Changing the website URL in Joomla

If you migrate your Joomla site to a new server or domain, you may need to update the site URL so that pages display correctly. On ruachost.com, this is done by editing the Joomla configuration file.

Why Change the URL?

• After migrating Joomla to a new hosting account or server.
• When switching from HTTP to HTTPS.
• If you change your domain name.
• To correct display issues caused by mismatched URLs.

Steps to Change the Joomla Website URL

1. Log in to your hosting account via SSH or File Manager.

2. Navigate to the directory where Joomla is installed.

3. Open the configuration.php file in a text editor.

4. Locate the line that begins:

   public $live_site =

5. Update it with your new site URL. For example:

   public $live_site = 'http://www.example.com';

6. Save the file.

Important Notes

• If the $live_site setting is blank, do not change it. Only update it if a domain name is already defined.

• Also check the following lines in configuration.php:

  public $log_path =
  public $tmp_path =

  Make sure they point to the correct paths for your Joomla installation.

• Always back up your site before making configuration changes.

• Clear Joomla cache after updating the URL.