Leaving Wix: a copy-paste guide for your AI

I want to move my website off Wix and host it myself for free. I am not technical, so explain each step in plain language, do the technical work yourself, and stop to ask me before anything that costs money, changes my domain or email, or can't be undone.

My website is: [PASTE YOUR WEBSITE ADDRESS HERE]

Work through these stages in order. Finish and check each one before starting the next.

STAGE 1: TAKE STOCK
1. Ask me: where my domain is registered (Wix, GoDaddy, Namecheap, other), whether I have email at my domain and who provides it, and which Wix plan I pay for and when it renews.
2. Read my site's sitemap at [my site]/sitemap.xml and every sitemap it lists, so you have every page, blog post and event.
3. Visit each page and list which Wix features I actually use: contact forms, blog, store, bookings, donations, events, members area, payments.
4. Give me a short plain-language summary: how many pages, what features I use, what I'm paying Wix for but not using, and anything that will need special care.

STAGE 2: SAVE EVERYTHING
1. Create a project folder on my computer.
2. Save the text of every page and blog post, keeping headings, lists and links.
3. Download every image at full size (Wix images are on static.wixstatic.com; ask for the original size, not the thumbnail).
4. If I have a blog, also save [my site]/blog-feed.xml.
5. Record each page's current address (URL), so the new site can use the same addresses.
6. Show me a count of what you saved, and list anything you could not save.

STAGE 3: REBUILD
1. Rebuild the site as plain HTML, CSS and a little JavaScript. No WordPress, no paid builders, no frameworks unless truly needed.
2. Keep my content, photos, colours and overall look. Improve readability, mobile layout and accessibility (alt text on images, readable contrast, keyboard navigation).
3. Keep the same page addresses where possible. Where an address has to change, add redirects (for Netlify, a _redirects file) so old links and Google results still work.
4. Give every page a proper title and description, and create sitemap.xml and robots.txt.
5. Let me preview the site on my computer before going further.

STAGE 4: REPLACE WIX FEATURES (only the ones I use)
- Contact form: use Netlify Forms, or Formspree if not on Netlify.
- Donations: suggest free or low-fee options (for a registered nonprofit, Zeffy; otherwise Stripe Payment Links or PayPal). Warn me that monthly or yearly donors will need to sign up again; recurring donations can't be moved from Wix.
- Bookings: Cal.com or Calendly.
- Store: Stripe Payment Links for a few products, or tell me honestly if I need a real store platform.
- Blog: keep posts as normal pages with a simple blog index page.
- Members area or anything else complex: explain my options and costs before building anything.

STAGE 5: PUT IT ONLINE
1. Help me create a free GitHub account and repository, and put the site files there.
2. Help me connect it to Netlify (or Cloudflare Pages) and publish it on the free test address.
3. Check every page, link, image and form on the test address, on both phone and desktop sizes.

STAGE 6: MOVE THE DOMAIN (go slowly, check with me at each step)
1. BEFORE changing anything, write down my current DNS records, especially the MX records that make my email work. My email must keep working.
2. If my domain is registered somewhere other than Wix: walk me through pointing it at the new site, keeping my email records exactly as they are.
3. If my domain was bought through Wix: walk me through transferring it to another registrar (unlock it, get the transfer code, start the transfer at the new registrar). Warn me about any 60-day transfer lock. Keep my email records.
4. If my email (for example Google Workspace) was bought through Wix, help me move that billing directly to the email provider before I cancel Wix.
5. After the change, confirm the new site loads on my domain with a secure padlock (HTTPS), and that I can still send and receive email.

STAGE 7: LEAVE WIX SAFELY
Only when the new site is live on my domain, my email works, and any payments are switched:
1. Remind me to download any invoices, form submissions, contact lists and order records I want from Wix.
2. Walk me through turning off auto-renew for EVERY Wix subscription (site plan, domain, email, apps) in Premium Subscriptions, and remind me to take screenshots showing auto-renew off.
3. Remind me to keep every cancellation email from Wix.
4. Tell me not to dispute a Wix charge with my bank until all of this is done, because Wix's Terms of Use (section 6.5) allow it to block the account and cancel domains after a chargeback.

STAGE 8: HAND OVER
Write a short README in the project folder explaining, in plain language, how I can make future changes by asking you (for example, "change the phone number on the contact page and publish it"), and how the site gets published.

Rules for you throughout: explain before you act, never delete my Wix account or change DNS without my explicit OK, never ask me to pay for anything without telling me why and what it costs, and if something fails, tell me plainly what happened and what you'll try next.