duplicator | The Blog Pros

April 8, 2024

8 Best WordPress Migration Services (Compared)

Are you looking for the best WordPress migration service for your website?

Whether you are moving your site from a different CMS or to a new web host, choosing the right migration platform is important. That’s why we’ve put together a list of the best WordPress migration plugins, tools, and services to help you with your decision.

In this article, we will show you the best WordPress migration services for various use cases.

What Is the Easiest Way to Migrate a WordPress Site?

The easiest way to migrate a WordPress website is with a migration service. With this, you don’t need any technical knowledge to move your site manually using FTP and worry about accidentally breaking your site.

WordPress migration services come in two types: a migration tool or a third-party service (like a WordPress agency or a developer) that handles the migration for you.

A WordPress migration tool or plugin can be a great choice if you are confident in migrating the site yourself and you are running a website that doesn’t have a ton of complex or custom features. In most cases, you will only need to download your site into a zip file and then upload it to your new WordPress account.

On the other hand, choosing a third-party service means letting a professional handle the site migration process. Even though they usually come with a higher cost, they can also make sure that your new host is well set up and there are no errors on your new site.

With that in mind, let’s look at the best WordPress migration services.

1. Duplicator (Do-It-Yourself Plugin for Migration)

Is Duplicator the right backup and migration plugin for you?

Duplicator is one of the most popular WordPress migration plugins on the market, and for a good reason. It makes migrating between WordPress accounts fast and easy, even for beginners.

Duplicator comes in a free version called Lite and a premium version called Pro. With Lite, you can save your website database, media files, plugins, and themes in a zip package and then restore that file in your new location.

Duplicator Pro comes with even more features to smoothen the migration process. For example, you can use the Import Link feature to import a website from a server or a cloud storage using a URL.

This way, you won’t need to export a package file from your desktop first.

Importing a WordPress website using a URL in Duplicator Pro

If any error occurs when you are setting up your new site, then you can use the Recovery Point feature to restore your site to a previous, error-free version of the site.

Pros of Duplicator:

Unlimited migrations and scheduled automatic backups are available in all plans.
Easy, self-explanatory step-by-step migration wizard to move your WordPress website.
Support for migrating WordPress multisite networks and destinations where the database is shared with another website.

Integrations with cloud storage providers like Dropbox, Google Drive, and Amazon S3.
Support for managed hosting providers like WP Engine and GoDaddy.
If you are a WordPress developer and work with clients, then you can use the Installer Branding feature to rebrand the plugin’s pages.

Cons of Duplicator:

No support for migrations from other website builders.

Why we chose Duplicator: Duplicator tops our rankings as the best overall WordPress migration service. The Lite version is great for moving simple sites, while the Pro plan offers more power and can be suitable for developers working with multiple clients.

2. Seahawk Media (Site Builders to WordPress)

Do you want to move your site from another website builder to WordPress? If so, then Seahawk Media is your best solution.

The tricky thing with migrating sites between different website builders is that each platform has its own configurations. Therefore, making your site look and feel the same way as it was before it was migrated can be difficult.

Thankfully, Seahawk has plenty of experience in migrating an existing site to WordPress, no matter where it was built. They have experience in moving sites from Shopify, Squarespace, Drupal, Prestashop, and more.

Seahawk Media's WordPress migration services

All you need to do is book a free consultation, and the Seahawk team will come up with a game plan to make sure the migration is safe and seamless.

Then, they will migrate your website, polish it to your needs, and provide support in case anything happens.

Pros of Seahawk Media:

Free initial consultation, so there’s no risk in contacting them about your migration needs.
Support migrating sites from various website builders, like Wix, Magento, and Hubspot CMS. They are also open to assisting you even if the origin platform is not very popular.
They make sure your live site is not affected and there is zero downtime so your online business can still run.
They offer 24/7 post-launch support to make sure that your new site is operating well.
Over 1000+ companies trust their WordPress services, including top brands like DreamHost, GoDaddy, and Alibaba Cloud.

Cons of Seahawk Media:

The pricing is based on the project size, so you will need to consult with their team first to get a quote.
The service may not be suitable if you need an instant website migration.

Why we chose Seahawk Media: If you have a custom project and are not confident in doing your own migration, then Seahawk Media is an excellent migration service. Besides moving your content, they can make sure your site is running with no issues.

Editor’s Note: At WPBeginner, we are investors in Seahawk Media. We made this investment because we believe Seahawk offers great WordPress services at fair prices.

3. Codeable (Custom WordPress Migration)

Codeable is a WordPress freelancer platform where you can hire a developer to migrate your website. Like Seahawk, we recommend this option if you are not confident with doing the migration yourself.

What makes Codeable different is that it can match you with a WordPress expert in under one day. Simply sign up on the platform for free, describe your needs, and they’ll find you some potential developers that best suit the project.

Codeable's process for matching a client with a WordPress developer

When you receive your list of matches, you can evaluate them based on their years of experience, number of clients, and typical projects.

Additionally, Codeable has some project estimates that you can use to predict how much the migration project will cost. This way, you can see if Codeable’s rates will suit your budget.

Pros of Codeable:

Large talent pool of WordPress experts specializing in site migrations.
No need to pay anything or hire anyone until you find an expert that you like and agree on the project estimate.
The average time it takes to match users with an expert is 3-5 hours, which is much faster than working with an agency.
Money-back policy in case the developer doesn’t deliver based on the agreement.
Rigorous vetting process to filter the WordPress developers that apply.

Cons of Codeable:

You have to pay a 17.5% fixed service fee on top of the project costs.

Why we chose Codeable: If you just want to work with just one developer to move your site, then Codeable is one of the best migration services. The matching process is quick and only the best WordPress developers get hired by the platform.

4. BlogVault (Multisite/Large Website Migration)

BlogVault's WordPress migration service landing page

BlogVault is a premium WordPress backup and migration service. While they can migrate any type of website, their main benefit is the ability to move websites as large as 100 GB. That’s why they are trusted by top brands like eBay and Intel.

To use BlogVault, you will need to purchase a plan, where prices start at $149 per year for one site. That being said, you can sign up for a 7-day free trial, so you can try out the service with no risk.

BlogVault supports one-click migrations to new web hosts or new domain names. You can just log in to your BlogVault dashboard, choose a backup version to migrate, and enter the new website details. BlogVault will then automatically move the site for you.

BlogVault also powers the free Migrate Guru plugin, but it doesn’t support localhost migrations.

Pros of BlogVault:

Can migrate large websites (up to 100 GB size limit) and multisite networks.
Selective migration feature to move certain site files and databases only.
Staging site feature to turn a backup version of your site into a testing environment.
Automatic search and replace feature to simplify the process of updating links, images, and content in your new site.
No credit card required to sign up for the 7-day free trial.

Cons of BlogVault:

The pricing can be expensive for small businesses, especially if you are just migrating one website.
The user interface is not the most beginner-friendly.

Why we chose BlogVault: If your website has lots of files and you are worried that a plugin won’t support the migration, then BlogVault could be the best WordPress migration service for you.

5. All-in-One WP Migration (Basic WordPress Migration Plugin)

If you are looking for a simple WordPress migration service with no frills, then you should consider All-in-One WP Migration.

This free plugin only has three basic features, but it does them well. It can export all of your website files into one neat package, import it into your new website, and create backup versions of your site.

All-in-One WP Migration's plugin settings page

The All-in-One WP Migration plugin also has a search and replace feature to update URLs, file paths, or other texts within your WordPress database during the export. This way, the migrated website functions smoothly without any broken links.

Additionally, you can enable the advanced options to protect the exported package with a password and/or exclude certain files from being exported. These files include spam comments, post revisions, themes, plugins, and so on.

Pros of All-in-One WP Migration:

Support for older WordPress versions of up to 3.3 and all versions of MySQL and MariaDB.
Despite being free, it has advanced tools like selective migration and search and replace to optimize the migration.
There are various paid add-ons you can install to extend the plugin’s functionality, such as integration with cloud storage services.
Supports 50+ languages.

Cons of All-in-One WP Migration:

There are no built-in features for scheduling backups or email notifications for when the backup is successful or has failed. You will need add-ons for these.
It has a maximum upload size limit of 256 MB, so you will need an add-on to upload files bigger than that.

Why we chose All-in-One WP Migration: Sometimes, you just need a simple tool to move your website, and that’s what All-in-One WP Migration is for. Even without the add-ons, this plugin is a great basic migration service.

6. WP Migrate (Localhost WordPress Migration)

Many migration plugins now allow exporting your live site files into a staging environment for testing. WP Migrate is no different, but its push-and-pull migration makes it a favorite among many WordPress developers.

In a normal migration, you need to export your database, media files, themes, and plugins into a file and then import that into a new host. With WP Migrate, you can pull data from a live site to a localhost site directly just with a remote connection.

Similarly, you can push that data from the local site to the live site when the new changes are ready to be implemented. This feature makes the migration much faster.

The push-and-pull migration feature of WP Migrate

Developers will also enjoy WP Migrate’s WP-CLI integration, which lets you run migrations from the command line and make the migration process even more efficient.

Pros of WP Migrate:

The push-and-pull migration feature can make WordPress migration much faster.
There is serialized data detection to ensure no database is corrupted.
It automatically backs up your databases in case anything goes wrong during the migration.
The premium versions come with a 60-day money-back guarantee.
It comes in a free version, but it doesn’t have the push-and-pull feature.

Cons of WP Migrate:

If you want to push and pull media files and/or theme and plugin files, you need at least the Plus plan, which costs $189.

Why we chose WP Migrate: All in all, WP Migrate is one of the fastest WordPress migration services on the list, making it great for developers who do a lot of staging and testing.

7. Import Shopify To WP (Free Shopify Migration)

Do you want to migrate your Shopify store to WooCommerce? If so, then check out Import Shopify To WP. Made by the experts at WPBeginner, this plugin lets you move your Shopify store data to WooCommerce free of charge.

All you need to do is go to shopifytowp.com and enter your Shopify site URL and email. Then, you need to install the AMTools Shop Exporter app in Shopify, which will export the data of your products, product categories, customers, and orders.

After that, you can go to your WordPress dashboard and install the Import Shopify To WP plugin to import the newly exported data. Then, simply review your data to make sure everything is correct.

The Shopify to WooCommerce importer tool

If you want to see this plugin in action, you can read our article on how to properly move from Shopify to WooCommerce.

Pros of Import Shopify To WP:

The plugin and the website are completely free to use.
The migration is quick and easy, with no complex configuration needed.
You can export your current orders, products, and users so that you can continue your operation where you left off before the migration.
The plugin or website doesn’t delete any data from your existing Shopify store, so you can go back to see if anything is missing from the imported data.

Cons of Import Shopify To WP:

It cannot export the Shopify store design to WooCommerce, so you will have to set it up from scratch.

Why we chose Import Shopify To WP: While the paid services we’ve listed so far are great, we also know how important it is for you to keep costs low. This plugin is one of the easiest, free Shopify to WordPress migration services for small business owners.

8. Medium to WordPress (Free Medium Migration)

If you want to move your Medium site to WordPress, then we also have a free Medium to WordPress migration service you can use.

Medium has grown in popularity over the years thanks to its user-friendly blogging platform and large built-in community. However, many users find the site pretty limiting, as they have a lot of rules about monetizing your content.

To use this free migration service, you need to download your Medium site zip file to your computer. Then, go to mediumtowp.com, enter your Medium website URL, name, and email address, and upload the zip file there.

The tool will then make adjustments to the export file so that it’s more compatible with the built-in WordPress importer tool.

You can learn more about this tool in our guide on how to properly move from Medium to WordPress.

Pros of Medium to WordPress:

The tool is completely free of charge.
No need to install a plugin to import the file in WordPress.
Besides importing the Medium blog posts, you can also import the images you use in those posts.
If you use a custom domain on your Medium site, you can set up redirects to point users to the new WordPress site.

Cons of Medium to WordPress:

Some images may not get successfully transferred, so you may have to import them again.
Setting up redirects is not possible if you use a medium.com URL.

Why we chose Medium to WordPress: If you want an easy WordPress migration service to move your Medium site, then look no further than this tool. It’s free, and you won’t have to manually copy-paste your published blog posts to WordPress.

Special Offer: Get a Free WordPress Migration From WPBeginner

Do you want to move your site from Blogger, Medium, or another website builder to WordPress but don’t want to do it yourself? Let our team of experts do it for you completely free.

All you need to do is:

Go to our free WordPress blog setup page.
Sign up for a new WordPress hosting service using one of our links.
Submit your application form on the blog setup page.

Note that we can only move blogs that have less than 1,000 posts. If you have more than that, then the service will no longer be free.

Just go to our free WordPress blog setup page now and get your new site up and running with zero risk!

WPBeginner's Free WordPress Blog Setup service

What Is the Best WordPress Migration Service?

Overall, the best WordPress migration plugin is Duplicator.

The Lite version is easy to use for migrating simple websites. Meanwhile, the Pro version offers many advanced features for developers and business owners, like multisite support, custom branding, and cloud storage integration.

Alternatively, if you previously used a different website builder and don’t want to use a do-it-yourself tool to migrate to WordPress, then Seahawk Media is an excellent WordPress migration service.

Their WordPress service has a great track record in the industry, and their team of experts can provide support before, during, and after the migration.

Of course, every WordPress user looks for different things in a migration service. To help you figure out the best service for your needs, we’ve created a table that highlights our top picks from this list:

Category	Name	Reason(s)
Best WordPress migration plugin	Duplicator	Great ease of use and comprehensive migration features for various users
Best migration service for non-WordPress sites	Seahawk Media	Team of experts with years of experience in migrating sites from various website builders
Best WordPress migration tool for large websites	BlogVault	Offers free trial and can support up to 100 GB of site files
Best WordPress migration plugin for staging sites	WP Migrate	Push-and-pull migration makes it easy for staging and production

Bonus: Choose a Hosting Provider With Migration Services

These days, many WordPress hosting companies offer an easy migration service to move your website to your new server. It’s a convenient alternative to transfer your site without using a plugin or hiring a team of experts.

For example, if you use Hostinger, then you can get your website migrated to their hosting free of charge.

You can choose whether to move your site from another WordPress account, cPanel, or another control panel. Then, submit a migration request form, and their team will start the transfer. For WordPress sites, they can do the migration within two hours.

Hostinger's free migration request feature

Other web hosts that offer website migrations include:

Bluehost (with the Bluehost Migrator plugin)
SiteGround (with the SiteGround Migrator plugin)
WP Engine (with the free WP Engine Automated Migration plugin)
DreamHost (with the DreamHost Automated Migration plugin)
GreenGeeks (free website migration service upon request)
HostGator (free migration for VPS and dedicated hosting plans within 30 days of signup; beyond that, it will cost $149.99 for one site)
GoDaddy (with the free automatic migration tool)

WordPress Migration Service FAQs

Now that we’ve listed the best WordPress migration services, let’s answer some frequently asked questions about migrating WordPress sites.

How much does WordPress migration cost?

The cost of WordPress migration ranges from free to hundreds of dollars. The price depends on the service or platform you use.

If you use a free plugin like Duplicator Lite, then the WordPress migration is completely free of charge.

On the other hand, hiring a team of experts from Seahawk Media or using a premium service like BlogVault can cost you tens to hundreds of dollars, depending on your project size.

How do I migrate my WordPress site for free?

You can migrate your WordPress site for free using a free plugin like Duplicator Lite, All-in-One WP Migration, Migrate Guru, or WP Migrate Lite. All of these plugins don’t cost anything and are pretty easy to use for beginners.

Which WordPress migration service offers the most seamless transition with minimal downtime?

The downtime and transition of a WordPress migration service depends on your project size and the service itself. If you want to minimize the chances of downtime and errors, then hiring a team of WordPress migration experts like Seahawk Media is your best option.

On the other hand, if you use a plugin with a file size limit and your site exceeds that size, then most likely, the migration process won’t be as smooth as you might hope.

