Moving Wordpress to a different domain—What I've learned!

Ok, a little background on what I'm up to: I've been designing websites using Wordpress. I love how customizable it is once you find a good theme and play with the code and images, and how easy it is to add plugins like a simple "Contact Us" page. And I also love that I only have to bother my developer brother a little (instead of relying on him completely) to get my sites up and running.

Check out the latest Wordpress page that I designed here: http://www.vesselhead.com.

As a designer, i always try to put websites up on a temporary page to finalize the design, before publishing them to their true domain. However, moving the sites from their test location to their final one is always a struggle. I've tried 3 different lists of instructions: one from Wordpress, one from godaddy, and one from Webhostingpad; and have only ended up with broken pages, until last night.

Last night, this is what I attempted, this time trying webhostingpad instructions—DON'T try to do this since it's going to end badly. I copied all Wordpress files from the host page to the new page location on my server. It was quick since I'm using the same host. I went to myPHP, exported my testing site database called dverbels90. Then I created a new database in mySQL called dverbels300. I told the dvervels90 backup that it was now dverbels300, and uploaded the file. I then told my wp-config the name of the new database. I put this on the server hoping everything would magically work and...it didn't!

Something that the Wordpress instructions tell you to do, is go to your test admin page, and in settings, point it towards a new URL. I thought, this will either fix the new site, or leave me with 2 broken sites. The latter occurred (of course)! This is when I started getting creative.

First, I had to get my test admin page working again, and with an adjustment to the wp-content page, I fixed it. Ok, if you're following my instructions, this is where you should start:

I began by creating a couple different backups of my blog. I created a database backup by visiting the software installer that I’d used to install Wordpress on the test page, and clicking backup. Then I selected “Backup Database,” and saved that file to my computer. Then, I went to the test site under Tools / Export, and exported all the contents of the test site. Last, I made notes of any customization I had done to the test page.

So in total, to create my new site, I have:

• A backup created in the Wordpress Admin page (xml file). Happily, any images you’ve uploaded as part of your posts will be saved. 
• A backup created by my hosting service software installation page (sql file) 
• Screenshots of my plugins, theme options, users, and widgets. If you use Akismet, take note of your API key. 

The trick is to use the Wordpress installation feature provided by your host (all the hosting services I've used so far have had this option). Install Wordpress onto your new domain as if it were a brand new site. Now, you should either copy the file "wp-content" from your current site’s FTP to your computer and then to the new site, or just drag it straight into your new site’s FTP, replacing the file that was installed automatically. Now you’ll have access to all the themes and plugins that you had selected previously.

On your new site, visit your host’s control panel under phpMyAdmin and import the sql file. Then, go to your Wordpress admin page and import the Wordpress xml file. Take a look at your site. Although the actual page will look really plain still, you have successfully imported all posts, pages, and menus.

Now you just need to to activate your theme, and redo all the theme customization options. Then activate the proper plugins. Your menus will be saved, so just put them in position.


All in all, bringing the new site "up to speed" on my customization choices took about 20 minutes, and this process will definitely become my new standard when putting Wordpress sites live.

So I did it!

When I applied for health insurance, I estimated my last day at my agency, figuring on a 3-week notice. Then I decided I couldn’t handle that, and would go for 2 weeks, because in my mind I had been waiting 3 months! I had planned to turn my notice in the next Tuesday after the 3-day weekend. What I didn’t expect was a phone call from Johnson the Thursday before. He said we would be having a meeting the next day where my name would be mentioned, and “not to worry, it was all good things.” And he had even spoken to our director about more money for me. I took a moment to ponder, and decided it was only fair for me to speak up. “Listen,” I said, “it’s funny you should call me about this right now…I think I have to tell you, I had planned to quit on Tuesday.”

“Wow, that’s not what I was expecting to hear…but hey I think that’s actually pretty great,” Johnson said, “The manager in me wants to ask what it would take for you to stay, but from a designer to another designer, I’m actually kind of envious. I think it’s a great time for designers in our area, and I know you’ll be successful no matter what.”

