Move WordPress Blog
How To Easily Copy Or Move A Wordpress Blog Or Website To A Different Server
And Domain Name
The Easy Way, With No Need To Edit Code,
No Need To Modify Databases
Disclaimer: I am in no way responsible for your actions, nor for any consequencies of you trying to implement this procedure. This information is given in good faith and may not always work with all Wordpress installations. Always backup your website before making any changes.
Note: My hosting is at HostGator. (Which I always used to recommend until I discovered HostMonster, whos low cost and terrific features staggered me.) I can’t verify the procedure below works for other hosting providers, but if the hosting has cpanel and Fantastico then you should be O.K.
Example Cloning Of A Wordpress Website.
The Source Site >> http://www.my-lifestyle-matters.com
The Target Site >> http://www.alan-brown.com
THE PROCEDURE
A) In A Nutshell
1. Prepare The Target Site
2. Backup The Source Site Twice, Then Restore It
3. Restore The Source Backup To The Target Site
B) In A Movie. The Whole Procedure Is explained In Detail in This Video
C) In Detail
1. Prepare The Target Site
Install Wordpress, from cPanel Using Fantastico
Install the Theme that was used on the Source site. (If you have modified it on the Source site, download the folder from the Source site to you PC and upload it to the Target Site from there)
Install and Activate ALL the Plugins that exist on the Source Site.
If you don’t activate ALL of them, the installation will fail and you will have to start from scratch.
TIP: I have had plugins fail when activating them, even on similarly configured sites. I find that if they need updating i.e. there is an update available, then if you update BEFORE activating, you can avoid the failures.
2. Backup The Source Site Twice, Then Restore It
2.1 Backup the HomePage and DataBases
Using Backup from cPanel (NOT in Wordpress) make SEPARATE backups for your Homepage and your Databases. (i.e. use the cPanel Backup facility which will backup and download the backups to your PC. DO NOT make a’complete site’ backup, this is useless.)
(Important. DO NOT over-write or change these they will be needed to restore the source site later.)
2.1 Change Domain Name to Target Site
From the Wordpress Dashboard of the Source Site, change the domain name from source site domain to target site domain.
(WP Dashboard/Settings/General)
Change these fields:-
Blog Title
WordPress address (URL)
Blog address (URL)
IMPORTANT NOTE: The Wordpress Username and Password for the Target Site will be inhereted from the Source Site.
If you wish to change the password do that at Users/Your Profile
2.2 Backup the HomePage and DataBases Again
Now make another backup as before, but be sure not to override the previous backups.
Put them in a folder called Backups-From-Source-For-Target or something like that.
2.3 Restore the Original Backups
Using the cPanel backup facility, Restore the original backups containing your Source domain name.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Until this is done all the links on your website will point to the Target website, including the WP-Admin login.
I restored the Dtabase before restoring the HomePage.
3. Restore The Source Backup To The Target Site
3.1 Restore The Backups
Using the cPanel backup facility, Restore the backups from the Backups-From-Source-For-Target folder.
I restored the Dtabase before restoring the HomePage.
The new Target Site should now be a clone of the old Source Site, but with the site links pointing to the Target Site and not the Source Site.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The Wordpress Username and Password for the Target Site will be inhereted from the Source Site.
