How to Safely Move your WordPress Blog from One Host to Another
Last month we moved from Bluehost to HostGator. But I didn’t write or mention anywhere in the recent posts at DailyBlogging. The reason behind this was at that time I was designing our Theme.
So I didn’t want to divert my attention towards other things. Coming to the main point, the reason why we moved from Bluehost to HostGator was because we had exceeded the file count limit in Bluehost.
So to avoid Suspension of the account, it was necessary for us to move to another reliable service; and which host could be more reliable than HostGator.
Yes, HostGator is a touch costly as compared to most of the Hosting companies. But we had utilized the 80% Discount on Black Friday to buy ourselves the Business plan of HostGator for 3 years.
After the transfer, some of my Facebook friends wanted to know HowTo Transfer a WordPress Blog from one host to another. That’s the reason I decided to write a separate article to help them out. Let me directly come to the steps I followed during this transfer.
#1 Backup Everything (Databases + Directory files)
The first and foremost thing you must do while moving your WordPress blog is to backup the Databases and the Directory files. This is a precautious step which needs to be taken under any condition.
For Database Backups I use ‘WordPress Database Backup’ which helps to not only schedule backups & sends it via Email but also it generates backups which can be directly downloaded. If you’ve lost your Database, then you can use the older version of the database which you’ve.
For this you should be having WordPress Database Backup (WP-DB-Backup) or any other DB Backup plugin installed & scheduled to send emails containing databases.
#2 Fresh Install WordPress on your New Server/Host
Once you have the database & directory backups, you need to fresh install WordPress on your New Host. Make sure that you’ve changed the Name servers and made it to point towards the new Host. Allow some minutes for the Nameservers to get updated.
After you’ve done that, install WordPress. CPanel comes with many add-ons which installs WordPress with a few clicks. In HostGator you’ve Quick Install exclusively for installing WordPress. The latest of which is the WordPress 3.1, which was released late yesterday.
#3 Replacing the Database
Once you’ve freshly Installed WordPress on your new host, you’ll find a default Database created in phpMyAdmin. Open that Database. Go to the Import tab & Upload the Database which you’ve backed up as per Step-1.
You’ll be prompted to Replace the Database tables, Click ok when that popup comes & you’ll have the result.
#4 Restoring the Directory files
You don’t need to replace all the directory files. Just replace the wp-content folder with the one you backed up, again as per Step-1. With this you’ll have your themes & plugins in place.
The good thing is you won’t be needing to Configure the Plugins again as the settings are already saved in the database tables. That’s why it’s always a good practice to Replace the Database first and then the directory files.
I Recommend HostGator WordPress Hosting
Have you faced problems while moving your WordPress blog from one host to another host ??
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16 Comments Comments RSS
Back then, I just ask Hostgator support guy to do this entire blog transferring.
Ya HostGator allows One FREE Transfer on Shared Hosting Plans.
Quite Good and Simple Tutorial..
Thanks for Stopping by Rohit
Good Post. I use hostgator. So no problem. It is a one-stop shopping for hosting.
HostGator is the best Hosting I’ve seen for WordPress. It did have some problems when I moved, from then on it’s pretty smooth.
very nice description Mani, I’m having a new server and just looking for something like that…
I am Trying to change my HostServer to Bluehost.. How is there Support and server Response, so far i have got good Reviews. BTW may i know what that File Exceeding limit means.
BlueHost is pretty good if you’ve less sites on it. Their support is good as well. File Limits are similar to Inodes. In bluehost you can have 2,00,000 files. That’s their file count limit. If you are near or cross that mark then in the CPanel you’ll see the File Count number in red and your sites will be temporarily down unless you quickly have a live chat with their support crew and delete some unwanted files
Thanks for the great explanation on moving blogs, I followed your example, everything seemed to work as described, however, my blog does not come up after the move?. it’s been 24 hrs, does it take longer than that for the site to get back to live status?. (kellyripaphotos.com)
do i need to unzip my backup in my new contents folder because the instructions didn’t say so and I haven’t done so, maybe that’s why the site does not seem to be live?.
thanks
Yes obviously you need to unzip the wp-content folder which you backed up earlier. The Step 4 says that only.
Great post and very clear point.
This is very clear idea and really very helpful to move my wordpress site.
Thanks for sharing us.
hey its nice post for moving wp blog from one host to other. you may take a look on my one which is on my blog.thank you prashant
Nice tips bro.I’m also planning to move my website to Hostgator.
Excellent article thanks for sharing this article I had no difficulty in shifting my hosting it is so clearly explained into it
Very informative post. This will help me to move my blog from one WordPress host to another.
Thanks