How to Move Wordpress Blog from One Host to Another

Wordpress being user friendly blog CMS, it is used by many bloggers out there to host their content. Wordpress is not only user-friendly but is also easy to move across multiple hosts or domains. There are many ways with which you can move your wordpress installation to another host without losing any of your data. Depending on the size of blog content and media files it'll take few minutes to hours for the site transfer from one domain to another. In this hub you'll see how to move wordpress data from one host to another.

Note: Before you move your wordpress installation to another host or site, make sure you backup your current wordpress folder and the content from it. This should include almost every directory on your public_html folder of your hosting space. Also install WP-DB-Backup plugin and backup all your wordpress data from dashboard to your desktop or email ID. Also read Wordpress Codex for more information.

In this method you'll use in-built wordpress ERD feature that will help you move your blog content on multiple blogs or from one blog to another. Follow the steps shown below to backup your blog content and to transfer to another blog. In this method i'm assuming you're using wordpress as blog CMS on previous host.

Step 1 : Login to wordpress dashboard and access tools menu > Export.

Step 2:  Keep all the default filter checks to it's set value and then hit 'Download Export file'. Depending on your blog content size this will take some time and once done you'll find .xml file downloaded on your computer. This is very important file which you should not delete till your blog gets stable on new host.

Step 3: Login to your hosting's file manager and then navigate to upload directory in your wordpress folder, which is likely to be in this path public_html/wp-content/uploads.

Step 4: Make a zip archive of this 'uploads' folder and then download it on your computer. This folder contains all your image files or other uploaded media files from your current hosted blog.

Step 5 : Take a backup of all your wordpress folder or public_html folder. This is to ensure that if any other backup method fails you still have access to your old files from which data can be retrieved.

Step 6: Take Mysql data backup for your wordpress entry. This is as precaution if WXRD file fails to backup your data.

Now that everything is under backup you can change the nameserver values from your domain administration panel. You can set it for your new host's nameserver value. Don't delete your old installation files yet, you can revert to it if installation on new server fails. It takes few hours for nameserver values to propagate so wait for that in order for your domain to point on new server.

Step 7 : Login to control panel or member panel of your new host and then install wordpress using fantastico or softaculous or any other tool available that allows you to install wordpress quickly.

Step 8 : Verify that wordpress installation is working on new server, if yes then proceed with further steps. If not, then wait for few hours to let nameserver value to propagate, also flush your DNS or reset modem.

Step 9: Login to your new wordpress installation dashboard and Go to Tools > Import section. Click on Wordpress link to download and install wordpress importer plugin.

Step 10 : Upload your uploads directory to the respective uploads directory in new wordpress installation. Make sure the path of upload directory is correct otherwise files will not map after backup.

Step 11: Once you install this plugin it'll create a upload box in import section. From this upload box you need to select the previously downloaded wordpress extended data xml file.It'll also ask you to map your username and the uploaded files for the respective posts. Click OK and then backup will proceed with the data import and will populate new wordpress installation with old posts.

Step 12 : In this step you'll revive your permalink structure in order to get your site back on track. Go to Settings > Permalinks. Modify the permalink structure as per previous site or the new one which you think is better for performance. If you choose new permalink structure then make sure that you use permalink migration setting for proper migration of links over time.

This method is perfect if you want to reset all your plugins settings to the last working condition and without any manual settings again. For example, using this method will also keep the plugin settings of amazon products in wordpress post or post optimization settings.

This method involves usage of backup and migrate plugins. These plugins are not free but costs very few amount to take regular backup of your wordpress installation and also to migrate them over multiple hosts or subdomains. You can use wordsprung backup plugin to backup your data and then retrieve to another wordpress installation. Most of the free and paid backup plugins do have option for importing the backups using their own internal methods. You can use these plugins at your own risk or if you're comfortable with free or paid plugins for your data.

Hope this helps you to transfer your wordpress blog from one host to another. If you've any questions then feel free to comment below.