Step-By-Step Guide to Migrate any WordPress Website

WordPress is an open source Content Management Systems (CMS) based on PHP & MySQL.  It is quite popular among the blogging and the e-commerce community. This is due to plethora of plugins available for it.

Migrating a WordPress website from one server to another might sound like a daunting task. But, trust me it’s quite the opposite.  There are six basic steps involved in migrating a WordPress site.

Step 1: Copy the website source files

The very first thing we need to do is take a backup of the entire website.

1. The files will be located inside the public_html folder of the old domain. Make sure you copy all the file including the hidden files too like .htaccess in a separate folder.
2. Now, copy all the contents of the folder into the new domain’s public_html folder.

Keep in mind if your website has a lot of media content it will take some time. We recommend a Coffee Break.

Step 2: Copy the old database

Exporting a database is a straightforward process.

1. Select your WordPress database and click on the Export tab on the navigation menu.
2. Click Quick export and select SQL. Click the Go button and the database export process will begin and a file will be downloaded to your local computer.
3. Let the database name be main_database

Now the database has been backed up.

Step 3: Create a database in your new domain

Log in to your new web host. Create a new database

1. Open PhpMyAdmin and create a new database.
2. Create a new MySQL user and password (Strong password is recommended).
3. Add this user account to the new database and grant it All Privileges.

Store the username and password in a safe place.

In this example for simplicity let user= alice and Password= 123.

Step 4: Make changes to wp-config file

Go to your new host’s public_html folder. Inside the folder there will be file called wp-config.php, make a copy of the file and keep it aside.

Open wp-config.php and make the following changes:

Locate the following lines:

change them to:

Save wp-config.php and close the file.

Step 5: Import Your Database from Step 2

1. Launch PhpMyAdmin and select the new database from the list on the left hands’ sidebar.
2. Inside the new database select the Import tab from the navigation menu.
3. In the File to Import section click the Choose File button and select the SQL file you exported previously.
4. Un-tick the Partial Import check-box, keep the format set to SQL and click the Go button to start the import.

Step 6: Changing URL in database (Only required if old and new domains are two separate addresses)

Find the table xyz-option in your database. Replace option_value of siteurl and home with the new URL of your site. You can now visit http://newdomain.com/wp-admin, go to Settings and then select Permalinks and without any changes simply press yes.

Still worried and confused? We are here to help. Contact Techmion Team and get you website migrated for free with our cheap and fast hosting packages.