Best WordPress Website Migration Guides

We hope this article helped you discover the best WordPress migration services. You may also want to check out our ultimate list of the best WordPress backup plugins and the must-have WordPress plugins to grow your site.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post 8 Best WordPress Migration Services (Compared) first appeared on WPBeginner.

March 26, 2024

How to Make a WordPress Database Backup Manually (Step by Step)

Backups are the most important security step and are often the most neglected by website owners.

Manually backing up a WordPress database is a quick and easy way to download all your WordPress data. It is not a complete WordPress website backup, but it is handy for recovering a WordPress site.

In this article, we will show you how to back up a WordPress database manually.

Making a WordPress database backup manually

Here is a quick overview of the topics we will cover in this tutorial:

When and Why Make a WordPress Database Backup Manually?
Making a WordPress Database Backup Using a Plugin
Backing Up WordPress Database Manually Using phpMyAdmin
Creating a Manual WordPress Database Backup From cPanel
Restoring a WordPress Database Backup
Set Up a Proper Automated Backup System for the Future

When and Why Make a WordPress Database Backup Manually?

You should always install and set up a WordPress backup system for your site. This allows you to restore your site should something go wrong.

There are several situations when you may need to manually back up a database.

For instance, you could be making some big changes to your WordPress website and just to be on the safe side, you want to have a database backup.

If you have access to the admin area of your website, then you can use a plugin to make an on-demand database backup (We will show you how and which plugin to use later in this article).

On the other hand, in some instances, you may not have access to the admin area of your WordPress website.

For example, this can happen when your WordPress website is hacked or inaccessible due to a WordPress error.

This is when you’ll need to make a completely manual backup using a database management utility (we will show you how to do that as well).

A manual database backup is exactly the same as a database backup created by a plugin.

Having said that, let’s take a look at how to easily make a WordPress database backup manually.

1. Making a WordPress Database Backup Using a Plugin

This method is easier and recommended, but it will only work if you have access to the admin area of your WordPress website.

First, you need to install and activate the Duplicator plugin. For more details, see our tutorial on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Note: There is also a free version of Duplicator, which can be used to create database backups. We recommend upgrading to the paid version because it offers more features.

Upon activation, you need to go to the Duplicator Pro » Packages page and click on the ‘Create New’ button.

On the next screen, Duplicator allows you to choose what you want to include in the backup.

Select ‘Database Only’ and then click on the ‘Next’ button.

Duplicator will now scan your WordPress site and database.

After that, it will show you the scan results. There may be a notice next to the Database section informing you that you are creating a database-only package.

Click on the ‘Build’ button to continue.

Duplicator will now prepare your database backup in the background and show you the progress.

Once finished, you will be able to download the backup files. We recommend downloading both Archive and Installer files. This will allow you to restore your website more easily.

2. Backing Up WordPress Database Manually Using phpMyAdmin

For this method, we will be using phpMyAdmin. It is an open-source software that allows you to manage your MySQL database using a web-based interface.

phpMyAdmin comes pre-installed on most WordPress hosting providers.

For the sake of this article, we will show you screenshots from Bluehost. However, the basic procedure is the same for most hosting providers.

First, you need to log in to your WordPress hosting control panel and click on the ‘Settings’ button under your website.

Under your website settings, scroll down to the Quick Links section.

Next, click on the ‘phpMyAdmin’ button to continue.

This will launch the phpMyAdmin app in a new browser tab.

From here, click to select your WordPress database from the left column and then click on the ‘Export’ button at the top.

You will be asked to select the export method.

Next, you need to select ‘Custom’, as it will give you more options to explore.

Once you choose the Custom option, it will show all your tables in your WordPress database as selected.

Sometimes, WordPress plugins add their own tables to your database. If there are any tables that you would like to exclude from export, then you can deselect them. If you are unsure, it is better to keep them all selected.

You now need to scroll down to the ‘Output’ section.

By default, phpMyAdmin will show you the output of the export process as text.

You need to change that by selecting the ‘Save output to a file’ option.

For compression, you must select the zipped or gzipped option.

Now, you need to scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the ‘Go’ button. phpMyAdmin will now send you the database export as a zip or gzip file.

That’s all. You have successfully made a manual WordPress database backup.

3. Creating a Manual WordPress Database Backup From cPanel

Most good WordPress hosting companies also offer easy ways to download on-demand backups. Here is how to make a manual WordPress database backup from your hosting dashboard.

Hosting providers like Bluehost, SiteGround, and HostGator all have similar options.

For the sake of this tutorial, we will show you screenshots of Bluehost. However, the basic procedure is quite similar for other hosts.

First, log in to your hosting account dashboard and click on the ‘Settings’ button under your website.

On the next screen, you need to switch to the ‘Advanced’ tab.

From here, simply scroll down to the cPanel section and click the ‘Manage’ button.

This will launch the cPanel interface in a new browser tab.

From here, just scroll down to the files section and click on the ‘Backup’ button.

On the backups page, scroll down to the partial backups section.

From here, you need to click on your database name to download your database backup file.

You can also download the backup of your WordPress files from this page if you need to.

Restoring a WordPress Database Backup

Once you have downloaded the WordPress database backup, you can continue fixing your hacked WordPress site or make any other changes you need to.

In many cases, you probably won’t need to restore your website from the backup.

But in case you do, we have a detailed step-by-step guide on restoring WordPress from backup. It covers all common WordPress backup options including restoring from a database backup.

Set Up a Proper Automated Backup System for the Future

You can make WordPress database backups manually, but keep in mind that this is not an alternative to a proper backup solution for your WordPress site.

There are situations when you may not have access to your WordPress database. For example, this can happen if your hosting company suspends your account or loses your website data.

Another possible scenario is when some hacker injects malicious code into your WordPress database. Cleaning an infected database will be a lot more difficult.

That’s why we suggest using a proper backup plugin to store your WordPress database backups on the cloud automatically.

We recommend using Duplicator. It automatically creates and stores your backups on a cloud storage service like Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, and more.

You can see this guide on how to automatically back up WordPress for detailed instructions.

We hope this article helped you learn how to make a WordPress database backup manually. You may also want to see our guide on how to restore your WordPress site with just a database backup or our expert picks of the best WordPress database plugins.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Make a WordPress Database Backup Manually (Step by Step) first appeared on WPBeginner.

January 5, 2024

15 Most Annoying Things about WordPress and How to Fix Them

Did you come across annoying things in WordPress and now looking for ways to fix them?

Like most things in life, WordPress also has its fair share of annoying things. Dealing with these annoyances is very easy with the right system and processes.

In this article, we will show you the 15 most annoying things about WordPress and how to fix them.

What is WordPress?

WordPress is an open-source website builder and content management system (CMS). It was created by Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little in 2003.

Over 43% of the websites on the internet are powered by WordPress. You can create all kinds of websites using WordPress. For instance, you can create a blog, start an online store, build a membership community, sell online courses, make a small business site, and more.

Do note that there is a difference between WordPress.org and WordPress.com. The latter is a website and blog hosting platform, while WordPress.org is an open-source software used by millions of people (including WPBeginner).

To get started with a WordPress website, you’ll need a domain name and website hosting. A domain name is like the address to your house, while web hosting is where your website lives, like a building.

For more details, please see our guide on how to make a WordPress website.

With all its popularity, WordPress isn’t perfect. There are a few quirks and shortcomings that can be frustrating for users.

That said, let’s look at some of the most annoying things about WordPress and how you can easily fix them. You can click the links below to jump ahead to any section:

Setting Up WordPress Backup
Deleting the Uncategorized Category
Changing The Username
Adding More Formatting Options to the Content Editor
Getting White Screen of Death
Getting Locked Out of WordPress
Deactivating All WordPress Plugins without Admin Access
Fixing Common WordPress Errors
Setting up Automatic Updates for WordPress Plugins
Creating Better Image Galleries
WordPress Plugins Can Conflict with Each Other
Customizing WordPress Excerpts
Showing Excerpts in RSS Feeds
Dealing with Comment Spam
Improving WordPress Search

1. Setting Up WordPress Backup

WordPress does not come with a built-in backup system. You are supposed to create your own backups instead of relying on your WordPress hosting company.

Having a regular backup saves you the frustration when something bad happens to your website. You can easily restore your website from a backup in case something fails or there is a security breach.

There are several ways to backup a WordPress site. The easiest way is by using a plugin. There are plenty of free and paid backup solutions available for WordPress. See our comparison of the 7 best WordPress backup plugins.

For instance, you can use Duplicator to create a complete backup of your site’s important files, databases, folders, and more. The plugin is very easy to use and also lets you schedule regular website backups.

Besides that, you can also your web hosting provider’s cPanel or manually backup databases and other content on your website.

If you’re unsure what to backup, then please see our guide on which files you should backup.

2. Deleting the Uncategorized Category

WordPress comes with two built-in taxonomies, they are called categories and tags. By default, each new post you create is filed into a built-in category titled Uncategorized.

If you forget to assign the post to a category, then it will be filed under Uncategorized. This looks unprofessional, but you can easily fix it.

First, WordPress lets you rename the categories on your website. Simply head to Post Categories from the WordPress dashboard and then click the ‘Edit’ link under the Uncategorized category.

Click the Edit Link Under the Uncategorized Category

From here, you can rename the category to anything you want.

If you have other categories created on your website, then WordPress lets you change the default settings and use another category instead.

Simply navigate to Settings » Writing from the WordPress admin panel and click the ‘Default Post Category’ dropdown menu. Next, you can change it from Uncategorized to any other category.

Choosing the Default Category in Writing Settings

To learn more, please see our guide on how to change the default Uncategorized category in WordPress.

3. Changing Your Username

During WordPress installation or at the time of user creation, you can choose a username for the account.

However, the problem is that there’s no easy way to change the username once it’s created. This can be extremely annoying.

One of the ways to fix this is by deleting the user and creating a new user with the updated username. Another way to resolve this is by using a WordPress plugin or manually updating the username from the WordPress database.

You can see our guide guide on how to change your WordPress username for more details.

4. Adding More Formatting Options to the Content Editor

Before the introduction of Gutenberg or block editor, WordPress had limited formatting options. You’d have to play around with HTML and CSS to edit the appearance of your blog posts and pages.

However, the WordPress content editor now offers a lot of customization options. You can format your content more easily and don’t have to rely on coding.

While new features are introduced with every new version of WordPress, many users may feel frustrated if they don’t find a formatting option.

For instance, you might want to use a specific font for your content but can’t find it in WordPress. To fix this, you can use different plugins to add custom fonts.

You can see our guide on 16 tips to master the WordPress content editor to learn more.

5. Getting White Screen of Death

Another annoying thing you might face in WordPress is the white screen of death. The worst part about the error is that there is no message, and you’re locked out of WordPress.

Most of the time, the error occurs because a script on your site exhausted the memory limit. When the unresponsive script gets killed by the WordPress hosting server or times out, you’ll see this error.

WordPress showing white screen instead of website

There are different ways to fix the white screen of death error. For instance, you can check whether the issue is occurring on other websites of yours. You can also try to increase the memory limit, disable all the plugins, clear the cache, and more.

For a step-by-step approach to fixing this issue, follow our guide on how to fix the WordPress white screen of death.

6. Getting Locked Out of WordPress

Sometimes you may end up locking yourself out of the WordPress admin area. Either you forgot your password and were unable to recover it, or something broke when you were adding code or a plugin.

Or there was an error establishing a connection between the database, there was an internal server error, or your site was hacked.

To help you resolve this issue, we have created a handy guide on what to do when you are locked out of the WordPress admin area. It will help you learn how to fix this in different scenarios.

7. Deactivating All WordPress Plugins without Admin Access

When troubleshooting some problems on your WordPress site, you will be advised to deactivate all WordPress plugins. You can just go to the plugins page and deactivate all plugins.

However, what if you don’t have access to the WordPress admin area?

You can deactivate plugins by using an FTP client. Simply access the /wp-content/ folder to view all the plugins and then deactivate them.

If you have access to the web hosting service’s cPanel, then you can also deactivate plugins from the phpMyAdmin settings.

See our guide on how to deactivate all WordPress plugins when not able to access wp-admin.

8. Fixing Common WordPress Errors

WordPress comes with a slight learning curve, and you get to learn things as you go along. Some things are easier to learn than others. The most frustrating and annoying thing for beginners is the number of common WordPress errors they may come across.

For instance, you might see a syntax error, your posts might be returning a 404 error, there can be an issue when uploading images, and more.

That’s why we have compiled a list of common WordPress errors and how to fix them.

9. Setting up Automatic Updates for WordPress Plugins

All good WordPress plugins are regularly updated. If you are using the best WordPress plugins on your website, then chances are that you will be installing updates quite often.

Installing updates takes only a few seconds, but it can be distracting to log in and find new updates.

To resolve this, you can simply head to Plugins » Installed Plugins from your WordPress dashboard and click the ‘Enable auto-updates’ for critical plugins.

Enable automatic updates for WordPress plugins

See our guide on how to automatically install updates for WordPress plugins.

10. Creating Better Image Galleries

While you can create galleries in the default WordPress installation, it’s not as useful because it lacks features like Albums, tagging, light boxes, and more.

Thankfully there are plugins like Envira Gallery, which allow you to create beautiful image galleries in WordPress without compromising speed. You can add Albums, watermarks, sell your photos, and more.

Many WordPress landing pages and theme builders like SeedProd also offer options to add image galleries to your website.

Advanced settings for SeedProd product image gallery

11. WordPress Plugins Can Conflict with Each Other

WordPress plugins are great for adding additional functionality and features to your website.

However, some plugins can conflict with one another, causing serious problems. For instance, they might not work properly like they’re intended to work or would end up breaking your site.

Having too many plugins can also lead to conflicts. You should deactivate and delete plugins that are not in use. This will help solve conflicts, strengthen WordPress security, and boost page load time.

12. Customizing WordPress Excerpts

By default, WordPress displays full posts on the homepage, archives, and category pages.

This not only creates duplicate content on your site, but it also makes navigation more frustrating and discourages users from viewing the full post and leaving comments.

By displaying excerpts on these pages, you can increase your pageviews and user engagement. It shows a short summary and tells users what the content is about.

To learn more, please see our guide on how to customize WordPress excerpts without any coding.

13. Showing Excerpts in RSS Feeds

WordPress also shows your full articles in the RSS Feed. This means users reading your posts in a feed reader will have no reason to visit your website.

You can easily change this from the WordPress admin area. Go to Settings » Reading page and scroll down to ‘For each article in a feed, include’ option and select Excerpt.

Next, click on the save changes button to store your settings.

14. Dealing with Comment Spam

Spam comments are one of the most annoying things on the internet. WordPress comes with built-in comment moderation to deal with spam comments. However, comment spam can quickly grow, and before you know it, you will be spending more time moderating comments.

The first thing you need to do is start using Akismet. It will catch most spam comments and keep them away from your moderation queue.

You may also want to check out these 12+ vital tips and tools to combat comment spam in WordPress.

15. Improving WordPress Search

WordPress comes with a built-in search feature, but it’s not very good. If a search is important for your website, then you will need to replace the default search with something better.

To improve WordPress search, you can use plugins like SearchWP. It helps you customize the search algorithm and include tables, custom fields, documents, taxonomies, and more in the search process.

You can follow our guide on how to improve WordPress search for more details.

We hope this article helped you fix some of the most annoying things about WordPress. You may also want to see our guide on proven ways to make money online and the best email marketing software.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post 15 Most Annoying Things about WordPress and How to Fix Them first appeared on WPBeginner.

December 1, 2023

How to Reset Your WordPress Database to Default Settings

Do you want to reset your WordPress database to its original settings?

If you are working on a local server or a test site, then you might need to restore your database back to how it was when you first started.

In this article, we will show you how to reset your WordPress database to default settings with just a few clicks.

Reset WordPress database to fresh install

Here is a quick overview of the steps we will cover in this tutorial:

Step 1: Prepare a WordPress Backup Before Reset
Step 2: Reset Your WordPress Database to Default Settings
Step 3: Restore WordPress Database From Backup (Optional)

Ready? Let’s begin.

