Moved WP site to new server, kept same domain name, but theme won't load

  • Hi,

    I just migrated my WP site to a new server. I uploaded the database and changed the wp-config file (the site is able to access the database). I uploaded all the files and kept the same structure.

    BUT… when I tried it out, the theme didn’t load. All I get is a list of links that should be my drop-down menus. no pictures, no background… The admin site is somewhat more functional but also doesn’t have any of the theme characteristics. I checked both the admin and the database, and the theme I would like to be used is the one that is listed as the current one.

    My guess is that the database doesn’t know where to find the theme (or specifically the css file). But why not? How do I fix that? Any thoughts?

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 21 total)

  • Have you tried switching to another theme and then back again? If that doesn’t help check wp-admin->Settings->General and make sure all of the addresses are correct. If that doesn’t help, post your URL please.

    Thread Starter dan.carmeli

    (@dancarmeli)

    I was unable to switch to a different theme through wp-admin. Clicking on “activate” or “preview” didn’t do anything. Also the screenshot didn’t show up. At this point I have changed the nameservers back to point to the old server because I couldn’t afford for the site to be down any longer. As such, I can’t do any front-end fixing through wp-admin nor will the URL provide you with any insight. However, I can still access the files and database housed on the new server. Can you recommend a way to check the same info through that avenue rather than through wp-admin?

    If need be, I may be able to change the nameservers back for limited time periods, but I would prefer to avoid doing that…

    Thanks!!

    Thread Starter dan.carmeli

    (@dancarmeli)

    I checked the settings on the admin page as it displays on the old server and the settings should work on the new server…

    Review Moving_WordPress.

    Thread Starter dan.carmeli

    (@dancarmeli)

    I did. And it says: “Note: If you are changing to a new server but same domain, all you need to do is edit wp-config.php and upload everything as it is to your new server.”

    Maybe you didn’t get all of your files uploaded correct. FTP can hang and you can end up with missing or corrupt files. Try uploading everything again.

    Also, put define('WP_DEBUG',true): in your wp-config.php and see is you get any errors.

    Also, I understand why you’d switch your nameservers back but that mikes it difficult for us to help. However, if you can post your server’s IP– the one with the borken WP on it– we can still see it.

    Thread Starter dan.carmeli

    (@dancarmeli)

    the A record IP address is 66.96.147.108. The URL (which will take you to the stable old server is https://www.ramahoutdoors.org). the new server said I can also access using https://www.ramahoutdoorsorg.ipage.com.

    As it turns out, using this URL actually displays the website almost perfectly (with a little glitch that I can fix easily). Why would it be working now…?

    I also put the code into wp-config and now there are a bunch of error messages at the top of the site…

    Thanks!
    Dan

    As it turns out, using this URL actually displays the website almost perfectly (with a little glitch that I can fix easily). Why would it be working now…?

    How long was it between the time you changed your DNS records and the time you came here asking for help?

    I also put the code into wp-config and now there are a bunch of error messages at the top of the site…

    Well, yes. That will happen. You don’t want to leave that turned on on a production server. Its just for debugging. Look at those messages. Are they notices or errors? Notices should be cleaned up but they aren’t critical. If those are errors then something is badly broken.

    Thread Starter dan.carmeli

    (@dancarmeli)

    The problems I was experiencing occurred immediately after the DNS change took effect (which was only about 3-4 hours after I made the change). Is it possible that I just needed to give it more time?

    I only have one “warning” message… the rest are notices. But I think it stems from the URL not being exactly what it would be normally.

    The problems I was experiencing occurred immediately after the DNS change took effect (which was only about 3-4 hours after I made the change). Is it possible that I just needed to give it more time?

    DNS changes officially take about 3 days, but usually at about 24 hours you’ve got most of the effects. You can’t really start to trust it for about 48 hours.

    When you connect to a site the request and the response is routed through half a dozen or more computers around the internet. What most people don’t realize is that one site load is multiple request/responses. You can be talking about 40 or more more a relatively ‘light’ site. What was happening with your site, my guess anyway, is that some of computers on the network had the old IP, others had the new IP, and you were getting information from both sites mixed and matched when you looked at your site.

    Thread Starter dan.carmeli

    (@dancarmeli)

    Thanks for the feedback! That is very reassuring. Based on your feedback, I tried switching the nameservers to the new server again and just waiting it out a little longer. So far it has been about 14 hours and it is still not working. I know I may just have to wait some more, but if you wouldn’t mind just checking it out in case you can tell right away that there is an actual problem… I left the debug function on… the URL is https://www.ramahoutdoors.org

    Thanks!

    Alright. There is a whole string of things going wrong.

    First, disable all of those plugins.

    Something odd is going on with your stylesheet: https://www.ramahoutdoors.org/wp-content/themes/ramah/style.css.

    However, if you look a bit more closely, your stylesheet is actually triggering a 403: Forbidden response– https://validator.w3.org/check?verbose=1&uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ramahoutdoors.org%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Framah%2Fstyle.css

    I suspect that the root of this is a server configuration problem especially given that you have a rather complicated Apache/Nginx/Varnish server setup. Apache I can deal with, but that plus Nginx plus Varnish is not something I’ve worked with.

    Thread Starter dan.carmeli

    (@dancarmeli)

    That does seem to make sense since the theme wasn’t loading. What should I tell the hosting service? Could it be that I am coming from a linux server to an apache one? something to do with htaccess?

    Linux is the operating system. Apache is the server software. Chances are that if you were on a Linux server, you were also on an Apache server.

    The interesting thing about your setup is that you have 1) an Apache web server, 2) another web server called Nginx, and 3) a kind of caching engine called Varnish all operating together. From the look of it, this combination makes for a very fast server but I suspect it takes some careful configuration to get it right.

    Thread Starter dan.carmeli

    (@dancarmeli)

    It has been about 40 hours now since I changed the nameservers.

    I disabled all the plugins and the only error message left is

    Notice: ob_end_clean() [ref.outcontrol]: failed to delete buffer. No buffer to delete. in /hermes/bosweb/web119/b1197/ipg.ramahoutdoorsorg/wp-includes/template-loader.php on line 46

    I spoke with the hosting service and they said they often see issues with importing wordpress to a new host (but I think he based that on issues involving a new domain name). He said he checked the server settings and they are all fine. He said I should just try reinstalling the plugins…

    Should I just give up on this transfer?

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 21 total)
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