Today, every person who has his own website on the Internet may face a problem that he will need to transfer the site to another hosting. There can be many different reasons for this. Of course, the most common of them is dissatisfaction with the services provided. If you can’t endure anymore, then you need to act. This is a rather long procedure. If you do everything step by step, you can safely transfer the site, and not redo everything several times. So, how is the WordPress site migrated with the settings saved? In this article you will find all the answers to your questions.
Correct website transfer to Wordpress
If you used a rather popular hosting, then perhaps you can use the site transfer service. Moreover, it is usually carried out completely free of charge. Of course, if this is not possible, then you will have to do everything yourself. First you need to consider the algorithm of actions in order to properly transfer a blog or website:
1. Firstly, you need to copy all the files from your site.
2. We also export the database from the old hosting.
3. After transferring all the files, you can connect the domain name on the new hosting.
4. Create a database and import into it the data that you saved.
5. Go to the configuration file, in which you need to change the connection settings for the new database.
6. At this step, you can verify the correctness of all actions. You can use a technical domain or a temporary URL for this.
7. At the last stage, you need to change the domain DNS. To do this, go to the control panel of the domain registrar.
The result is a rather long list. If you perform all these steps correctly, you can transfer WordPress from hosting to another hosting. This can take a lot of time, but do not rush. You need to ensure that all actions are performed without errors.
We move files from an old hosting
This is a fairly simple action. If you yourself were engaged in the creation of the site, you can quickly figure it out and do everything right. To transfer the WordPress blog to another hosting, you need to connect via FTP to the old server. After that, download all the data to your computer. Also, you must first prepare the folder in which you save the files from the old hosting.
Comment. If you need to move several sites at once, and you want to cheat, it would be logical to transfer the entire folder with the name public_html at once. After that, also upload it to a new hosting. Unfortunately, on many hosting sites, due to the different folder structure, this focus may not work. Each site or blog will have to be moved separately.
Database Migration
You need to export the old database in phpMyAdmin. You can go to this directory through the control panel. You will need to find a link to phpMyAdmin in the "Databases" item. This step must be done if you have cPanel installed.
In the new window, select the desired database, and then go to the "Export" section. Next, you need to change several parameters. We go down to the item “Export Method” and select “Normal”. Scrolling a little lower, you will see the "Output" section, and in the "Compression" item, set the value to gzip.
It remains only to confirm your actions by clicking on the "OK" button. Right after that loading of your database will begin.
Moving a WordPress site from one domain to another
In the third step, you need to add the domain name that you are going to transfer. This can be done in the hosting control panel. You need to understand that on many hosting sites you can’t upload files until you link the domain to the site. That is, the www folder will not be created without an associated domain name.
So how to tie it? As we already found out, you need to go to the control panel. Next, you need to find the "Domains" section and go to it. Next, click on the "Add a domain name" button. It remains only to indicate the former domain and confirm their actions.
Uploading files to a new hosting
At the previous stages, we all prepared for downloading the site files. This is a fairly simple step that you can quickly deal with. First you need to connect to the new server via FTP. Once connected, you will notice one directory called www. Going to this folder, you can see another folder with the name of your domain name. It is necessary to dump into it all the files that were on the previous hosting.
It is worth noting that if at the first stage you completely copied the folder, then you need to paste it, not itself, but all the files that were in it. That is, if you copied a directory, for example, my_blog, then it should not be contained in a folder with the same name. It will need to open and move all the files that were on the old server. It would seem a rather stupid mistake, but they often make it, so it’s worth mentioning it.
You also need to ensure that failed transmissions occur. If you still allowed this, then you must download these files again. If you do not, then in the future you will experience errors in the site.
Database creation
At this stage, we need to create a database on the selected server. How to do it? There is nothing complicated about it. Go to the control panel and select the "Databases" item. Next, click on the "Create Database" button. In the new tab, enter the password and name for the new database.
It is worth noting that a prefix with the login that you specify when entering the control panel will be automatically added to the name of the database.
Importing data into a database
Now it is necessary to transfer the information that we saved on the computer at the very beginning of our path to the new database.
Go to phpMyAdmin on the selected hosting. Next, go to the "Databases" section. Now you need to see information about your database. To do this, click on the "Login Information" button.
On a new page, useful parameters will open that you need to save in order to connect the database to our site. But first you need to enter phpMyAdmin. By clicking on the appropriate button, you need to enter the password from the database.