I was shocked. Pleasantly of course. Adrenaline pumped through my body, and I felt extremely grateful that my husband Ben was standing by my side as the conversation went on. I felt elated and frightened at the same time. “What does it all mean!?” I kept crying. Why would this happen right before I quit, and was it meant to be, was I supposed to stay? Or was it like…a test? I felt totally confused and yet still at peace. I was pretty sure I still wanted to quit, and felt so grateful that Johnson didn’t freak out on the phone.

So Friday I went into work. The big announcement was, they were changing how resources would be allocated, but the guy who would be in charge of assigning designers didn’t want to interrupt the “HP machine,” so that group would be separate, with one of my favorite coworkers at its head. Our managers would still be the same, but I would more commonly interact with her rather than Johnson (since he did very little managing, mostly resource allocation). And they announced that I would be officially called the HP Brand manager.

After the meeting, our Director pulled me into the conference room with Johnson and the new HP director. “We want you to stay” they said. Our director admitted that I had been underpaid, and said that mine would be the biggest raise they were giving that year. Later I calculated that it was around a 28% increase. If you’re wondering what I made before, think of a middle-to-low income, something you can get by on and do ok. Then the raise would be like ok, now I can really live, or reasonably have a stay-at-home spouse, which 2 of my coworkers had (which is why I always knew I made way too little). A little bubble of positive energy started to fill within me.

They asked if there was anything that would help me make the decision. I said that the money helped of course, and something else I had always thought would really improve things would be profit sharing, so people would feel like they had shared responsibility and reward for their work. Everyone laughed at this, saying “you’d have to write us a check.” (Because the agency was still pulling out of the recession.) I also shared that I had felt unappreciated, doing the job while not having the title, and they seemed understanding. I left the meeting still feeling a bit unsure, but more and more positive about the idea of staying.

I mean, picture this. There were 5 things on my list of “wants.” I wanted the title for the job I already did, and I didn’t want Johnson to be my boss anymore. These things were nearly about to happen, since my projects would now be assigned by someone else. I sat down with the HP director, and felt really good about working with her more in the future. But she did mention on a personal note “I know this is your first job out of college, and you may decide you still want something different. But if you want change while staying here at our agency, I am offering that.”

I called Ben crying, and told him everything. I felt like emotions were pouring out from every pore. Not all bad emotions, just so many: happiness, validation, excitement, but also nervousness, distrust, sadness at giving up my dream.

I told Ben that I was leaning towards staying. I would have to tell my favorite client that he wouldn’t have a fulltime contractor to work with anymore, and cancel the health insurance…but there seemed to be so many reasons to stay. I went to lunch with my best friends at the agency, and we talked about how great it would be to have vacation days and maternity leave, which I would lose as a contractor.

That afternoon, I finally stopped bouncing around long enough to do some real work. I sat there doing my HP project, and realized “this is what I’m going to be doing from now to infinity.” And I started thinking of my other 3 wishes: to work on different clients, to no longer sit 4 feet away from someone else, and to be in charge of my own destiny, answering to only myself. My little bubble of positive energy popped suddenly, and I just felt depressed.

I called my parents on the way home, once again tearing up in confusion. I told them everything that had happened, and half expected them to say, “Do the responsible thing. Take the money. Keep the job.” But to my gratitude and relief they said “it sounds like staying at the agency won’t make you happy.” My mom said I needed to find my “sweet spot,” in my job, and my dad asked if there was any possibility of contracting with the agency rather than working for them directly. Well maybe, I said…

The next day I called my best friend Pez and walked her through the latest events. “Is it a sign that, just as I was about to leave, and right before I turn in my notice, they offer me so many of the things I want?” I asked. “I don’t believe in that” said Pez. “I think you need to make the leap, because even though change is scary, it can also be really good.”

