How to Transfer Your WordPress Blog to a New Host?

Lanna — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 23:42:03 +0000

I’ve just successfully transferred this WordPress blog (version WordPress 2.6.1) to a new host – hostmonster.com. The reason I wanted to switch to hostmonster.com is that not only it provides reasonable price but also offers unlimited hosting space, unlimited site bandwidth, and hosting unlimited domains. With $5.95/month, you can get as many as 100 SQL (Structured Query Language) databases. This is really a good deal in comparison to my previous host which only offered 1 SQL database with $9.95/month.

However transferring your WordPress blog/website to a new host is not an easy job; especially if you are new to this realm. If one day for any reason you decide to transfer your current WordPress blog/website to a new host, these are the steps I make them as smooth as they could be for you:

First find a host that meets all your needs.

Second use FTP to backup your WordPress files to your computer or laptop.

Third backup (export) your WordPRess database to your computer or laptop using phpMyAdmin in your current host’s cPanel. Check WordPress Backup with phpMyAdmin out for more details.

Next use FTP to upload your WordPress files that you’ve backed up earlier to your new host’s root directory or any directory you prefer.

Next create a new database using either MySQL ® Databases or MySQL ® Database Wizard in your new host’s cPanel. See WordPress Tutorial: Setting Up A MySQL Database With cPanel for more details.

Next change the information about your database or the absolute path before uploading (importing) it to your new host. Make sure you choose binary from Character set of the file otherwise some punctuation like apostrophe will not show properly. See the screenshot below:

Then download your wp_config.php file, which should be in your root directory, to your computer or laptop; edit the following lines and then upload it back to the same directory:

define(‘DB_NAME’, ‘databasename‘); // Change database name to be your actual database name
define(‘DB_USER’, ‘mysqlusername‘); // Change mysql username to be your MySQL username
define(‘DB_PASSWORD’, ‘mysqlpassword‘); // Change mysql password to be your actual password
define(‘DB_HOST’, ‘localhost’); // 99% chance you won’t need to change this value.

Finally point your domain to your new host’s name servers. In my case, they look like these: ns1.hostmonster.com and ns2.hostmonster.com. If you are not sure then you can ask your current host to have that done for you. Please be aware that DNS (Domain Name System) takes 24 to 48 hours to be completed due to DNS’ propagation.

Once you find out that everything is working properly, inform your current host to cancel your account. That is it. Any questions please ask in the comment section.

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How to Transfer Your WordPress Blog to a New Host?