be safe). Go to your hosting account and install wordpress using their system (most have a quick install) once that's done go into your mysql on the hosting account and import the zipped database file you saved to it. Your files will overwrite the basic ones. Then check out your site.

If, for some reason, your theme did not transfer over just install the zipped theme files directly through wordpress.

If you need more help, just holler

~C

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~Christina|BD Mag|VOSTeam

Christina gave you the straight shot on how to get this done but I also wanted to check in re: the issue with not finding your files.

Wherever you were working on them on your hard drive - move them to your desktop instead, then use Filezilla to browse to the desktop, then you can upload accordingly.

Post back and let us know if you need more help!

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One thing you need to take into consideration is that the database (in phpMyAdmin) that was created to develop your site locally will/may not have the correct URLs for things such as manual links you put to other pages in your content, links to images you’ve uploaded, custom links you’ve used in the menu builder, etc. You need to export this file and open it in a decent text editor like Dreamweaver, Emerald Editor [FREE] (formerly Crimson Editor), Komodo, Coda, Netbeans, etc. (I don't recommend you use Windows Notepad for larger files, which databases can be - I use Dreamweaver). NEVER use MS Word or other such document software.

After it is exported and the code copied into your text editor, do a find and replace: find all instances of the old URLs and replace with the new server's URLs. Save the file and overwrite your previous database file.

Also, within the copy you made of your development site's files, open up the wp-config.php file and put in all the information from the database on your new server – database name, database username, database password, and database host. Save the file and overwrite your previous wp-config.php file.

I always make a copy of everything from a local or other install (test site) and have it on my computer "just in case" something goes wrong - so basically you would have two copies on your computer with one that you use for the transfer and can overwrite files in, and one that is the "just in case" file, so that you can restore your old files if anything goes haywire.

Oh! If you use the WP admin panel to upload files, make sure that the uploads directory is writable (permission's set at 777) on the new server.

This explanation might be a bit of overkill, but just tossing it out there for ya. Just need to think of whether any URLs are going to be different, etc. going from local to Internet-land. Have fun!

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Jules, SunRise Virtual Solutions - WordPress Customization & XHTML/CSS Web Sites

Thank you Ladies for all of your advice and instructions. However, I must be missing an important step. I exported the database into a zip file, then I attempted to download Wordpress through the web host's one-click installation. I received the following error message: "Database Creation Failed". I then opened the database file in DreamWeaver and changed the URLs to the church's domain where there was a "http://localhost..." I have a "just in case" copy of the database in case I did this part incorrectly.

Additionally, when I went to the mySQL in the web host's control panel, it states there are a total of 3 databases. However, I only see 2 listed. When I tried to import my database that I exported, an error message appears stating, "Database already exists."

I am confused, but not dismayed. I hope that you all can give me some insight of where I went wrong.

Again thank you for your invaluable knowledge and time!

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Lynn Mallory
AM/PM Virtual Office Assistants, LLC

Lynn,

Perhaps the experts here will have a solution but I thought to suggest in the interim that most providers offer technical support. Although providers do not support WordPress for coding issues, most, I have found will assist when it comes to uploading files and databases.

I can personally vouch for Hostgator and GoDaddy as I spent a good deal of time working with them on past WP uploads.

Good luck!

Janine

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Janine,

Thank you for the suggestion. I didn't even think about tech support, ! I will get online and have a "chat" with them.

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Lynn Mallory
AM/PM Virtual Office Assistants, LLC

Hi Ladies,

Tech Support was able to assist me with this problem. I am so very thankful for each of you that led me in the right direction.

Have a fabulous day!

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Lynn Mallory
AM/PM Virtual Office Assistants, LLC