Avoiding interruptions during publishing
When the website is ready to be published, it's time to update the DNS records. This is be done by editing the DNS records so that the domain (example.com) will begin to direct web traffic and visitors to the new server. The global Domain Name System has it's own caches, which causes a short period – for example, an hour – during which the DNS is still updating itself with the new data (also known as DNS propagation). During this time, some visitors may be directed to the old server, and the rest to the new one. For this reason, we recommend doing these changes to the DNS when the website doesn't have many visitors: this could be late in the evening or during the night, for example. This way the propagating DNS records (and any other possible interruptions during publishing) will not be visible to the website's visitors.
If you have transferred your domain to Seravo and the DNS is in our control, you need not worry about the DNS – we'll do do the necessary changes for you when it's time to publish your website.
If you wish us to take care of the publishing for you, and to eventually control the DNS yourself with Seravo plugin in WordPress, get in touch with us to initiate a domain transfer – all we need from your current service provider are the domain transfer key and DNS records (and that the domain transfer lock has been lifted!)
If you wish to use external nameservers and control the DNS elsewhere, please make sure the IP addresses provided by Seravo are used in the DNS records. Information about the server cluster of your website and the records required to direct the web traffic to Seravo were sent at the time of delivering your order, along with the credentials to your website. You can also find more information in this help article.
The WordPress settings (siteurl, home)
Right after redirecting the domain's web traffic by updating the DNS records (within an hour, for example) information of the new domain should also be updated to WordPress' own settings. These settings are named ' siteurl' and 'home'. In addition, the temporary domain (example.fi-r.seravo.com) initially used on the website must be updated to the correct domain in the database.
Seravo's automation is able to change these settings for you only at the time of publishing. If your website has already been published before and you wish to change the website's domain from example.com to example.net, this should be done manually. To find out how to change home and siteurl settings from the command line with WP-CLI and how to use the search-replace command to update your website's database, please see our instructions.
HTTPS certificate
Another procedure to be done right after redirecting the domain is to implement a HTTPS certificate. All of our websites come with Let's Encrypt SSL, and we'll take care of implementing the certificate for you!
Please note there may be some delay in acquiring the certificate. Incorrectly configured DNS may also result in the certificate not working as intended. If you have any questions about the certificates or the process in general, don't hesitate to get in touch with us prior to publishing. If the website was published ages ago and the certificate still won't work, please get in touch with us and we'll have a look!
How long does it take to publish a website?
Generating a certificate, taking care of the WordPress settings and database as well as updating the DNS takes time, and thus directing web traffic to a new server is not as straightforward as it might first seem. If you're planning to publish a website on Seravo's servers and the domain has been transferred to us, and DNS is in our control, you can rest assured your website can be published in 1-2 hours. However, it's always a good idea to get in touch with us and agree on a go-live time with us beforehand, so that we can make preparations to ensure the publishing process of your Seravo WordPress website will be as smooth as possible.
When You Can't Afford Failure, Leave it to the Experts
If the functionality of the site is crucial, it's better to leave the publishing to the hands of someone who does it routinely for a living! Have a look at our Expert Services and get in touch with us to order our Launch Team to carry out the publishing for you. Your website will be tested for functionality beforehand in Seravo's test enviroment, which helps to avoid unforeseen obstacles and errors.
