how to save webs from server to local computer...

[Dustien]

Hi All.  I have a number of websites created with Front Page being hosted at the same host I've used since 1998.  They've since grown and are saying my sites needs to moved to a cloud server for much more then I can afford to pay monthly so it looks like I'm going to be in the awful possition of having to move multiple sites (hundreds of pages and thousands of graphics and an sql database) to a new server.

Before I attempt this, I want to save a copy of each site on my computer, in case something should get lost in the move.  I created the sites in Front Page, working directly on the server side, so don't have local copies of the webs.  I've been using expression web 3 for some time now and no longer have Front Page, nor are FP extensions installed server side.

Is there a way to use Expression Web 3 to import all my webs to my computer in such a way that, if needed, they can be exported to a new server when I find one?  Thanks for any answer!

[patgeary]

For me the easiest way would be to create a new empty website, sign on to the server and copy all of the files from the remote server to the new site on your hard drive. OR you can use Filezilla or another 3rd party ftp client to dopy the files. The database will have to be backed up using the administration features of the database I believe.

I would always recommend to anyone to work on the site on your computer and then upload to the server. You can never tell what might go wrong.

Also before you start working on the site again, make sure you have a couple of good backups in case you really mess it up.

Do you realize that if you are using a retail copy of ew3 that you are entitled to a free upgrade to EW4??

pat

[Cheryl D Wise]

As Pat said the easiest wapy is to create a new local website. From there it depends on how your sites are on the server. If they are all in one location like a wwwdocs or public_html folder one local site connecting via FTP will allow you to download all the files to your computer.

You do this by creating a publishing destination to connect to your host using FTP then go to the publishing pane and use the button in the center to "get" all the files in that folder to be copied to your local site. That will probably take some time.

If they are in different directories you will probably need to create a local site for each hosted site and follow the same procedure for each one.

I'm rather skeptical about your host's claim that you "NEED" a cloud server without more iformation on the number and size of your sites. Make sure that you export your entire MySQL database so it can be recreated when you change hosting since that won't be part of your back-up.