Not satisfied with the service? Are you not getting what you paid for? Don’t have 100% help from your provider and are afraid of losing data? Well, you may want to move your WordPress website to a new host. Don’t worry about damaging your site. You can move your WordPress website to a new host without frustrations and delays once you follow the correct procedure. Here’s how.
- Select a new WordPress host
It really takes time to migrate your WordPress website to a new host. So you better take your time when choosing your new WordPress Hosting provider. If you prefer a shared hosting provider, Bluehost is best for you. In addition, you are eligible for a 50% discount. SiteGround may be best if you opt for cloud hosting or location specific providers. Not to mention their three data centers in the country.
- Back up your website’s files
After you’ve decided which WordPress provider to choose, the next big project is backing up all the data on your site. Remember to back up your files before making any changes to your website.
Plugins that can back up your files are ubiquitous. You can choose any plugin you want. After installing the plugin, you will see a quick installation wizard. But get ready, it uses manual steps to complete the process. You can have an FTP program and then connect to your web host to copy your files to a folder on a computer. It can sometimes take you to complete this step, depending on the number of media uploads on your website.
- Migrate your WordPress site
Don’t lose your patience just yet. It gets easier. Just log in to cPanel account on your web server and open phpMyAdmin application. Then choose the database containing your WordPress installation from the list and select Expert tab on the menu.
Quick export and SQL settings would suffice for the migration. The migration process will start as soon as you click the Start button. Once the database and FTP transfer are both complete, you can proceed to the next step.
- Create the WordPress database on your chosen host server
You do a great job. See, it’s not that hard to move your WordPress website to a new host. But before you complete the migration, you need to create a database where you can transfer your SQL data.
Connect your new web host to the cPanel software. If you find this process difficult, please contact your web host’s support team to help you set up your new database. Don’t forget to write down the MySQL username and password, as you may need them later.
- Edit the wp-config.php file
Open the folder on your computer where you downloaded the files on your website. Open wp=config.php which controls the connection between WordPress and your database. You must make a copy of this file in another folder on your computer. Just to make sure you can still recover it after the changes. Then open the original version of the file and follow these three steps:
- Change the database name
Don’t be surprised if you see this:
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define(‘DB_USER’, ‘db_user’);
db_user – this part is set to the MySQL database name of your old web host. So you need to change the name you just created.
- Changing the database username
Change db_user from the old host’s username to the new one you just created.
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define(‘DB_USER’, ‘db_user’);
Change the db_user portion of your old host’s username to match the new username you just created.
- Change the database user’s password
Finally, edit the third line.
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define(‘DB_USER’, ‘db_user’);
Make sure to change this to the new password you created for your MySQL. Then save wp-config.php and close the file,
- Import your database
Agree! You have just created your new database. Let’s start with the import procedure this time.
Go to your new server, cPanel and open phpMyAdmin to choose the database in the left sidebar. Choose in the navigation menu Import tab. Click choose file in the File to import section and click SQL file you exported earlier. Uncheck the box Partial import check box, make sure it is set to SQL, then click Go to start the import process. The import time depends on your database size. You will see that you will receive a message confirming that the import is complete.
- Upload the WordPress files to your new host
After you set up the new database, start uploading the files to your website. Use the FTP program to connect to your new web host and check the folder where your website will be stored. If it’s primary, upload the files to public_ HTML folder. Your website files now contain the updated version of wp-config.php after the remote folder is selected. This would take several minutes. As a reminder, do not delete these files from your computer. They are needed until the last step.
- Define link to new URL and new domain
To avoid problems in this process, as others have experienced, do not directly include your links to other posts or inserted images by pointing to a URL on the server that can be broken when you move a new domain. Do the search and post on the new domain you are transferring the site to, not the old one.
Change site URL: You change the site_url and home URL values in your database as you search and replace on your old domain. This is to make sure that when you log in, you will be automatically redirected to the new domain.
- Reconfigure the domain’s DNS settings
You are just a few steps from the finish. Before using this site, you must reconfigure your domain’s DNS settings. Since it will point to your old host, you need to point the correct records to the new IP address. That, of course, depends on where you registered your domain. Don’t worry, your domain registrar will give you all the information to make the process a success. The DNS changes can be completed in up to 48 hours. Do not make any changes to your website within 48 hours.
Immediately after the 48 hour period, you will be able to access the new web host on your website. You can now visit the old host to delete the file, but keep a backup of these files just in case you need to repeat the migration process.
As promised, moving your WordPress website to a new host will not make you sweat. If you follow these simple and friendly steps, you can complete the process successfully. If you need to move your WordPress to a new host in the future, you can always refer to these steps.
