WordPress is the most popular CMS platform in the world. It’s easy to sign up, it’s user-friendly, and offers a variety of plug-ins. But there may come a time when you want to migrate from WordPress to another CMS platform or to a new hosting company.
But you don’t. Why is that? WordPress migration sounds frightening to most. No website owner wants to take the time to transfer their files to the new hosting company. Even worse, many website owners fear they will lose data.
There’s no reason why you should fear migration. Pressable’s managed WordPress hosting is the perfect solution. With our easy site migration strategy, you can migrate your WordPress website quickly and efficiently.
So, how does Pressable work?
Two Ways to Migrate Your Website
Pressable offers two easy ways to migrate your WordPress website: using the Pressable migration plugin or conducting a manual migration with the help of customer support. We’ll go into detail about both strategies.
Using the Pressable Migration Plugin
The Pressable Migration Plugin does all of the hard migration work for you. Even if you have no website migration technical experience, you can easily move one or more websites to Pressable with ease.
Before you start, you need an account with Pressable, a website ready to be moved to Pressable, and a website deployed on Pressable’s system that will be the end location.
Start by logging into the Pressable website and find the website you want to migrate. Click “Settings” and find the “Automated Migration Plugin Settings.” Keep this open in a separate tab. These settings will be necessary for your migration.
Next, log into your WordPress website (the site you’re moving to Pressable). Go to “Plugins” and select “Add New.” Add the plugin “Pressable Automated Migration.” Install and activate the plugin.
The plugin will require you to fill out the information you can find on the Settings page. Fill out the form with the corresponding information.
From here, click “Migrate.” The Pressable Automated Migration plugin will start migrating your WordPress website, providing live updates so you always know the status of the migration. Migration times vary based on the size and amount of content on your website.
You’ll receive an email when the migration is complete and your website is visible. It’s still recommended you review your website on Pressable to ensure everything is correct and the migration was a success.
Customer Service Migration
The plugin is usually the best option for most website owners. But you can always do the migration manually with the assistance of Pressable customer support.
Just contact support and let them know you want to migrate your website. Support will handle the migration for you. When your website is fully migrated, support will send you an email with the next steps.
You can contact support via live chat or email. Pressable’s powerful migration capabilities can handle multi-site migrations, large migrations with lots of website data and content, and more.
The migration usually takes less than 24 hours. Asking support to migrate your website is completely free.
The Steps of a Manual WordPress Migration
If you’re more tech-savvy, you can conduct a manual WordPress migration. You can break down a Pressable migration to four easy steps. Here’s our manual website migration checklist.
Step 1: Access Your Existing WordPress Website Database
Your WordPress database is where all necessary website information is stored. This data includes pages, posts, themes, comments, and WordPress configuration settings, as well as your usernames and passwords.
You’ll need this data for your website migration. Fortunately, accessing it is easy. PHPMyAdmin is where you can find your WordPress database. This tool is offered on most hosting platforms, including WordPress.
On your host cPanel, find the PHPMyAdmin panel. When you access the panel, click “Export” which is found on the left-hand side. You’ll be given two options: “Quick” and “Custom.”
Click “Custom” and ensure “Add Create Database/Use statement” is unchecked. But make sure “Add Drop Tables / View / Procedure / Function / Event / Trigger Statement” is checked.
Step 2: Access Your Existing WordPress Files
File transfer protocol (FTP) is a standard network protocol used for the transfer of files between a server and a computer network. Your host handles your WordPress FTP. Once you access your FTP, you can use a third-party client to connect to your host and download your files.
You may need specific information, such as your FTP Host, Port, Protocol, Username, and Password.
You can find most of this information in the host’s control panel. Your FTP Host may look like either a subdomain or an IP address.
In case there are any problems, download a copy of your wp-content folder.
Step 3: Upload Your Files
Before you start the importation, remove these files:
- /wp-content/object-cache.php
- /wp-content/advanced-cache.php
- /wp-content/plugins/akismet
- /wp-content/plugins/jetpack
Some of these files, such as the plugins, are already installed and managed into Pressable.
In addition, don’t install wp-config.php. Pressable manages this file and uploading it during the migration is unnecessary.
From here, connect Pressable’s servers to your third-party client and begin the migration. You’ll also want to upload the /wp-content/ into the same file on Pressable servers.
Step 4: Load Your Website
Now that the migration is complete, it’s time to load your website and see if everything works. Contact Pressable support if there are any issues.
Zach Wiesman
Zach has 12+ years of experience with WordPress, from creating and maintaining client sites, to providing support and developing documentation. A knack for problem-solving and providing solutions led Zach to pursue a job with Automattic providing customer support in 2015 working with WooCommerce support, and now Zach has recently joined our team here at Pressable. Outside of work, Zach enjoys spending time with his family, playing and watching sports, and working on projects around the house.
