Going live with your site in Managed WordPress and Managed WooCommerce hosting

Now that you've created your site and have migrated it into your Managed WordPress and Managed WooCommerce Hosting, as well as having verified everything is working as planned, it's time to go live! Follow the process below to start directing traffic to your new site.

Change Your Domain in the portal

You can change your domain from the temp domain to the live domain for your site. In order to go live from the portal, you will need to have updated your DNS records if only changing the A record to the server IP in the portal. You will also need to make sure that a Let's Encrypt SSL cert has been enabled for the domain in the portal. Use this method to go live with.

Click on the Edit button in the domain options tab in the portal. Enter the domain that you want to change to live with and then click on the update button.

Once the domain has been updated the new domain will show in the portal. Modify master domain will run a search and replace in the site's database which replaces any references from the temp domain to the live domain. But in order to go live from the portal, the DNS will need to have been updated before changing the domain and to make sure that a Let's Encrypt SSL cert gets enabled in the portal. Also, remember to resave your permalinks on the site from wp-admin.

Change Your Domain in wp-admin (no need to use this method if you have used modify master domain in the portal)

You can also contact support who will be able to help you run a search and replace it in the site's database in order to go live. The plugin or WP-CLI methods are useful if there are specific database table references that might need to be updated. If you have used WP-CLI before then you can proceed to step 5.

1. Log-in to wp-admin on your site and install the Better Search Replaceplugin to be able to run a search and replace it from the temp domain to the site's live domain.
   • Plugins > Add New
   • Search for Better Search Replace. 
   • Now you will need to activate the plugin. 
   • Go to the following:
     Tools > Better Search Replace 
2. Copy the site URL of the site of the temp domain from the browser address window. Then you will need to add the domain of the live site domain. Do a dry run of the search and replace. It will show the number of replacements that would be made.  As the search and replace is running it will show in the progress bar.
3. Click Click Here and it will show you the number of replacements that were made in the site database.
4. If you have specific domain name-based emails in your users like admin users which contain a domain name then exclude the users and usermeta database tables when using the Better Search Replace plugin. 
5. Do not enable the GUIDs to be replaced in the plugin settings when you run the search and replace those should be skipped. 
6. Now run the same search and replace but without it being a dry run. This will make changes to the site database. Make sure that dry run is not set as being checked in the settings. If run as dry run is checked that will mean that no changes will be made to the site's database.
7. Using WP-CLI 
   You can also skip using the Better Search Replace plugin method if you have used WP-CLI before and you can run the search-replace in the site's database by using a WP-CLI command.
8. Changing the DNS Zone

   Depending on if you have a new account with no sites on it, or you have migrated sites to Managed WordPress and Managed WooCommerce Hosting, you will need to either add or change the DNS A Record. The server IP for the site can be found from the portal of the site. The server IP will need to be changed in the DNS A record.

   

   To see how to check out Adding and Editing DNS Records for instructions.

9. In the Portal go to the SSL tab and make sure that the Auto Let's Encrypt Certificate toggle is on. This will generate an SSL cert for the site on the live domain. The SSL cert will not be enabled by default after the modifying master domain process has been run you will need to enable the Let's Encrypt SSL toggle in the portal. 
10. It may take up to 30-60 mins for the site to load over HTTPS with the new SSL cert. 
11. Login on the site in wp-admin and make sure that you resave permalinks.
    Settings > Permalinks
    Scroll to the bottom of the page and then click Save Changes.
12. From wp-admin click on the Nexcess logo in the admin bar then flush the object cache. 
13. If you are using a page caching plugin then remember to clear the cache when the site is live.
14. You can check that the IP change has been propagated by adding the sites live domain into a service like whatsmydns.
15. Repoint your domain name to Nexcess nameservers (optional)
    1. You will need a registered domain name. If you do not have one, you may register one at our website, or use another domain registrar of your choice.
    2. The identity of your registrar, and the login credentials for your registrar account. If you do not know your registrar, perform a WHOIS lookup. 
       • If Nexcess registered your domain name, this account is OpenSRS and details are in the next bullet point.
       • If it was another company, locate their email containing this information, or contact them for assistance.
    3. For Nexcess Managed WordPress and Managed WooCommerce, use the nameservers provided below. Please note that nameservers are different for other types of Nexcess accounts, please review the full DNS articleand contact your support team for help.
       • ns1.nexcess.net
       • ns2.nexcess.net
       • ns3.nexcess.net (optional)
       • ns4.nexcess.net  (optional)

Your site is now live on Nexcess.

Considering a CDN?

CDN means Content Delivery Network. Click the following link for an Overview of CDNs.

Heroic 24-Hour Assistance

For 24-hour assistance any day of the year, contact our support team by email or through your Client Portal.