I respectfully hope my questio belongs here, but if not, I also hope that the moderator will set me straight.

This is a really basic question but one I have not faced before. I have built a WordPress site using ATA. The project is a makeover. The pre-existing site continues functioning on its original server while I develop on my servere.

So, now that the makeover is done, the client is ready to repont the DNS to my server.

The temp address for development is based on the server IP# and looks omething like this

http://xx.xx.xxx.xx/~site

So where exactly do I change that to http://domainname.com/

Am i right i thinking that the config file in WP is the place to edit?

Feedback please?

You would change it in the General settings of WordPress in the two URL boxes. Seeing that it is an IP you should be in good position to wait until propagation to make this change. You can make it now but the site will be unavailable until after propagation.

After the site is working with the proper address I then go through all the theme settings and change any paths that have the IP in them. I also use a search and replace plugin that can in bulk change all the links in the content from the IP to the real name. Be careful with these tools and methods though as you can inadvertently lock yourself out of the site and have to get into MyPHP to adjust things.

I hope that helps.

That's exactly what I needed. If there is a global search and replace plugin I have not heard of it. What are you using?

Back in the day - when I as entirely defendant on Microsoft Front Page (whoo-hoo) their global search and replace was a favorite tool. So much so, that for years after I stopped using FP as a site builder, I would load up a site and run FP on it just for that feature.

I always run a full backup using cPanel, before doing any work on a site. Backups are the single most important thing one can do to stay sane.

I use the Search and Replace plugin.

That looks excellent. Thanks again for the help.