Continuing the theme of lifesaving, today’s post is about moving your blog. As a side note, please feel free to comment. I have changed my comment system to Disqus. On Monday I will explain why and how it can help your blog.
Why would I want to move my blog?
The reasons are endless. You decide your old domain name no longer suits you or perhaps the direction you are now going. Perhaps you decided to move things around. You could decide to change web hosts. Maybe someone offers you a million dollars for your domain name. (Hey, a girl can dream, right?)
Start at Your Existing Domain
Export your WordPress posts, see export WordPress from yesterday. Note where you save it. Now visit your cPanel. If you have a favicon or Robots.txt file you will want to copy those as well.
If your blog move is because a theme or plugin is corrupt, or you are changing those, then skip to the next section. Next you want to copy your entire wp-content folder from that blog. This should get all your plugins, themes, and uploads such as pictures. (should) Again note where you save it.
On to Your New Domain
First you need to make certain you have your new domain set up with WordPress. Use Fantastico or SimpleScripts depending on your webhost, or do it manually. If you copied your wp-content you want to upload your old wp-content and override the existing folder on the new blog.
Go to Your New WordPress Blog
Now visit your new blog. It will be empty. Visit your dashboard and import all your blog posts, from the file you saved. Check your results.
Activate your theme (or new theme) and your plugins. If you are remaining the same in appearance you want to make certain all the same things are in place. Check settings on plugins, widgets, and themes. These may remain the same with the transfer, but they may change.
Add a Plugin
Click your plugins, then Add New. In the search box, type “Update URLs.” The plugin you want is “Velvet Blues Update URLs.” Install and activate the plugin. Then visit settings and update URLs. Check your blog, your URLs should be as they were before except with your new domain name. Now visit plugins again, deactivate Velvet Blues and then delete it. As a side note, you want to remove any plugins you do not use. Keeping your WordPress clean helps it work clean.
Congratulations, your blog has been moved!
~ MJ Schrader