Step 1: Prepare a WordPress Backup Before Reset

WordPress stores all your website content in a database. This includes your posts, pages, media file data, plugin and theme settings, and more.

If you have been working on a test site on a local server or a staging site, then you sometimes may wish to reset to a fresh install to start over.

Resetting your WordPress database is the fastest way to do this. It deletes all your WordPress data without deleting any files stored on your web hosting server.

However, If you reset your WordPress database, then all the data will be gone forever. It cannot be undone.

We recommend making a complete WordPress backup before you go any further. You can also back up your WordPress database alone if you don’t want to back up your entire website.

Now, we will show you two methods to quickly back up your WordPress database before the reset. You can choose the one that works best for you.

Method 1: Make WordPress Database Backup Using Duplicator

Duplicator is the best WordPress backup plugin on the market. It allows you to easily back up your WordPress website and quickly restore it from the backup.

First, you need to install and activate the Duplicator plugin. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Note: There is also a free version of Duplicator that you can use. However, we recommend upgrading to the paid plan to unlock the full potential of the plugin.

Upon activation, go to the Duplicator » Packages page and click the ‘Create New’ button.

Next, you need to provide a name for your backup.

Click on the ‘Next’ button to continue.

Duplicator will now scan your WordPress website and show the scan results.

It may show some notices, like if you don’t have a WordPress security plugin installed or are using an outdated version of WordPress.

You can ignore these notices. If everything else looks good, then click on the ‘Build’ button to continue.

The plugin will back up your WordPress database and show you the download options.

Simply click on the ‘Download’ and ‘Both Files’ buttons to continue.

Duplicator will now send both the Archive and the Installer files as downloads to your computer.

Method 2: Create a Database Backup Using Advanced WP Reset

For this method, you will be using the Advanced WP Reset plugin. It is the same plugin that you will use in the next step to reset your WordPress database.

However, the downside of this backup approach is that you will have to restore your WordPress database using phpMyAdmin.

First, you need to install and activate the Advanced WP Reset plugin. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, go to the Tools » Advanced WP Reset page and switch to the ‘Snapshots’ tab.

Make database backup with Snapshots tool

Provide a name for your backup, and then click the ‘Take Snapshot’ button.

The plugin will now prepare a copy of your database and store it as a backup. You will see it listed under the Available Snapshots section.

However, when you reset your WordPress database, the plugin will also delete this snapshot. You need to save it on your computer to use it later.

Click on the plus [+] icon to expand the snapshot options, and then click on the ‘Download’ button.

Your database backup will now download as an SQL file to your computer.

Step 2: Reset Your WordPress Database to Default Settings

Now, you need to install and activate the Advanced WP Reset plugin. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Next, go to the Tools » Advanced WP Reset page and switch to the ‘Reset’ tab.

Under the Site Reset section, the plugin will show you all the data it will reset. This includes the following:

Pages, posts, and comments
Custom database tables (created by you or a WordPress plugin installed on your site)
Users except for the current admin user
Advanced WP Reset plugin data (including snapshots and settings)

Below that, it will show you which data will not be deleted. This includes the following items:

The admin user account
Files, uploads in the media library, themes, plugins, and more. However, any plugin or theme data stored in the database will be deleted.
Basic WordPress settings, including site title, WordPress address, site address, timezone, and language options
Non-WordPress database tables. These tables don’t share the table prefix set in your WordPress database settings.

If everything looks good, just type ‘Reset’ under the Warning label and then click the ‘Reset’ button.

This will bring up another popup warning.

Simply click the ‘Reset Now’ button to continue.

The plugin will now reset your WordPress database to its default settings.

Once finished, you will see a success message.

You can now continue using your website with the default database settings.

Note: Upon reset, the plugin will recreate the default WordPress content that comes with a fresh install of WordPress. It includes a blog post titled ‘Hello World’, ‘A Sample Page’ under Pages, and a sample comment under Comments. Feel free to delete those manually.

Step 3: Restore WordPress Database From Backup (Optional)

If, for some reason, resetting your WordPress database to default settings didn’t work, then you can restore your database from the backup created in the first step.

Method 1: Restore Duplicator Database Backup

If you created your WordPress database backup using the Duplicator plugin, then here is how you will restore your website.

During the database reset, the Advanced WP Reset plugin will deactivate all other WordPress plugins installed on your site.

Go to the Plugins page in the WordPress admin area to activate the Duplicator plugin.

Once the plugin is activated, you need to visit the Duplicator » Import page.

Here, you need to upload the Archive file you downloaded in the first step.

Next, the plugin will scan your archive file and show you the package details.

If everything looks good, just click the ‘Continue’ button to begin the import.

On the next screen, you may be asked to confirm that you want to continue without a recovery point.

Since you already have the latest backup, it is safe to continue without creating a recovery point.

Scroll down to the bottom of the page.

You will see the number of posts, pages, comments, and media under the system overview. Click on the ‘Launch Installer’ button to continue.

This will launch the Duplicator installer.

Upon launch, the installer will automatically choose ‘Restore single site’ as your restoration type.

Scroll down to the Validation section.

Here, you will again see the warning about the recovery point. You need to check the box next to the ‘I have read and accept all terms and notices’ option.

Click on the ‘Next’ button to continue.

Duplicator will now show you a popup with your installer settings. Go ahead and click on the ‘OK’ button.

Duplicator will now start importing your website from the backup and restore your WordPress database.

Once finished, you will see a success message with a button to log in to the WordPress admin area.

Method 2: Restore Database Backup from SQL File

If you saved your WordPress database method using the Advanced WP Reset plugin’s Snapshots tool, then here is how you will restore the database.

First, you need to open up phpMyAdmin. It is a web-based tool that allows you to easily perform database operations using a friendly interface.

If the website you are trying to store is hosted on your web server, then log in to your WordPress hosting account control panel (cPanel).

From here, you need to find the Database section and click on the ‘phpMyAdmin’ button.

This will open phpMyAdmin in a new browser tab.

On the other hand, if you were working on a local website on your computer, then you can open phpMyAdmin or a similar tool from the software that you are using for local sites.

We recommend using Local, which does not come with phpMyAdmin. Instead, it uses Open Adminer to manage databases.

Once you are in phpMyAdmin, make sure that you have selected the database for your website.

Select all database tables in phpMyAdmin by clicking on the ‘Check all’ box at the bottom of the table list. After that, select ‘Drop’ from the ‘With selected’ dropdown menu.

This will empty your WordPress database.

You can now switch to the ‘Import’ tab at the top and click on the ‘Choose File’ button to select the SQL file you downloaded earlier.

After choosing the file, feel free to review the on-screen options. The default settings will work for most websites.

Scroll down toward the bottom of the page and click on the ‘Import’ button.

phpMyAdmin will now upload your SQL file and run it.

After that, you will see a success message.

You can now visit your website and log in to see your database restored to its previous settings.

We hope this article helped you learn how to reset your WordPress database to default settings. You may also want to check out our beginner’s guide to WordPress database management and our expert picks for the best WordPress database plugins.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Reset Your WordPress Database to Default Settings first appeared on WPBeginner.

November 14, 2023

How to Duplicate WordPress Database Using phpMyAdmin

Are you wondering how to duplicate your WordPress database using phpMyAdmin?

Whether you are looking to set up a web development environment or transfer your site to a new host, you will need to learn how to duplicate your WordPress database. If you are a beginner, the easiest way to do this is with phpMyAdmin, which is a web application for managing databases.

In this guide, we will walk you through the step-by-step process of duplicating your WordPress database using phpMyAdmin.

How to Duplicate WordPress Database Using phpMyAdmin

Expert Tip: Looking for an easy way to duplicate your entire website, including its database, plugins, themes, content, and files? Just check out our guide on how to clone a WordPress site with the Duplicator plugin.

Why Should You Use phpMyAdmin to Duplicate WordPress Database?

phpMyAdmin is a web application that helps website owners manage their databases.

Essentially, WordPress stores all your website content in a database. If you use a WordPress hosting service, then your data is most likely stored and organized in a MySQL database.

The thing is, to interact with MySQL, you will typically need to be familiar with command-line tools, which can be difficult if you are a beginner.

This is where phpMyAdmin comes in. It has a user-friendly interface that lets you do various database-related tasks without having to write complex commands, such as duplicating your WordPress database. Other than that, you can use it to:

With that in mind, let’s take a look at how to duplicate a WordPress database using phpMyAdmin. We will cover different methods, and you can use the links below to quickly jump to each one:

Method 1: Cloning Your WordPress Database With phpMyAdmin
Method 2: Exporting and Importing WordPress Database With phpMyAdmin
Bonus: Optimize Your WordPress Database for Better Performance

Method 1: Cloning Your WordPress Database With phpMyAdmin

This method is suitable if you want to manually create a backup or set up a staging environment for testing updates and changes.

First, you need to open your WordPress hosting control panel. In our tutorial, we are working with Bluehost, which uses cPanel for its hosting account management. Your control panel may look slightly different from our screenshots, but the steps will be similar.

Once you are logged in to cPanel, simply find the phpMyAdmin icon. It’s usually inside the ‘Databases’ section.

Now, you are inside your web hosting’s phpMyAdmin. Here, just click the ‘Databases’ tab at the top and select your WordPress database from the list of databases.

If you are not sure what your database name is, it’s the name you input when you first installed WordPress. You can also find it in your wp-config.php file if you forget.

Next, you will see a list of your WordPress database tables.

On this page, just click on the ‘Operations’ tab from the top menu.

Selecting the Operations tab on phpMyAdmin

This is where you will duplicate your database. Go ahead and scroll down to a section called ‘Copy database to.’

In the empty field, simply write the new database name. Then, make sure the ‘Structure and data’ box is checked. This option will copy both the structure and data of the database.

Additionally, the ‘CREATE DATABASE before copying’ option should be ticked. This will automatically create a new database where the duplicated data will be located.

The rest of the settings can be left as is. All you need to do next is click ‘Go’ at the bottom.

The 'Copy database to' section on phpMyAdmin

And that’s it! Your database has been successfully cloned.

After this, you can navigate to your newly duplicated database from the left panel.

Navigating to a newly duplicated database on phpMyAdmin

Method 2: Exporting and Importing WordPress Database With phpMyAdmin

This second method is best if your hosting company does not allow users to create databases directly from phpMyAdmin. This may be the case if you are using shared hosting services where certain privileges are restricted for security reasons.

In this situation, you may not be able to see the ‘Copy database to’ section in the ‘Operations’ tab. To duplicate your database, you can use the export method instead.

Essentially, you will export your database SQL file, set up a new database, and then import that database into the new setup.

The first step is to visit phpMyAdmin and select your WordPress database like we did in the previous method. Then, in the top menu, simply click the ‘Export’ button.

Here, you need to select ‘Custom – display all possible options’ in the ‘Export method’ section.

Opening the 'Export' tab on phpMyAdmin and selecting the Custom option

Once done, just scroll to the Output section and choose the ‘Save output to a file’ option. This will make sure that your database is exported as an SQL file.

For the rest of the settings, you can leave them as they are.

Configuring the phpMyAdmin Export Output settings

Now, all you have to do is scroll down to the bottom and click ‘Export.’

Your browser will now download the WordPress database as an .sql file.

Clicking the Export button on phpMyAdmin

Next, you need to create a new database where you can import this file to.

Go ahead and open your hosting control panel and click on ‘MySQL Databases.’

Opening the MySQL Databases page on cPanel

On this page, you need to fill out your new database name. In our example, we used _copy after the original database name to differentiate the old name from the newly duplicated one.

After that, just click the ‘Create Database’ button.

Now that we’ve created a new database, let’s assign it to a MySQL user.

Go ahead and scroll down the ‘Add User to Database’ section and select a MySQL username from the dropdown menu. Make sure to choose the new database you’ve just created in the ‘Database’ field.

Once done, click ‘Add.’

Adding a new user to the MySQL Database on cPanel

You will now be redirected to the ‘Manage User Privileges’ page.

Simply check the ‘ALL PRIVILEGES’ option if you want to have total control over your database.

Checking the All Privileges option when adding a new MySQL user on cPanel

Then, go all the way down to the bottom of the page and click ‘Make Changes.’

Your newly created database is now ready.

Clicking the 'Make Changes' button to set the privileges of a new MySQL user on phpMyAdmin

Let’s go ahead and open phpMyAdmin again and select the database you just created in cPanel.

Once inside, you’ll see that the database is empty without tables like this:

No tables found in database message on phpMyAdmin

To continue, simply go to the ‘Import’ page from the top menu.

Here, click on the ‘Choose File’ button to select the .sql file you downloaded earlier.

Choosing an SQL file to import in phpMyAdmin

Once finished, scroll down to the bottom and click the ‘Import’ button.

phpMyAdmin will now upload the file from your computer and import your database.

Clicking the Import button on phpMyAdmin

And that’s all! You have successfully imported your duplicated database.

Bonus: Optimize Your WordPress Database for Better Performance

Managing the behind-the-scenes part of your WordPress website is just as important as how it looks on the outside. How you handle your database affects how fast your site loads, how secure it is, and how easily people can use it.

If your database is cluttered with unnecessary data, it can slow down your site and make it vulnerable to security risks. Regularly optimizing your database can prevent this from happening and make your website more reliable.

For more information about database management, you can see our beginner’s guide on managing a WordPress database with phpMyAdmin and our article on how to optimize your WordPress database with one click.

We hope this article has helped you learn how to duplicate a WordPress database using phpMyAdmin. You may also want to see our expert pick of the best WordPress database management plugins and our tutorial on how to fix the establishing a database connection error in WordPress.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Duplicate WordPress Database Using phpMyAdmin first appeared on WPBeginner.

July 19, 2023

How to Back up a WordPress Site to Dropbox (Step by Step)

Are you looking for a way to back up your WordPress site to Dropbox?

It is a best security practice to regularly back up your site and store it in a separate location, like Dropbox. This way, you can easily restore your content, plugins, databases, and important settings if there is a security breach or something goes wrong.

In this article, we will show you how to back up a WordPress site to Dropbox.

Why Back Up a WordPress Site to Dropbox?

Whether you are running a small WordPress website, an eCommerce store, or any other type of website, then creating regular backups is essential.

A backup is a copy of your website that includes important files, folders, databases, site content, themes, plugins, and other information.

With backups, you will have a copy of your website or ready in case of a fatal error or security vulnerability. Then, you can restore your website to its previous state in just a few clicks.

Storing your WordPress backups on your computer’s hard disk or website server can be risky. If your hard disk fails or the website server gets compromised, you will lose all your backups.

That’s why storing backups in multiple locations is a good practice, including cloud storage services like Dropbox.

Dropbox is a popular file-hosting service that lets you store and back up files to the cloud. The best part is that you can access, save, and share these files from anywhere.

That being said, let’s see how to back up WordPress to Dropbox.

Connecting Your WordPress Site to Dropbox

The easiest way to create WordPress backups and save them in Dropbox is by using the Duplicator plugin. It is the best WordPress backup plugin that is beginner-friendly and helps you to back up, migrate, and clone your website.

Plus, the Duplicator plugin easily integrates with different cloud services like Dropbox, Google Drive, Amazon S3, OneDrive, FTP, and SFTP – SSH.

Note: We will use the Duplicator Pro plugin for this tutorial because it includes cloud storage integrations. There is also a free version of Duplicator you can use to create site backups, but it doesn’t allow you to automatically store those backups in Dropbox.

First, you will need to install and activate the Duplicator Pro plugin. If you need help, then please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to head to Duplicator Pro » Settings from the WordPress admin panel and click the ‘Licensing’ tab.

Next, you will need to enter your license key and click the ‘Activate’ button. You can easily find the license key in your Duplicator account area.

Next, you will need to connect your Dropbox account with Duplicator.

Simply go to Duplicator Pro » Storage from your WordPress dashboard. Here, you will see your local storage option, where the backups will be stored by default.

