2 Servers but 1 WordPress

Not normally. Normally, the database in which the WordPress data is stored is on the local server. So if you edit the content on the old server, it is and remains only there and is not transferred to the new server. In rare cases, however, a hoster could also ensure synchronization here. If you have any questions, please contact your hoster.

Incidentally, such DNS changes should only take a maximum of 24 hours. I think you could also wait this time before you open up further sites or create additional work for yourself.

You can check the propagation progress of any DNS change at https://www.whatsmydns.net/

Many hosts and registrars say it can take up to 48 hours, but I’ve never encountered any change that’s that slow. It’s more typically several hours. If you’re waiting for a host to change DNS records, that’s another story entirely. The 24 to 48 hours is for propagation time after a change is made.

I recommend deferring any edits until you’re sure you’re modifying the new site. Edits are not usually so urgent that you can’t wait a day or so. If it is so urgent, you may need to do it twice.

Thanks to both of you guys. Thats helpful. Just in terms of wording, it’s not a new site, it’s a new host, but the inference is that I wouldn’t have the changes made from the old host server, when I actually switch to the new host server.

I think then I will backup the WP site just before changing DNS entries, and restore it when DNS is complete. I can see a few backup plugins around, but I’m guessing that WP has a good backup and restore option already. I’d want to ensure I had all the images etc with it. Do you happen to know if that’s possible without a plugin?

Thanks

WP core has no built-in back up feature. You can accomplish backups by either doing it manually or via one of the plugins available. A manual backup is not that difficult to do. The problem is it takes a little extra effort and we tend to procrastinate or forget to do so on a regular basis.

Backing up is good, but it’s unclear to me why you’d need to restore from backup as part of a common migration to a new host. Are you using the backup to actually accomplish the migration? If so, that’s OK. There are also a number of migration plugins that work in a similar manner. Since you’re keeping the same domain name there’s little difference between backup/restore and migration.

Thanks. So I was confused about that. I’ve not yet got full migration via Plesk. Waiting on a tech issue to sort. Meanwhile I had to sort stuff out on my site and wasn’t clear if what was sorted whilst it points to my current server that the fixes would be fine, from the moment I pointed to the new server. That’s all. I think it would be the same, but as I can log in to WP from both servers at the moment, I began to wonder?

If you’ve already made a backup or migration data set, there is no point in making changes to your old site. Change the new one.

If you’ve already made DNS changes, during the propagation period you cannot be sure which site you’re seeing unless you’ve made discernible changes to one site or the other. Once propagation is complete, you no longer can access the old WP site unless it’s via a temporary domain your old host provided. However, as long as you have access to your old hosting account, you can still access data via the account’s file manager and phpMyAdmin.