Many WordPress users prefer to work on their websites using a local server on their computer. This allows you to work on your website privately before making changes available online.
Eventually, you’ll need to move it to a live server to make it accessible to online visitors. This transition is crucial to ensure that your website functions properly on the live site.
We’ve worked on many local websites, so we had to learn the easiest way to transfer content to live websites.
In this article, we will provide step-by-step instructions on how to move WordPress from a local server to a live site.
Why Move WordPress From a Local Server to a Live Site?
Building your WordPress blog on a local server is a safe way to test changes on your website without affecting visitors.
When you have finished perfecting your website, the next step is to move from your local server to a live site.
Let’s show you two ways to move your site from a local server to a live site.
The first method uses a WordPress migration plugin and is recommended for beginners.
In the second method, we will show you how to manually move WordPress from a local server to a live site.
You can choose the method that works best for you:
Before You Migrate Your WordPress Site
You need to have a few things in place to migrate WordPress from a local server to a live server.
First, we assume that you have a WordPress site running on a local server (also called localhost) on your computer and that you have full access to it.
Next, you’ll need to have a domain name and web hosting.
We have heard countless stories from beginners who started with poor or free web hosting providers and regretted it. In our experience, choosing the right hosting provider is critical to the success of any website.
To make your decision easier, we recommend using Bluehost. They are an officially recommended WordPress hosting company, and they are giving WPBeginner users an exclusive discount + free domain and SSL.
Basically, you can get started for as little as $1.99 per month.
If you want a great Bluehost alternative, you can look at Hostinger. They are also offering an exclusive discount to WPBeginner users with a free domain name.
If you can afford to pay a little more, then check out SiteGround. They also have a special deal for WPBeginner readers.
If you need help setting up your website, then follow our step-by-step guide on how to make a website.
Finally, you will need an FTP program and know how to use FTP to upload your local server site to the live site.
Ready? Let’s begin migrating your WordPress site.
Video Tutorial
If you’d prefer written instructions, then just keep reading.
Method 1: Transfer WordPress From The Local Server to Live Site Using a Migration Plugin (Recommended)
This method is easier and recommended for beginners. We will be using a WordPress migration plugin to move WordPress from localhost to a live site.
Step 1: Install and Set Up the Duplicator Plugin
First, you need to install and activate the Duplicator plugin on your local site. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
Pro Tip: There is also a pro version of Duplicator that offers secure backups, cloud storage, easy site restore, and more.
Upon activation, you need to go to the Duplicator » Backups page and click on the ‘Create New’ button.
This brings you to a screen where you can give your backup a name.
Then, click the ‘Next’ button.
Duplicator will now run some tests to see if everything is in order.
If all items are marked ‘Good,’ then click on the ‘Build’ button.
This process may take a few minutes, depending on the size of your website. You must leave this tab open until it is complete.
Once finished, you’ll see download options for ‘Installer’ and ‘Archive’ packages. You need to click on the ‘Download Both Files’ button to download both files to your computer.
The ‘Archive’ file is a complete copy of your WordPress site. It includes all WordPress core files as well as your images, uploads, themes, plugins, and a backup of your WordPress database.
The ‘Installer’ file is a script that will automate the entire migration process by unpacking the archive file containing your website.
Step 2: Create a Database for Your Live WordPress Website
Before you can run the installer or upload the WordPress website from localhost to your hosting server, you need to create a MySQL database for your new live website.
If you have already created a MySQL database, then you can skip this step.
To create a database, you need to visit your hosting account’s cPanel dashboard. Then, locate the ‘Databases’ section and click on the ‘MySQL Database Wizard’ icon.
On the next screen, there’s a field to create a new database.
Simply provide a name for your database and click on the ‘Create Database’ button.
cPanel will now create a new database for you.
After that, you need to enter a username and password for your new user and then click the ‘Create User’ button.
Next, you need to add the user you just created to the database.
First, click the ‘All Privileges’ checkbox.
Then, scroll down and click the ‘Make Changes’ button to save your changes.
Your database is now ready to be used with your WordPress site. Make sure to note down the database name, username, and password. You’ll need this information in the next step.
Step 3: Upload Files from the Local Server to the Live WordPress Website
Now, you need to upload the archive and installer files from your local site to your hosting account.
First, connect to your live site using an FTP client. Once connected, make sure that the root directory of your website is completely empty.
Normally, the root directory is the /home/public_html/ folder.
Some WordPress hosting companies automatically install WordPress when you sign up. If you have WordPress files there, then you need to delete them.
After that, you can upload the archive.zip and installer.php files from Duplicator to your empty root directory.
