Overview
The following is a quick overview of how to connect to your DreamHost web server and upload your website files. There are two primary parts of your website you will need to upload:
- The website files
- The website's database
Prerequisites
This article assumes you have already added a hosting plan to your domain at DreamHost.
Uploading your website content
These steps upload your website files, import your database, and point your DNS.
Uploading website files
Download an FTP client
-
First, you will need to download an FTP client to your computer. This software allows you to upload your website files to your DreamHost server.
Alternatively, you could use DreamHost's website file manager, which is an FTP client built into your DreamHost panel. See the following article for more information:
Log into your server
-
Next, you will log into your server using your FTP client. See the following article for instructions:
Upload your website files
-
Once you're logged in, you'll see several files and folders. You will need to navigate into your website directory to upload your files. View the following article for instructions on locating this directory:
Importing your site's database
Your website may also use a database in addition to its website files. If you have a database, see the following articles for instructions on uploading it to DreamHost:
Pointing DNS
At this point, your website is uploaded to DreamHost. However, for it to display online from your DreamHost server, the domain's DNS must point to DreamHost.
- If you purchased your domain registration from DreamHost, the DNS should already be pointing to DreamHost.
- If you purchased your domain registration at another company, you need to point its DNS to DreamHost.
See this article to confirm where your DNS is currently pointing. If necessary, you can then follow the steps in the following article to point your DNS to DreamHost from your current registrar.
WordPress migration options
DreamHost offers several migration options for websites that were built using WordPress. See the following article for different ways to migrate your WordPress site.
WordPress Migration Service
If you are having trouble migrating your website from another host or just don't have the time, DreamHost offers a WordPress Migration Service that takes care of this for you. You can find more information in the DreamHost Website migration services article.
If your WordPress site is already hosted at DreamHost and you need to move it to another DreamHost account, view the following article instead.
Troubleshooting
It's possible that after uploading your site, you only see a "Parent directory" on the page. This often occurs for the following reasons:
- the files were not uploaded to your website directory.
- you used the FTP credentials of another user when logging into your server.
Reviewing the steps above to confirm this information should fix this issue.