migrating wordpress site to another domain [how to save all?]

[patent10021]

Moving a wordpress site to another domain and want to save EVERYTHING of course. Posts, photos...EVERY little things that's on the site. How do I make a back up of everything and move it to another domain?

My WP site is using a sql db. Do I copy everything in wp-content plus the _db_backups folder? When I've created the new domain and have my hosting ready do I simply put _db_backups in the same place it was on the other domain? How do I deal with the host creating a db that's got a different name than the one I'm using now?

Thanks

 

[jakeOSX]

i've done this (unfortunatly) a few times. Here is what I did.

first you export from your dashboard. this creates a flat file of your content.
you'll want to download your templates (if you changed them), and anything you've uploaded

install WP on the new server/site. get it up and running. YOu'll need a plug-in to import (or you need one to export... it is early) and that will bring all the words over. then re-upload the content portions.

do a look through to make sure your links work (esp if you changed URLs) but for the most part, wordpress makes this easy.

 

[Consultant]

See if your new host could do transfer.

Those that offer a better performing hosting usually do.

 

[Dolorian]

Not entirely sure if anything is different with Wordpress but generally speaking you should log into the cpanel (usually www.yourdomain.com/cpanel) and then go into the "Backups" section. There you will see options to download a copy of both your entire home directory and any databases the site has. It is good to do this before trying any migration.

After you have the new host/domain...you can create a new database via MySQL databases and then import the one you backed up into it via phpMyAdmin. After that, uncompress the home directory backup file you downloaded and upload everything in it to the new domain/host home folder.

Then edit your Wordpress config file accordingly.

Wordpress may include some additional step or something, not sure as I do not use this CMS. In any case, hope this helps!

 

[charliejlr]

Not entirely sure if anything is different with Wordpress but generally speaking you should log into the cpanel (usually www.yourdomain.com/cpanel) and then go into the "Backups" section. There you will see options to download a copy of both your entire home directory and any databases the site has. It is good to do this before trying any migration.

After you have the new host/domain...you can create a new database via MySQL databases and then import the one you backed up into it via phpMyAdmin. After that, uncompress the home directory backup file you downloaded and upload everything in it to the new domain/host home folder.

Then edit your Wordpress config file accordingly.

Wordpress may include some additional step or something, not sure as I do not use this CMS. In any case, hope this helps!

This is effectively right, but there is one (important) step missing...

1. Make a database dump via phpmyadmin/cpanel
2. Once you have downloaded the dump, open it in a text editor and find and replace the old domain name string (eg: old-domain.co.uk) with the new domain (eg: new-domain.co.uk)
3. Save and import into phpmyadmin/cpanel on the new server
4. Install wordpress and set up to use that database
5. Import all of your old folders and files into the correct directories

You have to do this because wordpress references the full URL in the database for permalinks and all sorts (which is bad practice).

This means that if this step is missed out, wordpress will still be linking back to the old domain when you click through posts.

Hope it all works out for you, if you have any problems feel free to reply and i'll see what I can do

 

[definitive]

aren't there several wordpress plugins that export and backup your files + database for you?

 

[patent10021]

This is effectively right, but there is one (important) step missing...

1. Make a database dump via phpmyadmin/cpanel
2. Once you have downloaded the dump, open it in a text editor and find and replace the old domain name string (eg: old-domain.co.uk) with the new domain (eg: new-domain.co.uk)
3. Save and import into phpmyadmin/cpanel on the new server
4. Install wordpress and set up to use that database
5. Import all of your old folders and files into the correct directories

You have to do this because wordpress references the full URL in the database for permalinks and all sorts (which is bad practice).

This means that if this step is missed out, wordpress will still be linking back to the old domain when you click through posts.

Hope it all works out for you, if you have any problems feel free to reply and i'll see what I can do

Thanks all of you. I have done a dump and backup before so I know where these options are in my go daddy hosting control panel.

So to get this straight, I can just download my main directory using Transmit FTP + do a sql dump. Simply upload via FTP the same main directory + my sql file via PhpMyAdmin into my new host? Seems pretty easy. Is it the sql that saves all the correct photo placement, post data, archives etc?

What about the xml wordpress file back up that was mentioned above?

 

[admwright]

What about the xml wordpress file back up that was mentioned above?

If are doing a mysql dump then you do not need the wordpress xml.