Migrating hundreds of sites a month, we often see issues related to the differences between hosting platforms. If you’re migrating your own site, these tips will help it go as smoothly as possible. And don’t forget, we’re happy to do the migration for you! Request a migration here – all but the most complex migrations are completely free!
These are the issues we frequently see that cause migrations to fail or that cause errors to show up on the site.
Issue 1: mu-plugins
Many providers (Convesio included) place plugins in the wp-content/mu-plugins folder. These are things needed for the platform to function correctly, but that you don’t ever have to make changes to. The differences in each host’s platform mean these plugins are not compatible with one another. We recommend you delete any plugin in the wp-conten/mu-plugins folder where the name doesn’t start with convesio. If you have used the Updraft plugin to do the migration, you will likely find our mu-plugins in the mu-plugins-old folder. Please move them to the mu-plugins folder to ensure your site functions correctly.
Issue 2: server-level caching
You may find advanced-cache.phpand/or object-cache.php files in wp-content. If your site is producing errors and these files exist, we recommend you delete them – it’s likely they have a dependence on your previous host’s platform setup. If these files were created by optimization plugins such as w3 Total Cache, you can deactivate and reactivate the plugin to get them generated again.
Issue 3: database-related errors
Clustered vs standalone database setup: Unlike legacy hosting platforms, Convesio uses clustered database technology to give high performance and redundancy to the database layer. Most legacy hosts use a standalone database server. The data exported from those systems can be incompatible without some manipulation. If you receive database errors of any type during migration we strongly recommend you let us complete the migration by filing a support ticket here.
Incompatible database prefix: the default database prefix on WordPress sites is wp_. In an attempt at security by obscurity, some hosts and some site developers will change this to something random. (We believe this has no benefit at all.) The Convesio platform requires the wp_ prefix, and you will be unable to assign a primary domain or issue an SSL in the control panel if your data does not comply. Again, we highly recommend you contact support here to get the database modified.
Issue 4: max file upload size
All in One WP Migration (and perhaps other backup/migration plugins) will give an error on many installs concerning the file upload size being too small. This upload size maximum is tied to your account level. We recommend Updraft instead, as it does not hit those limits. We can adjust the max upload file size for a short period (1-3 hours) if you absolutely have to use All in One. Request the increase here – please be aware this increase is a low-priority support request and may be deferred to the next business day (US time) and is not covered by any response time SLA.
Issue 5: third-party integration issues
StackPath is an example. Their service pulls content form your site and caches it in their servers, duplicating the work handled by CloudFlare in the standard Convesio setup. It is important to set up this pull to be from your domain (domain.com) and not your temporary URL (long-number.cluster.conves.io). Setting it to the temporary URL will work, but produce subtle issues such as getting logged out when trying to sort your posts by date in wp-admin. We recommend simply using the CloudFlare security and CDN that’s built in to the Convesio platform but are happy to assist in getting a third-party integration setup if your site requires it.