Re-design of website

[mmercer]

What is the recommended way to re-design a web-site, without compromising your live version? I have a Pro Account for  our current site. Is there an easy way to do this?  Thanks!

[mmercer]

Hi Naheed,

Thanks for your reply. I'm actually inquiring about the behind the scenes changes I need to make. i.e., Do I need to use a different domain name when I do this, so my live site doesn't change? I've noticed when I remove images from my live site, even though I don't publish it, it still removes them on my live site. Therefore, it seems I don't want to use that same domain when I do this. I just need to know the best way to go about this.

Thanks,

Malia

[seicolegwr · Accepted solution]

@mmercer 

I've done this before. The safest way I found was to copy the entire website. You'll need to use a different domain name for the copied site so give it a temporary weebly subdomain and hide it from search engines. Sometimes if you have two websites in one account using the same theme they can conflict (i.e. changes made to one can impact on the other), so either use a different theme or change the theme name to something unique if you customise.

When you're happy with your new site unpublish your old site and rename it using a weebly subdomain. Next, apply your proper domain name to the new site, publish and allow search engines to find it. It should be a seamless change for anyone searching for you or using your URL. Leave it a few days to make sure all is well with the new site, then delete the old site. You'd have to make sure your new site was at least on the Connect plan to shift the domain name across, however.

Hope this helps, Gary

[mmercer]

Gary you're the best!! Thank you, this is exactly what I was looking for. And thanks for the hot tip on the themes, I've noticed a bit of that. I'm using a new theme so no worries there.

I'm printing out your post and when I'm ready to transfer everything I'll have your advice at the ready. : )

Thanks again!

Malia

[TerraBona]

So, I drop down the 3 dot menu by my site that I want to copy, and select copy site.  But I never can find the copied site - where do I look for it?  Thanks

[Adam7]

After the copy finishes, you should be able to refresh and see the copy within the list of sites in your account. Depending on the size of the site it might take a little while for the copy to complete.