It was a bumpy switch from web host to web host in order to get my permalinks working, but with help from several sources I learned all about the miracles of propagation. (And no, Mom, propagation is not what you think it is.)
Turns out my permalinks problem was due to my host not yet offering mod_rewrite or AllowOverride. No clue as to what mod_rewrite or AllowOverride do, but I learned that you can’t have static-looking permalinks without them.
I’ve been with Dotster a long time, so breaking up was hard to do. But I did it−I switched to HostGator.
I’m going to really miss Kit, the Dotster tech who always got me out of every mess I got into, and was very nice about it, too. I hope HostGator has people as patient as Kit.
To make the transfer as painless as possible, I followed HostGator’s “How to Switch Hosting Companies Without Having Any Down Time” and “Moving to a New Server” in the WordPress Codex.
When that failed me, I fell back on Podz’s Back Up and Restore With PhpMyAdmin. Everything got a little more complicated because of something called propagation.
It turns out propagation is that golden moment when computers the world over turn their lonely eyes away from your old host site and begin viewing your new host site. One starts this propagation by changing DNS numbers and then, according to HostGator,
Once your dns changes have been made you will need to wait two days before your site will load off the new host. During this two day period your dns is propogating world wide, and your site will be bouncing from the old host to the new host every other minute randomly. Once the two days is up your site will only be loading off the new host.
Dotster claims the bouncy act of propagation can take up to 72 hours. Based on my personal experience, I can honestly report that these statements are…
Lies! All Lies!
Last night I uploaded files to the new local site at HostGator while my old site at Dotster handled the traffic that trickles in occasionally. When I hit my bookmark for my site, it sent me to Dotster.
This morning I changed the DNS numbers and about ten minutes later my bookmark sent me to the site at HostGator. Perhaps in other parts of the world my site is still showing up at Dotster, but not here in sunny So Cal.
So. Visitors could see my HostGator site, which looked kind of silly since I still didn’t have a working database. None of the tutorials helped me figure out why the procedure to restore my database wasn’t working, so I went to the WordPress forums.
Bonnie’s WordPress Forum Rule No. 1:
ALWAYS search the forums before you post a question because you may discover it was already answered several times. Disregarding this rule is like hanging a fluorescent sign over your user name that says “I AM A GOOBER.”
Podz came to the rescue and walked me through a database restore. My new permalinks are working, too, and all is well in my world.
Thanks, Podz!