8 Easy Steps to Move A WordPress Blog
Posted on 30. Mar, 2009 by forest_parks in Blogging Tips, Hosting / Host Gator
You may need to move your blog for a variety of reasons including changing hosts, changing your hosting package or selling a site on to somebody else. In all cases if you stick to WordPress and a host that uses cpanel, the move is surprisingly easy.
Ed Note: If you are not using cpanel, it’s not much harder… just post your questions and I will help you out.
I developed this quick and easy method last year after getting into site flipping (which required me to move lots of sites for clients) and moving all my websites to one great reseller account with HostGator.
The reseller account has been awesome and with the option to host all of my project with their own cpanels and ftp logins the very cheap $24.99 a month is well justified… If you are thinking of moving you should check out the Hostgator packages.
Right onto the move……
- Go into the ftp of the site to be transferred and copy the wordpress wp-content folder to your desktop. If you have any extra files in use outside of the wp-content folder (non wordpress files) then copy these too.
- Go to PHP My Admin. This can be found via the database section in cpanel. Select your wordpress database on the left. Then select the “Export” button in the main window. Make sure “save as file” is selected and click go. Save the database to your desktop or somewhere safe.
- Now you need to point the domain to your new host. Login to your domain management and change the nameservers to point to the new host. With GoDaddy propogation is normally done in 3 or 5 mins but can take up to 48hours.
- Go to the new hosting account. From Cpanel use Fantastico Deluxe to install a new version of wordpress. This will install a new blank version of wordpress in about 30 seconds. The logn details are irrelevent as you will be overwriting these in a few steps.
- Go to the FTP of the new hosting account. Overwrite the wp-content with the folder from the old hosting. Also upload any other files that you downloaded into the same location on the new hosting.
- Login to the new hostings PHP My Admin. Click on the new database on the left. At the bottom of the main window select “Check All”, then select “Drop” from the drop down menu. This will empty the database.
- Click the “Import” tab at the top of the main window. Import your saved database from the old hosting.
- Hey Presto! The blog should now be a mirror image of your old site so kick back pop the lid of a bottle of beer or cola and bask in your achievement.
A few notes: The database may ask you to be updated when you log into wordpress… Just do this. Also permalinks may be a little messed. Just switch back to default permalinks and then back to your pretty permalink structure.
This may look complex on first glance but it is really simple once you have done it once. On average a full move takes 20minutes for me now.
Any questions about anything, please just post below.
Related posts:
- Moving Your WordPress Blog To A New Domain Name, The Ins and Outs…
- Almost Time For WordPress 2.6
- Upgrade to WordPress 2.7: A How To Video…
- Update Your WordPress Blog To Version 2.6 As Easily As Possbile
- WordPress 2.6.1 Instant Update
60 Responses to “8 Easy Steps to Move A WordPress Blog”
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April 11, 2009
[...] my recent post “8 Easy Steps to Move A WordPress Blog” a couple of readers said that they first needed to know how to upgrade WordPress before even [...]
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April 16, 2009
[...] you have read my post that dealt solely with moving a wordpress blog “8 Easy Steps to Move A WordPress Blog” then will be familiar with most of the processes [...]
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April 28, 2009
[...] between $150-$190 and I also through in a few bonuses such as free transfer ( My post “Move A WordPress Blog” shows you how to transfer a blog after a sale). and often a few free banner designs. You [...]
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Thanks for the post. Extremely useful! Bookmarked
No probs Joe, sorry for the delay in replying!!!!
Superb, Fantastic, outstanding, history. I’m impressed Ben.
last week i need to move one of my site to a new domain. if this post come a week earlier my job wasn’t that hard. Book marked. Thanks for sharing this.
No problem, sorry it didn’t come earlier!!
PS: Your comment was hiding in spam… sorry I took so long to get back to you!
No problem, you know where to find me if you hit any problems during a move
I prefer to use the backup feature on CPANEL.. because more simple for me..
But the possibilities it gives are much more limited. I guess if that’s enough for you than it’s ok but let’s I think you’ll soon discover that doing this by yourself offers a lot more flexibility.
That’s a great point… I like the flexibility of doing things myself.
Those steps really provide helpful information.
I would want to thank the author for writing this article.
No problem
Hey Redjeki, thanks for stopping by
.
I was thinking of using the back up from cpanel as an example but I find both ways just as easy.
….. Also, when you start to do slightly more complex things, such as change the blog URL (post coming soon) it pays to have at least seen the PHP My Admin so that the damn thing isn’t so scary.
As long as you have a backup, playing with the database directly can be quite interesting.
It is possible to move a blog by exporting from the backup in cpanel, switching the name servers to the new hosting account and then using cpanel to restore the backups… This takes a while but is probably the ultimate quickest way (in terms of user interaction) if you have nothing fancy to do.
Just received this post via email subscription, really glad to have you subscribed. I’m intending of moving my wordpress blog to my own domain. If I encounter any problem,would it be possible to ask for your assistance.
Absolutely, I can be found on gchat: forest.parks, skype: forest_parks and sometimes msn: parksian@hotmail.com.
Are you intending on changing the domain name as well? That requires a few more steps and I was planning on writing about that very soon.
The tips on making ‘moving to wordpress easier’ is extermely helpful. However, the fact still remains that moving a blog isn’t just something you can do easily. aside from the technical aspects of changing the blog host, there are other important things to consider.
