Viewing Website on the IP

[Kristina]

Hi there,

I purchased a hosting program for my domain but I have not transfered it over yet. I want to have the new site designed and ready before moving the domain, understandably. When I first talked to sales they said I would be able to view the site on the IP.

Tech support is on 6 calls right now and I got down to call 2 and my cell phone cut out... now the callers are up to 8. I tried the Help section and searching the forums. I found something where it says you can view your site on: http://IP/~USERNAME - in an older thread (1 year old) on the forums.

My IP is: http://69.89.31.106
And My username is springmountainmotorsports.com (or that is my login)

It doesn't seem to work though.

I couldn't find any other help sections though. I think I may be using the wrong terms. Can anyone let me know how to check my temporary site? I just installed WordPress and would like to begin working... I just need to see it and work in it first.

Thanks!

[areidmtm]

The your username is the first 8 letters of your MAIN domain. In your case there is a 2 after the first 7 letters because there are other accounts with 'springmo' in the domain. (http://69.89.31.106/~springm2/). If that still doesn't work, then use live chat

[Kristina]

Yay, that worked! Thanks!

[Kristina]

Hi there,

I'm working with my website and attempting to create a custom template on WordPress off of my BlueHost hosting account. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, we wanted to view the site on the IP before moving the domain name.

We kept having problems viewing the site off the IP and I talked to two people who helped me make database changes in WordPress so the front page would show.

Unfortunately, none of the interior pages show. I thought maybe it was because our custom theme in WordPress didn't have a Page Template. It does though. Plus, testing the pages on the default theme, the interior pages still don't work.

I finally got an error on FireFox on the interior pages saying:
The page isn't redirecting properly

Firefox has detected that the server is redirecting the request for this address in a way that will never complete.

* This problem can sometimes be caused by disabling or refusing to accept cookies.

**
So I called up BlueHost to see if they could shed some light. Basically they said we would be able to see the pages on the domain when we move it over. That doesn't work though because we need to create the site first and approve it before moving a high trafficked domain to a new site.

The rep (who seemed new?) said that it is possible but quite a bit of work would be needed to change many things in the WPConfig file. He didn't seem eager to tell me what the changes are or how they could be done. He just said it was a lot of work and hedged about details since "that was typically a web development thing and we are a hosting company". BlueHost initially assured me that I would be able to view my whole site on the IP before switching over.

Does anyone have any advice on what to change, or where to get guidance on this type of thing? It appears to be a BlueHost problem but at the same time, a WordPress problem.

I thought I would post something here to see if anyone had any advice but I think I am also going to call back BlueHost tonight when their support reps change shift. The guy I spoke to last night was super nice and helpful...

Hewp My temp URL is http:// 69.89.31.106/~springm2

[areidmtm]

Wordpress is "domain dependent". When you install wordpress, especially from fantastico, it installs it assuming that it's working off the domain you set it up on. When you try to view it from any other place, it messes up the directory structure.

As the BH rep told you, you can, but it will take a lot of work changing the WP files, then you'd just have to change them back again.

[Kristina]

Unfortunately we need to see the whole site to determine it's finished and we can move the domain name. In your opinion, is it easy to move the whole site from one place to another? I'm thinking maybe I can build the domain off a subdomain so we can see it, and then move it later?

I really have no choice here.. I have to see the site (the people in charge have to approve the site) before it's moved. It has to be tested, etc. So somehow I have to make the site viewable.

If anyone has any helpful suggestions, I would love to hear them.

[Kristina]

Just an update - I spoke with a very nice guy tonight and we spent a lot of time on the phone. We are going to try copying the site to a sub domain (site.mydomain.com) which I am going to change the A record on the hosting account to point to BlueHost.

He then said that I would just change the name of where the site is residing (to the domain - or rather subdomain) and all the interior pages would work.

Hopefully after we build the site in WordPress we can simply copy it back? Hopefully...

If anyone has any experience with moving WordPress from a site (or a subdomain) to another area in your hosting account, that would be great. Just looking for assurance that this is going to work!

[Shonky]

Moving Wordpress from one domain to another is fairly simple, when staying on the same provider since you don't have to move the database.

Basically all you need to do is setup Wordpress on a sub-domain for another domain you already have active at Bluehost.

Once you are happy with how the blog works and its content, login to the Wordpress panel, disable any plugins that are currently active, change "WordPress address (URL):" and "Blog address (URL):" to the new domain, and click on Update Options.

Now move all the files in the directory where Wordpress is currently, to the new location on the new domain. Delete any files residing in "/wp-content/cache/" and now try out the blog at the new domain.

All going well you should see everything as it was before on the temporary domain.

Be sure to make a backup of the Wordpress files, and the database before attempting the move.

[Kristina]

Shonky, Thanks for the info! A few questions (for anyone who might know too?)

1) You said setup WordPress on the new subdomain first. Does that mean installing WordPress via Fantastico? The rep at BlueHost last night said to simply copy all the files from the main domain to my new subdomain...

Which I did already. :-) Should I delete everything, install via Fantastico, and copy over again?

2) Thanks for the cache tip! I have heard things about deleting the cache but never really knew what it was for. I'll have to go read up on that as well.

3) Do you know of any easy instructions for backing up the database? I'll have to go investigate that as well.

THANK YOU THANK YOU!