Thursday, May 31, 2012

How to move an iWeb site from MobileMe to new web host



Apple iWeb logoWhat's happening to MobileMe?

The core services provided by MobileMe have been completely rewritten and are now part of iCloud. MobileMe will no longer be available after June 30, 2012.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4597


iWeb publishing will not be available in iCloud.




From Apple Support
MobileMe: How to move an iWeb site from mobile me to another web hosting service
You'll find detailed information about moving via the iWeb interface for iWeb 3.0 and directions for earlier versions of the software. Apple's notes indicates that "blog and photo comments, website password, blog search, and hit counter" will not work after the transfer.


Here's a tested, step-by-step approach for moving a website created with Apple's iWeb software to another web host, with more details configuring the new web hosting service. 

Preparations

  1. You'll need an account on a web hosting service to replace MobileMe.  A good service shouldn't cost anymore than MobileMe per year.
  2. This process should work with any web hosting service. I used Bluehost to move 3 separate iWeb sites (owned by 3 different people).
  3. If you don't have a domain name, skip to setting up a new web hosting account. Most good web hosting services like Bluehost will give you 1 free domain name registration as part of your hosting package. 
  4. If you have a domain name you need access to the domain control panel (username and password).
  5. If you're not sure what that means, read about domain name registration services on my business website.

MobileMe hosted site - domain name purchased

For websites still hosted on MobileMe where you've already purchased a domain name for the site - The following steps work exactly with the domain registration provided @ DoctorGeek, but should work with any domain registration service. There might be different section names to accomplish the tasks.
  1. Login to your domain name account. 
  2. In Domain Services, unlock your domain if it's locked.
  3. In Advanced Settings (where you'll find services related to the domain), add/edit the Name Server hostnames provided by your web hosting service. You should have at least 2 hostnames that will be a variation on
    NS1.YOURWEBHOST.COM
    NS2. YOURWEBHOST.COM
NOTE: See Apple's MobileMe help to change the CNAME 

Prepare your new web hosting account

  1. Sign up for a web hosting service.
  2. If you need a domain name, get one when you sign up for the service.
  3. Have your username and password available for later

Prepare an existing web hosting account for another domain

Some web hosts (like Bluehost) allow you to host as many domains (websites) in your account as you want. To add you iWeb site to a hosting service like this
  1. Login to the control panel of your web hosting service
  2. Go to the AddOn Domains in the Domains section
  3. On the Assign Domains page, enter the domain that is not already associated with your account (your iWeb site domain)
  4. Verify ownership. If you setup your domain account as suggested above, their will happen automatically -- and remarkably fast.
  5. Assign the domain as an Addon Domain
  6. Specify the directory you would like the Addon Domain to point to - create a new directory
    public_html/yourdomainname.com (or .net or whatever)
  7. Add the domain to your webhosting service.

Configure your iWeb site to work with your new web hosting service

  1. Open iWeb
  2. Click on the iWeb Site Publishing Settings - the first link with a globe icon next to it.
  3. Publishing > Publish to FTP Server should be selected from the dropdown menu
    Your site name and contact email can stay the same.
  4. FTP Server Settings
    Server address - ftp.YourDomainName.com (or net or whatever)
    Fill in your Username (for you webhosting service:
    Password (for your webhosting service:
    Directory/Path- /public_html/yourdomainname.com (or net or whatever) - see step 6 above
    the path should start with a forward slash (/)
    Protocol -  select FTP
    Test the connection.
    If it doesn't work, review the above steps until it works.
  5. Website URL - Add the full web address starting with http://www.ourdomainname.com (or .net or whatever)
At this point, your web files are still on the MobileMe server, but iWeb is now configured to work with your new web hosting service. All your iWeb files should turn red, indicating that they are unpublished.

Move your iWeb files to your new web hosting service

  1. In iWeb's File menu, select Publish Entire Site
  2. This can take a while because all of your website files are being transferred.
  3. When this is complete, a copy of all of your iWeb files will be on your new web host's servers. The original files will still be on MobileMe's servers, but your domain name URL will no longer point to them.
  4. Look at your iWeb site at it's new home - http://www.yourdomainname.com (or .net or whatever)

Test the transfer

  1. Editing a page on your site
  2. Publish site changes
  3. Confirm the change(s) occurred by looking at your site in a browser

Cautions

1 - The first time that you open iWeb again, you may be asked to find the domain.
To find the file that connects iWeb software to your iWeb site (domain file):
  1. Mac HD > Users > your home account > Library > Application Support > iWeb
  2. Click on the Domain.sites file
  3. iWeb should open with your site, ready for editing
2 - iWeb file structure is perhaps the most unfortunate example of Apple's "think different" concept
  • iWeb's file structure is very different and can only be edited with iWeb software
  • Avoid moving a file from another file manager
  • Don't attempt to edit iWeb with any other web file editors
3 - If you want to keep current on Apple operating systems, you've got maybe a year to edit your iWeb site with iWeb '09, and there might be some problems.
Apple iWeb support sitehttp://www.apple.com/support/iweb/

Recommendations

stethoscope over a Macintosh laptop
  • Budget time (to learn a new program) or funds to redesign your site with software that has long-term viability and is easy to edit, for instance WordPress and possibly Adobe's new Muse software.
  • Contact me if you need assistance.
Hope this helps!


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