Originally Posted by
henno
AndyP, I can assume you're referring to DNS propagation issues, but here's what I do.
Create a mirror of the site on the new server.
Prepare for the DNS change on that server.
Create a redirect script to go from ozgolf.net to new.ozgolf.net (but call it index.txt or something)
Freeze the old site, and upload the most up-to-date database to the new server. (This should be the only downtime, and it's just to ensure no stray posts are left on the old site)
Change the redirect script to index.html and now everyone will be automatically posting on new.ozgolf.net
Make the DNS changes at the domain registrar so that ozgolf.net now points to the new server.
That's pretty much it. While DNS is propagating and people are still directed to the old server, they will automatically redirected to new.ozgolf.net. Once DNS is propagated, ozgolf.net will go to the new server automatically (providing the initial setup is done right).
All you need to do is maybe clean up the new.ozgolf.net references in a week or two, just to maintain a tidy house.