Go ahead and click the ‘Add New’ button to add Dropbox.

After that, you can enter a name for your new storage option so it is easily recognizable. For example, we will name it ‘Dropbox’.

Next, you must click the ‘Type’ dropdown menu and select the ‘Dropbox’ option.

From here, you will see new settings for your storage option.

Go ahead and click the ‘Connect to Dropbox’ button.

After clicking the button, more settings will appear in the Authorization section.

First, you will need to click the ‘Authorize Dropbox’ button.

Authorize Dropbox to connect to duplicator

Next, a new window or tab will open. Simply log in to your Dropbox account.

You can use your Google or Apple account to sign in or enter the email and password you used when signing up for Dropbox.

Once you are logged in, you will need to allow access to your Dropbox account.

Go ahead and click the ‘Allow’ button.

Next, Dropbox will show you an authorization code.

Simply copy this code.

You can now return to the browser tab or window where you are configuring the Duplicator Pro storage settings.

Go ahead and enter the code into the ‘Step 2: Paste code from Dropbox authorization page’ field.

Once that’s done, simply click the ‘Finalize Setup’ button.

You have now successfully added Dropbox as a cloud storage option to save your WordPress backups.

Creating a Dropbox Backup of Your WordPress Website

The next step is to create a backup of your WordPress blog or website and save it to Dropbox.

To start, go to Duplicator Pro » Packages from the WordPress admin panel and click the ‘Create New’ button.

Next, you will need to enter a name for your package.

Duplicator will also give you the option to select a template. We recommend keeping it as ‘Unassigned’ because it will keep the settings from the last scan/build.

After that, you can expand the ‘Storage’ section.

Here, you will need to select ‘Dropbox’ as the storage option to store your WordPress backup.

You can also change the ‘Archive’ settings before backing up your site. By default, the plugin will package your site’s content, plugins, themes, databases, and all other files.

However, you can customize your backup by selecting which part of your site to back up. For instance, you might archive only the WordPress database.

When you are done, simply click the ‘Next’ button at the bottom.

On the next screen, Duplicator will scan your website and check if everything is fine before creating a backup. You will see a notice or a warning for any issues that need to be resolved before backing up your site.

Once everything checks out, simply click the ‘Build’ button.

The plugin will take a few seconds or minutes to create a backup package. The time will depend on the size of the files and folders.

Once the package is ready, it will be saved in Dropbox. You can view the Dropbox location by clicking the ‘Storage’ icon.

A new window will now open with the location.

You can simply click on the link to view your WordPress backup in the Dropbox dashboard.

Scheduling WordPress Backups to Dropbox (Pro Plugin Only)

With Duplicator Pro, you can schedule regular website backups and store them in Dropbox.

First, you will need to go to Duplicator Pro » Schedules from the WordPress dashboard and click the ‘Add New’ button.

On the next screen, you can enter a name for your backup schedule and select a template. We recommend using the default template so that all your website files, folders, and databases are backed up.

After that, select ‘Dropbox’ as the storage location for your backups.

Next, you will need to scroll down and choose when the plugin should automatically create a backup.

You can select whether you’d like to build a package hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly. For instance, if you select the weekly option, then you can choose which day to schedule the backup.

There is also an option to choose the start time for your schedule. Lastly, make sure that the ‘Enable This Schedule’ option is checked so that your schedule is active.

Once you are done, simply click the ‘Save Schedule’ button.

Restoring a WordPress Backup From Dropbox

Now that you have scheduled regular backups, you will always have a copy of your site in Dropbox. This way, you can easily restore the backup if there is a fatal error, data loss, or security breach.

To restore your site, you will first need to open your Dropbox account and head to the Duplicator Pro folder.

Next, select the website backup you would like to download.

Simply click the 3 dotted icons and then select the ‘Download’ option.

From here, you can save the zip file on your computer.

After that, you must go to your WordPress dashboard and head to Duplicator Pro » Import. Go ahead and click the ‘Select File’ button.

Next, you can select the zip file from your computer to restore the website backup.

Once the file is uploaded, you can scroll down to see the package details. Simply click the ‘Continue’ button.

On the next screen, you will see an overview of your package. For instance, it will show the number of posts, pages, media files, plugins, and more that are in the backup.

Go ahead and click the ‘Launch Installer’ button.

Once you click the button, the Duplicator installer wizard will launch.

First, you will need to choose an Install Type for your package. Go ahead and select the ‘Restore single site’ option.

Next, you can scroll down to view the Validation checkpoints and make sure the system is ready to install the backup. If there are any warnings or notices, then you must resolve them before restoring the backup.

Once that’s done, click the checkbox for ‘I have read and accepted all terms & notices’ and click the ‘Next’ button.

Check validation settings and accept terms

A popup will now open with install confirmation details.

You can click the ‘OK’ button to move forward.

The plugin will now extract archive files from the package.

Once the extraction is finished, you will see the install results. To complete the backup, you must click the ‘Admin Login’ button and log back in to your site to finalize the installation.

You have now successfully restored your website backup from Dropbox.

We hope this article helped you learn how to back up a WordPress site to Dropbox. You may also want to see our guide to WordPress security and our expert picks for the best live chat software for small businesses.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Back up a WordPress Site to Dropbox (Step by Step) first appeared on WPBeginner.

June 12, 2023

How to Backup Your WordPress Site (4 Easy Ways)

Are you looking for ways to backup your WordPress site?

Creating a backup is a great way to safeguard your website data from security threats and human errors. You can easily restore a saved version of your site in case anything goes wrong.

In this article, we’ll show you how to backup your WordPress site.

Why Backup Your WordPress Website?

As a WordPress website owner, you need to protect your data from unexpected events. Creating a website backup is one of the ways to protect your crucial data.

There are many security threats that can compromise your site and lead to data loss. For example, hackers, malware, and phishing attacks can leave your site’s data vulnerable.

Similarly, human errors, conflicts between WordPress plugins, themes, or server failures can break your site. If you’re unable to troubleshoot the issue, then it can be very difficult to recover your website.

A WordPress backup saves a copy of your site’s important files, folders, and databases. This includes your content, plugins, themes, images, videos, settings, and other information. You can easily use the backup to restore your website in case you get locked out of your website due to an error or cyberattack.

Do note that WordPress doesn’t offer a built-in option to automatically back up your WordPress site on a regular basis. You’d have to manually back up your site using the hosting service’s cPanel or an FTP client.

An easier way is to use a plugin, as you’ll have more control over which content to save. Plus, it is a beginner-friendly method, as accessing the cPanel or FTP client can be overwhelming for new users.

That said, let’s see how you can create a WordPress backup using different methods. You can click the links to jump ahead to your preferred method:

Method 1: Backup a WordPress Site Using a Plugin (Recommended)
Method 2: Manually Backup a WordPress Site Using cPanel
Method 3: Manually Backup WordPress Databases
Method 4: Manually Backup a WordPress Site Using FTP
Restoring a WordPress Site from Backup

Method 1: Backup a WordPress Site Using a Plugin (Recommended)

The easiest way to create backups is by using a plugin like Duplicator. It is the best WordPress backup plugin that’s used by over 1,500,000 professionals. Duplicator is beginner friendly plugin that makes it very easy to back up, migrate, and clone your website.

For this tutorial, we’ll be using the Duplicator Pro plugin because it includes more features like scheduled backups, recovery points, cloud storage integration, migration tool, and more. There is also a free version of Duplicator you can use to get started.

First, you’ll need to install and activate the Duplicator Pro plugin. If you need help, then please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you can go to Duplicator Pro » Settings from your WordPress admin panel and switch to the ‘Licensing’ tab. Go ahead and enter the license key, which you can find in the account area.

Next, you’ll need to head to the Duplicator Pro » Packages page from the WordPress dashboard.

From here, simply click the ‘Create New’ button in the top corner.

On the next screen, you will need to enter a name for your backup.

This will help you find the package when you’d need to restore a website.

Under the Storage section, you can add another storage location for your package. The plugin will use the default location to save your backup files.

For this tutorial, we will use the default location. However, you can click the ‘Add Storage’ link and add a new location like Dropbox or Google Drive.

You can now scroll down to the Archive section to customize your backup. For instance, the plugin lets you only backup the database, filter files, folders and extensions, and more.

If you want a complete backup of your site, then we recommend keeping the default settings and don’t select anything under the Archive section.

Next, you can scroll down to the Installer section. These are optional settings that are filled in at the time of installing the backup.

You can simply click the ‘Next’ button and leave this section as it is.

The plugin will now perform a scan and make sure everything is in order to create a backup of your site.

It will show a ‘Good’ evaluation if everything checks out or show a warning so you can quickly fix the issue before backing up the website.

Next, you can click the ‘Build’ button at the bottom.

Duplicator will now start building a package.

Once it’s done, you can go to Duplicator Pro » Packages from your dashboard to view the backup.

Go ahead and click the ‘Download’ option and then select the ‘Both Files’ option.

This will download the zip file and the installer file onto your computer. You can then use these files as backup and easily restore your site in case of a cyberattack or a critical error.

Create a Recovery Point to Restore Your Website

Another advantage of using Duplicator is that it lets you set up a recovery point for your website. Recovery points help restore your backup if there is a massive website failure. This way, you can easily return to the last functioning version of your website.

To start, you can go to Duplicator Pro » Packages from your WordPress admin panel and click the arrow in the corner to expand the package details.

After that, simply click the ‘Recovery Point’ option.

A new window will now open. Go ahead and click the ‘Set Recovery Point’ option.

Next, you will need to click the recovery arrow icon to copy the recovery URL.

You can save this URL in a secure location and use it to easily restore your site in case of a failure or security vulnerability.

All you have to do is enter the recovery URL in the browser. This will automatically launch the recovery wizard. You can then follow the steps to restore your site from the backup.

Automatically Scheduling WordPress Website Backups

With Duplicator Pro, you can also automatically schedule backups for your website. This way, you will always have the latest website backup to work with. Plus, it helps save time as you don’t have to manually create a backup.

To start, you’ll need to go to Duplicator Pro » Schedules from the WordPress dashboard and click the ‘Add New’ button.

After that, you can enter a name for your backup schedule.

The plugin will also let you select a package template, where you get to customize your backup and choose which files to back up. If you want a full backup, then we recommend leaving the package template setting to default.

Next, you can scroll down and select the storage location for your scheduled backups. The plugin will use the default location, but you can add another location, like Dropbox, OneDrive, or Google Drive.

There is also an option to select the frequency of backups. For instance, you can set up automatic backups on an hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly basis. We’ve set the backup repeats to weekly for this tutorial.

After that, you can select a start time for your backup.

You’ll also need to ensure that the ‘Enable This Schedule’ checkbox is selected.

Select a time and enable the schedule backup — Once that’s done, simply click the ‘Save Schedule’ button.

Duplicator will now automatically back up your WordPress site on the set day and time. This way, you’ll have a fresh backup to restore if anything goes wrong.

Method 2: Manually Backup a WordPress Site Using cPanel

You can also manually back up your WordPress website by using the cPanel of your WordPress hosting service.

For this tutorial, we will be using Bluehost. Do note that the settings may vary depending on the hosting service you’re using.

First, you’ll need to log in to the cPanel of your hosting provider. From here, go the the ‘Advanced’ tab from the menu on your left and then click the File Manager option under the Files section.

In a new tab or window, the file manager will now open.

Next, you need to select the public_html folder from the menu on the left and click the ‘+’ button to expand it.

From here, simply select the folder with your website name and click the ‘Compress’ option at the top.

A new window will now pop up. Go ahead and select the ‘ Zip Archive’ option and click the ‘Compress Files’ button.

Your website files now start to compress into a zip file.

The hosting service will also show a compression result. You can simply click the ‘Close’ button.

Next, you’ll need to select the zip file that you just created. It will be located in the public_html folder.

After selecting the file, simply click the ‘Download’ option at the top.

Next, you can save the compression file in a secure location.

Now whenever your site goes down due to an error or security issues, you can use the compressed file as a backup and easily restore your content.

Method 3: Manually Backup WordPress Databases

Using your WordPress hosting services’ cPanel, you can also back up different WordPress databases. However, this is a time-consuming process because you’ll need to import multiple tables manually.

First, you will need to log in to the cPanel of your hosting service. We will be using Bluehost for this tutorial.

Next, head to the ‘Advanced’ tab from the menu on your left and scroll down to the Databases section. From here, simply click the ‘phpMyAdmin’ option.

Launch phpMyAdmin From Your Control Panel

Once the phpMyAdmin opens, you can select a database from the menu on your left.

After that, simply select the tables you’d like to backup and click the Export button at the top.

On the next screen, you can keep the ‘Export method’ as Quick. For the ‘Format’, you’d want to select SQL.

Once that’s done, go ahead and click the ‘Go’ button.

You can now save the SQL file on your computer in a secure location as a backup.

To restore a database, you’ll just need to import the SQL file into the phpMyAdmin panel.

Method 4: Manually Backup a WordPress Site Using FTP

If you don’t want to use a backup plugin or access the cPanel, then you can back up a WordPress site using an FTP client.

There are many FTP clients you can use for Mac and Windows. For this tutorial, we will use FileZilla.

First, you’ll need to connect to your site using the FTP software. You can see our guide on what is FTP and how to use it for more details.

Once you’re connected, simply head to the root directory of your website from the panel on your right. This is where you’ll find folders like wp-content, wp-admin, and other important files like wp-config and .htaccess.

Next, you can right-click any folder or file you want to backup

After that, simply click the ‘Download’ option.

Downloading the WordPress .htaccess file

You can save the files and folders from a live website to your local host or computer as backups.

This way, you can easily recover your website by uploading the saved files using the FTP client.

Restoring a WordPress Site from Backup

Now that you’ve created a WordPress site backup, the next step is to restore it in case you encounter a critical error, or your site is compromised.

First, you’ll need to clean your site and delete all the WordPress files. You can do that by connecting an FTP client and removing all the folders and files. After that, you will need to install WordPress again and log in to your site.

Next, you’re now ready to restore your WordPress backups.

If you’re using the Duplicator Pro plugin, then it is very easy to upload the backup package. Simply head to Duplicator Pro » Import from your WordPress dashboard and drag and drop the package file.

From here, simply follow the steps in the import wizard to recover your website. You can see our step-by-step guide on how to restore WordPress from a backup to learn more.

We hope this article helped you learn how to back up your WordPress site. You may also want to see our guide on WordPress security and the most common WordPress errors and how to fix them.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Backup Your WordPress Site (4 Easy Ways) first appeared on WPBeginner.

March 17, 2023

How to Download Your Entire WordPress Media Library (3 Ways)

Do you want to download all the images and media files from your WordPress website?

By downloading your media library, you can easily store a backup of your media files on your computer or, if you have created another WordPress site, then you can also transfer these images from one site to another.

In this article, we’ll show you how to easily download your entire WordPress media library, step by step.

How to download your entire WordPress media library

Why Would You Want to Download the Media Library?

The WordPress media library stores all the media files that you have uploaded to your site. If you want to create a backup of these media files, then you can easily do that by downloading a copy of the media library and storing it on your computer.

You can always use a fully automated WordPress backup solution to back up your entire WordPress site (including plugins, themes, posts, and the media library).

However, most backup plugins do not offer an easy way to just download and upload your media library.

You could also use your WordPress hosting account file manager or FTP to download the media library, but these methods are a bit complicated and confusing for beginners.

With that being said, we’ll show you some easy ways to easily download your entire media library in WordPress.

Method 1. Download Media Library Using The Export Media Library Plugin
Method 2. Download the Entire WordPress Backup Including Media Files
Method 3. Download Media Library Using WordPress Settings

Method 1. Download Media Library Using The Export Media Library Plugin

For this method, we’ll be using a plugin to download the media files.

First, you need to install and activate the Export Media Library plugin. For more details, see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, go to the Media » Export page from your admin area.

