If you do the steps in the correct order it is a quick and easy process.  If you do them in the wrong order (like this webchicklet did), well, you better get up and make another pot of coffee.  That being said, I figure I’m not the only one doing this kind of thing, so here’s a quick step by step guide on how to transfer ownership of a phpld link directory, including how to export the phpld sql link database, and import it into the new installation on the buyers side.

First off, things started off good as the buyer wanted to host the phpld directory at Hostmonster, the best web hosting service in my opinion, and the one where my phpld link directory was currently hosted.  So I was already comfortable with their very easy to use cpanel and file manager.

This assumes you’ve transferred the domain and have the hosting set up for the buyer.

Step 1:  Export your current phpld link directory sql database to your computer.

Open your hosts cpanel and select PHPMyAdmin in the Databases section.  Select the database your phpld link directory is using and you’ll see a screen like this (click on photo to enlarge):

Select the Export tab, it’ll default to sql file, and hit go to export and save the file to your computer.

Step 2: Copy all files and directories in your current templates folder

Using FileZilla, or your ftp client of choice, log in to your current host and navigate to the directory your phpld installation resides.

Open the templates directory, and download the entire contents to a new folder on your computer.

Step 3: Create new database on new (buyers) server

Login to your buyers cpanel, or have him/her log into it if they are doing it themselves.  Open up MySQL Database Wizard and run through the easy steps of creating a new db name, a new database user/password, and grant all writing permissions.  Be sure to write down all these database names and user/passwords, as you’ll need them for the new phpld installation.

Step 4: Import your saved database into new server’s database

Now that you’ve created a new (and empty) phpld database, you’ll need to import the sql database that you saved from your old host.

Open phpMyAdmin in cpanel again (on the buyers/new host), select the database you just created, and select the Import tab on top.  Hit the Choose File button, and select the saveddbname.sql file you had exported earlier.

Hit Go, and barring any unforseen problems it should populate the new databse with all the users, links, emails, etc that were stored in the phpld link directory.

Step 5: Download and install new PHPLD script on new server

This one is easy, just upload all the script files/directories and follow the Phpld install instructions from the install.txt file included in the download.

Step 6: Upload your saved template files to the new PHPLD installation

Using FileZilla again, upload the template files to the template directory (overwriting the existing ones if you are using the FREE PHPLD version 2.x).  If you are using the paid version of PHPLD (version 4) you can just upload the templates into their own sub directory and then switch templates via phpld admin menu.

And there you have it, the phpld link directory should be up and running, looking exactly as it did on your old host/server, with all the links, featured links, partner links, etc. intact.  As usual, if you have any questions let me know in the comments below.