And my forever-loyal husband kept telling me he would support me no matter what. In the end, it was his belief in me that made the decision. He didn’t mind shouldering the bulk of our bills for the next few months while I got on my feet. He just wanted me to be happy. “And I would love for you to go in there and say, ‘Fuck that and fuck you Johnson!’” he exclaimed. You don’t really know Ben is serious unless he swears.

So that was that. Despite the money and some of the changes I had wanted, in the end I wanted to be my own woman. So I sat down and wrote my notice. I mentioned I would love to contract with the agency, and said how thankful I was for the experience and mentorship they had given me. Truly, I was and am grateful!

Two weeks later, I would be a free woman, beginning my life as a freelancer!

Almost ready to leave my job

If you read my last post, you heard some of the reasons that I felt I should leave my old agency job. Really, it became inevitable: I had faced my situation, and realized there was only one conclusion. I couldn’t stay at a place where I felt so undervalued. I of course considered sitting down with Johnson and threatening to quit if things didn’t change, but I realized that what needed to change was…everything. I wanted to work on different clients, I didn’t want to sit 4 feet away from someone else and not be able to take work-related calls at my desk, I wanted a title, and most of all, I didn’t want him to be my boss. There simply wasn’t a way to make this all happen while still working there.

So instead, I started considering other possibilities. I called my biggest and favorite freelance client, who was very encouraging. He said he wanted to give me more work over the next year, at a faster pace; so for him, working with a fulltime contractor would be ideal. He did a quick estimation that the work he sent over would total around $15,000 over the course of the year. This isn’t a whole salary, but it is a good start. So I told myself I would jump in the deep end to do freelance full time. I didn’t realize that this would keep me awake at night feeling sickly nervous, curled up with fear of the future. I realized the leaving thing might be too extreme, and when I said “I’ll get a part-time job and do freelance for the other part,” it felt much better.

So I began applying for jobs. I applied for fulltime jobs as well as part time, just in case something seemed interesting, but the one interview I went to, we both knew the job wasn’t for me. It would be web design fulltime, and I would be the only designer at their workplace, which was in a building behind their house. Ehh, no thanks. It turned out they didn’t want to hire me either because I wasn’t very experienced in web programming. So that was fine. The next place I interviewed at was in Boulder for a company that promoted the riding of bikes. It was only $18/hr, but was part time, so I was pretty hopeful. Unfortunately, I think they saw through my white lie that I’m totally in love with biking (really my only eligibility was that I have a bike, but I live outside town so I don’t get to ride it for practical purposes very much). So they turned me down too.

But things at work continued to spiral downward. After my Christmastime revelation that my work situation was all wrong, I started noticing the wrongness more and more. Some coworkers would get their hands slapped for really little things, and others would be given top-notch projects when they were total slackers. One of my coworkers (whom I absolutely love), was requested to join another design team. I was so happy for her, but had to fight my own feelings of jealousy that she got to move onto new things, while I had gotten so good at my job that the powers that be couldn’t imagine putting me on anything new. The only way to keep my spirits up was to think “I’ll be out of here soon!”

In the meantime, I got to work creating an LLC. I wanted something that my husband (a hardware and software tester, who worked on contract) and I could both be under. I asked my friends on facebook for help choosing a name, and out of that got the word “Media.” It seemed to cover the fact that the only real thing our jobs had in common, was that we both work on computers. I wanted to call it “Insight Media” —as in, we provide brains, not just computer skills. But that name is taken in Colorado. So Ben suggested “Incite Media,” as in, “we will incite your customers to riot out of love for your product.” And the name stuck.

By February, I had an LLC, health insurance (that is actually less monthly cost than my agency plan – weird), and a wish. But I didn’t have the safety net of another job. In the end, I would decide not to worry about it. My number 1 priority was to be happy again. What I didn’t expect was what would happen right before I quit…

What made me leave my fulltime job

I decided that I really wanted to become a fulltime freelancer around Christmas 2010. It all started when my boss sent around an email that said "we don't have official reviews this year, but if you're interested in sitting down with me, I encourage that.”