Once you’re on the ‘Export Media Library’ page, simply choose the ‘Single folder with all files’ option from the dropdown menu beside the ‘Folder Structure’ option.

Download the media library using the Export Media Library plugin

Now all your media will be downloaded into one folder. They will be downloaded as the original file types, such as JPG, PNG, or SVG.

If you want your media to be placed into separate folders based on the time of upload, then choose the ‘Nested Folder’ option from the dropdown menu.

After that, simply click the ‘Download Zip’ button, and your entire media library will be downloaded into a zip file on your computer.

Method 2. Download the Entire WordPress Backup Including Media Files

If you want to create a backup for your entire WordPress website including the media library, then this method is for you.

We’ll be using the Duplicator plugin which is the best WordPress backup plugin on the market and enables you to create a complete backup of your WordPress website.

First, you’ll need to install and activate the Duplicator plugin. For more details, see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to visit the Duplicator » Packages page from the admin sidebar and click on the ‘Create New’ button.

Create a new backup by clicking the Create New button

Next, you need to choose a name for your WordPress backup.

It can be anything that will help you identify the backup once it’s downloaded on your computer.

After that, click on the ‘Next’ button to continue.

In the next step, your website will be scanned for potential errors.

Once the scan is complete, simply click on the ‘build’ button to create your package.

Note: If an error is highlighted by Duplicator during the scan, you would need to solve that error before rescanning and building your package.

Once the package is built, you need to click on the ‘Download Both Files’ button.

Now, your installer and archive files will be downloaded simultaneously.

Your WordPress website backup including media files will now be downloaded and stored on your computer.

If you want to restore a WordPress backup, you may also want to see our guide on how to restore WordPress from a backup.

Method 3. Download Media Library Using WordPress Settings

In this method, we’ll show you how to download your entire media library from your WordPress backend and import it to another WordPress website.

Note: This method allows you to download the media library without using any plugins. However, we do not recommend this method because it exports your media as an XML file.

This method can come in handy if you want to import your WordPress media library to one of your other websites.

For that, head over to the Tools » Export page from the WordPress admin dashboard.

Now that you’re on the ‘Export’ page, simply check the box beside the ‘Media’ option.

If you don’t want to download your entire library, then you can also select a date range for a specific time frame. With this feature, only the images uploaded during your chosen time frame will be downloaded.

Finally, click on the ‘Download Export File’ button.

Now, your WordPress media library will be saved on your computer as an XML file.

Next, you need to install and activate the WordPress Importer plugin. For more instructions, please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

This plugin will allow you to import your XML file to another WordPress website.

First, you need to visit the Tools » Import page from the admin sidebar.

Then you can simply click on the ‘Run Importer’ link below the ‘WordPress’ option.

This will take you to the ‘Import WordPress’ page where you need to click on the ‘Choose File’ button.

Now, you can upload your media library XML file from the computer.

Once you’re done, don’t forget to click on the ‘Upload file and import’ button to upload the media library.

We hope this article helped you download your WordPress media library. You may also want to see our tutorial on how to speed up your WordPress website, and our comparison of the best Instagram plugins for WordPress.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Download Your Entire WordPress Media Library (3 Ways) first appeared on WPBeginner.

January 5, 2023

Welcome Duplicator to the WPBeginner Family of Products

Today, I’m extremely excited to share that Duplicator is joining Awesome Motive, and they’re now part of the WPBeginner family of products.

Duplicator is a top-rated WordPress backup and site migration plugin. Over 1,500,000+ smart website owners use Duplicator to make reliable and secure WordPress backups to protect their websites. Along with backups, you can also use Duplicator to easily migrate your website from one host to another within minutes.

Welcome Duplicator to the WPBeginner Family of Products

Introduction to Duplicator – Quick Overview

Duplicator makes it easy for website owners to protect their websites with reliable and secure cloud backups. You can use it to create manual or scheduled WordPress backups and store them on any cloud service like Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon S3, etc.

You can also use Duplicator to easily migrate and restore your website from one hosting provider to another, or even from local server to live.

This is why over 1,500,000 smart website owners and developers use Duplicator to backup or migrate websites while saving time.

What makes Duplicator stand out is that it’s both EASY and POWERFUL.

It comes with all the powerful backup features that you need including complete WordPress files & database backup, scheduled backups, recovery points to allow for quick rollbacks, archive encryption for enhanced security, and integrations with all the popular cloud storage platforms like Amazon S3, Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, FTP / SFTP, and any S3 compatible storage service like Wasabi, etc.

When it comes to WordPress site migrations, Duplicator really stands out from competition. It has an easy migration wizard, streamlined installer, custom search & replace, support for larger websites & managed hosting, server-to-server import, ability to migrate WordPress multisite to standalone or vice-versa, shared database support, and more.

Easily Migrate WordPress Websites from One Location to Another with Duplicator Plugin

For developers and agencies, Duplicator helps eliminate the rework by allowing you to create pre-configured sites that you can quickly set up with just a few clicks. Instead of manually configuring the same themes and plugins over and over, just configure one site and bundle it into a Duplicator package. Install the package to create a pre-configured site on as many locations as you want!

Aside from that, you can brand the installer with your own logo, and it comes with tons of developer hooks for further customization.

Smart developers and agencies use Duplicator as their preferred tool because it’s always reliable and it helps simplify even the large complex website migrations.

Duplicator - Branded Pre-configured WordPress Installer for Agencies and Developers

Whether you’re a small business owner or developer, I highly recommend adding Duplicator to your WordPress toolkit.

Get Duplicator Plugin →

You can also use the free version of Duplicator to get started.

Background Story – Why Duplicator?

As you know, every year I do a WPBeginner reader survey where I ask for your suggestions on what new tutorials we should write, plugins we should build, new features we should add to our existing plugins, and so on.

For the last several years, the number of requests for us to build a beginner-friendly WordPress backup & migration plugin has been increasing.

So in 2020, I finally decided to reach out to Bob & Cory (co-founders of Duplicator) to see if they would be interested in joining Awesome Motive. The reason why I picked Duplicator was because I have used it numerous times for our various website migrations, and it was always the most reliable solution especially when dealing with complex migrations.

Not to mention we have written about them in numerous WPBeginner tutorials, so you already know that I am a fan of the product.

Well 2020 was a crazy year for everyone, so the timing wasn’t right for an acquisition, but nonetheless we stayed in touch. Fast forward to 2022, we came to an agreement for Duplicator to join WPBeginner family of products.

The two co-founders will not be joining the team as they want to move on to the next chapter of their life, but the entire Duplicator team will be joining us in the journey ahead, and I am very excited to work alongside them to build the features that you have been asking for.

As you know, my goal at Awesome Motive & WPBeginner is to help small businesses grow and compete with the big guys. Our software today powers over 21 million websites and helps shape the web for billions worldwide.

I believe that a reliable website backup solution is a critical part of every website because it helps you protect your website in case something goes wrong.

And that’s why I’m really excited to have Duplicator join the AM family.

Note: Want to join our remote team to work on something awesome & make an impact? We’re hiring. Come work alongside me and help shape the future of the web.

What’s Coming Next?

Our work is just starting.

We have an extensive list of ideas and feature roadmap from the feedback that you, the WPBeginner audience, have shared with us in the survey.

I’m looking forward to making those ideas come to life.

This is truly going to be a game changer!

Whether you’re a small business owner or a developer, I think you will want to choose Duplicator to protect your website with our reliable secure backups, and easily migrate your website when you’re looking to switch hosts.

If you have suggestions on features you’d like to see in the Duplicator plugin, then please let us know by sending us a message via WPBeginner contact form.

As always, I want to thank you for your continued support of WPBeginner.

WPBeginner and Awesome Motive would not be here without YOU, and I just want to say how much I appreciate all of you.

And I look forward to continuing serving you and the larger WordPress / web ecosystem for years to come.

Yours Truly,

Syed Balkhi
Founder of WPBeginner

The post Welcome Duplicator to the WPBeginner Family of Products first appeared on WPBeginner.

April 23, 2021October 7, 2022

13 Best WordPress Multisite Plugins You Should Use (Expert Pick)

Are you looking for the best WordPress multisite plugins?

WordPress multisite plugins can help extend your multisite network’s features and make it much easier to manage your network of websites.

In this article, we will share some of the best WordPress multisite plugins for your WordPress multisite network.

Best WordPress Multisite Plugins You Should Use

WordPress multisite network allows you to run and manage multiple WordPress sites or blogs from a single WordPress installation.

There are many benefits to using a multisite network, such as you can install plugins and themes for multiple sites from a centralized dashboard.

If you haven’t created your WordPress multisite network yet, then we have a step-by-step guide on installing and setting up a WordPress multisite network.

It walks you through choosing the right WordPress hosting, setting up your network, launching your network of sites, and more.

Let’s take a look at the best WordPress multisite plugins that you should use.

Note: Most WordPress plugins work seamlessly with WordPress multisite environments. However, there are always a few that aren’t compatible. Below is our list of the most useful plugins for all multisite networks.

1. MonsterInsights

MonsterInsights is the best Google Analytics solution for WordPress, used by over 3 million websites. It lets you easily add Google Analytics to WordPress and view your traffic data directly from your WordPress admin dashboard.

With easy access to this data, you can grow your traffic, email list, and revenue.

On a WordPress multisite network, all your subsite analytics is available in one place. This lets you see which sites are performing well at a glance.

When you set up MonsterInsights, you can choose which sites you want to enable or disable the analytics feature.

We have several guides that’ll show you how to set up Google Analytics in WordPress and how to track user engagement.

There is a free version of MonsterInsights available. However, the premium version unlocks the true power of this tool.

2. WP Mail SMTP

WP Mail SMTP is the best WordPress SMTP plugin in the market, used by over 2 million WordPress sites. An SMTP plugin will ensure that any emails sent from your WordPress site will reach your users.

Most WordPress hosting companies don’t have the function to send emails through WordPress properly. Some even block this functionality entirely.

WP Mail SMTP fixes this problem by letting you send emails through an SMTP service provider like Amazon SES, Gmail, Mailgun, etc. This ensures your emails will get delivered and not end up in spam.

With WP Mail SMTP multisite, you can specify different email accounts for each WordPress blog or site on your network.

The free version of WP Mail SMTP will work for most multisite networks.

However, the paid WP Mail SMTP Pro offers white glove setup and support to configure the plugin to work for you.

3. AIOSEO

All in One SEO is the best SEO plugin for WordPress in the market, used by over 3 million WordPress sites.

It’s a comprehensive plugin that offers all the features you need to improve your onsite SEO across your network of websites.

The plugin can help you optimize your meta title and meta descriptions, create sitemaps, optimize for social media, connect your sites to Google Search Console, and more.

For more details, see our guide on how to set up All in One SEO for WordPress correctly.

There is a free version of All in One SEO available. However, the pro version has additional features like local SEO, WooCommerce SEO, image SEO, and much more.

If you have various types of sites on your multisite network, this can help you optimize them perfectly.

4. WP Multi Network

WP Multi Network is a powerful WordPress multisite plugin. It helps you add and manage new multisite networks within your multisite installation.

You can manage several multisite networks from the network admin post type in your WordPress admin area. It lets you assign available subsites to your global multisite network users.

The plugin will display information about the sites on your network, including available sites, assigned sites, active plugins, themes, child themes, and more.

5. User Switching

User Switching is a plugin that lets you switch between different user roles with a couple of clicks.

For example, maybe you need to switch between different user roles to troubleshoot or test a site. This plugin lets you instantly switch from one account to another with a single click.

The plugin maintains high-security levels, and it’ll never reveal account passwords. Users are only allowed to switch between accounts that have already been authorized.

If you’re running an online store using WooCommerce, then this plugin integrates and allows you to manage these users as well.

6. InfiniteWP

InfiniteWP is one of the best tools for managing multiple WordPress sites. It lets you simply manage WordPress plugins, themes, and core updates from a single dashboard.

It’s a great solution for freelancers and agencies who manage websites for clients.

The free version gives you control over site updates. However, the premium plugin unlocks features like on-demand backups, migrations, staging sites, post and page publishing, malware scanning, and more.

This plugin gives you ultimate control over all the sites on your multisite network.

7. Members

Members is a user role editor plugin that lets you simply create, manage, and change user roles across your entire network of WordPress sites.

If you’re running a network of sites with a large number of WordPress users, then this plugin makes it super easy to oversee and manage access & permissions.

Often administrators use this plugin to create custom user roles with specific permissions to enhance security.

This plugin is maintained by the team behind MemberPress, which is the best WordPress membership plugin that lets you create and sell online courses, premium content, and more.

8. OptinMonster

OptinMonster is one of the best lead generation tools in the market. It’s trusted by over 1.2 million sites, including ClickBank, Pinterest, Patreon, and more.

This tool lets you create high-converting popup modals and lead generation forms across your entire network of WordPress sites. A network activation feature lets you create different campaigns for every site on your network.

OptinMonster has a large template library and an extensive drag and drop builder to create custom popups, slide-ins, content upgrades, and more.

The Exit-Intent® technology helps convert visitors who leave your sites into subscribers and customers.

With a multisite installation, all your campaign data is available in one place. This lets you see the results of your lead generation efforts and improve your conversions across multiple websites.

9. Duplicator

Duplicator is the best WordPress migration plugin. It allows you to easily migrate your WordPress blog between different servers and WordPress hosting accounts.

The plugin is very easy to use. It lets you simply download all of your website files and upload them to your new server.

There is a free version of the plugin, but to migrate a network of sites, you’ll need the plugin’s premium version. Migrating an entire WordPress multisite network might seem stressful, but this plugin simplifies most of the process.

You can copy your entire multisite network on all plans, but to easily reinstall new sites, you’ll need a premium plan.

10. WPForms

WPForms is the best WordPress contact form plugin in the market. Over 4 million WordPress sites use it.

It’s very easy to create simple contact forms, user registration forms, multi-page forms, and more.

Running a multisite network means you’ll have various form needs. This plugin can help you meet all of them.

Even though it’s packed with features, it’s very easy to use. They have a drag and drop form builder to help you quickly build advanced contact forms and customize them to match your website.

There’s a large template library to help you add a variety of forms to your sites quickly.

The free version WPForms Lite can be used if you only need to add simple contact forms to your sites.

11. WP Rocket

WP Rocket is one of the best WordPress caching plugins in the market.

A caching plugin can help boost your WordPress website speed and performance without technical skills.

Once the plugin is installed and activated on your site, it’ll automatically improve your loading speeds. There are all kinds of advanced features you can customize depending on the type of website you run.

It’s one of the few caching plugins equipped with lazy loading, minification, page caching, cache preloading, static file compression, font loading, and more.

WP Rocket lets you improve your site speed without impacting your pages and posts on any site.

12. UpdraftPlus

UpdraftPlus is the best backup plugin for WordPress. You can simply back up your WordPress sites with a couple of clicks.

Your WordPress multisite network could have dozens or even hundreds of subsites, so you must use a backup plugin to keep every site on the network safe.

This plugin helps you create automated backups for every site on your network.

You can save your backups to your computer or integrate them with other cloud storage services. There’s a great feature to restore a site with a single click.

For more details, see our guide on how to back up and restore your WordPress site with UpdraftPlus.

There’s a free version of the plugin available, but the paid plans offer you priority support and even more features.

13. Multisite Language Switcher

Multisite Language Switcher adds multilanguage capabilities to your WordPress multisite network.

There are various plugins you can use to create a multilingual WordPress site. But, this plugin is dedicated to WordPress multisite.

It allows you to manage translations across multiple sites. You can oversee translations for pages, posts, taxonomies, and tags across all your properties.

With this plugin, managing translations for entire websites or translating individual pieces of content across your entire network is easy.

Final Thoughts + More WordPress Multisite Plugins

There are over 60,000+ WordPress plugins available, most of which will work on a multisite network.

Depending on your needs, you may want to see our following expert picks:

We hope this article has helped you find the best WordPress multisite plugins for you. You may also want to see our ultimate guide on how to create a business email address and how to get a virtual business phone number for your website.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post 13 Best WordPress Multisite Plugins You Should Use (Expert Pick) first appeared on WPBeginner.

