How do I move my site from my subdomain?

I've been working on my site so I have it hosted on my subdomain (.test).  But now I want to move it to my main domain.  What is the best way to do this?

 you should be able to move the files via ftp and then in the header inc file change the path to the new path and just leave the db as is

After you move it you need to edit /inc/header.inc.php

Change the url and file path 

test.domain.com

to domain.com

/home/user/public_html/test/

to  /home/user/public_html/

Then move the files over to the public_html folder

Then update the cron job path

Then just because clear the dolphin cache folders

How is the site structured physically on the server?  What type of hosting do you have?  Depending on how you have the subdomain setup, it may be as simple as pointing the top domain to your site.  If you have hosting where the top domain points to the web root and you can not change this; and you have the test site in a directory off of the web root; and you are running Apache as the server, then you can put a simple .htaccess in the root to redirect the top domain to the test directory.

I had a similar setup as described on a shared Apache hosting account and I would test out all kinds of social applications and would just redirect the domain to each directory as needed.

More information on your particular situation will help us to better help you.

You guys are talking way over my head on this.  The files are current on http://test.heromatchmaker.com/ and I need to move everything to http://heromatchmaker.com.

I don't think that anything is just redirected, nor do I want to just redirect it for future use.

I can access my test site fine via ftp and webaccess via cPanel, but I can't get into the main site to move the files.

What I am saying is that you may not need to move the files; although that is one way.  Using .htaccess is very simple and fast; the file is very small.

You still have not told me how your site is site up.  Normally you will be assign a web directory such as /home/user/www/public_html/ or similar.  Now the webroot is that location.  Normally when you get a hosting account, they will include a domain name that will point to the web root and you can not change this; (you can try contacting your host to see if they will).  However, often they will let you set up a subdomain, such as test.domain.tld that you can then point to the web root or a directory off of the web root.  If you put your test site into a directory off of the web root, then a simple redirect for domain.tld to the test directory will work quite nicely.  You will need to edit the /inc/header.inc.php file so that the site name is no longer test.domain.tld.  No need to move the files at all.  I would include a redirect but I don't do it often enough so would need to look it up so I don't tell you wrong.  However, I am sure the others here can without looking it up.  It is a simple .htaccess file you place in the web root.

OK, I just logged into a cPanel installation and the File Manager will allow you to move files.  Then you will need to edit the /inc/header.inc.php file making sure all the paths are correct.  Not sure how easy this will be with the cPanel File Manager; but it appears to be doable.  You could contact your host and see if they will move the files since they have server access.

In the right pane you can select all the directories and files and then should be able to move them.

My advice would be to never use .htaccess. to redirect in that way. Search engines will hammer you for it.

As has been said, just copy all the files into your actual domain's root folder and edit header.inc.php to reflect the new path.

I have sites set up with a .htaccess redirect and google and bing and all the rest crawl it without problem and index the content; I know because I see the server logs and see the new content show up on the search engines.

 Well, let's not derail the thread with a debate on the subject, but that doesn't mean you wouldn't get better search performance without them, or see more negative impact in the future. Believe me, SEO is really my thing. I know what I'm talking about.

Avoid 300 redirects at all costs. Use 301 and 302 only when the content has previously existed on the redirecting location and now exists, in its original form, on the redirected location.

I agree.  Redirecting an entire site via .htaccess doesn't make a lot of sense.  It's too easy to just move all the files.  Besides, if it was just a test site, the owner should have taken measures so that search engines did NOT index the site....Right?

I wanted to comment on the .htaccess but didn't bother.

not only that but if i explained to them step by step on how to do it.  Why would you even bother with all that confusing information ?

 Because forum threads don't just live in the now. If someone finds this thread in a year and the redirect option was not coherently disputed they might go down that path to their detriment.  I use a number of technical fora and this one is the worst for threads that come up in search results with incomplete, misleading or simply bad advice. I'm not disagreeing for the sake if it but to make sure that the information in the thread is good when someone comes upon in a search in a year's time.

(solved) At any rate the site is moved and the sub domain has been removed...