[Quick aside: I’m going to give my ex-boss a nickname based on his real nickname: we’ll call him Johnson]

Myself and a couple coworkers chuckled together over Johnson’s email. Who would voluntarily sit down with that guy, and invite him to tell us exactly what he thought of us? Johnson didn’t make any secret of his dislike for me, and what made it worse at times was that he could be really nice, but he could also swing wildly in the other direction and be very harsh and critical. A bit like a snake that could strike at any time. I truly got a nervous feeling in my stomach when he so much as Instant Messaged me, and actual conversations left me short of breath.

But there were reasons that I should sit down and talk with Johnson. I had made 2 special requests over the past 2 years, and nothing had happened with either of them. The first was, I wanted to work less on projects for HP. I wanted more variety in my life. I also wanted to be the “official” HP Brand Manager. As time went on, I fulfilled this role more and more, but was never recognized for it. Johnson had actually hinted before that he might give me more of a leadership role, but during my review, all he said was “we should talk more about that.” I was confused since I thought that would be a big topic of the review.

So after 2 years of expressing these hopes, I still worked exclusively on HP projects, which would have been ok, but I also had made no progress on the front of a title or promotion saying I was the HP Brand Manager. When Johnson mentioned a review, it all hit me. I hadn’t made any progress in the past 2 years. I was stuck, and what’s more, I didn’t receive any appreciation or recognition for the job I did. I was depressed to the core. The best word to describe how I felt was foolish. I felt foolish for letting the agency take my very best work and not reward me for it, allow me to do an extra job without title, and not listen to me when I said I needed variety. Oh, and I was sure I made far less money than other producers at the agency.

So there you have it. These are the things that pushed me into thinking, “I need to get out of here!” But it would take a few more months of planning, fretting, and weighing my options before I would do it…

England, Friday Apr 23 (day 17 of our trip)

On Friday, we got up "early" at 10:00, and went and got a full English breakfast. This includes Eggs, tomato, mushroom, sausage, bacon, beans, and toast. It's so much food! Then, we hung out with Cole, Alice, and Brook at G&D's (the place where we moo'd for free ice cream). When we finally got back home, I noticed that Marti had called and emailed to talk about stand-by flights. She said that United had added more flights to and from the UK, and our chances of getting on a plane were actually quite good! We were pretty excited, and checked United.com about a million times to see if we could check in for the next day. However, we still needed to make certain that our flights with British Air were refundable. If we went to "manage trip" on their site, the button for "cancel and refund ticket" was easily accessible, but I still had my doubts since our tickets were so cheap. It seems like refundable tickets are usually far more expensive.

So we called British Air to find out whether we really could get a refund on the flight. The first person said the tickets were non-refundable and left it at that. Then I got on the phone with another person to try to get more details, figuring we could argue it a little considering the ash situation. This lady said we could get the taxes on the tickets back (90 pounds each ticket), but that's it. Then Ben noticed that the website actually said "are you sure you need to fly? You can cancel for a full refund." So we talked to like 3 more people to try and confirm that. The general message was that they only offered refunds if you were flying from somewhere else, into the UK, because those are the most needed seats. They actually updated the website to reflect this as we talked! We did the math a dozen different ways, but in the end, we paid $1450 for the Sunday tickets, then would pay $650 for stand-by tickets, then only get $250 back from the regular tickets if we cancelled. Spending an extra $400 to save only one day just didn't make sense. And since several family members had been kind enough to help us out financially, we felt we should be as responsible as possible with that help. But it was so disappointing!

Figuring all that out took a big chunk of our morning. I thought to myself that if I had a dollar for every hour I'd spent on the computer this week, researching and re-researching, I would have about a million dollars! I forced myself to do a little Wirestone work—my goal is to have about 8 billable hours this week so I would only put 4 days under PTO rather than 5. I'm so handicapped on my computer (wrong programs and files), that it's tough to do more than that.