December 15, 2020

How to Easily Save a Blog Post to Your Computer (5 Methods)

Do you want to save your WordPress blog posts to your computer?

Normally, you can make a WordPress backup and save it on your computer. However, these backups are not readable or easy to share without installing WordPress again.

In this article, we’ll show you how to easily save a copy of your blog content that you can read, share, or even convert to an eBook.

Why Save Your Blog Posts to Your Computer

There are several reasons to save your blog posts to your computer.

The most common reason is to create a back up of your blog, so that you can restore it later. You may want to move it to a new WordPress website or just keep it safe as a security precaution.

Or you may want to close and delete your WordPress website, but want to preserve your blog content in a readable format. Instead of saving them as back up files, you can save all of your blog posts as PDF or an eBook, so you can easily read or share your articles.

Another common reason is to move from another blogging platform to WordPress. To do this you’ll need to save your blog posts and then import them into WordPress.

There are multiple ways to save and download your blog posts. Depending on your needs, you can choose the method that best suits you.

Creating a backup of your entire blog
Creating a PDF or ebook of your blog posts
Printing a book of your blog posts
Saving your blog to migrate
Saving your WordPress.com blog posts

Creating a Backup of Your Blog

This method is recommended if you just want to make a backup of your blog posts for safekeeping.

It allows you to restore your blog posts on any other WordPress website. However, it does not save your blog posts in a readable or shareable format.

WordPress has a built-in feature to export your blog posts. Simply go to Tools » Export. page inside your WordPress admin area. Here, you can choose to download your entire site, or only your blog posts.

After that, you can click on the Download Export File button and WordPress will download all your blog posts in XML format. This file can be used to restore your site, or to migrate to another domain or a different web host.

You can also download your entire media library and save your images and videos separately.

However, if you want to keep a backup of your entire WordPress site, then the export tool is not the ideal method. It will not save any other website data, settings, your WordPress theme, or plugins.

For that, you will need to use a proper WordPress backup plugin. These plugins allow you to make a complete WordPress website backup which you can then save on your computer or upload to cloud storage like Google Drive or Dropbox.

You can also set them up, so they automatically take backups at regular intervals and save them remotely.

We recommend using UpdraftPlus, which is easy to use and supports multiple cloud storage options. For more details, see our guide on setting up WordPress backups using UpdraftPlus.

Creating a PDF or eBook of Your Blog

The problem with WordPress backup plugins or the default export method is that your blog posts will not be readable outside WordPress.

This is why many users prefer to save blog posts as PDF because it makes it easy to read, share, or republish the blog post as an eBook.

Let’s take a look at how to easily save your blog posts as PDF to your computer.

If you’re only looking to save a single blog post, then the easiest way is to open it in a browser and use the keyboard shortcut CTRL + P (for Windows) or CMD + P (for Mac). This will open the browser’s print settings window.

You can now change the Destination to ‘Save as PDF’ and click on the ‘Save’ button to download it to your computer.

Now, if you want to save all your blog posts as PDF at once, then the easiest way to do that is by using a WordPress plugin.

First, you need to install and activate the Print My Blog plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to visit Print My Blog » Print Now page to configure settings. From here, you can choose to print a physical copy, save a PDF file, create an eBook, or save it in HTML format.

You can select Digital PDF to create and save a readable PDF file on your computer. Alternatively, you can choose eBook if you want to create a digital book that you can publish online.

After that, click to expand the ‘Show More Print Options’ menu to customize your blog copy.

In most cases, the default settings are good enough. But you may want to go through them just to make sure the blog copy is exactly what you need.

From the drop-down menu, you can apply a number of filters. For instance, you can choose to save only posts or only pages of your WordPress site.

You can also select what order you want the posts to appear, whether you want the oldest or the newest posts first.

Another option is to filter the posts by their status. You can choose to download only the published posts, or include drafts and deleted posts that are in your Trash folder.

You can also filter your posts by categories, tags, authors, and dates. This is handy if you want to download only particular categories for a project, or if you want a document of every article written by a single author.

The plugin also allows you to choose what header and post content you wish to appear in your saved copy. By default, the date and the plugin’s branding is selected, but you can unselect this if you don’t want this information to appear in your PDF.

You can apply these filters to every post and choose what information you want to appear for each post such as the published date, comments, URL, and author.

Lastly, you can determine your page layout. Print My Blog basically creates a single PDF file for all your blog content. You can choose to have each new post start on a new page to ensure there is proper separation.

You can also customize the font size, image size, and choose whether you want to include hyperlinks.

Once you are satisfied with the settings, click on the ‘Prepare Print-Page’ button to continue. To print an eBook, you need to use the dotepub extension.

To save a PDF file, click on the ‘Print to PDF’ button to save the file.

This will bring up your browser’s print settings. Select Save as PDF option and then click on the save button to save the PDF file to your computer.

Note: The save to PDF functionality works best with Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge browsers.

If you’ve created an eBook, you might find our guide on how to add an eBook download to your WordPress site helpful.

Printing your Blog Posts as a Book

You can also convert your blog into a physical book for distributing it among friends or at an event. You could also make an online store to sell it from your website.

Blog2Print converts your blog on WordPress, Tumblr, Typepad and Blogger into professionally bound books.

They also let you turn your Instagram feed into a book!

Blog2Print automatically formats your content. You can select what content you want to include, customize your book cover, add photos and supplemental text to make the book seem more like a published book rather than a series of blog posts.

Another platform you can use is Into Real Pages. They have four formats you can choose from, along with 8 wonderful themes. You get to design your own cover and add additional text and photos. They also offer good deals on bulk printing.

Saving Your Blog Posts to Migrate Platforms

A lot of folks want to save their blog posts, so they can move to them elsewhere. Now there are two common types of blog migrations.

Moving a WordPress blog to another WordPress blog. This happens when a user is changing their WordPress hosting company or domain name, and they need to move their WordPress files to the new location.
Moving from a third-party platform to WordPress. A lot of folks start with other blogging platforms and later on want to move their blogs to WordPress.

We will talk about both user cases and will show you how to properly save your blog posts and move them over.

1. Migrating a WordPress Blog

To move to a new domain, a different host, or another top blogging platform, you need to create a copy of your blog. This copy can then be used to migrate over.

You can use a migration plugin that automatically makes a backup for you and lets you move to a new domain or new host.

There are plenty of migration plugins to choose from, out of which Duplicator Pro is one of the best on the market.

If you want to move your site from one domain to another, but you’re worried about losing your blog content, see our guide on how to move WordPress to a new domain. This guide also ensures you don’t lose any of your SEO efforts.

If you’ve been blogging on a subdomain and want to merge it with your main domain, the process is fairly simple. But you need to follow it step by step to make sure you don’t face errors. See our guide on moving subdomain to root domain in WordPress.

You can also move between hosts and servers but there’s a risk of downtime. Our guide on how to move WordPress to a new host or server shows you how to switch over without losing any content or having downtime.

2. Migrating a Third-Party Blog to WordPress

A lot of users want to save their blog posts, so they can move all their content to WordPress.

There are two types of WordPress blogs. WordPress.com which is a hosting service and WordPress.org which is also called self-hosted WordPress. For more details, see our guide on the difference between WordPress.com vs Wordress.org with detailed pros and cons.

You’ll need WordPress.org because it gives you instant access to all WordPress features out of the box.

To get started, you’ll need a domain name and a WordPress hosting account. The domain name is your website’s address (e.g. wpbeginner.com), and the hosting account is where all your website files are stored.

We recommend using Bluehost. They are one of the top hosting companies in the world and an officially recommended WordPress hosting provider.

They are offering WPBeginner users, a generous discount on hosting with a free domain name and SSL certificate.

→ Click Here to Claim This Exclusive Bluehost Offer ←

Once you have signed up for a hosting account, you can follow our step by step tutorial on how to start a WordPress blog for the complete setup.

After the set up, you’ll reach your WordPress admin dashboard.

WordPress powers over 38% of all websites on the internet. This is why many users want to switch blogging platforms and use WordPress.

You can easily import your blog posts from other blogging platforms to your WordPress blog. Depending on which platform you are moving from, you can follow the step by step instructions from our guides below.

Saving Your WordPress.com Blog Posts

If you are using WordPress.com, then you can still save your WordPress.com blog posts to your computer. You can also move to WordPress.org or use the downloaded file as a backup that you can restore at any time.

First, you need to login to your blog and then go to the Tools » Export » Export all. WordPress.com will then create an XML file and your browser will download it to your computer.

This file uses the same format as WordPress.org, which means you can easily use it to move your blog from WordPress.com to a WordPress.org blog.

We hope this article helped you learn how to save blog posts to your computer. You may also want to see our guide on how to increase your blog traffic by 406%, and over 30 proven ways make money blogging using WordPress.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Easily Save a Blog Post to Your Computer (5 Methods) appeared first on WPBeginner.

November 7, 2019November 2, 2023

9 Best WordPress Migration Plugins (Compared)

Are you looking for the best WordPress migration plugin to move your website?

While it is super-easy to start a new WordPress site, moving an existing website to a new hosting company is not as simple. To make sure that everything goes smoothly, you’ll need a WordPress migration plugin to easily manage the transfer.

In this article, we will compare the best WordPress migration plugins that allow you to migrate your websites without hiccups.

Why Use a WordPress Migration Plugin?

To migrate your entire WordPress website, you will need to move the database, files, plugins, and theme. If your site is large, this can be time-consuming and difficult to manage.

While you can handle this manually by moving files via FTP, many things can go wrong that a plugin can help protect you from.

Plus, you will want to reduce downtime, so your users don’t see a broken website as you move from one WordPress hosting company to another. Most importantly, you want to preserve your website’s SEO rankings.

With all that in mind, let’s jump into the best WordPress migration plugins. These plugins will help move your site from one hosting provider to another the easy way.

1. Duplicator Pro

Duplicator Pro is the best WordPress migration and backup plugin on the market. It works like a charm for many types of migration scenarios without technical knowledge.

It has a simple step-by-step wizard that guides you through the migration. First, you create a migration package of your website and download it to your computer along with an installer script.

Next, you upload the installer script and the package to the new location (new server or host) and run the migration wizard. Duplicator unpacks the content of your package and installs it.

In the end, it also allows you to update URLs to ensure everything runs smoothly after the unpacking.

Pros:

Migrate the WordPress site to a new host, domain name, local server, or live site.
Easy step-by-step migration wizard to move your website.
It can schedule backups and save them on remote storage such as Google Diver, Dropbox, etc.
Connects with cPanel hosting dashboard to automatically create database and users.
Supports WordPress multisite migration with the Duplicator Pro plan.

Cons:

Beginners may need help connecting to the FTP server. Luckily, their customer support is quite helpful.
The upload process can be tedious if you have unreliable internet or a large website.

Pricing: Paid plans start from $49.50 / year for up to two websites. It includes unlimited backups and migrations. If you want to use the Duplicator Pro plugin on over five websites, you’ll need their Pro plan starting at $199.50 / year. The Duplicator Pro plan allows you to migrate WordPress multisite and comes with priority customer support.

The Duplicator free version would work for most small websites.

2. UpdraftPlus Premium

The UpdraftPlus Premium plugin for WordPress

UpdraftPlus is one of the best WordPress backup plugins. Its premium version comes with a migration tool that allows you to easily migrate your website.

Pros:

Easy to use process. If you already use it as your backup plugin, then you can create a complete backup and import it to any location.
Schedule and store your WordPress backups in remote locations.
Works with WordPress multisite networks.
Incremental backups allow you to save server resources.

Cons:

To run the migration, you’d need to install WordPress on the destination.

Pricing: You can purchase the Migrator Addon for $30 and use it with the free version of UpdraftPlus. Alternatively, you can buy UpdraftPlus Premium for $70.

3. Jetpack

Jetpack is a massive WordPress plugin suite with a powerful backup feature. This feature was previously called VaultPress and was sold as a separate product.

Now, it is included as JetPack Backups. It allows you to easily restore your WordPress backups and migrate your website to new servers.

Pros:

The easiest way to make WordPress backups and easily restore them to a new location.
Incremental backups save server resources.
The easy 1-click site restoration feature makes migrations a breeze.
All your data is stored in the cloud, and you don’t need to manually re-upload backups during migration.
Includes site security features that make your backups secure.

Cons:

You will need a JetPack subscription with many other features you may not even need or use.
The setup process is a bit complicated for beginners. You will need two plugins, a Jetpack subscription, and a WordPress.com account.

Pricing: It costs $4.95/month (billed annually).

4. All-in-One WP Migration

All-in-One WP Migration is a popular WordPress migration plugin with a comprehensive set of features. Unlike other plugins on the list, it is not a backup plugin specializing in website migrations.

Pros:

Tested and supports many WordPress hosting providers, operating systems, PHP versions, and more.
Supports older versions up to WordPress 3.3
It bypasses your host’s file size limits by importing chunks of data.

Cons:

The free version limits import size to 512 MB.
You’ll need to install WordPress manually on the new location.
For multisite exports, you’ll need a separate paid extension.
To use any cloud storage, you have to upgrade to a paid plan.

Pricing: The basic plugin is free, but you’ll need the Unlimited extension to remove the import size restriction. The Unlimited extension is available at $69 for a lifetime license.

5. Migrate Guru

Migrate Guru is a WordPress migration plugin by the folks behind Blog Vault, a popular WordPress backup solution. It specializes in migrating websites to a new host or server.

Pros:

It supports almost all popular WordPress hosting providers.
Easy migration wizard where you just need to enter your destination host’s FTP or cPanel credentials, and the plugin takes care of everything else.
Migrates your WordPress database updated URLs and handles serialized data.
It can be used to migrate large websites without affecting server performance.

Cons:

It does not support localhost to live website or live to localhost transfers.
It does not fully support multisite migrations.

Pricing: Free

6. Solid Backups (Formerly BackupBuddy)

Solid Backups Formerly BackupBuddy WordPress Backup Plugin

Solid Backups (formerly BackupBuddy) is one of the most popular WordPress migration and backup plugins. It has been around since 2010 and has a loyal customer base.

Pros:

It has automated scheduled backups, restore, and migration features in one convenient package.
Set up your backup schedules, choose what to back up, and store them in remote locations such as Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon S3, and more.
Easily transfer your website from localhost to live server using a complete WordPress backup.
It can deploy a WordPress staging site to a live server with 1-click.

Cons:

It does not support WordPress multisite.
Restore and migration features are not as easy for beginners as some other plugins on this list.

Pricing: Starting from $99 / year for a single site license.

7. Migrate DB Pro

Migrate DB Pro is a powerful WordPress migration plugin made specifically for moving WordPress databases from one install to another. However, it can also easily transfer media files, themes, and plugins with separate addons.

Pros:

Perfect when you quickly want to copy a WordPress database from one site to another.
Powerful features make it an excellent option for developers.
Back up your existing database before replacing it with a new one.
Find and replace any text in your database.
Great for large websites and complex hosting server environments.

Cons:

For complete migrations, you’ll need two addons which are only available under an expensive developer license.
It may not be as easy to use for beginners as some other plugins on the list.

Price: Starting from $49 for a single site. You’ll need the Plus license to access media and file addons, which will cost you $189.

Bonus Plugins

These WordPress migration plugins work in specific situations and are the best options for beginners.

8. Bluehost Migrator

If you are moving your WordPress site to Bluehost, then this plugin is for you. It is made by Bluehost to help users move their websites to Bluehost hosting servers.

Bluehost is one of the best WordPress hosting companies. They are also an officially recommended WordPress hosting provider.

Pros:

It works well because it is made for transferring from any hosting company to Bluehost.
Super-easy to use, you just need to enter a token from your hosting control panel, and the plugin takes care of the rest.
If you are not changing the domain name, then it automatically creates a temporary domain for the transferred site. Later, you can change the DNS to point your domain name.

