Wordpress Website - Move Your Site

Move Your Site
Moving your WordPress Website
Slides: http://bit.ly/move-your-site-slides
Outline of this talk: http://bit.ly/move-your-site2
Who is Diana Brewster?
I’ve been working with WordPress for
about 8 years, and have moved many
sites. I am comfortable working with
technology and design.
In my business, dbwebwork.com, I help
clients design, set up, and maintain
their websites.
What is covered in this presentation?
I will demonstrate how to move your WordPress website ...
1. From your development computer to a live host
2. The same process applies to move your site from one
hosting company to another.
Check the Codex:
http://codex.wordpress.org/Moving_WordPress
If you have a question, or if you’re in trouble, first check wordpress.org
and the codex!
Not going to address...
● Installing WordPress
● Moving MAMP … basically the same process
● Exporting and importing content
...If you just want to move some posts from one site to
another, use WordPress’s Import/Export tool.
What should you already know?
I assume you have at least nodding familiarity with:
● Installing WordPress
● Using FTP or other remote file management tools
It’s OK if you have scant acquaintance with:
● Databases
● SQL
● PHP
The basic steps of moving any WordPress website:

1. Obtain a backup of the database and the files.
a. The files you need:
i. htaccess file – in the root of your site
ii. wp-config.php – where your WordPress files are installed
iii. your theme(s) – wp-content/themes/…
iv. plugins, including mu-plugins – wp-content/plugins
and wp-content/mu-plugins (if any)
v. your media content directory – wp-content/uploads
b. For the database, you need a SQL export.
2. Install a fresh working copy of WordPress in the new location
3. Upload all the custom content to the new file system: themes, plugins, uploads.
4. Overwrite the database with your custom site
5. Update any incorrect data, such as media paths, in files and database
6. Refresh the Permalinks structure
7. Make any necessary corrections in wp-config and .htaccess
8. Fix file permissions if necessary
9. Repoint the domain name registration to the new location.
Software Tools to help move your site
● PhpMyAdmin
○ or Sequel Pro
○ or other MySQL graphical database utilities
● XCloner Plugin
○ or Simple Backup
● File Management utilities
○ Host-based file management in CPanel
○ SSH for truly locked-down servers
○ FTP or SFTP (preferred when available) such as FileZilla, WSFTP, or
Cute FTP.
1: Make a backup
What does a backup contain?
What does a SQL file look like?
DROP table IF EXISTS `wp_options`;
CREATE TABLE `wp_options` (
`option_id` bigint(20) unsigned NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
`option_name` varchar(64) NOT NULL DEFAULT '',
`option_value` longtext NOT NULL,
`autoload` varchar(20) NOT NULL DEFAULT 'yes',
PRIMARY KEY (`option_id`),
UNIQUE KEY `option_name` (`option_name`)
) ENGINE=InnoDB AUTO_INCREMENT=357 DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8;

#
# End Structure for table `wp_options`
#

#
# Dumping data for table `wp_options`
#

INSERT INTO `wp_options` VALUES ('1', 'siteurl', 'http://wptest/home', 'yes');
INSERT INTO `wp_options` VALUES ('2', 'blogname', 'Move Your Site', 'yes');
INSERT INTO `wp_options` VALUES ('3', 'blogdescription', 'Just an example
WordPress site', 'yes');
2. Prepare your New Site
● Start with a fresh WordPress installation.
● Beware using the hosting company’s WordPress
installation services unless you are on WP Engine
● Take note of your new WordPress database name and
password.
● Take note of the URLs you entered for your site address
and WordPress address in Settings > General. You may
need to edit the new database to restore those paths for
‘siteurl’ and ‘home’ option values.
3. Upload your content to the file system
Include:
● Your theme(s)
● Plugins, including mu-plugins
● Uploads directory
4. Overwrite the Database
If you don’t already have your Site address and WordPress address URL
settings from Settings > General, use PhpMyAdmin (in CPanel on many shared
hosting services):
1. go to your new database,
2. browse the wp_options table,
3. find the option_name rows for “siteurl” and “home”,
4. and make a note of the URLs in the option_value field.
You will need to re-enter these values after the database is overwritten with the
custom db. EXCEPTION: if you are using the same domain name and folder
structure in both places, you shouldn’t need to make any changes in the
database -- lucky you!
5. Update any incorrect data,
such as media paths, in files and database
Browse wp_options table and change option_value for
option_name “siteurl” and “home” to the new URLs on this
server.
If the values have changed on your new site, you won’t be
able to log in or even view the site until you correct them.
Do you have paths to uploaded media that need to be corrected?
How can you replace bad paths?
You can do it by:
● editing each post
● manually editing the data directly in the database
(PhpMyAdmin)
● MySQL command line tools
● SQL statement execution (PhpMyAdmin)
● Search & Replace Plugin
6: Refresh the Permalinks structure
Got broken links to pages? This is normal after a move.
Go to Dashboard > Settings > Permalinks, choose the
structure, and re-save, even if it hasn’t changed.
This step will regenerate the .htaccess file.
7: Make any necessary corrections in wp-
config and .htaccess
If you have other custom settings such as redirects in your .
htaccess file, this would be a good time to edit it and add
those settings.
If there’s anything atypical in your wp-config.php file, make
those edits, too.
File Manager is a good, secure way to work on them.
8: Fix file permissions if necessary
If you’re finding problems editing settings or images, you probably need
to re-set permissions. Ownership, group, and permission levels may be
out of whack for your uploaded files.
WP-Engine has a user interface to allow you to do this yourself, but
other hosting companies may need a support ticket.
This is particularly likely when moving a site from a self-managed
server environment to a shared host.
9: Repoint the domain name registration to
the new location
If you have a domain name, and if you haven’t yet done
this, this is a good time to update the name server
registration to point your domain name to the new hosting
site.
There is usually a delay of several hours until the domain
name registration propagates throughout the internet.
That’s all!
Tidbit:
If you are maintaining a local development environment
that you wish to synchronize with a production database,
WP Migrate DB Pro is a useful tool.
This slideshow is available at:
bit.ly/move-your-site-slides
An outline of this talk is available at:
bit.ly/move-your-site2
If you have more questions,
you can reach me at:
[email protected]