Help! I have flipped my first site - How do i transfer?

This is a classic case of flying by the seat of your pants. I have successfully flipped my first site and have to now transfer to the new owner. I have an idea on how to do this but feel out of my depth.

For some reason I was expecting a newbie to buy my site but the customer has just sent me an email advising how to do things - he sounds far more experienced than me.

I originally asked him for the cpanel login so that i could access and setup for him but he has replied requesting me to set the DNS before he can setup the FTP which I suppose makes sense now thinking about it. I quote

You have to set the DNS before I can set up the ftp and mysql data base for you. I will leave the name at your current registrar which you can just transfer ownership in the same account

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Can anyone explain this further and can anyone who does this regularly explain their process for obtaining the information and dealing with the move.

I assume he will then set up the mysql database and give me the FTP details and i will just upload the database and site files. Is there an easy way of doing it?

Your advice would be well appreciated at this moment in time

mmm, there's a lot to learn in that one paragraph.

Your current server has an IP address. So does the customer's server. At its most basic, DNS points the sitename to the right server. This is managed through the entries in the DNS server for your domain. In the majority of cases, this DNS server will either be your domain registrars DNS servers, or your webhosting providers DNS servers.

So, at the domain's registrar, you will have two choices. One is to manage the domain name from there, and point the sitename to his IP address. The second is to change the DNS servers at the domain names, to whatever DNS server your client is using. You can then manage the DNS entries from there.

Your client is wrong. You do not have to set the DNS before he can set up the ftp and database. You will have to set the dns for "http://www.sitename.ext" to point to his hosting.

The thing with your question is that there are so many variables that could affect what you need. If his webhost is one of the more common ones, they will probably have DNS management integrated with the domain management. In this case, all he needs to do is create the domainname.com as an addon domain. He will then supply you with the new DNS servers. This is typically dns1.somehost.com & dns2.somehost.com .... You make these changes at the registrars, and the name now points to the new site.

You will want to backup all the files and databases of the site from you current hosting *before* you change the DNS to point to the new hosting.

You will of course then need to push the domain name to him once all this is done.

PM me if the above is not making sense ... it is rather difficult to discuss in the abstract and an IM conversation will be more useful.

Judson thanks for your reply.
He has sent me the new DNS info in the form of ns34.1and1.com, ns35.1and1.com and I have changed this at my namecheap account. They are now pointing to his servers and all is fine.
You mentioned to do a backup of the database and files BEFORE I changed the DNS -Too late Ive already done it - is this because of accessing via ftp - can i not access ftp via the IP address of the account?

lesaurus said:

Judson thanks for your reply.
He has sent me the new DNS info in the form of ns34.1and1.com, ns35.1and1.com and I have changed this at my namecheap account. They are now pointing to his servers and all is fine.
You mentioned to do a backup of the database and files BEFORE I changed the DNS -Too late Ive already done it - is this because of accessing via ftp - can i not access ftp via the IP address of the account?

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Yes you should be able to access ftp via the ip address.
If you have console (SSH) access, you can do a database dump via command line
If you have some sort of CPanel access, that usually comes with phpmyadmin, so you should be able to do your database dump via that.
One of the simplest options though, is to use a database plugin in WP to dump the database, hence the caveat above in my post on doing all the backups before changing the DNS records.

lesaurus, as stated previously you don't need to change the DNS till everything is all setup and tested on the new server/hosting. If you change the DNS before that is done then visitors will not be able to access the site.

As judson says you can have FTP access via the IP ... but not always. At some hosts that is not possible. Do you still need to get a backup copy of your database and files? Isn't all that still on your server?

There is a guide here on transfers of websites that may be useful.

here's a little checklist to make sure you've got everything:

http://www.theonestopwebsiteshop.com/web-hosting/change-host.htm

Enjoy