The question we hear most often is not “What does it cost?” but “Do I have to redo my website?”. The answer is no. Whether it was built with WordPress, TYPO3, Wix, Jimdo or Squarespace, or ten years ago by an agency that no longer exists: your assistant takes it over the way it appears in the browser.
How the takeover works
- Name it. Tell your assistant in the connected conversation which website is yours: “Take over my website www.example.ch.”
- Confirm. So that nobody collects other people’s websites, you show once that the website is yours. There are two ways: you put a small text file on your web space, or you add an entry in your domain’s DNS settings. The assistant tells you the exact content.
- Take it over. The assistant fetches the website page by page, with images, fonts and styles. At the end you get a report: what was taken over and what was not.
- Look at it and carry on. You see the website in the preview. From then on you change it in conversation, with versions and a way back.
What happens – and what you should know beforehand
What is taken over is what your visitors see: the finished pages. For a website with a content management system, that means:
- The CMS website becomes a website without a CMS. No more login, no updates, no plugins – and nothing that can be hacked. But no content management system either. From then on it is maintained in conversation. Why we think that is the better way for most small websites is explained on Website without a CMS.
- Forms need a new solution. A WordPress contact form has no program behind it any more after the takeover. The assistant rebuilds it, for example with the PHP add-on, see What you can build.
- Header and footer are in every page. If the footer changes, the assistant changes it in all pages at once.
- Addresses with a question mark (for example
?page_id=12) cannot become a page of their own. They are listed in the report, so nothing goes missing without you knowing.
An example: the club with the old WordPress website
A gymnastics club has a WordPress website a member built years ago. The member has moved away, nobody quite knows the password any more, and WordPress announces new updates every time someone opens the admin area. The president just wants to keep the training schedule and the calendar up to date.
With MADLAB // Publishing it goes like this: she connects her assistant, says “Take over gym-example.ch” and puts the small text file the assistant names on the server through her host’s file manager. A few minutes later the website is in the preview, with all pages and images. The report mentions two things that did not come across: the contact form and a search page with a question mark in its address. The assistant rebuilds the form; the club no longer needs the search. From then on the president changes the training schedule by dictating it to the assistant – and nobody ever has to update the WordPress admin area again.
What is taken over – and what is not
| Taken over | Not taken over |
|---|---|
| all pages under your address | pages on other domains |
| images, fonts and styles | the content management system and its database |
| menus and links between pages | addresses with a question mark |
| texts with correct characters, even on older websites with accents | forms with a program behind them |
What is not taken over is listed in the report. That way you know beforehand what the assistant should rebuild, rather than when a visitor asks.
Static HTML? Then it is even more direct
If your website consists of plain HTML files and you can get at them, the direct way is better: the assistant gives you an upload address, and you upload the whole website as a ZIP. Then you have the real files, one to one. See Uploading images and files.
And then?
The website you took over lives with us, with all its versions. Where it is published is up to you:
- With us, on “Website – MADLAB hosting” for CHF 16.90 per month including VAT. Hosting in Switzerland and the EU, no badge, findable. You bring your domain along, see Connecting a domain you already have.
- On your current web space, with “Website – your own hosting” for CHF 9.90 per month. MADLAB // Publishing then transfers only the changed files there when you publish. That is how our own website madlab.ch works.
The takeover itself also works on the free plan. That way you see that your website really is here before you choose a plan. On the free plan there are limits on size and number of files; a larger website stops with a report that says why.
Frequently asked questions
Can I take over my WordPress website?
Yes. The finished pages are taken over, the way they appear in the browser. After that there is no WordPress login any more; you maintain the website in conversation with your assistant.
Does it work with Wix, Jimdo or Squarespace?
Yes. These builders give no access to the files, so the assistant fetches the pages the way they are delivered.
Why do I have to confirm that the website is mine?
So that nobody copies other people’s websites. A text file on your web space or an entry in your domain’s DNS settings is enough, and only once.
What about my forms?
Forms from a CMS have no program behind them any more after the takeover. The assistant rebuilds them, for example with the PHP add-on on our hosting.
Does the takeover cost anything?
No, it works on the free plan too. You only pay when the website should go live under your own domain and without a badge.