Cons:

It can’t be used to transfer from localhost to the live site.
Does not support WordPress multisite.

Pricing: Free. However, you’ll need a Bluehost account to use this service.

9. SiteGround Migrator

If you are moving your WordPress site to SiteGround, then this plugin is for you. It is made by SiteGround to help users move their websites to SiteGround hosting servers.

SiteGround is one of the best WordPress hosting companies. They are also an officially recommended WordPress hosting provider.

Note: If you don’t want to use the plugin, then you can simply ask SiteGround support. They offer one free website migration with their GrowBig and GoGeek plans.

Pros:

It works well because it is made for a specific scenario of transferring from any hosting company to SiteGround.
Super-easy to use, you just need to enter a token from your hosting control panel, and the plugin takes care of the rest.
If you are not changing the domain name, it automatically creates a temporary domain for the transferred site. Later, you can change the DNS to point to your domain name.

Cons:

It can’t be used to transfer from localhost to the live site.
It does not support WordPress multisite.

Pricing: Free. The plugin works when you want to migrate a site to the SiteGround hosting server.

Bonus: Free WordPress Blog Setup

The plugins mentioned above do not work on WordPress.com websites. See the difference between WordPress.com vs WordPress.org.

For most beginners, moving from WordPress.com to WordPress.org is not as simple as you’d like it to be. This is where our free blog setup comes in.

Basically, you’ll need to purchase a hosting plan from one of our recommended WordPress hosting providers, and we will transfer or set up your WordPress blog.

For more details, see our free blog setup page.

Note: At WPBeginner, we believe in transparency. When you sign up for one of our recommended hosting providers, we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

We would get this commission for recommending just about any hosting company, but we only recommend products we use personally and believe will add value to our readers.

Pros

Allows you to transfer WordPress.com to a self-hosted WordPress.org website.
WPBeginner’s expert team migrates your content and media.
You also get must-have WordPress plugins installed on your site to give you a solid start.

Cons:

Only migrates WordPress.com blogs.
Due to WordPress.com’s limitations, it can only migrate your content, comments, images, and media.

Pricing: Free

Conclusion: Which is The Best WordPress Migration Plugin?

We believe Duplicator Pro is the best WordPress migration plugin on the market. Even the free version is a charm for small WordPress blogs and websites.

We also recommend Duplicator in our WordPress migration guides. See our step-by-step guides for complete instructions.

WP Migrate DB Pro is a good choice for migrating large websites, specifically when you have complex hosting setups with various environments. It’s not our top choice because it is not as beginner-friendly.

This guide only covers migration plugin that helps you migrate a WordPress site to another server or domain. If you’re looking to switch to WordPress from another platform, then please follow our guides below:

We hope this article helped you find the best WordPress migration plugin for your website. You may also want to see our guide on the best WordPress plugins and the best email marketing services for small businesses.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post 9 Best WordPress Migration Plugins (Compared) first appeared on WPBeginner.

January 24, 2019September 27, 2021

How to Easily Move WordPress to a New Domain (Without Losing SEO)

Do you want to move your WordPress site to a new domain? Changing your website’s domain name can significantly impact your SEO rankings, so it’s a process that needs to be done very carefully.

While you cannot avoid temporary SEO fluctuations when migrating your website to a new domain, you can definitely minimize the impact and quickly regain your search traffic and rankings.

In this guide, we will show you the proper way to move WordPress to a new domain without losing SEO.

Here’s the 5 step process that we’ll cover to help you migrate your WordPress site to a new domain name:

Create a Duplicator package of your WordPress site
Create a database for your new domain name
Unpack WordPress on the new domain
Setup permanent 301 redirects
Notify Google about the change

What to Know Before You Change Domains

Before you start, there are a few things you should know.

The process of transferring to a new domain will temporarily affect your search engine rankings, since Google and other search engines will need to adjust to the changes.

Yes, this will also temporarily affect your search traffic as well. Please keep in mind that this is normal, and it happens to all websites that switch to a new domain.

However, you can dramatically decrease the SEO impact by following this guide. We will show you the right way of moving your WordPress site to a new domain name, setting up proper 301 redirects, and notifying search engines.

Please note that this guide is not for moving WordPress site to a new host. This is for switching a domain name only. While the process is similar, there are a few extra steps involved in this process. These extra steps will help you to protect your SEO rankings and traffic.

Lastly, if your old website is on WordPress.com, then you need to follow the instructions in our guide on how to move from WordPress.com to WordPress.org instead.

Pre-Steps: What You Need to Get Started

In this guide, we are assuming that you have your WordPress website setup on oldsite.com, and you are trying to migrate it to newsite.com.

We are also assuming that you already have a WordPress hosting account, and you are familiar with your web hosting control panel.

You’ll also need to know how to use an FTP client like FileZilla, or how to edit files using the File Manager app available under your hosting account dashboard.

In case you don’t have a web hosting provider or are looking to switch to a new one, we recommend using Bluehost (great for small sites + comes with a free domain) and either SiteGround or WP Engine (great for larger sites or online stores).

Once you have those things in place, you’re ready to start the process!

Step 1: Create a Duplicator Package of Your WordPress Site

The first thing you need to do is create a full backup of your WordPress site. We’ll use this backup to create a duplicate of your website, so you can set up the redirects properly from your old domain to the new one.

While there are many WordPress backup plugins available, we’ll be using Duplicator which is a free backup and migration plugin.

Let’s start by installing and activating the Duplicator plugin on your old domain name. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Once activated, the plugin will add a Duplicator menu item in your WordPress admin. You need to click on the Duplicator menu, and then click on the ‘Create New’ button to create a new package, or copy of your WordPress site.

After that, you will be asked to click on the Next button to continue.

Duplicator will now run the website duplicator wizard. First, it will run some tests to see if everything is in order. If the plugin finds an issue, then you will see a warning with instructions.

If all items are marked ‘Good’, then click on the ‘Build’ button.

The plugin will now start creating a duplicator package of your website files. This process may take a few minutes depending on the size of your site.

Once finished, you’ll see download options for the Installer and the Archive package. You need to click on the ‘One-click download’ link to download both files to your computer.

The archive file is a complete copy of your WordPress files. It includes your WordPress themes, permalinks settings, plugins, uploads, and any other files created by WordPress plugins.

The installer script is a PHP file that will automate and run the WordPress migration by unpacking the archive file.

Step 2. Create a Database for Your New Domain Name

Before you can move your WordPress site to the new domain, you’ll need a new SQL database to unpack WordPress on your new domain name.

If you have already created a database, then you can skip this step.

To create a database, you need to visit your hosting account’s cPanel dashboard, scroll down to the ‘Databases’ section, and then click on the ‘MySQL Databases’ icon.

Note: Your hosting control panel may look slightly different than the screenshots. However, you should still be able to find a Databases section with an option to create a new database.

Simply provide a name for your database and then click on the ‘Create Database’ button.

cPanel will now create a new database for you. After that, you need to scroll down to the MySQL Users section.

Next, provide a username and password for your new user and click on the ‘Create a user’ button. Make sure to note the username and password in a safe place.

The new user you just created still does not have permission to work on the database. Let’s change that.

Scroll down to the ‘Add User to Database’ section. First select the database user you created from the dropdown menu next to the ‘User’ field. Then select the new database you just created and click on the Add button.

Your database is now ready to be used for moving WordPress to the new domain name. Make sure to note down the database name, username, and password. You’ll need this information in the next step.

Step 3. Unpack WordPress on Your New Domain Name

Now you need to upload the Duplicator files you downloaded earlier to your new domain name.

The Duplicator package includes your WordPress installation as well. This means you don’t need to install WordPress on your new domain.

First, connect to your domain name using an FTP client. Once connected, make sure that the root directory of your website is completely empty.

After that, you can upload the archive and installer files to the root directory (usually it is public_html).

Once both files have finished uploading, you are now ready to unpack WordPress.

Open a new browser tab and go to the following URL:

http://example.com/installer.php

Don’t forget to replace example.com with your new domain name. This will launch the Duplicator migration wizard.

The installer will look for the archive file. You need to check the terms checkbox and click on the Next button to continue.

Now, the installer will ask you to configure your WordPress database information.

Your host will likely be localhost. After that, you will enter the details of the database you created for your new domain name in the earlier step.

Once done, click on the next button to continue.

Duplicator will now unpack your WordPress database backup from the archive into your new database.

Next, it will ask you to update the site URL or Path. You shouldn’t have to change anything since it automatically detects the new URL of your domain name and its path.

If it doesn’t, then you can change the URL to your new domain name. After that, click on the next button to continue.

Duplicator will now finish the migration.

You can click on the ‘Admin Login’ button to enter the WordPress admin area of your website on the new domain name.

Step 4. Set Up Permanent 301 Redirects

The next step is to point users arriving on your old domain name to the new domain. This is done by setting up 301 redirects.

301 redirects are very important for SEO and user experience. Adding them will allow you to automatically redirect users and search engines to your new domain name.

In other words, whenever someone lands on a post or page on your old domain, they will be automatically redirected to the same post or page on your new domain, instead of seeing a 404 error.

To keep your redirects in place, you’ll need to keep your old WordPress installation active so it can continue to redirect to the new one you just created.

There are two ways to set up the redirects. The first method is easy and just takes a few clicks. The second method requires you to edit files manually.

Method 1. Set Up 301 Redirects With All in One SEO

For this method, we’ll be using All in One SEO (AIOSEO). It is the best WordPress SEO plugin on the market and allows you to easily optimize your WordPress website for SEO.

First, you need to install and activate the All in One SEO plugin on your old domain. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Note: You’ll need at least the Pro version of the plugin to access redirect manager addon. You can also set up AIOSEO on your new WordPress site to boost your search engine rankings and traffic even more.

Upon activation on your old domain, you need to visit All in One SEO » Redirects page and click on the Activate Redirects button.

Next, you need to switch to the ‘Full Site Redirect’ tab and turn on the ‘Relocate Site’ toggle. After that, you need to enter your new domain name next to ‘Relocate to domain’ option.

Don’t forget to click on the Save Changes button to store your settings.

Method 2. Manually Set Up Redirects to New Domain

This method requires you to edit the WordPress .htaccess file on your old domain name.

First, you need to connect to your old site using FTP and edit the .htaccess file.

This will be located in the same directory as your wp-includes or wp-admin folder. Open the .htaccess file and paste the following lines of code at the very top:

#Options +FollowSymLinks
RewriteEngine on
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.newsite.com/$1 [R=301,L]

Note: Replace newsite.com with your new domain in the above code.

Once you have applied these changes, then visit your old domain name. It should automatically redirect you to the new domain.

If it doesn’t, then it means the redirection is not setup properly, and your server likely doesn’t support redirect rules. You need to contact the support team at your web hosting company to get RewriteEngine turned on.

Step 5. Notify Google About Your New Domain

Now that you have moved WordPress to a new domain name and set up redirects, it is time to notify Google about your change of address. This will help Google find your new website domain quickly and start showing it in search results.

First you need to make sure that both your new and old domain are added to the Google Search Console as two different properties. See step 1 in our Google Search Console guide for instructions.

Next, you need to select the old domain name as the active property in your Google Search Console account dashboard.

After that, click on the Settings menu from the left column and then click on the ‘Change of Address’ tool.

Now you need to select your new domain under the Update Google section, and then click on the ‘Validate & Update’ button.

That’s all, Google will now validate that your old domain is redirecting to the new domain and save your changes.

On the next screen, Google Search Console will show you a step by step wizard to submit your change of address request.

Notify Your Users About the New Domain Name

While the 301 redirects do their job, it is always good to make a public announcement about the migration.

You can do this by simply writing a blog post on your new site and sharing it on your social media accounts.

If you have an email newsletter or push notification subscribers, then you should send out an announcement to them, too.

This can be helpful in a lot of ways.

First and foremost, your users are more likely to remember the new domain once they read about it.

Second, you can ask your users to let you know if they see any bugs. You alone cannot test your site in every different type of browsers or system environment. It’s always helpful to have a fresh pair of eyes looking at it.

We hope that this tutorial helped you move your WordPress site to a new domain name. You may also want to see our guide on how to get a free email domain, or see our expert pick of the best business phone services.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Easily Move WordPress to a New Domain (Without Losing SEO) appeared first on WPBeginner.

January 18, 2019July 3, 2023

7 Best WordPress Backup Plugins Compared (Pros and Cons)

Are you looking for the best WordPress backup plugin for your website?

Creating regular WordPress backups is the best thing you can do for your website security. Backups give you peace of mind and can save you in catastrophic situations, like when your site gets hacked or you accidentally lock yourself out.

There are several free and paid WordPress backup plugins, most of which are fairly easy to use.

In this article, we will share some of the best WordPress backup plugins for small businesses.

Important: While many WordPress hosting providers offer limited backup services, we always recommend that our users not rely solely on them. At the end of the day, it is your responsibility to keep regular backups of your website.

If you are not already backing up your WordPress website, then you should pick one of these best WordPress backup plugins and start using it right away.

1. Duplicator Pro

Duplicator Pro is a powerful and user-friendly WordPress backup plugin used by over 1.5 million website owners. It makes it easy to back up, migrate, and clone your WordPress site, even for beginners.

You can create manual or scheduled WordPress backups and safely store them on popular cloud services like Dropbox, Google Drive, FTP, OneDrive, and Amazon S3.

You can also view all of your backups right from your WordPress dashboard, which makes backup management simple.

When you need to restore a backup, the Duplicator Recovery Wizard will walk you through restoring your backup files, step by step.

Duplicator comes with all of the backup features you need, including complete WordPress files & database backups, recovery points, archive encryption for enhanced security, and more.

It also offers advanced site migration features such as an easy migration wizard, a streamlined installer, server-to-server imports, multisite network migrations, customizable pre-configured sites, large site support, and more.

At WPBeginner, we have used Duplicator for various website migrations, and it’s super reliable, especially for complex migrations.

Pricing: Starts at $49.50 per year for unlimited backups for up to 2 sites. There’s also a free version of Duplicator that you can use to get started.

Review: Duplicator Pro is a top-rated WordPress backup and migration plugin. It has over 1.5 million active installs and an average 4.9 out of 5 star rating. The free version has everything you need to get started. But we recommend upgrading to the premium version to access features like cloud storage, scheduled backups, and more.

2. UpdraftPlus

UpdraftPlus best WordPress backup plugin

UpdraftPlus is the most popular free WordPress backup plugin available on the internet. It is used by more than 3 million websites.

UpdraftPlus allows you to create a complete backup of your WordPress site and store it on the cloud or download it to your computer.

The plugin supports scheduled backups as well as on-demand backups. You also have the option to choose which files you want to backup.

It can automatically upload your backups to Dropbox, Google Drive, S3, Rackspace, FTP, SFTP, email, and several other cloud storage services (see our step-by-step guide on how to backup & restore your WordPress site with UpdraftPlus).

Besides backing up each WordPress website, UpdraftPlus also allows you to easily restore backups directly from your WordPress admin panel.

UpdraftPlus also has a premium version with add-ons to migrate or clone websites, database search and replace, multisite support, and several other features. The premium version also gets you access to priority support.

Pricing: Free (UpdraftPremium Personal costs $70 per year).

Review: UpdratPlus is one of the most loved WordPress backup plugins on the market. It has over 3 million active installs and an average 4.8 out of 5 star rating. While the free version has a lot of features, we recommend upgrading to UpdraftPlus premium to unlock all its powerful backup features.

3. Jetpack VaultPress Backup

Jetpack VaultPress Backup is a popular WordPress backup plugin by Automattic, the company created by WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg.

This plugin was originally launched under the name VaultPress, which is what we use on WPBeginner, but now it’s been redesigned and rebranded as Jetpack Backups. We have started to switch several of our websites to the new Jetpack backup platform because it’s more up-to-date.

The Jetpack backup plugin offers automated daily and real-time cloud backup solutions without slowing down your site. You can easily set up Jetpack backups and restore from backups within a few clicks.

