I want to change hosting company, however current hosting company are not contactable

[cosmic_bird]

I have a big issue with the company currently hosting my website. My website is still up online. The problem is that I haven't been able to contact anyone at the hosting company since November 2011. In fact I think it is run by just one person and he just will not get back to me anymore.

My website is running on the wordpress platform so I can still edit some content. However the my real problem is that I don't have access to the database.

Is it possible to change hosting company without involving the current hosting company?

[TechnoBear]

Probably.

If you're using cPanel, you should be able to do a full backup of the site, then ask the new hosting company to restore it for you. I believe it's also possible to backup through WordPress, but you'd need somebody else to advise you there, as I don't use WordPress. You would also need to have access to the domain settings to change the nameservers.

[cosmic_bird]

I have access to the nameservers for sure. I don't know about the Cpanel.

[TechnoBear]

I found this article, which suggests I'm wrong about being able to backup from within WordPress, but it's several years old and things might have changed.

If you've never logged into your hosting control panel, an easy way to check if you have cPanel or not would be to type www.yourdomain.com/cpanel and see if a log-in screen appears. If it does, all you need to do is track down the log-in info, which your hosting company will have sent you when you signed up.

Let us know if you want to move this thread to the WordPress forum for more expert help.

[cosmic_bird]

:-) I got a ERROR 404- FILE NOT FOUND when I tried the /cpanel url

I think I will leave this post within the hosting section for the moment just to see if anyone else has any ideas.

Thanks for your help!

[TechnoBear]

OK - no problems. Sorry I can't help more.

[cosmic_bird]

I think maybe you're right about moving this to a wordpress section.

[TechnoBear]

OK - your wish is my command.

[mike.fro]

Are you able to install plugins via your Wordpress Admin? If so, just download any Backup plugin or WP Complete Backup

Otherwise, if your hosting company is not using cPanel they may be using Plesk. Simply try the following URL: http://www.yourdomain.com:8443

I strongly suggest using a simple Wordpress backup plugin though.

[mcsolas]

I have experience in ditching unresponsive hosts and have done similar things in the past. if you absolutely cannot connect to the database you could possibly use a site downloader tool to backup all of your content. The amount of work this would entail really depends upon the amount of content you have. if the situation really is as bad as you say, this is a way to move forward. if you can install plug-ins there may be a WordPress-based solution to this, as the other posters have mentioned. However that is unfamiliar territory for me at the moment as well.

do you have FTP access? This would allow you to backup your theme, media files and plugins folder.

Best of luck.

[chronosmedia]

I would just say either backup using cpanel or find a wp backup or cloning plugin. best of luck

[KCgame]

I believe your host should be running plesk and if you can login, you will be able to back up the files and database. I hope your hosting company did not register the domain name for you...