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Testing Best Practices for Migrations

Testing during migrations is crucial. After our team validates your site, you'll receive an email to test it. Your expertise is vital for this step.
Best Practices Data Migration
3 min read

Testing is one of the most critical parts of the Migrations process. Once our Migration team has completed validating your site, you will receive an email notifying you that it is time to test your site. The best way to do this is by editing your DNS host files. See how to do this in our article Editing Your DNS Hosts File.

Warning:

Please do not make additional accounts, domains, databases or perform major CMS revisions on the source server during the entire migration process. The process we use will not catch any major changes like changing from WordPress to Drupal, adding a new database, parking a domain, etc. Let us know if you’ve made any changes like these and we can get them implemented on the new server manually.

The only person who knows best how a site is supposed to function is the person who designed it and uses it regularly: you! That is why we ask you to be thorough in your testing of a new server.

Below is a list of things to look out for when testing.

  • Use two machines while testing, one which has your live site up and running on the source server and one you can edit your DNS hosts files on and test side-by-side for site functionality.
  • Read emails thoroughly from the Migration team. They often send lots of information and may need input from you to continue the migration process.
  • Make sure that all pages load, including subdomains and subfolders.
  • Click on all links and make sure that each directs to the correct page or redirect.
  • For WordPress sites, make sure you can log into the wp-admin area and upload a file.
  • For E-Commerce sites, log into the back-end area and verify that you can see past orders and complete a transaction on the front-end.
  • If you use forum software, log in as a member and create a test post and comment.

Note:

Don’t panic if you see errors – these occur when there are differences in the server environment and are completely normal during the migration process. If you encounter errors, send us examples in your Migration case so that a specialist can investigate and help resolve the issue.

If you aren’t sure about something, ask! The Migrations team is dedicated exclusively to migration tasks, so we have a very good understanding of the process and are happy to restate, explain, and clarify any aspect of the task, from broad vocabulary to precise commands. For more information on the Migration process, please see our article What to Expect During a Site Migration.

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