Announcing Duplicator WP-CLI Commands (And How They Speed Up Backups)
Looking for a smarter way to manage site backups? Explore Duplicator's new features, including customizable WP-CLI commands and permission settings!
Announcing Duplicator WP-CLI Commands (And How They Speed Up Backups)
Joella Dunn
Joella Dunn
John Turner
John Turner
There are plenty of ways to move your WordPress site to another location. WordPress migration plugins and even web hosts can help you along the way.
However, you might just want to do it yourself.
In a manual migration, you’ll have complete control over the process. No need to worry about ineffective tools losing your data in the move!
If you have some technical knowledge, you can move your content to a new host or domain name without any third-party tools. All you’ll need is patience, attention to detail, and a willingness to handle database and file transfers.
In this step-by-step tutorial, we’ll show you how to migrate your WordPress site manually!
When you first set up your website, you’ll choose a hosting plan and domain name that meets your needs. However, you may eventually need to migrate your site. This involves moving your WordPress website to another web host, server, or domain.
Here are some reasons to migrate your site.
You could start experiencing downtime, slow loading speed, or other performance problems. In this case, you’ll need to find a better web host or upgrade your hosting plan. For example, you might move from a shared server to managed WordPress hosting.
Once you grow your small business or blog, your current server may not be able to handle this large amount of traffic.
A complex domain name can impact your website’s credibility. If you’re considering moving to a new domain, it’s time to migrate your site.
Making changes to your live site could break it. To avoid this problem, you can migrate your content to a localhost staging site.
Before you start migrating your website, it’s important to take a few preventive steps.
First, delete any inactive WordPress plugins and themes so you’re not migrating useless content. Then, make sure to fully update your site, themes, and plugins.
We’d also recommend disabling any caching plugins installed on your original site. Sometimes, these interfere with the migration process.
Lastly, back up your website. This will ensure that you have a functional copy of your site if anything goes wrong during the manual migration.
Although migration services can automate the process, you may want to do it yourself. If you have some technical knowledge, you can manually migrate WordPress without any third-party tools.
To get started, you’ll need to export your original site’s database. This stores crucial data like posts, pages, widgets, and WordPress settings. Once you have this database backup, you can easily upload it to your new server.
Usually, your web host will allow you to easily access phpMyAdmin, which is a database manager. With Bluehost, for example, find the phpMyAdmin button.
Then, select your database. After this, click on the Export tab.
This will give you options for exporting your database. You can select Quick as the Export method. Be sure to choose a SQL format.
To export the database, hit Go. Your database will automatically be downloaded as a SQL file. Lastly, compress it into a zip file.
Now you’ll need to export your WordPress files.
To do this, log into the file manager that is recommended for your web host. This could be cPanel, FileZilla, or a custom-branded manager.
For this tutorial, we’ll be using FileZilla. This is a third-party SFTP/FTP client that is useful for editing website files.
To connect your site, enter your host name, username, password, and port number. You can find this information from your WordPress hosting provider.
After you click on Quickconnect, you’ll see your site files in the right-hand box.
Open the public_html folder, which is your root directory. Select all of the core files in this folder and download them.
Be sure to download all of the main folders like wp-admin, wp-content, and wp-includes. You’ll also need hidden files like .htaccess.
Once FileZilla transfers these files to your computer, compress them into a single zip file. This makes it easy to upload them to the new server.
Next, open the file manager for the new website. Similar to the old site, find the public_html folder and open it. However, you’ll need to delete all of the content in this folder.
Then, upload your original files to this directory. You can simply drop your zipped file into the upload box if you’re using cPanel.
Be sure to extract the zip file after it uploads. You should now have your original files uploaded to the new website.
If you’re working with a new WordPress installation, you’ll need to create a new database. This will provide a space to import your saved SQL database.
Depending on your hosting company, this process might vary. If you’re using a host that provides cPanel, find the Databases settings and click on MySQL Databases.
You can simply name the new database. Then, hit Create Database.
Along with a new database, you’ll need to add a new user. Provide a new username and password in the MySQL Users section.
Then, link the new user to the database you just created. Underneath Add User to Database, select the new user and database.
Feel free to grant the user all privileges. This will give the user full control over the database.
Once you’ve created a new database, you can import your original database into it. To do this, open phpMyAdmin for the new site and select the database you added. Then, go to the Import tab.