Step 4: Running the Migration Script
After you have uploaded the migration files, you need to visit the following URL in your browser:
http://example.com/installer.php
Don’t forget to replace ‘example.com’ with your own domain name.
This will launch the Duplicator migration wizard.
The installer will run a few tests and will initialize the script.
Under the Setup section, you will be asked to enter your MySQL host, database name, username, and password.
Your host will likely be a local host. After that, you will enter the details of the database you created in the earlier step.
Then, click on the ‘Validate’ button to make sure the details you entered are correct.
After that, click on the ‘Next’ button to continue.
Duplicator will now import your WordPress database backup from the archive into your new database.
It will also update URLs pointing to the local site and your new live site.
You can now click on the ‘Admin Login’ button to enter the WordPress admin area of your live site.
Once you log in to your live site, Duplicator will automatically clean up the installation files.
That’s all. You have successfully moved WordPress from the local server to your live site.
Method 2: Manually Transfer WordPress From the Local Server to the Live Site
In this method, we will show you how to manually move WordPress from the local server to your live site. It will be useful if the first method doesn’t work or if you prefer to do it manually.
Step 1: Export Local WordPress Database
The first thing you need to do is export your local WordPress database. We will be using phpMyAdmin to do that.
If you are unfamiliar with it, then you might want to take a look at our guide to WordPress database management using phpMyAdmin.
Simply go to http://localhost/phpmyadmin/ and click on your WordPress database. Next, click on the ‘Export’ button from the top menu bar.
In the ‘Export method:’ option, you can choose ‘Quick’ or ‘Custom.’ Custom will provide you with more options to export your database.
But we recommend choosing ‘Quick’ and then clicking the ‘Go’ button to download your database.
Step 2: Upload WordPress Files to Live Site
Now, we will need to move all your website files to the live site.
To get started, go ahead and open your FTP client and connect to your web hosting account.
Once you are connected to your live site, make sure you upload the files in the right directory. For example, if you want the site to be hosted on ‘yoursite.com,’ then you will want to upload all the files in your public_html directory.
Now select your local WordPress files and upload them to your live server.
Step 3: Create a MySQL Database on Your Live Site
While your FTP client is uploading your WordPress files, you can start importing your database to the live server.
Most WordPress hosting providers offer cPanel to manage your hosting account, so we will show you how to create a database using cPanel.
First, you need to log in to your cPanel dashboard and click on the ‘MySQL Database Wizard’ icon, which can be found in the ‘Databases’ section.
On the next screen, you can create a new database.
You need to provide a name for your database, then click ‘Create Database.’
cPanel will now automatically create a new database for you.
Next, you need to enter a username and password for your new user and then click ‘Create User’.
After that, you need to add the user you just created to the database.
First, check the ‘All Privileges’ checkbox.
Then, scroll down and click ‘Make Changes’ to save your changes.
You’ve successfully created a new database for your live WordPress site.
Step 4: Import WordPress Database to Live Site
The next step in the process is to import your WordPress database.
Go to your cPanel dashboard, scroll down to the ‘Databases’ section, and click on ‘phpMyAdmin.’
This will take you to phpMyAdmin, where you want to click on the database you just created above. phpMyAdmin will show your new database with no tables.
Next, click on the ‘Import’ tab in the top menu. On the import page, click on the ‘Choose File’ button and then select the database file from the local site you saved in the first step.
After that, click the ‘Go’ button at the bottom of the page. Your database will automatically be imported to phpMyadmin.
Step 5: Change the Site URL
Now, you need to change the site URL in your database so that it will connect with your live WordPress site.
In phpMyAdmin, look for the wp_options table in your database that you just imported above.
If you changed your database prefix, then instead of wp_options, it might be {new_prefix}_options.
Next, click on the ‘Browse’ button next to wp_options. Or, click the link in the sidebar to open up the page that has a list of fields within the wp_options table.
Then, in the options_name column, you need to look for the siteurl option.
Then, click the ‘Edit’ icon.
This brings up a window where you can edit the field.
In the input box option_value, you’ll see the URL of your local install, which will be something like http://localhost/test.
You need to insert your new site URL in this field, for example: https://www.wpbeginner.com.
Then, you can save the field by clicking the ‘Go’ button.
Next, you need to follow the same steps as above for the home option name. The wp_options menu can be a few pages long. Usually, the home option will be on the second page.
Then, update the home URL, so it’s the same as your live site URL.
Step 6: Set Up Your Live Site
Now that you’ve imported the database and uploaded your content, it’s time to configure WordPress.
At this time, your site should be showing an ‘Error establishing a database connection‘ error.
To fix this, connect to your website using an FTP client and open up the wp-config.php file.
