Transferring or migrating your WordPress website or blog from one host to another can be a real challenge. There’s many ways to create a backup of your files and databases and there’s many ways to transfer and restore them to your new host.
But whats the easiest way to do this safely and for free?
If you haven’t already chosen the best WordPress web host i recommend you take a look at Hostgators WordPress hosting plans now.
They will complete the transfer for you free of charge and have a whole department which specializes in site transfers.
Simply choose a hosting plan which fits your needs and complete the transfer form.
Or
Backup yourself, complete the Restore Form and get Hostgator to restore your backup.
Note: If you host multiple sites on the same host and don’t want to move all of them to a new host then you don’t create a full cPanel backup. You will need to create a home directory backup or a backup of the sites directory folder(s) you wish to transfer.
You’ll find it hard to find another quality WordPress host which offers this kind of service.
cPanel to cPanel Transfer
However, if you have already chosen a host which uses cPanel, you can transfer your site from cPanel to Cpanel. This method involves using cPanel to backup and restore your files rather than FTP.
Note, if you’re moving your entire cPanel to a new host then you won’t need to create a database backup. If you are moving individual sites or simply one site, then you will need to create a backup of your database(s) in cPanel or PhpMyAdmin.
1) Create a Full cPanel Backup.
If your host doesn’t allow you to or offer the tools to create a Full cPanel Backup then you will have to transfer your WordPress files & databases manually.
Different web hosts have different cPanel setups and use different backup tools.
Hostgator cPanel Backup Tool
Full cPanel backup will copy everything including all your files, databases, email details etc. Create a Full cPanel backup or backup of the sites files you wish to transfer and download the .tar archive file to your desktop.
This may take some time to download if you have a large site.
2) Create a Database backup of the database(s)
If you have created a full cPanel backup then you can skip this step.
Creating a database backup will be different depending on which host you are using. The below image shows what it looks like using Bluehosts backup & restore tool.
You may need to create a database backup using PhpMyAdmin if your host doesn’t offer a backup tool.
You may find this tutorial on using cPanel to backup and restore MySQL Databases helpful.
3) Restore database backup to New Hosts cPanel.
The restore tool may look different depending on which web host you are restoring your database to.
You may need to unzip your .sql database file if you have downloaded it using cPanel. If you cannot upload it to your new host using cPanel then upload it using PhpMyAdmin to the new database you will create in step 4.
Note: If you have a database backup that you’ve created using PhpMyAdmin then you’ll need to import your database using PhpMyAdmin rather than using the cPanel import tool.
4) Create a New Database.
Follow these instructions to create a new database for WordPress. Take note of:
- Database Name
- Database Username
- Database Password
- Database Host (Most cases this will be localhost) Not with Media Temple and some others.
Note: If you have created a full website backup using cPanel, you will need to extract the files and databases then restore them separately using cPanel. You cannot restore the full cPanel backup on your new hosts cPanel.
5) Restore Website Files.
You can use the Home Directory Tool in cPanel to restore your sites files or an entire home directory backup. This is what it looks like in Hostgator and may look differently if you are using another host.
You may need to unzip your files before you upload them using cPanel. If you cannot upload them then you’ll need to transfer them to your new hosts public_html directory using FTP.
6) Change Database Settings.
Now you need to find your database configuration file and change the settings to the new ones you took note of when you created the new db and db user.
The name of this file is wp-config.php file and its located in your sites files directory folder which you can access using File Manager in cPanel or FTP.
Here’s a sample of what the wp-config.php file looks like.
You may also find a sample-wp-config.php file in the same location which you can edit as long as you rename it to wp-config.php whenh you are done.
Here’s another tutorial showing you how to edit a wp-config.php file.
7) Change Your Domains Nameservers DNS
The last thing you need to do is point your domains name servers to your new host. You can find the DNS settings for your new host from them. You’ll then need to login to your existing domain managers control panel and change them.
You may find this video on how to change nameservers helpful.
Successful WordPress Transfer
Your site should be working fine now. Check the links and also login and refresh and save your Permalinks under Settings as well as making sure your menu is working properly. You may need to save it again as the primary menu.
If this is the first time you have transferred your WordPress website or blog using cPanel then congratulations. You should have learn’t a lot from this procedure and must now also understand how much easier it is to use Hostgators transfer service as it can save days.
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