What “taking over” means
Taking over a site starts with taking over its keys. A WordPress site has four: the domain name, the hosting, the site's administrator account, and the domain settings, known as DNS.
Often, one or two of those keys are in the name of the person who built the site five years ago. As long as that's the case, you can't move anything. So the first step isn't technical: it's finding those accesses and putting them in your name.
The steps, in order
Take inventory
Before touching anything, we look at what's there: the WordPress version, the theme, the plugins, what's up to date and what no longer is. We also note what quietly depends on the current host: email, forms, backups.
Copy the site
A WordPress site comes in two pieces: files and a database. We copy both to the new host, and run the copy at a temporary address. The live site doesn't move.
Update on the copy
This is the time to upgrade WordPress, the theme and the plugins. On the copy, not on the live site. If an update breaks a page, nobody sees it, and we have time to fix it.
Switch the domain
When the copy is good, we point the domain to the new host. The change takes a while to reach everywhere. We prepare it a few days ahead so it's short, and install the certificate that puts the padlock in the browser.
Check, then close the old one
We test the pages, the forms, and the purchases if there are any. The old hosting stays open for a few weeks, long enough to be sure. Then we close it.
The pitfalls
- Email. It's the most common one. If your mailboxes are with the old host, moving the site without thinking about it cuts off email for the whole company.
- Forms. Many sites send their forms through the server itself. After a move, those messages can land in spam, or nowhere. We test it with a real submission.
- Licences. A paid theme or plugin is sometimes in the old agency's name. The day the licence expires, the updates stop.
- Abandoned plugins. A plugin its author no longer updates is an open door. We replace it during the takeover, not after an incident.
- Backups that were never tested. A backup is only as good as its restore. We restore one before we need it.
Why in Quebec, and what Law 25 says
Law 25 doesn't require hosting in Quebec. What it requires is a privacy impact assessment before personal information is entrusted to someone based outside Quebec. A host elsewhere in Canada is covered too.
A site hosted in Quebec simplifies that question for the site itself. OVH has a data centre in Beauharnois, and that's where we host the sites we take over.
It doesn't settle everything. A form that sends its answers to an American service, an analytics tool, a newsletter: each one sends data elsewhere, no matter where the site is hosted. The inventory at the start is for that too.
What Actif does once the site is taken over
We take over the site and host it with OVH, in Quebec. We monitor it. When you have a change, you write to us and we make it.
For Law 25, we take care of what concerns the site: cookies, forms and the privacy policy.
Your domain and your accounts stay in your name. If you leave, we hand everything over, documented.
The price is written in the proposal, before we start. The first call is free.
When it's not the right solution
If the site has five pages that haven't moved in years and a theme nobody updates anymore, taking it over often isn't worth it. A new website goes live in a few days, with your old content carried over. We tell you on the first call.
If the site is mostly a store and you want to grow it, the question becomes the platform. We then look at Shopify, with the migration of orders and customer accounts.
If someone on your team updates the site every week and your host suits you, there's nothing to move.
The sites we build, take over and maintain are on our page Websites and e-commerce.