How to manually migrate WordPress websites | Tutorial

Manually migrating a WordPress website can seem like a tricky task, but with this simple tutorial you'll be able to migrate almost any WordPress website to your preferred host!
The basic method I show in this guide should streamline your migration process, but if your site is more advanced and complex I also show you how to take a full backup of your site space, so that either way you'll be able to get your WordPress Website moved!
How to backup large websites via SSH: COMING SOON!
How to use the host file to check your website: COMING SOON!
Looking to get started with web hosting? Find out more at Fasthosts.co.uk, or talk to an expert at 0333 554 1190
00:00 - Intro
00:57 - Check with your host
01:25 - Backup your site files
04:40 - Backup your database
06:21 - Importing your database
08:00 - Importing your site files
10:48 - What to do if this didn't work
11:38 - Changing your DNS
13:00 - Outro
Music:
Streambeats by Harris Heller

[@fasthosts]

What guide would you like to see next? Leave a comment below!

[@alfieleek4362]

Love to see how to setup the ignite boost hosting package.

[@catc0r]

You're a lifesaver!!! Your tutorial was the most helpful ❤

[@alfieleek4362]

Thanks for the informational video!

[@fasthosts]

Glad it was helpful!

[@alek-adzie]

Thanks man! Very helpful! 🙏

[@fasthosts]

Glad it helped!

[@Lirree88]

@ 4:33 still have a video on large site migrations? no links appear in this video for that. cheers !

[@joshuagallo6973]

Hello, for those with large-size files, I can't find the video in the description?

[@fasthosts]

Hi there, unfortunately we haven't created that video guide yet, but the method that I would have shown would be to log into the package via SSH, and then you would compress the directories you need using the tar command in the below format, replacing the words in brackets with what is relevant to your site:
tar -cvf [filename-for-compressed-files]. tar [/path/to/directory]
Once that's done you'll then be able to download that new compressed file as normal, and it should be much smaller and easier to download. I've included our guide on accessing SSH on shared hosting websites below, and if you run into issues I'd advise giving our support team a call as they should be able to help you with this process:
help.fasthosts.co.uk/app/answers/detail/a_id/43/kw/zip

[@giovanni468]

😢 ρяσмσѕм

[@JustinWyllie]

Amazingly enough this is not going to work with Fasthosts WordPress hosting, at least WP advance. If you do this you will delete a lot of default data and plugins and your site will not work. What is described here works in a basic hosting environment NOT in the Fasthosts WP managed hosting packages. Don't do it.

[@fasthosts]

Hi Justin,
Thanks for feeding back on this, as far as I'm aware you shouldn't lose any necessary plugins when migrating from our WP packages this way as they are contained in the content folder, but there might be something else I've missed when it comes to those packages specifically, so I'll have a look and update the guide if I find any issues

[@JustinWyllie]

If you completely replace all tables in the database you will prevent the one time log in link to access WP admin from the Fasthosts control panel from working. And, yes they should be careful to avoid deleting the Fasthosts pluguns. But, to be honest I am not sure that the default setup doesn't set values in other tables as well which should not be deleted and would be if you drop all tables. (Basically I did what you describe here and locked myself out of wp-admin)

[@fasthosts]

@@JustinWyllie Thanks for that further detail, I'm definitely going to set aside some time to investigate this and see if this is a common issue when migrating from the platform, and if so what we can do to mitigate further issues.
In the meantime if you're still running issues with that migrated site and haven't already done so, please don't hesitate to get in touch with our support team for further assistance! They can be reached at 0333 0142 700, via live chat on our website, or by email at [e-mail]

[@JustinWyllie]

@@fasthosts OK. I had a reply to my case and in the end the issue seems to be that the WordPress hosting package creates a WordPress site. So migrating in this case is not quite the same as migrating to an empty file system and database. For example - you have to be careful to change the database prefix in wp-config to match yours. (I think). And also - you may need to activate some of the pre-installed by FastHosts plugins (but perhaps not the one that wants to 'Create your FastHosts journey' ). Anyway these two areas - database prefix and the already installed plugins are the areas to watch when migrating to WordPress hosting, as opposed to standard Web Hosting.
At 8.08 and/or 10.00 you need to tell people to change the wp-config database prefix to match their imported database prefix. And also they should not replace wp-content in the case of a pre-existing install of WordPress as this will delete key FastHosts plugins. (I.e. it is definitely not a good idea to "just deleted the the wp-content in the new space") at 10.12

[@samsepi1173]

talk to much show little