It was nice of you though to share the easier process, for those who wants to change to wordpress and are having a bad time.
Hey Liane,
I have moved a lot of blogs very easily with no issues and very little downtime. In fact it’s quite possible to do the move with no down time.
Let me know what issues you have had and I will see if I can help you with them.
If you can have your own web site, installing a word press blog is not a big issue. A few steps to follow……… thats all
Yes installing is easy… and moving is easy too.
Moving a wrodpess install is always a bitch with hidden hiccups thanks for the great guide i think it will help lots of people/
My first few moves were a pain…. but now I rarely get too much trouble. As long as you keep the old site where it was you can always point the nameservers back and start over fresh…
Thanks for stopping by.
I’m glad I don’t have to move my blog, at least yet..I haven’t even updated my version of wordpress for fear of messing it up lol..
Oh! You should update wordpress… just use your cpanel to make a backup of your old site and database and then update… it’s really easy and your site will be much more secure.
Plus you will hopefully love the new 2.7 look and feel.
I actualy agree with Melody. Upgrading to new version of WP, let alone moving the whole thing, means a lot of work. You need to check every part of the site for any changes and update it to use new features. It just seems like too much work.
Upgrading should only take 5 minutes….. best practice is to keep a log of changes if you make any changes to the wordpress core files…. However unless you are knowledgeable in php and love tweaking it’s quite unlikely that you will change any of the core files….. I’ll write a post about upgrading today.
thanks for information it is really so interested and good shortcut to update a wordpress thank again for this post
No problem
Thanks for coming by.
Did you have any issues moving your blog?
The only issue I had here was related to me changing the URL aswell and the 301 redirect took about 24hours to start working properly.
Apart from that, no issues.
So you would empty the database before you import a database. I always created an empty database, then I would change the wp-config.php file. That was always killing me, because I had different username and password.
Nice tutorial. How about the wordpress backup plugin? Can you use it to move your blog?
Yep that’s exactly it…. with this method there is no need to edit the config files and you end up with the same user and passwords as your old site.
As for the wordpress backup plugin…. I have never used it. There is a backup option in cpanel which allows you to download and restore the site but I have not fully tested it as a moving tool yet.
The wordpress automatic backup plugin is awesome, it makes this job so much easier.
The only thing I would say is to check the validity of your backups, I’ve had a couple of instances where the backups were corrupted, which caused all sorts of heart attacks.
Good Stuff Dude !!! I didnt realize Id be needing a re-sellers account. Am I going to need to migrate everything to the new resellers account now
Hey Shane,
You don’t need a reseller account. That is just the type of account I have.
Let me know if you need any help.
I never realised that moving a WordPress blog was an easy as that! I thought it was much more difficult!
Thanks for this great guide.
Thanks
Great post Ben!
Normally I would move a blog “on my feeling”, now I can keep this list as a standard!
Great stuff… I’ll make sure I am accessible by email and things if anyone gets trouble!!
Thanks for the useful post , its really helpful for the wordpress users
I hope so
and hopefully I can continue to be helpful too…
I currently have about 4 different blogs that I want to move hosts on as I now have C-Class hosting, so I’ll test this method out with one of them at first and see how I go.
Wish me luck
If you are careful and keep backups then even if you make a mistake it’s not a big deal. Once you have moved once it gets easy.
If you have any issues just send me a mail to forest.parks@gmail.com… I can also be found on skype forest_parks or ghat….
But the possibilities it gives are much more limited. I guess if that’s enough for you than it’s ok but let’s I think you’ll soon discover that doing this by yourself offers a lot more flexibility.
I agree doing it yourself is the best way…
For anyone who is interested in seeing how to Upgrade their copy of wordpress…. I have just made a new Video post showing you how:
Upgrade to WordPress 2.7: A How To Video
Wow, what a wonderful set of tips for wordpress bloggers. Time and again I am obliged to get useful contributions from this website.
Thanks again….
Anybody who is interested in this process and also how to move the domain name too should visit my latest post about moving a blog and a domain name:
http://www.realbloggingtips.com/moving-your-wordpress-blog-to-a-new-domain-name-the-ins-and-outs/#comment-2810
Thanks,
Forest.
I just did this exact thing this morning, it definitely works. Wish I would have saw this before I moved!
I just KNEW it was harder, but all I did was make sure I had my files, backup the db, install wordpress, import db, upload files, game over lol.
good stuff man.
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Thanks Joe, If you ever need to change the URL aswell as move the blog I have a post for that too so hit me up.
very nice instruction, and easy to follow, i am thinking of shifting my host to hostgator, this post will help me, thank
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No problem, thanks Mercy.
i have experience in moving wordpress blog to another host, at first, it is very hard but, i always keep practicing and keep on searching on the internet on how to do moving wordpress, right now, i can do it.
i am using your tips on wordpress moving to another host right now
peter´s last blog ..Destinations For Stag Weekends
Awesome let me know if you have any issues.
You are awesome! I keep this page archieved and either refer clients to it or I pull it out when I am doing a transfer.
5 Stars!
Freddie Taylor´s last blog ..10 Reasons Your Business Needs a Website
Thank you Mr Taylor… I never realised how helpful these kind of posts would be to everyone!
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Thanks for the post..BTW I prefer handing over this job to the hosting co. people !!
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A lot of individuals shall be benefited from your writing. Cheers!