How to move your MODx website to a subdomain

A while ago, I needed to move an existing custom-themed (named ArtDeco) MODx Evolution 1.0.3 website from the main domain to a subdomain on the same server. As I’d never moved a MODx site before, I set out searching. What I found was bits and pieces of information, mainly dealing with a move from one server to another. But nothing on an internal move. It seemed logical that this would actually be less complicated than a server-to-server move, so I decided to just do the move, and see what happens. It turned out to be quite simple. Just follow these steps, and you should be home free!

1. Create the subdomain

2. Using FTP, copy the ‘Assets’ and ‘Manager’ folders, as well as the ‘ht.access’, ‘index.php’ and ‘index-ajax.php’ files to the subdomain folder.

3. Log on to the MODx manager on the main domain, and adjust the following paths from Tools –> Interface & Features:
a. File base path: /var/www/vhosts/yourdomain.com/subdomains/subdomain.yourdomain.com/httpdocs/assets/
b. CSS path: /var/www/vhosts/yourdomain.com/subdomains/subdomain.yourdomain.com/httpdocs/assets/templates/mytemplates/ArtDeco/styles/main.css

4. That should be it. Now check your subdomain to see if the site is online, and you can log on to the manager.

5. If that all works, move the files & folders from step 2 from yourdomain.com to a temporary folder.

6. Check again if the site and the manager work properly.

7. Remove the temporary folder once you’re sure everything is working.

That’s it. For a CMS, MODx seems to be built in quite a simple fashion, allowing for such an easy process!