How To Move Your iWeb Sites to a Dedicated Host

How To Move Your iWeb Sites to a Dedicated Host -

With Apple’s recent announcement of iCloud, many MobileMe users have been wondering what will happen to their current services once the switch to iCloud becomes official. An alleged email from Steve Jobs claims that iWeb sites hosted on MobileMe may bite the dust when Apple flips the iCloud switch. And even though Apple has already renewed everyone’s MobileMe registration until Jun 30, 2012, it’s no guarantee that MobileMe iWeb hosting will be available for that length of time. In the meantime, however, you might want to take the necessary precautions. We’ll show you how to begin the transition of your iWeb sites to a dedicated hosting solution.

1. Choose Your Domain Name and Host

The first step to getting your own hosting solution is to find and purchase a domain name and hosting plan. Domain names are the names that you type into a web browser to get to a website (such as Apple.com or Maclife.com). There are many domain registrars and names to choose from. Some of the most popular registrars are Domains.com, GoDaddy, and Netfirms.

After you've purchased a domain name, you will also need hosting to store your files on the web somewhere. Once again, there are a lot of different hosting options, from DreamHost, BlueHost, and GoDaddy. You will need to look for a host that supports FTP and/or SFTP uploads.

Once you've purchased the hosting plan that suits your needs, you will need to link your domain name with your hosting account. Because each hosting and domain name company will have a different system for doing this, you will need to contact their customer service for information on how to set up your domain names to point to your hosting company’s DNS servers.

2. Open iWeb and Change Your Settings

You will be issued either an FTP (file transfer protocol) or SFTP (secure file transfer protocol) account for uploading files to your online hosting. With this account information, open up iWeb on your Mac.



To change your iWeb hosting from MobileMe to your new web hosting company using your FTP connection, click on the title of your site in the left-hand sidebar of iWeb. Once there, click on the drop-down menu labeled “Publish to:” and choose FTP Server from the list.



After you do this, you will be presented with connection options for connecting to an FTP server. To begin, type in your server address (usually your domain name without the “http://www.” in front), then type in your FTP username and password. For the Directory Path, put a single forward slash (ex. “/”). If you are using SFTP as opposed to FTP, be sure to choose it in the “Protocol” drop-down menu. The last thing to configure is the Website URL. Type your domain name once again here, putting in the “http://”.

When you have finished inputting your information, click the “Test Connection” button. If the test succeeds, then you have entered everything properly; and, if it fails, you will need to check over your information or contact your hosting company for support.

3. Upload Your New Site

After a successful connection test, you are now ready to upload your iWeb site to your new hosting. To upload your site, click on File > Publish Entire Site. After a few minutes, your site will be uploaded to your new hosting account and be available for viewing by going to your domain name.

(Via Mac|Life all.)