Best way to change domain name and redirect existing one to it?

[shags38]

v1.5.5f php 7.1

I want to change a domain name for an existing ZC website - website will remain on the same server, same data, same everything .... simply changing the domain name and re-directing the existing name to the new name .... just want to know the best way as far as ZC is concerned ...

cheers,
Mike

[wmorris]

v1.5.5f php 7.1

I want to change a domain name for an existing ZC website - website will remain on the same server, same data, same everything .... simply changing the domain name and re-directing the existing name to the new name .... just want to know the best way as far as ZC is concerned ...

cheers,
Mike

Are you wanting to chance the Domain Name like from (mysite.com) to (yoursite.com)?

[shags38]

Are you wanting to chance the Domain Name like from (mysite.com) to (yoursite.com)?

Yes

[wmorris]

Yes

First of all you need to register a domain with a server.

Second you need to change a few configuration files.

Then upload your store to the new domain.

[DrByte]

As far as the "Zen Cart" configuration part, you just need to update your admin and non-admin configure.php files. Then all auto-generated URLs/links will use the new URL.

And, if you've put URLs into the "content" pages of your store, you'll need to edit those as well:
- product / category descriptions
- ez pages
- define pages

And, if you've put any URLs into your template files (links, images, etc), you'll need to edit those as well.

As far as where you host your files, or any redirects, you can sort that out with your hosting company.

[shags38]

As far as the "Zen Cart" configuration part, you just need to update your admin and non-admin configure.php files. Then all auto-generated URLs/links will use the new URL.

And, if you've put URLs into the "content" pages of your store, you'll need to edit those as well:
- product / category descriptions
- ez pages
- define pages

And, if you've put any URLs into your template files (links, images, etc), you'll need to edit those as well.

As far as where you host your files, or any redirects, you can sort that out with your hosting company.

Many thanks Doc ....

In looking to keep indexed pages without having to have pages re-indexed and keep existing inbound links and the 'link juice', I believe a typical server-side redirect that my host would apply will redirect ALL existing auto-generated url's to the new auto-generated url's ... correct? ... basically resulting in a status quo.

So I am using CEON URI Mapping .... do you happen to know if CEON will redirect the existing re-written url's to the new domain url's maintaining the structure? e.g. will domain1/category/productxyz be rewritten to and redirected to domain2/category/productxyz ??

I expect it will redirect new auto-generated to rewritten but will it do the critical step above - if not then all indexed pages are gone and it is back to square one.

This is a critical aspect of the whole process of changing the domain name - if CEON does not re-direct then I have a big issue - again ... (USU canonical problem >> changed to CEON)

cheers,
Mike

[shags38]

First of all you need to register a domain with a server.

Second you need to change a few configuration files.

Then upload your store to the new domain.

Thanks for the response - much appreciated.

[mc12345678]

Many thanks Doc ....

In looking to keep indexed pages without having to have pages re-indexed and keep existing inbound links and the 'link juice', I believe a typical server-side redirect that my host would apply will redirect ALL existing auto-generated url's to the new auto-generated url's ... correct? ... basically resulting in a status quo.

So I am using CEON URI Mapping .... do you happen to know if CEON will redirect the existing re-written url's to the new domain url's maintaining the structure? e.g. will domain1/category/productxyz be rewritten to and redirected to domain2/category/productxyz ??

I expect it will redirect new auto-generated to rewritten but will it do the critical step above - if not then all indexed pages are gone and it is back to square one.

This is a critical aspect of the whole process of changing the domain name - if CEON does not re-direct then I have a big issue - again ... (USU canonical problem >> changed to CEON)

cheers,
Mike

*Deep breath*

OK. So. The Internet knows that to reach a product to try the address to store x...
You want to take this existing store and rename it.
The "internet" tries the address it knows.
The original recipient says: oh hi. Glad you stopped by, but if you're looking for anything related to the store x, then you need to try store y.
So the Internet tries store y with all of the same information.
Store y is still the contents of the original store (presumably) just a different name.
The Internet has found the object because everything about store y is the same as store x except the name (domain name)... it's not about which software is installed necessarily.

In fact, as far as this "change" is concerned, if you point your "new" domain to the folder of your existing store right now, verify that it is reachable, then change the includes/configure.php files to recognize the new domain, you're basically done... if you're still trying to do something different than that? Well should sit down and think about the process and what is desired. E.g. Same content (links) at a different server, completely different content (links) at the same folder location or at a different folder, etc... An important part of the process is that when doing the domain redirect to ensure that whatever followed the original domain name is passed along to the new domain name and that the new domain is able to handle the information that is passed along to it.

[shags38]

*Deep breath*

OK. So. The Internet knows that to reach a product to try the address to store x...
You want to take this existing store and rename it.
The "internet" tries the address it knows.
The original recipient says: oh hi. Glad you stopped by, but if you're looking for anything related to the store x, then you need to try store y.
So the Internet tries store y with all of the same information.
Store y is still the contents of the original store (presumably) just a different name.
The Internet has found the object because everything about store y is the same as store x except the name (domain name)... it's not about which software is installed necessarily.

In fact, as far as this "change" is concerned, if you point your "new" domain to the folder of your existing store right now, verify that it is reachable, then change the includes/configure.php files to recognize the new domain, you're basically done... if you're still trying to do something different than that? Well should sit down and think about the process and what is desired. E.g. Same content (links) at a different server, completely different content (links) at the same folder location or at a different folder, etc... An important part of the process is that when doing the domain redirect to ensure that whatever followed the original domain name is passed along to the new domain name and that the new domain is able to handle the information that is passed along to it.

Thanks mc12345678 for your response - so in a nutshell once the domain is redirected correctly and configure files are changed then CEON is still doing exactly what it did prior to the redirect, namely rewriting that part of the url after the "/" in domainname. com/ - so in that respect nothing changes / has changed to previously rewritten url's.
It was what I expected but really needed to validate.

cheers, Mike