On this page, click on Choose File and upload your zipped database file. Lastly hit Go to import your original database.
Every WordPress site has a wp-config.php file that contains information about its database. Since you uploaded your original site files to a new server, you’ll need to update this wp-config.php file.
First, open your file manager and go to public_html » wp-config.php. In this file, find the lines with DB_USER, DB_NAME, and DB_PASSWORD.
Delete the old database name, user, and password. Then, add your new database information. You may also need to update the DB_HOST value to reflect your new host.
If you moved to a new domain, you should also search for any mention of your old domain name or URL path. Be sure to update this data to point to your new website.
By now, your website will be fully migrated to the new server or domain name. Although your site is functioning, it’s important to also update how it’s displayed in the Domain Name System (DNS).
Currently, your domain’s DNS will point to its old host. Luckily, you can easily change this to reflect your new host.
This process will vary depending on where you registered your new domain. To give you an idea of how this works, we’ll walk you through the steps to change your nameservers in Bluehost.
First, log into your hosting account and go to Domains » My Domains. Then, expand the dropdown menu on the right-hand side of your domain and click on DNS.
Here, you’ll see your DNS records, including your nameservers and IP addresses. Next, hit Edit.
To point to a new web host, go ahead and select Custom as the Setup Type.
Now, simply enter the information for your new hosting provider. It can take up to 48 hours for the DNS to propagate and start pointing to the new site.
After this time period, open your WordPress dashboard and go to Settings » General. Find the WordPress Address and Site Address and update them.
If you’ve moved to a new URL, you’ll also need to search and replace instances of the old domain. This way, images and other old URLs will point to the existing site.
To do this, you can use the Search Replace DB script. Alternatively, the Better Search Replace plugin offers a more beginner-friendly option. This tool allows you to run a search and replace on your database without leaving your dashboard.
Once you install the plugin, go to Tools » Better Search Replace. Enter your old URL in the Search for box. The new URL should go in the Replace with box.
Select all the database tables. Then, you can disable the dry run and continue to search and replace URLs on your database.
If you don’t have much experience working with the WordPress database or files, a manual site migration might not be the best option. With all of the potential risks involved, you’ll probably want a safer way to migrate your website.
One fast and simple alternative is to install a WordPress migration plugin.
Although there are many to choose from, Duplicator is a powerful tool that allows you to export your WordPress site and move it with ease.
One of my favorite Duplicator Pro features its drag-and-drop functionality.
You can create a backup that bundles your site’s content, themes, plugins, database, and media files. Then, simply drop this zip file into the second site.
This will launch Duplicator’s migration wizard, which gives you a step-by-step guide on importing your original content. You won’t have to manually import files or run a search and replace script.
Plus, Duplicator was built to handle large sites and Multisite networks. You don’t have to worry about losing important data from your agency or business website.
This tool will save you a lot of time and effort as you’re moving your website. Rather than struggling with file managers and phpMyAdmin, you can allow Duplicator to do the work for you!
The easiest way to migrate a WordPress site is to install a WordPress migration plugin like Duplicator Pro. With Duplicator, you can package your entire site into a single zipped archive file. Then, you’ll be able to drag and drop it into a new WordPress installation. This prevents you from having to manually transfer your files and database and ensures no data is lost in the migration.
If you want to explore the different migration plugins available, here are some of the most popular options:
To manually migrate your WordPress site, export the database of your current WordPress site in phpMyAdmin. Then, transfer all your website files to the new hosting environment using FTP or a file manager.
You’ll also need to create a new database on the new hosting server and import the previously exported database. Finally, update the database credentials and site URL in the new hosting’s wp-config.php file to ensure proper connectivity.
On your local website, create a copy of the site’s files and database with Duplicator Pro. Make sure Duplicator is also installed on your production site. Then, use the Import tool to upload your local site to the live server.
Yes, you can transfer one WordPress site to another. Using the Duplicator Pro plugin, simply create a backup of the original site. Then, import the backup into the new site and follow the steps in the Duplicator migration wizard.
To restore your WordPress site to a new host, make sure you’re using Duplicator to save regular backups. If your site crashes and you decide to upgrade your hosting, simply drag and drop the most recent backup archive file into the new site. This will recover all of the data from the original site.
That’s it! You can now manually migrate your WordPress site.
While you’re here, I think you’ll like these extra WordPress guides:
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