Can’t Access WordPress Website After Migration to DigitalOcean

During our ongoing migration to the cloud, we have encountered a couple of snags that have frustrated us. One issue that has continually popped up is that we cannot seem to access our wordpress website. We have tried several different methods to remedy this issue, but have been unsuccessful. We would like to help others who might be experiencing similar issues.

Migration Overview

We have been using Amazon Web Services (AWS) for about three years now as our hosting provider. AWS offers several different types of hosting services, with the most popular one being DigitalOcean. We evaluated several other hosting plans before settling on DigitalOcean as it met all of our requirements. In addition, their support is outstanding, and they are incredibly easy to work with. This is also thanks to their helpful community of support members that are available via live chat at all times. We were able to migrate all of our WordPress sites to DigitalOcean with minimal effort and without any glitches.

However, during the course of our migration, we did encounter a few issues that we would like to discuss. First off, let’s discuss the difficulty of accessing our sites. As mentioned above, we have been using AWS as our web host for the last three years. During that time, we have not had any problems accessing any of our sites or services, including WordPress. However, after migrating to DigitalOcean, we have been unable to access some of our WordPress sites. On the plus side, we have been able to access all of our sites using the HTTPS protocol, which provides us with added security. We will discuss this security issue in more detail below.

Accessing Our Sites Using HTTP vs HTTPS

When we initially set up our AWS account, we enabled HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) to provide access to our sites from anywhere. This is a standard setting that most web hosts offer these days. As a result, whenever someone visits one of our sites using a conventional web browser, such as Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox, they will be directed to use the HTTP protocol. While this offers some advantages (it is very easy to use and requires minimal technical knowledge), it also creates a few privacy issues. When you use the HTTP protocol, every move you make on the site is logged by the hosting provider, and they can see everything you visit.

To provide a better experience for our readers while maintaining privacy, we decided to use HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) instead. When using the HTTPS protocol, browsers will attempt to establish a secure connection with your server, and all requests made by the browser are logged. This means that although the hosting provider can still see what you are doing on the site, they cannot associate your actions with you as a person. This is why many people prefer to use the HTTPS protocol.

We chose the DigitalOcean platform because it automatically provides you with a free domain for your site if you use the popular namecheap domain registry. You can get a free domain with basic hosting packages, and they also provide you with dedicated IP addresses, which provide you with added security. It is important to note that you can use the www subdomain for your site even if you have a namecheap domain. This means that www.yourdomain.com is the same as yourdomain.com.

Why Won’t My Sites Open in Incognito Mode?

Some people prefer to use their computer in incognito mode, which means that their web browser does not store any browsing history. When users use incognito mode, they expect all websites they visit to be anonymous. Unfortunately, this is not the case when you use the DigitalOcean service, as their website visits are stored in a log file and can be accessed by the hosting company. This creates a privacy concern for people who prefer to use incognito mode because they do not want websites they visit to be associated with them.

Accessing Our Sites Using Alternative Browsers

If you are using an alternative browser, such as Firefox or Opera, and you try to access one of our sites, you will notice that the login page does not display correctly. In most cases, this is because the login page has been optimized for use with a conventional web browser, such as Chrome or Safari. To ensure that you can access all of our sites, you will need to use the same browser (Chrome, Safari, or Firefox) that was originally used to create the login page.

While this solution may be suitable for some people, it creates additional complexity, especially if you want to use a different browser on a daily basis. If you use several different browsers, you may experience problems when trying to access one of our sites (the one that you just tried to access using Firefox, for example).

Additional Issues

Even though we were able to migrate all of our WordPress sites to the cloud successfully, we still had a couple of teething issues that we would like to point out. First off, if you try to create a new post while you are logged out of your WordPress account, you will receive an error message that your account is currently unavailable. This is because we were using the standard WordPress login that is accessible from anywhere. Since the login is standard, anyone can easily access it. This means that if you try to create a new post while you are logged out or if someone else tries to access your account, they will see the error message. To create a new post while logged out, you will need to use a different login that is only accessible from specific websites or locations (such as your own IP address).

The standard WordPress login is easy to use and very convenient. However, this also means that anyone can easily access it, which we did not want. To prevent this, we have used two-factor authentication (2FA) with Google Authenticator to create a more secure login. If you use this type of login, every time you try to login to one of our sites, you will be prompted to provide a code (usually a 6-digit number) that was sent to your mobile phone. This code is used to verify that you are who you say you are. While this creates an additional layer of security, it is not for the faint of heart. If you lose your mobile phone, you will not be able to log in to any of our sites. In our case, we have linked our Google Authenticator code to our AWS account, so if we lose our phone or switch accounts, we will have to create a new code. We highly recommend using 2FA with Google Authenticator for your WordPress login, as it adds an extra layer of security that can only be good.

These are just some of the common issues that people encounter when migrating to the cloud. While working with a trusted hosting provider can eliminate many of these problems, it is still essential to be mindful of others that remain even after the cloud migration is complete. If you encounter any issues when using the cloud, please feel free to reach out to us via our contact form so that we can help resolve them. And if you liked this article, then you may also want to check out our guide to migrating WordPress sites to the cloud for more information.