The higher plans of Jetpack also offer security scans and several other powerful features.

There are a few downsides to using Jetpack backups for beginners.

First, a recurring expense can add up with multiple WordPress sites because you pay per site.

Second, the purchase flow is quite complicated, and they force you to install the Jetpack plugin to purchase a subscription. The good news is that you can manually disable all the unnecessary features of Jetpack except for backups, so they don’t slow down your site.

Lastly, backups are stored for only 30 days on the lower plans. If you want an unlimited backup archive, you will have to pay $4.95 per month per website, which is significantly more expensive for beginners when compared to other solutions listed here.

WPBeginner website still uses VaultPress (an older version of Jetpack) because we got grandfathered in at their older pricing, which was much more favorable.

However, even at the higher price, Jetpack backup is completely worth it due to the stellar reputation of Automattic. This is why we pay for higher priced real-time backup plans for our new sites like All in One SEO because it’s an eCommerce store, and we want maximum protection.

Pricing: From $14.95 per month for a daily backup plan or $59.40 if you pay for a full year in advance.

Review: Jetpack VaultPress Backup is a premium backup service with a premium price point. If you are already using JetPack for other features like JetPack CDN for photos, social media promotion, and Elastic search, then it’s good value to purchase their Complete plan bundle. If you are just after real-time cloud backups for WordPress, then you can also look at BlogVault in our list because they offer more affordable pricing for beginners.

4. BackupBuddy

BackupBuddy is one of the most popular premium WordPress backup plugins used by over half a million WordPress sites. It allows you to easily schedule daily, weekly, and monthly backups.

With BackupBuddy, you can automatically store your backups in cloud storage services like Dropbox, Amazon S3, Rackspace Cloud, FTP, and Stash (their cloud service) and even email it to yourself.

If you use their Stash service, you can also do real-time backups.

The biggest advantage of using BackupBuddy is that it is not a subscription-based service, so there is no monthly fee. You can use the plugin on the number of websites mentioned in your plan.

You also get access to premium support forums, regular updates, and 1GB of BackupBuddy Stash storage to store your backups. In addition, their iThemes Sync feature lets you manage up to 10 WordPress sites from a single dashboard.

You can even use BackupBuddy to duplicate, migrate and restore websites.

Pricing: $99 for Basic Plan (1 Site License).

Review: BackupBuddy is a cost-effective premium WordPress backup solution for you. It has a full set of features you will need to back up, restore, and move a WordPress site. In a nutshell, it’s a powerful UpdraftPlus and VaultPress alternative that you can use.

5. BlogVault

BlogVault Best Backup Service for WordPress

BlogVault is another popular WordPress backup service for WordPress. It’s a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution rather than just a WordPress plugin. It creates offsite backups independently on BlogVault servers, so there will be zero load on your server.

BlogVault creates an automatic backup of your website daily and also allows you to manually create unlimited on-demand backups. It features smart incremental backups that sync only incremental changes for minimal server load. This ensures optimal performance for your WordPress site.

Besides backups, it helps you to recover your website easily. You can store 90 days backup archive on lower plans and a 365-day backup archive on the higher plan, so you can recover your site from any mishap.

It also has a built-in staging site feature to let you test your website easily. Plus, they provide an easy option to migrate your website to another host.

BlogVault features are very promising for small businesses, and their real-time backup plan is affordable compared to Jetpack backups (half the price). However, if you compare it to self-hosted plugins like Updraft or BackupBuddy, the cost per site is more expensive.

Pricing: $89 per year for Personal Plan 1 Site License for daily backups. $299 per year for high frequency daily backups.

Review: BlogVault is an easy-to-use WordPress backup solution. It creates offsite backups, so your website server will not be overloaded with your backups. The pricing seems very affordable for small businesses that want real-time backups but don’t want to pay the premium pricing of Jetpack backups.

6. BoldGrid Backup

BoldGrid Backup offers Total Upkeep, an automated WordPress backup solution by BoldGrid.

It allows you to easily create your website backups, restore your site after it crashes, and even use it to move your site when switching hosts. You can set up automated backups or manually create backups with one click.

Total Upkeep comes with an automated fault protection feature that automatically creates a backup of your site before it updates. If an update fails, it automatically rolls back your WordPress site to the last backup. It’s a great feature that protects you against update errors.

With BoldGrid’s Total Upkeep, you can store backup archives on your dashboard and in remote storage locations like Amazon S3, FTP, or SFTP.

Pricing: $2.50 per month billed annually (Includes all of BoldGrid Premium tools & Services).

Review: BoldGrid Total Upkeep Backup is a simple WordPress backup plugin you can use to create your website backups. If you want to take advantage of their bundle plan, including other powerful tools, then you will need to purchase the BoldGrid Premium Connect Key. This plan also includes the WordPress website builder, costing $60 per year.

7. BackWPup

BackWPup is a free plugin that allows you to create complete WordPress backups for free and store them on the cloud (Dropbox, Amazon S3, Rackspace, etc.), FTP, email, or on your computer.

It is extremely easy to use and allows you to schedule automatic backups according to your site’s update frequency.

Restoring a WordPress site from a backup is also very simple. The BackWPup Pro version comes with priority support, the ability to store backups on Google Drive, and other cool features.

Pricing: Free (Premium plan is also available).

Review: Used by over 700,000 websites, BackWPup is a great alternative to other backup plugins in the list. The premium version of the plugin adds more powerful features, including easy and quick website restoration from the backend with a standalone app.

Which Is the Best WordPress Backup Plugin?

Each WordPress backup plugin in our list has pros and cons, but all plugins offer complete WordPress file backup and full database backup features.

We use Jetpack Backups for two main reasons. It is extremely easy to use, and it offers real-time incremental backups.

This means that instead of backing up all of your files every day or every hour, it only creates a backup of what has been updated literally within minutes of the update. This is ideal for a large website like ours because it allows us to use our server resources efficiently.

However, if you run a small to medium size website and hate paying high monthly fees, we recommend the popular Duplicator plugin. It has powerful features like backup encryption, scheduled backups, and many cloud storage options.

Whichever WordPress backup plugin you choose, please do NOT store your backups on the same server as your website.

By doing that, you are putting all of your eggs in one basket. If your server’s hardware fails or you get hacked, you don’t have a backup. This defeats the purpose of setting up regular backups.

We recommend storing your backups on a third-party storage service like Dropbox, Amazon S3, Google Drive, etc.

We hope this article has helped you pick the best WordPress backup plugin for your site. You may also want to see our step-by-step WordPress security guide for beginners and our comparison of the best email marketing services for small businesses.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post 7 Best WordPress Backup Plugins Compared (Pros and Cons) first appeared on WPBeginner.

January 16, 2019

How to Move WordPress From Local Server to Live Site (2 Methods)

One way to speed up your website development is to build your website locally on your own computer using a software like WAMP (for Windows) or MAMP (for Mac).

Once you’re finished perfecting your website, the next step is to move it from your computer to a live site and share your creation with the world. In this article, we will show you how to easily move WordPress from local server to a live site.

We will cover two different methods to move WordPress from local server to your live website (step by step).

The first method uses a WordPress migration plugin and is recommended for beginners. In the second method, we will show you how to manually move WordPress from local server to a live site.

You can choose the method that best suits you:

Method 1. Move WordPress from local server to live site using a plugin
Method 2. Manually move WordPress from local server to live site

Before You Begin

In order for you to migrate WordPress from localhost to live server, you need to have a few things in place.

First, we’re assuming that you have a WordPress site running on local server (also called localhost) on your computer, and you have full access to it.

Next, you’ll need to have a domain name and web hosting. We have a list of the best WordPress hosting companies that you can choose from.

To speed it up, you can use Bluehost. They’re an official WordPress recommended hosting provider, and they are offering our users an exclusive 60% off discount + a free domain.

If you need help setting up your website, follow our step by step guide on how to make a website.

Finally, you will need to have a FTP program and know how to use FTP, so you can upload your content to the live site.

Ready? Let’s begin migrating your WordPress site.

Method 1. Transfer WordPress from Local Server to Live Site Using a Migration Plugin

This method is easier and recommended for beginners. We’ll be using a WordPress migration plugin to move WordPress from localhost to a live site.

Step 1. Install and Setup Duplicator Plugin

First, thing you need to do is install and activate the Duplicator plugin on your local site. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to go to Duplicator » Packages page and click on the ‘Create New’ button.

After that, click on the next button to continue.

Duplicator will now run some tests to see if everything is in order. If all items are marked ‘Good’ then click on the ‘Build’ button.

This process may take a few minutes depending on the size of your website. You need to leave this tab open until the process is complete.

Once finished, you’ll see download options for Installer and the Archive package. You need to click on the ‘One click download’ link to download both files to your computer.

So what are these files?

Well, the archive file is a copy of your complete WordPress website. It includes all WordPress core files as well as your images, uploads, themes, plugins, and a backup of your WordPress database.

The installer file is a script that will automate the migration by unpacking the archive file.

Step 2. Create a Database for Your Live Site

Before you can run the installer or upload the WordPress website from localhost to your hosting server, you will need to create a MySQL database for your live website.

If you have already created a MySQL database, then you can skip this step.

To create a database you need to visit your hosting account’s cPanel dashboard. Scroll down to the Databases section and then click on the MySQL Databases icon.

On the next screen, you’ll see a field to create a new database. Simply provide a name for your database and click on the ‘Create Database’ button.

cPanel will now create a new database for you. After that, you need to scroll down to the MySQL Users section.

Next, provide a username and password for your new user and click on the ‘Create a user’ button.

The new user you just created, still does not have permission to work on the database. Let’s change that.

Scroll down to the ‘Add User to Database’ section. Simply select the database user you created from the dropdown menu next to the ‘User’ field, then select the database, and click on the add button.

Your database is now ready to be used with your WordPress site. Make sure to note down the database name, username, and password. You’ll need this information in the next step.

Step 3. Upload Files from Local Server to Live Site

Now you need to upload the archive and installer files from your local site to your hosting account.

First, connect to your live site using an FTP client. Once connected, make sure that the root directory of your website is completely empty.

Normally, root directory is the /home/public_html/ folder.

Some WordPress hosting companies automatically install WordPress when you sign up. If you have WordPress files there, then you need to delete them.

After that, you can upload the archive and installer files from Duplicator to your empty root directory.

Step 4. Runing The Migration Script

After you have uploaded the migration files, you need to visit the following URL in your browser:

http://example.com/installer.php

Don’t forget to replace example.com with your own domain name.

This will launch the Duplicator migration wizard.

The installer will automatically scan for the archive file and run a validation test. You need to check the terms & conditions checkbox and continue by clicking on the Next button.

On the next screen, it will ask you to enter your WordPress database information.

Your host will likely be localhost. After that, you will enter the details of the database you created in the earlier step.

Click on the next button to continue.

Duplicator will now import your WordPress database backup from the archive into your new database.

Next, it will ask you to update site URL or Path. You shouldn’t have to change anything since it automatically detects the URL of your live website, and its path.

Click on the next button to continue.

Duplicator will now finish the migration and will show you a success screen. You can now click on the ‘Admin Login’ button to enter the WordPress admin area of your live site.

Once you login to your live site, Duplicator will automatically clean up the installation files.

That’s all, you have successfully moved WordPress from local server to your live site.

Method 2. Manually Transfer WordPress from Local Server to Live Site

In this method, we will show you how to manually move WordPress from local server to your live site. It will come in handy if the first method doesn’t work or you prefer to do it manually.

Step 1: Export Local WordPress Database

The first thing you need to do is export your local WordPress database. We’ll be using phpMyAdmin to do that. If you are unfamiliar with it, then you might want to take a look at our guide to WordPress database management using phpMyAdmin.

Simply go to http://localhost/phpmyadmin/ and click on your WordPress database. Next, click on the Export button from the top menu bar.

In the Export Method option, you can choose “Quick” or “Custom”. Custom will provide you with more options to export your database.

We recommend choosing Quick, and then click the Go button to download your database.

Step 2: Upload WordPress Files to Live Site

Now we’ll need to move all your website files to the live site.

To get started, go ahead and open your FTP client and connect to your web hosting account.

Once you’re connected to your live site, make sure you upload the files in the right directory. For example, if you want the site to be hosted on yoursite.com, then you would want to upload all the files in your public_html directory.

Now select your local WordPress files and upload them to your live server.

Step 3: Create MySQL Database on Live Site

While your FTP client is uploading your WordPress files, you can start importing your database to the live server. Most WordPress hosting providers offer cPanel to manage your hosting account, so we’ll show you how to create a database using cPanel.

First, you need to log in to your cPanel dashboard and click on the MySQL Databases icon which can be found in the databases section.

On the next screen, create a database by entering a name for your database and clicking the Create Database button.

After creating your database, scroll down to the MySQL Users section and create or add an existing user to the database.

After adding the user, cPanel will take you to set MySQL privileges for that user. Simply grant all privileges to the user by making sure every box is checked, and then click the Make Changes button.

Step 4: Import WordPress Database on Live Site

The next step in the process is to import your WordPress database.

Go to your cPanel dashboard, scroll down to the databases section and click on phpMyAdmin.

This will take you to phpMyAdmin where you want to click on the database you created in Step 3. PhpMyAdmin will show your new database with no tables.

Click on the Import tab in the top menu. On the import page, click on Choose File button and then select the database file you saved in Step 1.

Lastly, press the Go button at the bottom of the page. PhpMyadmin will now import your WordPress database.

Step 5: Change the Site URL

Now you need to change the site URL in your database, so that it will connect with your live WordPress site.

In phpMyAdmin, look for the wp_options table in your database that we just imported in step 4. If you changed your database prefix, then instead of wp_options it might be {prefix}_options.

Click on the Browse button next to wp_options or the link that you see in the sidebar to open the page with a list of fields within the wp_options table. See screenshot below:

Under the field options_name, you need to look for siteurl. Click the Edit Field icon which can be found at the far left at the beginning of the row.

When you click the edit field, an edit field window will appear. In the input box for option_value, you will see the URL of your local install probably something like: http://localhost/test. Carefully insert your new site url in this field, for example: https://www.wpbeginner.com

Save the field by clicking the Go button.

Next, you need to replicate this step for the option name: home. The wp_options page can be a few pages long, so simply find the home tab.

Usually it is on the second page which you can navigate to by clicking on the pagination arrows in phpMyAdmin.

Update the home url to be the same as your siteurl.

Step 6: Setup Your Live Site

Now that we have imported the database and all of our content should be uploaded, it’s time to configure WordPress.

At this time, your site should be showing an Error Establishing Database Connection error.

To fix this, connect to your website using an FTP client and edit wp-config.php file.

You will need to provide the database name, user and password you created earlier in Step 3.

Next, save the wp-config.php file and upload it back to your server.

You can now visit your website, and it should be live now.

Next, you need to login to your WordPress admin panel and go to Settings » General. Without changing anything, scroll to the bottom and click the Save Changes button.

This will ensure that the site URL is corrected anywhere else that it needs to be.

After that go to Settings » Permalink and click Save Changes to ensure that all post links are working fine.

Step 7: Fix Images and Broken Links by Updating Paths

Whenever you are moving a WordPress site from one domain to another, or from local server to a live site, you’ll face broken links and missing images.

You can either use the SQL query or use the Velvet Blues WordPress plugin.

For those who want to do it via SQL, here is a simple SQL query that should solve this problem:

UPDATE wp_posts SET post_content = REPLACE(post_content, 'localhost/test/', 'www.yourlivesite.com/');

Simply go to phpMyAdmin, click on your database and then click on SQL from top menu. Write this query, but don’t forget to change it with your own local site and live site URLs.

That’s all, you have successfully migrated WordPress from localserver to a live site!

Hopefully now your live website is up and running smoothly. Be sure to check out your website to make sure that everything is working as expected. If you notice any errors, you can check out our guide to common WordPress errors for help troubleshooting.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Move WordPress From Local Server to Live Site (2 Methods) appeared first on WPBeginner.