An Expert’s Guide to WordPress Migration – WPCAST020

In this episode, we talk about WordPress site migrations with guest Ben Perove from WP Motion. We met up with Ben in Bangkok and recorded this episode in person. Ben’s migrated hundreds of sites, and he’s developed an impressive plugin for WordPress migrations.

The Core

Problem:

• People typically wait too long to move to a new host
• Hosting providers “lock you in” if you have your domain, email, etc. with them
• It’s confusing, there’s more to it than copying and pasting files
• Trust – do you want to hand over the “keys to the kingdom” to a random person on oDesk?

Process:

1. Copy static files – use shell access or FTP, you typically only need the wp-content folder
2. Copy database – usually with phpMyAdmin, export the SQL data
   • Note: the WordPress export feature doesn’t include plugin settings and other settings
   • Sometimes additional setup is needed – add new users and attach them to the database
   • Take note of table prefix changes
3. Change DNS
   • Lower TTL (time to live) for the A record a couple of days in advance
   • Ben recommends 5 minutes for the TTL
   • You will need to change the IP address of the A record to the new host

Plugins:

• Maintenance mode plugins
  • Coming Soon by Seedprod
  • Code Freeze makes your site “read-only”, prevents new comments and other users’ changes
• Duplicator handles the static files and database, but not the DNS and the maintenance mode
• WP Motion (Ben’s plugin) handles the static files, database, DNS, and maintenance mode
  • Currently supporting BlueHost to WP Engine migrations, adding support for new hosts

Timing:

• Do the migration during off-hours or weekends
• Pause PPC campaigns
• Have an expert on standby

Ben’s site is WPmotion.co. In addition to the plugin, he offers migration services, including multisite.

Please share your thoughts and experiences, and horror stories, in the comments below!