How to move a WordPress blog to a new host
There are many different ways to go about when moving your wordpress installation to a new host. How to to it depends on a set of different factors. There is however a method that is both simple and yet applicable to all situations; for moving from a local installation, for moving to a new WordPress hosting provider, for moving to a new domain and so forth.
Follow these simple steps to change to a new hosting provider
- Dowload all the files using an FTP software like for example FileZilla (If you are moving a local WordPress installation you can disregard this first step.)
- Goto your current hosting providers cPanel for your account, navigate to phpMyAdmin locate the database for your blog and export it.
- Upload all files to your new directory
- Create a new database in your new hosting cPanel and import your old database into it
- Change details in wp-config.php to fit your new domain and database properties
- Goto to phpMyAdmin and run the following scripts to update the database with your new domain details:
Query To Update WordPress Settings
UPDATE wp_options SET option_value = replace(option_value, ‘http://www.old-url.com’, ‘http://www.new-url.com’) WHERE option_name = ‘home’ OR option_name = ‘siteurl’;
Query To Update Permalinks
UPDATE wp_posts SET guid = replace(guid, ‘http://www.old-url.com’,'http://www.new-url.com’);
Query to Update Any Links Embedded In Content
UPDATE wp_posts SET post_content = replace(post_content, ‘http://www.old-url.com’, ‘http://www.new-url.com’);
Don´t forget to replace old-url.com/new-url.com with your own data!
Amazing post thank you!
File permissions?
Thanks for this post! I’ve used this method to move several WP sites.
I’d add that after you’ve made these changes, you’ll need to go to your permalinks settings page (in the WP backend) and simply “save” it–before you do that, you can’t browse around the site & will be presented with “page not found” errors.
Also, your db might not use just “wp_posts”–you might need an extra bit in there, depending on your database, like wp_sqlg49_posts or whatever.
Also, replace the curly single-quotes in the db queries with straight ones: ‘ vs ‘ (i got errors before I did that)
John, I’ve never needed to mess with file permissions.
Thanks Woolyowl, great I´ll add that to the post asap! Take care
Ok I really hope this works. Do happen to know if this effect seo at all? Like if you’re high in the SE will you get tanked when you move to a different hosting provider? Thanks!
Well, Google appreciates a speedy website so in that aspect, if you move to a better, more reliable and faster hosting provider, your rankings should increase. However, SEO is a complex matter and it’s hard to predict how your move will affect your rankings. I am moving one of my sites right now and am a bit nervous that I’ll drop in rankings. Good luck, and let me know how it goes!