Mirroring a WordPress site (back up and restore to a different hosting)

Tools:

  • PhpMyAdmin
  • FTP client (I use fireftp for firefox) or your hosting’s Cpanel file manager
  • WordPress plugin: WP-DB-Backup
  • WordPress plugin:  BTE’s WordPress Backup
  • WordPress plugin:  Search and Replace
  • notepad for editing

Steps A (for original hosting or hosting 1)

  1. Turn Off all and any caching plugins (like Total Cache etc.)
  2. Use WP-DB-Backup to generate a zipped database (do check all other tables)and download it to your desktop
  3. Use BTE’s WordPress Backup  to generate a new backup of zipped folders
  4. Download all three folders using your FTP and going to the BTE folder in the plugins folder of the wordpress directory
  5. Unzip the “upload” folder which may contain all files but stick to the ones containing wp-content, all those will be uploaded to same folder

Steps B (mainly for hosting 2)

  1. Install same version of wordpress in the new host
  2. use same settings as much as possible like password and user
  3. use your FTP client to upload everything from wp-content from hosting 1 to same folder of hosting 2
  4. (use your FTP client to get wp-config.php from the new wordpress installation
  5. get wp-config.php from hosting 1 and use same  info ) ** need to recheck this process
  6. access phpmyadmin of hosting 2, drop all tables and import downloaded database from hosting 1
  7. find table of wp-options and change home and url to match new wordpress install

*when importing config make sure prefix and all other info are same as orig source

*always refresh permalinks after everything