Ever found yourself watching a website backup slowly inching along? James Thomas lived with this frustration for years.
As a freelance web designer, James regularly needed to clone websites for his clients. The process was not only clunky but incredibly time-consuming and sometimes nerve-wracking.
Then he discovered Duplicator, and everything changed.
When his sister needed to clone a hospice website design for a new behavioral health center, the old process would have meant hours of tedious work. With Duplicator, he completed the task in minutes.
Let me walk you through how James refined his web design process with one powerful plugin!
Meet James Thomas
James Thomas didn’t start out as a web designer. Life pushed him in that direction.
In 2002, a motorcycle accident forced him to resign from his job. By 2004, he had taught himself web design using Macromedia Dreamweaver.
That self-education launched his first business selling pre-printed t-shirts online. He got so skilled in web design that he started developing websites for others.
His business model worked well, at least for a while. Then came WordPress.
The market shifted as more user-friendly platforms emerged. Suddenly, anyone could build basic websites using templates.
James adapted by focusing on custom design work for clients who needed something beyond the basics.
He never officially registered a web design business. Instead, he built a reputation through word-of-mouth. One satisfied client led to another.
Today, James creates websites for various businesses, including a hospice site for his sister.
What sets James apart? His practical, hands-on approach to solving real-world website problems.
The Challenge of Server Backups and FTP Headaches
Have you ever tried to manually back up and migrate a large WordPress site? James did — regularly.
“It was time-consuming having to create backups on the server each site was hosted on,” James recalls.
When a website grew too large, James had to resort to FTP. Anyone who’s watched file transfers crawl along knows this pain.
The process drained hours from his workday, and one mistake could mean starting over.
The real kicker? Downtime.
While migrating sites the old way, websites could go offline. Not ideal when clients depend on 24/7 availability.
James needed something better. Something faster. Something that wouldn’t leave his clients’ websites vulnerable during transfers.
When his sister and her partners decided to expand from a hospice website to a behavioral health center, James knew the old methods wouldn’t cut it.
He needed a solution that could:
- Clone an entire site without losing custom changes
- Work quickly without technical complications
- Minimize downtime during the process
- Handle file compression efficiently
That’s when he started researching alternatives.
Simplifying Site Cloning and Migrations with Duplicator
James discovered Duplicator through a simple search for WordPress cloning plugins. The features caught his attention immediately.
Could it really be that simple? He decided to test it with his sister’s website project.
“I must say that I was not disappointed because it allowed me to easily and quickly backup/clone the site, without the need to make any extra changes to the settings, and easily migrated the cloned site to the server.”
First, James accessed the WordPress dashboard for the hospice website: https://havenhealthcs.com/.
No server backend required. No complex configurations.
He used Duplicator to create a complete backup. The plugin handled everything — theme files, custom settings, database entries — all packaged neatly together.
Unlike FTP transfers of raw files, Duplicator compressed everything into a manageable package. This was a game-changer for larger sites.
James migrated the backup to the new server for the behavioral health center website: https://safehavenlv.com. Duplicator handled the unpacking and setup automatically.
The result? A perfect clone of the original site, ready for customization. All James had to do was change the content and colors.
“During the cloning and migration process, all custom changes made to the original site were not lost.”
Duplicator saved James countless hours of reconfiguring settings and rebuilding custom elements.
No technical complications. No downtime. No headaches!
Results
With Duplicator, James was able to:
- Preserve all custom website settings during migrations
- Reduce backup and migration time from hours to minutes
- Avoid downtime during migrations
- Easily clone entire websites without starting from scratch
- Avoid having to go to the server backend to create backups
- Compress large sites into moveable backup files
The results went beyond just technical improvements. James’s clients benefited too.
His sister’s new behavioral health center website launched faster than expected. The hospice site remained online throughout the entire process.
“Duplicator is a lifesaver for those who don’t have much experience when it comes to backing up websites and migrating them to different servers.”
For someone who describes himself as “never really been the technical type,” James found Duplicator intuitive and straightforward. The learning curve? Almost non-existent.
Final Thoughts
James started as a self-taught web designer who struggled with complex migrations. Now he’s a confident website creator who can clone sites in minutes.
His story shows how the right tool can transform a frustrating workflow into a smooth process.
Are you still wrestling with manual backups and FTP transfers? Still watching progress bars crawl during migrations? Consider trying what worked for James.
“If you’re looking for a WordPress plugin that will effortlessly duplicate/clone and migrate your websites, do yourself the favor and go with Duplicator! You’ll definitely thank me later.”
Sometimes the simplest solution is the best one. For James Thomas, that solution was Duplicator Pro!
While you’re here, see how Duplicator has transformed other businesses’ workflows:
Joella is a writer with years of experience in WordPress. At Duplicator, she specializes in site maintenance — from basic backups to large-scale migrations. Her ultimate goal is to make sure your WordPress website is safe and ready for growth.