PhpMyAdmin opens on a new page. Now we need to perform the opposite of what we did when exporting the information. This should not be difficult for you, but you should still consider the data import algorithm:
• To transfer to another hosting WordPress site, you need to go to the selected database.
• On the top panel, click on the “Import” button.
• Go to the "Imported file" field, where you must specify the path to the old database. It must be archived.
Of course, the download will be delayed if the database weighs quite a lot. At the end, you should receive a message about a successful download. If this does not happen, then you need to restart the database.
Configure the connection of the site to the database
At this stage, we need to configure the database connection to the site or blog on WordPress. These settings are stored in a file called wp-config.php.
This file can be found in the root of the site itself. Next you need to find this document and open it. We turn to the lines where the parameters are displayed in the define function: DB_NAME - database name, DB_USER - database username, DB_PASSWORD - password, DB_HOST - database server.
To transfer a blog to another WordPress hosting, you need to fill in these data from the window that we opened earlier - “Login Information”. In the second parameter of the define function, you must specify the necessary information.
Check the quality of the transfer site or blog
Almost everything has already been done. Only a few actions remain. At the penultimate stage, you need to check the quality of your work. But how to do it? Since the domain name does not yet point to our site, you need to use a technical domain or a temporary URL (this is the same thing, the name depends on which hosting you are trying to check your site or blog for).
To transfer a blog to another WordPress hosting, you need to find out the technical domain name. To do this, go to the "Domains" section. Next, select the desired name and click on the "Tools" button. In a new window, you can see a link to a temporary URL for your blog. Click on it and check the correct operation of your site.
Upon transition, you will open the main page. If this does not happen or you do not open other pages, then there were some problems during the transfer. Possible problems and their solutions are discussed below.
We register DNS
If you checked the site, and it works well, then you can proceed to the final stage. You need to change the domain name DNS. Now, in order for the site to be visible to other users, you need to specify the path to the site on a new hosting.
To transfer to another WordPress blog hosting, you need to change the DNS in the control panel of the site where the domain name registration services were purchased. On different services, this happens in different ways. If you already had a working site, then you know how to do this. Also on each such site there is technical support, which responds quite quickly.
DNS changes quite quickly. In just a few hours, people will be able to visit your resource again.
Possible errors and their solutions
1. If you receive a message that you cannot connect to the database, then you need to check the change in the file called wp-config.php. The problem is the incorrectness of the data entered in this file.
2. If your site doesn’t open, but the installation of WordPress is just beginning, you need to download the database again and check that the download was successful. You also need to check that the download goes to the database that connects to the server.
3. If instead of opening the site only a white screen appears, you need to check the files that you uploaded to the hosting. Re-download the data from the old server and reload it to the new one.
4. If, instead of the normal text, various distortions and incomprehensible characters appear, it is necessary to change the encoding in all tables to utf8_general_ci.
5. If the problem is that a lot of strange words appear, you should look at the work of the plugins. Most likely, this is the cause of the error. Examine the message that the server issues and go to the corresponding plugin. To transfer a WordPress site to another hosting, the plugin needs to be removed, this should solve the problem.
Site Migration Services
If you have problems moving the site and you yourself are not able to fix them, then you can take the help of professionals. There are many different services on the Internet that provide these services. Easy transfer of WordPress to another hosting will cost you in the range from 1000 to 2000 rubles. They promise to transfer the site to another hosting in one day.
It is quite inexpensive. You can pay and not worry about the safety of your information. These studios claim that they make a backup copy of the site, examine its structure and transfer the link mass of the site so that it does not lose its rating.
You can transfer the site to another server completely free if hosting provides such services. You must immediately find out about this, so as not to spend the whole day transferring your project. You can find out more about this in the technical support of the site. Of course, these services may be paid from the hosting. This can be cheaper than in special companies that deal with site transfers.
Conclusion
Transferring WordPress from one hosting to another is a rather time-consuming procedure that requires certain skills. You can use an algorithm to help you move your blog step by step. You need to prepare for this and free up your time. If you have not previously been involved in the transfer of sites, then it may require quite a lot. How to transfer WordPress site to another hosting? Even if all else fails, don’t be upset. You can order site transfer services and the next day get your site, which will be located on a new hosting. Remember that hosting can provide you with free site transfer services. If you find out that this is possible, then clarify everything in more detail in technical support.