We finally left the house again at 7:00, after Ben took a quick nap. His sleep schedule is all messed up because he keeps waking up at night to watch hockey (the Avs are in the playoffs). We joined up with Brook, and headed towards the bar on the river where I was thinking we would read and Cole would study, but it was so late in the evening by the time we left, that we just hung out and had a drink.

We had planned to eat there, but it was so pricey we decided to head towards our next stop for the evening: the Queen's bar. This bar was quite packed because it was St. George's day (patron saint of England), and several older men were totally drunk, and wearking roses on their lapels, which is a custom for some reason. The three of us pretended to Ben that we had no idea that it was also Karaoke Night at the bar, but he didn't buy it. Ben and I got a couple drinks and brought in gyro's from the kabob van down the street, and we sat outside drinking for a bit. Once karaoke started, we put in our usual songs: Eminem for Cole, Shut Up (our favorite duet), and Love Shack (an excellent group song).

They called up Cole, then me and Cole for Love Shack immediately after. Unfortunately, I realized that this song really is better in a group, because I sounded terribly shrill singing "everybody's movin, everybody's groovin baby" by myself. I was glad when it was over! By then, Ben's occasional social anxiety had hit him full-force, and his fun factor was diminishing. We stayed until Cole and my duet, Shut Up by the Black Eyed Peas, which went quite well.

Then we went outside to grab some air. I tried to grab some drinks, but back inside about a million (seemingly) 15-year olds had packed in, and refused to move to let a person walk down the aisle, so I started to get annoyed with this place as well, and we considered leaving for another bar. Brook went ahead of us, and Ben followed shortly after. "Is Ben going to attack Brook?" Cole asked jokingly. Quite the opposite though—one of the drunk guys with the rose in his lapel had gotten up and followed Brook once she left. Ben went to check on her, but the guy had disappeared. Once we finished our drinks, we headed down various deserted alleyways to this cool place called Turf Tavern. The entrance was totally hidden away, and apparently the only way it stayed in business was through word of mouth, since you couldn't see it from any street. Sadly, it was closed, but the experience of getting there and seeing it was quite cool.

To finish out our night, we headed home and watched—that's right—Community! I showed Ben and Cole my crackerjack method for getting rid of hiccups by drinking from a cup backwards, Ben and Cole ate more kabob-van-food, and then it was time for sleep.

England, Thursday Apr 22 (day 16 of our trip)

Today was very free—no plans at all. I had to pry Ben away from his book and internet to go do something fun. Although I admit, I adore bookworm-Ben. I was craving Nando's chicken one last time before we left, so we headed to the restaurant. We looked at the menu though, and it would be 10 pounds just for a chicken wrap! That's like $30 for lunch. We laughed later, because the prices are exactly the same as the first time we went to Nando's, but 1-this is lunch not dinner so it should be cheaper, and 2-we're no longer in vacation mode!

So we walked down the street to a Greek place. We had planned to stop there anyway because they have fresh Turkish delight, and that was one of the things I wanted to try before I left. In fact, I kept telling people we hadn't left yet because I hadn't had Turkish delight, as if it was my choice to be stuck here. Sometimes it's nice to have the illusion of control. But anyway, the Greek place actually had some really reasonably priced items. We chose a chicken and beef pita, a cucumber salad, and Turkish delight, then packed it all up for a picnic.

Next, we headed towards the stream that we had punted on, seemingly ages ago. While trying to get to the little knoll, we almost entered the Oxford Botanic Gardens—which cost 2.50 each. Fortunately, we found an entrance to the trail right next to that and were glad we didn't enter since it was just patches of dirt this time of year. We headed down the path, and found a nice spot to eat. Almost immediately, ducks started approaching, hoping for food. They were not shy at all, and waddled within 2 feet of us! I was surprised that Ben keep his cool since he's afraid of birds, but we just kept a close eye on them, throwing a little pita in the opposite direction when they got too close. One particular brown duck came over and kind of hung out beside me for awhile, like "I don't want to rush you, but if at any point you find you can't finish your sandwich why, I'm here for you." I gave her a little treat for being cute.

