Knowledge Base

Step 1: Prepare for the worst

● You need to create a full backup of your current site. So you need to download all the content on your hosting servers for your site. This serves two purposes:

1. You need a copy of the site to move – Eventually, you’ll need to upload the site’s contents to your new domain. You literally have to backup your site.
2. It protects you from accidents – If you mess something up, you can always restore your original site with your backup copy.

● The confusing part is knowing what you need to backup. For most sites (all WordPress sites), you’ll need to make a copy of two parts:

■ the database(s)
■ the (static) files
●
=> To download both of these parts, you have a few different options.
Option #1 – Use a plugin (BackupBuddy)

BackupBuddy is good for backing up your site. You can also try other free WordPress backup plugins
​
Option #2 – Use Cpanel’s backup functionality

If you have access to Cpanel, it’s also pretty easy to make a backup.

● Log in to your Cpanel, and look for “Database Wizard” under the “files” section of the
main dashboard. From there, just follow the three simple steps.
● First, choose “backup”

● Next, you’ll have to choose what kind of backup you want to make.

● Don’t make a full backup, the reason you don’t want to make a full backup is because you can’t restore a full backup later on. Instead, you’ll have to make a few “partial backups.”

● You’ll need both the “home directory”, and the “MySQL databases,” which are your databases.

● Click either one of those, which will load the third step. Click the download button to download a copy, then click “go back,” and do the same for the other part of your partial backup.

Option #3 – Do it the hard way (manually):

Manual backing up is a bit harder but still not too complicated if you follow these steps.

● First, let’s start by backing up your databases.

● In whatever hosting panel you have, there should be a link for “phpMyAdmin”

● Start by selecting the “Databases” menu option at the top.

● The menu will show you a list of databases (if you have more than one).

● You’ll need to pick the ones used by the site you’re moving.

● After you do, you’ll see a list of all the tables it contains.

● List of tables contains “wp_posts” contains your posts’ text, while “wp_comments” contains the text of all the comments.

● Select the “check all” button at the bottom, then select “Export” in the dropdown menu right beside it.

● Finally, choose the “Quick” export method, leaving the format as “SQL.” Click “Go,” and the download will automatically begin. Next, you need to back up your static files.

● You can use FileZilla (free) FTP program, to transfer the files from your web server to your own server (your computer).