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How to access the WordPress admin dashboard before domain points to the server?

Brianhip

Novice
Member
Hello,

I have moved my WordPress website from the old server to a new server & I want to check my website from the frontend & backend both before domain point to the new server. I received a Cpanel email which includes a temp URL & when I try to access the website with temp url http://server ip address/~username it shows the website. but when I try to access the wp-admin area with temp url http://server ip address/~username/wp-admin it gives a 500 error. is there a way to access the Wordpress admin area before domain points to the server?

Thanks
 
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  • Hi Brian.

    We're new to his forum and thought we'd give it a shot - First post here, you can access the Wordpress Admin area without updating nameservers by updating your hosts file (if on windows).

    This is an excerpt from our knowledge base which advises how to change hosts file:

    Step 6.1 - Updating your host files involves a few steps. These steps are for Windows, we will have an updated guide for all operating systems in the future.

    Step 6.2 - Press the Windows Key and type 'Notepad'

    Step 6.3 - Right click Notepad and select 'Run as Administrator'

    Step 6.4 - From notepad, open the following file: 'c:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc\hosts'

    Step 6.5 - At the bottom of the file, insert your Website IP (Found via your cPanel information) and then your website domain name like so:

    111.222.333.444 example.com.au

    Step 6.6 - Save the file. This takes effect ONLY for your computer, not anyone else, and should be used for testing sites before you migrate or launch.

    Hope that helps, if you have troubles just tag me in this thread - Hopefully I'll get an email notification or something :)
     
    Hi Brian.

    We're new to his forum and thought we'd give it a shot - First post here, you can access the Wordpress Admin area without updating nameservers by updating your hosts file (if on windows).

    This is an excerpt from our knowledge base which advises how to change hosts file:

    Step 6.1 - Updating your host files involves a few steps. These steps are for Windows, we will have an updated guide for all operating systems in the future.

    Step 6.2 - Press the Windows Key and type 'Notepad'

    Step 6.3 - Right click Notepad and select 'Run as Administrator'

    Step 6.4 - From notepad, open the following file: 'c:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc\hosts'

    Step 6.5 - At the bottom of the file, insert your Website IP (Found via your cPanel information) and then your website domain name like so:

    111.222.333.444 example.com.au

    Step 6.6 - Save the file. This takes effect ONLY for your computer, not anyone else, and should be used for testing sites before you migrate or launch.

    Hope that helps, if you have troubles just tag me in this thread - Hopefully I'll get an email notification or something :)


    @Obble The article you posted is for a site hosted locally on Windows - not on CPanel.
    @Brianhip, check the apache settings to allow permissions for the folder and also the .htaccess rules. Additionally, have a look at the apache log file /var/log/apache/error.log - it will give you a great insight as of what the most likely issue is
     
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  • @Obbie, The article you posted is for a site hosted locally on Windows - not on CPanel.
    @Brianhip, check the apache settings to allow permissions for the folder and also the .htaccess rules. Additionally, have a look at the apache log file /var/log/apache/error.log - it will give you a great insight as of what the most likely issue is

    That article is for users who are running windows, but works for cPanel hosted websites on linux or windows. It works by changing the way your PC accesses a website and which IP your personal computer points to, essentially.

    OPs issue was being able to access the site without updating domain name servers, updating the hosts file can do this - No need to change any apache settings as they won't resolve the issue in particular that OP has.
     

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