How to Update Links When You Change Website Hosts

There’s nothing like being prepared and having the right tool for a specific job. Sometimes you have to update links across a site and all you know is that to do so manually would take hours. One of the post-move (from one host to another) things a webmaster needs to do is make sure all images and links direct properly.

During the move phase the site URL is adjusted to change the location of the website and allow access to the WordPress dashboard, but internal links are not changed which means they may be broken after the move.

To fix internal links and image paths, users can run the Velvet Blues Update URLs plugin after the WordPress move is complete. The plugin makes the process very easy and painless. Here’s how to use the plugin successfully.

Warning: Link structure must be maintained in order for this process to function properly. Example: If during your WordPress move your URL was changed to yourdomain.com (without the www), then the new URL in Velvet Blues Update URLs must be entered without the www as well.

Troubleshooting

It should be noted that changing links on a wide scale like this can be unpredictable. Here are some things to check if your link changes don’t work as expected.

  • You’ve just changed your entire link structure and if none of them seem to be working, empty your cache and reload the page. Then test them again.
  • Updating urls has to be precise. Make sure you entered the urls accurately.
  • If Velvet Blues doesn’t work, try the Search and Replace plugin.
  • If all else fails and plugins won’t work, you can manually edit the database file to reflect the changes. Open the .sql file in a text editor and replace references to the old URL with the new URL. Save and restore the database. Note: Again, you must be precise. Replace the entire URL to ensure it is done properly.