Hosts file

[dpittaway]

I am currently migrating a website to new hosting, and am using a hosts file edit to see the new website using the same URL.

 

However, the staff here have continued to add to the website since the backup was taken, so I will have to do a bit of cross-referencing to add the extra articles. What I would like to know is if there is a simple way to bypass the line that redirects it in the hosts file without actually editing the file itself? I would need to be checking both the old and new sites repeatedly, so could do with being able to access both installs of the site concurrently.

 

Ideally I would like to have one browser open (say Firefox) with the new website in it, and one browser open (say IE) with the old website in it, so I can quickly copy and paste the newer articles across.

 

I don't really want to have to keep editing the hosts files to jump in and out of each website to copy and paste...

 

 

The only other thing Google has yielded so far is the idea of running virtual instances of Windows to do it - surely there has to be a less complicated way?

 

Does anyone have any experiences of doing this?

[rush_tech]

Could you not just leave the live site alone and create the new site locally using something like apache friends - xampp

[dpittaway]

Could you not just leave the live site alone and create the new site locally using something like apache friends - xampp

 

Thanks for the response, although I think I'm past this point as I have the site already up on the new hosting, ready to have the extra articles added.

 

Ideally I just want to be able to access the two sites side by side if at all possible. I could still do it by logging into the old one and copy pasting batches of articles into Notepad, but I just thought it'd be a bit more convenient if there was a way to access them together and have them side by side to copy and paste. If there were a workaround where you could make one browser ignore the hosts file that'd be great, but I'm not sure if that's possible at this stage.

[Devontechie]

Thanks for the response, although I think I'm past this point as I have the site already up on the new hosting, ready to have the extra articles added.

 

Ideally I just want to be able to access the two sites side by side if at all possible. I could still do it by logging into the old one and copy pasting batches of articles into Notepad, but I just thought it'd be a bit more convenient if there was a way to access them together and have them side by side to copy and paste. If there were a workaround where you could make one browser ignore the hosts file that'd be great, but I'm not sure if that's possible at this stage.

 

There is an add on for firefox that lets you use a different host file. I have it ob my work machine but can't remember the name of it..

[mikecampbell]

Can't you just remove the line in your hosts file and access the new website directly on the address of the new hosting?

[dpittaway]

There is an add on for firefox that lets you use a different host file. I have it ob my work machine but can't remember the name of it..

Interesting, sounds like it'd do the job... if you do come up with the name feel free to let me know.

 

I have done most of the articles just by copy-pasting into notepad. Luckily they were mostly just text.

 

Now to work on why JComments aren't transferring!

[Devontechie]

Interesting, sounds like it'd do the job... if you do come up with the name feel free to let me know.

 

I have done most of the articles just by copy-pasting into notepad. Luckily they were mostly just text.

 

Now to work on why JComments aren't transferring!

@dpittaway sorry, I forgot about this! The plugin for FireFox is called Change Hosts

Edited July 10, 2013 by Devontechie

[penfold_99]

I use Host Switcher for Firefox which is very useful when using it with multiple sites.

[dpittaway]

Nice one guys, I will check these out!