Moving a PrestaShop 1.4 webshop

 When moving a PrestaShop version 1.4 webshop to a new domain name (from a development server to a live site for example) you must do the following: 

  1. Make sure all directories are writeable according to the PrestaShop installation instructions.
    Don’t forget that the files in config directory must be writeable as well as the entire cache directory structure. All files and directories in tools/smarty/compiletools/smarty/cache, tools/smarty_v2/cache and smarty_v2/compile must also be writeable.
    Internal server error 500 is a sign that these directories or files are not writeable.
  2. Update the file config/settings.php regarding PS base URI (if that will change) and the database settings.
  3. After importing the database on the new server use a tool like phpMyAdmin to access the database.
  4. Login to the Back Office of your shop on the new domain and go to Settings -> SEO & URLS and update the domain name for the shop (two fields). If this is not successful use the steps 5-7, otherwise go to step 8.
  5. Find a table named ps_configuration.
  6. Find the records PS_SHOP_DOMAIN and PS_SHOP_DOMAIN_SSL
  7. Update the values with your new domain name. You should enter just the domain name, no leading http:// or trailing path to subirectories (if your shop is located in a subdirectory, that should be entered in the PS base URI in step 1).
  8. If you use .htaccess and robots.txt files, go to Tools -> Generators and regenerate them.