After eating, we relocated to the other side of the trail to warm up in the sun—I swear the temperature drops 20 degrees in the shade! Ben read Harry Potter while I re-read the first True Blood book on my phone. Cole even joined us, followed by Emily, and they studied Economics. It was quite nice.

Then, we headed towards Cornmarket street (I named it walking-only street, if you've seen my map) because I was dying to get the next Harry Potter books. We ended up buying the next 2 just to be prepared, got some Starbucks, and headed home.

For dinner, we lazily ordered Indian. We watched a little Community with Cole, then American Family while we ate (didn't really get into the show, but we'll keep trying).

That evening, my friend Kadence was kind enough to throw me some actual work creating charts. I did a half-ass job (didn't have the right fonts or colors), but I think I helped her out at least a little. I also called in on a Culture Club call through Skype, simply because it had a job number that I could log time to. The meeting was about celebrating birthdays in the office. It was a good idea, but it was funny because I found out that in Sacramento and Boise they give you a t-shirt every year you're with the company! I've never even seen these shirts! I didn't bother our team though—we have a monthly cake for birthday people and call it good.

We did some more reading, and headed to bed!

England, Wednesday Apr 21 (day 15 of our trip)

Ben got up at 3am and checked the status of our flight multiple times (and also watched hockey). I kept tossing and turning, asking even after I knew, whether the flight was cancelled. I woke up thinking I didn’t want to do that again! And we may not get a chance to—later research revealed that Heathrow airport actually requested that stand-by passengers NOT go to the airport, because they were not going to be getting on a flight. I was just a little relieved. We wouldn’t be getting home early (unless they change that policy), but we wouldn’t have to check every night or spend every day at the airport trying.
We both woke up the next morning feeling pretty exhausted. We ate breakfast, then both napped. Ben couldn't seem to get up from the nap though, so I attended today's activity: croquet, with just Cole and I. We went over to St. Hilda's college, and fetched the croquet set, then met the group on the lawn. There were about 9 people, but I only remember a few names. I was paired with Jen, which I told myself was a good thing since it meant we could form new memories besides me breaking her camera. We started the game out a little rough - missing the first hoop over and over, and then being (cruelly) roqueted away from the hoop by Cole. Thus began a competition between our teams: Cole and the theater girl, versus me and Jen. The other team was far ahead. Eventually we taught Cole a hard lesson by roqueting his ball away as well. But maybe it wasn't that hard a lesson since Jen accidentally hit her foot with the mallet and barely moved his ball. Still, I think we made our point! Of course, it was all in good fun. Jen and I ended up winning by a small margin. I'm pretty sure she carried our team at the end, as I had a propensity for hitting the ball way further than intended and throwing us off track, while she had a propensity for making the ball go through the hoop. While we played, we ate cucumber sandwiches, Pimms, and fresh English strawberries. It was such a nice, British afternoon!

They day before, I had purchased tickets to see Date Night with Steve Correll and Tina Fey. It was silly but, I was happy we were here to see the movie—we would have missed it if we'd flown that day! We walked towards town at a high speed. Cole told me there was a phrase around here for people who are walking fast with a strong goal in mind, not allowing any distractions, called "mishing it." As in, you're on a mission. That is how Ben walked. When we were only yards from the theater, Cole and I had to convince him that there was no reason for us to rush, we had an HOUR before the movie started, and besides, it was assigned seating!

So, we popped into a fun little burger joint to grab some food. We got chips and salsa, as well as fries (around here those would be corn crisps and salsa, and chips) to go with our burgers, which was lovely. Then headed into the movie. Our seats were decent, but around here they actually have a section with nicer chairs and better locations, and like little rebels, we totally switched to those seats once the lights dimmed.

The movie was great, with some really strong and hilarious scenes, although a little inconsistent (like when they took breaks from the action to pull over and talk about their marriage - get on with the good stuff)! There is a scene where Tina and Steve danced together, and I about peed my pants. That's cinematic gold!

Headed home, watched Community, then sleep.