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Are you not satisfied with the service? You don’t get what you paid for? Don’t have 100% support from your carrier and are you afraid of losing data? Well, you may want to start moving 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 any frustration or delay once you follow the correct procedure. That is how.
- Select a new WordPress host
It really takes time to migrate your WordPress website to a new host. Therefore, it is better that you also take your time in choosing your new WordPress hosting provider. If you prefer a shared hosting provider, Bluehost is the best for you. Plus, you’re eligible for a 50% discount. Siteground might be the best if you choose cloud hosting or location specific providers. Not to mention its three data centers in the country.
- Back up your website files
After deciding which WordPress provider to choose, the next big project you need to do is back 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 of your choice. After installing the plugin, you will see a quick setup wizard. But be prepared because it uses manual steps to complete the process. You can have an FTP program and then connect to your web server to copy your files to a folder on a computer. Sometimes it may be necessary to complete this step depending on the number of media uploads on your website.
- Migrate your WordPress site
Don’t lose your patience yet. It would be easier. Just sign in to cPanel account on your web server and open phpMyAdmin application. Then choose the database that your WordPress installation has from the list and select Expert tab on the menu.
Quick export and SQL setup would suffice for migration. The migration process will start once you click the Go button. Once the database and FTP transfer is done, you can proceed to the next step.
- Create the WordPress database on your chosen host server
You’re doing a great job. Look, 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 server to the cPanel software. If you find this process difficult, contact your web server support team for help setting up your new database. Don’t forget to write down the MySQL username and password, as you might need them later.
- Edit the wp-config.php file
Open the folder on your computer where you downloaded the files on your website. opened wp=config.php which controls the connection between WordPress and your database. You have to make a copy of this file in another folder on your computer. Just to make sure you can still restore it after the changes. Next, open the original version of the file and follow these three steps:
- Change the database name
Don’t be surprised if you see this:
- define(‘USER_DB’, ‘user_DB’);
db_user – This part will be set to the MySQL database name of your old web server. Therefore, you need to change to the name you just created.
- Change database username
Change db_user from the old host username to the new one you just created.
- define(‘USER_DB’, ‘user_DB’);
Change the db_user part of the username from your old host to match the new username you just created.
- Change database user password
Lastly, edit the third line.
- define(‘USER_DB’, ‘user_DB’);
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
ok! You just created your new database. This time, let’s start the import procedure.
Go to your new server then cPanel and open phpMyAdmin to choose the database on the left sidebar. In the navigation menu, select Import tab. Click choose file from the File to import section and click the SQL file you exported earlier. Uncheck the Partial import checkbox, make sure it is set to SQL, and then click Go to start the import process. The import time depends on the size of your database. Note that you will receive a message confirming that the import is complete.
- Upload the WordPress files to your new host
After setting up the new database, start uploading the files to your website. Using the FTP program, connect to your new web server and check the folder where your website will be held. If it’s primary, upload the files to public_HTML folder. Your website files will now include the updated version of wp-config.php have the remote directory selected. This would take several minutes. Just a reminder, do not delete these files from your computer. They will be needed until the last step.
- Link to new URL and definition of new domain
To avoid any issues in this process as others have experienced, please do not include your links to other posts or embedded images directly by pointing to a URL on the server that may break when moving to a new domain. Run the search and put on the new domain you are transferring the site to, not the old one.
Changing the site URL: You are changing the site_url and home url values in your database while doing your search and replace on your old domain. This is to make sure that when you log in, it will automatically direct you to the new domain.
- Reconfigure domain DNS settings
You are just a few steps from the finish line. Before using this site, you must reconfigure your domain’s DNS settings. Since you will be pointing to your old host, you will need to point the correct records to the new IP address. Of course, that depends on where you registered your domain. Don’t worry because your domain registrar will provide you with all the information for the process to be successful. DNS changes can be fully completed 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 server on your website. You can now visit the old host to delete the file, but keep a backup of these files just to be safe in case you need to repeat the migration process.
As promised, moving your WordPress website to a new host won’t break a sweat. If you follow these easy and friendly steps, you can successfully complete the process. If you ever have to move your WordPress to a new host again in the future, you can always refer to these steps.