Posts: 5,938
Name: Adam for web page design, not program
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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1) Purchase hosting plan with your new host and ask them for a temporary URL so that you can set up and test things.
2) Upload your site to the new host and test using the temporary URL, making sure everything's working.
3) Create a temporary static HTML page (a standalone page is fine, it doesn't have to link to anything on your site) and only upload it to the new host. The purpose of this page is to see if the domain propagated; if you see the new page, it did, and if you see a 404 error, it didn't.
4) Log in to your domain name and change your DNS settings to your new host's DNS settings.
5) Wait until about 12 hours of seeing your new page consistently on your new host (the page from step 3). The official stance is 24-48 hours, but I've seen it take more time and I've seen it take less time than that. The new page trick is the only one I've seen work consistently.
6) Once 5) is complete, and only once 5) is complete, cancel your old hosting plan.
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