Moving hosting without moving platforms: what actually changes

Define what hosting-only means for this store

Save a dated WooCommerce system status report from each environment. WooCommerce documents the server environment, WordPress and WooCommerce versions, active plugin versions, site address and checkout page. Compare those fields with the intended move. If a plugin, version or assigned checkout page also changed, record that as an additional change; the investigation can no longer assume that only the host differs.

The report provides an environment inventory, not proof of a completed order. WooCommerce also describes gateway communication with remote servers through cURL. An unchanged gateway plugin therefore does not, by itself, establish that its server-side communication still works. Keep real gateway communication errors and order observations beside the report, with their times and the installation that produced them.

Trace the mail sender before editing authentication

Identify the service that actually sends order mail and the service that manages the domain's DNS. Neither has to be the website host. WooCommerce recommends a From address on the store domain and describes SPF, DKIM and DMARC configuration through the host or sending service. Compare the actual sender and authentication records with the move's scope. If the sender and relevant DNS records stayed unchanged, do not replace them merely because the website now runs elsewhere.

Separate the order event, the send attempt and receipt. WooCommerce's email guide says a pending-payment order does not trigger the paid-order email; a processing order should generate that notification when it is enabled. It also distinguishes sending from delivery. For a genuine order after the move, an available log saying sent establishes a handoff to the mail system, not arrival in the buyer's inbox. Record receipt only when you have actual delivery evidence or a recipient confirmation. An absent send attempt needs a different investigation from a message handed off but not received.

Inspect the environment dependencies your installation uses

Ask the person operating the store to identify its existing scheduled tasks and background jobs, where they run and the records showing their last completion. Compare that inventory after the move. A task outside the copied website files needs its own continuity record. Do not assume every installation uses the same scheduler, or that an empty error log proves a job ran. If no execution record exists, mark completion unverified rather than running an order-changing job just to fill the sheet.

Open the real images and public files the store depends on, and identify whether each is supplied by the new host or an unchanged external service. Record a failing URL and the observed response. For checkout response time, compare the same visible step using available observations with the time, browser and conditions recorded. A different host name or one fast page load does not establish a performance improvement or locate a delay.

Have the responsible operator compare the certificate, HTTPS behavior and security headers actually used at the store's public URLs with the earlier configuration. Record where each setting is managed, including an external service if one is in use. The worksheet calls for observations and configuration evidence; it does not prescribe a universal header set or assert that moving hosts necessarily changes TLS.

Close each dependency with evidence and a named owner

Classify each row as unchanged with evidence, changed and verified, unresolved, or not used by this installation. A remembered statement that the old store worked is weaker than a dated report, a known file URL or an actual order record. If there is no before-move record, say so. You can still document the current result, but cannot claim a measured improvement or prove when a defect began.

Send the unresolved dependency to its actual owner: the mail service for a documented delivery gap, the host or site operator for an environment difference, or the integration maintainer for a gateway communication error. For a Prism checkout consultation, summarize the move, the unchanged checkout and the specific observed difference. Scope, responsibilities, fees and terms are confirmed before work; the consultation does not authorize a migration or establish provider approval.

Host-dependency check

Use the final column for the before record, after record, status and owner of each actual dependency. Missing evidence stays unresolved. This is a comparison of your installation, not a claim that every hosting move alters every row.

Worksheet entries are not submitted by Prism’s worksheet and are not saved by the site. Use record types, availability, anonymized observations, or match/mismatch results. Do not enter government identifiers, customer names or addresses, customer messages, receipt-access links, card or bank details, passwords, or keys. Send sensitive documents only through the provider’s verified secure channel.

These are temporary notes. Leaving or reloading this page may clear them. Worksheet entries are not sent automatically. If you copy notes into the consultation message and submit the form, Prism receives them as part of your request.