You’ll be looking for the following lines of code:
// ** MySQL settings - You can get this info from your web host ** //
/** The name of the database for WordPress */
define( 'DB_NAME', 'database_name_here' );
/** MySQL database username */
define( 'DB_USER', 'username_here' );
/** MySQL database password */
define( 'DB_PASSWORD', 'password_here' );
/** MySQL hostname */
define( 'DB_HOST', 'localhost' );
You will need to provide the database name, username, and password you created earlier.
Next, save the wp-config.php file and upload it back to your WordPress hosting server.
Now, when you visit your website, it should be live.
After that, you need to log in to your WordPress admin panel and go to the Settings » General. Then, without changing anything, scroll to the bottom and click the ‘Save Changes’ button.
This will make sure that your site URL is corrected anywhere else that it needs to be.
Once you’ve done that, go to Settings » Permalinks, then scroll down and click ‘Save Changes’ to ensure that all post links are working fine.
Step 7: Fix Images and Broken Links by Updating Paths
Whenever you are moving a WordPress site from one domain to another or from a local server to a live site, you’ll face broken links and missing images.
We’ll show you two ways to update URLs. You can pick one that works best for you.
1. Update URLs Using Search & Replace Everything Plugin (Recommended)
The safest way to fix this is by using Search & Replace Everything. It is a powerful WordPress plugin that allows you to easily perform bulk update tasks on your website without writing complex database queries.
First, you need to install and activate the Search & Replace Everything plugin.
After activation, go to Tools » WP Search & Replace page.
From here, you need to enter your local site URL in the ‘Search for’ field and your live site URL in the ‘Replace with’ field.
Scroll a little and click ‘Select All’ under the tables. This ensures that the plugin will look for the old URL everywhere in the database.
Now click the ‘Preview Search & Replace’ button to continue.
The plugin will search your database for all instances of the old URL and then preview the results.
If everything looks good, click ‘Replace All’ to save the changes.
You’ll see a warning about the changes you are making. Click ‘Yes’ to continue.
The plugin will now update the database and replace local URLs with your current website URL.
2. Update URLs Manually (Advanced)
Another way to update the URLs is by using the following SQL query:
UPDATE wp_posts SET post_content = REPLACE(post_content, 'localhost/test/', 'www.yourlivesite.com/');
Simply go to phpMyAdmin, click on your database, and then click on ‘SQL’ from the top menu and add the query above.
Make sure you change it to your local site and live site URLs and click the ‘Go’ button.
That’s it. You have now successfully migrated WordPress from your local server to a live site.
Hopefully, your live website is up and running smoothly. If you notice any errors, you can check out our guide to common WordPress errors for help with troubleshooting.
We hope this article helped you move WordPress from a local server to a live site. You may also want to see our guide on moving a live site to a local server or look at the ultimate website migration checklist for practical WordPress migration steps.
If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.
sam
Isn’t it better to use a duplicator plugin instead of taking all this trouble as described in here
or here
I think using the duplicator is a easier. Feel free to add or correct me.
WPBeginner Support
Yes, we have mentioned using Duplicator or BackupBuddy as the easier ways to do this in the article.
Admin
Louise
Thanks so much for an excellent article – very straight forward and easy to understand.
fadilah
hi, i’m getting a problem with my permalink, my permalink is still pointed to my localhost something like fadil.dev so when i add a post/page, the permalink is pointed to my fadil.dev/?p=ID it should be pointed to fadil.com (my real domain) and not fadil.dev (my local domain) .. where i can find the configuration ? help me .. thankyou
WPBeginner Support
Fadilah: did you try instructions in step 7.
Admin
fadilah
my article/page works fine on the front-end, but the permalink on wp-admin when i added a new post/page appeared wrong , you can see my printscreen http://prntscr.com/2cfznc .. it should be terazam.com not terazam.dev
WPBeginner Support
yes it does look like you have not set your home and site URL.
fadilah
no, i didn’t try the 7th step, but this is my problem http://prntscr.com/2cfznc
WPBeginner Support
Seems like you didn’t change your site and home URLs either. Please follow all the steps mentioned above and your problem should get resolved.
fadilah
i had changed my siteurl according to your instruction at 5th step before i asked this problem and my front-end issue was solved, thankyou
… but it seems that when i changed the siteurl on wp_options table there was no effect with permalink on my wp-admin 
fadilah
SOLVED
i found the config on Administration > Settings > General and you will find the “Site Address URL” and i changed it into the correct value. so Wordpress Address and Site Address are different. i found it on wp documentation http://codex.wordpress.org/Moving_WordPress
thankyou for your help
have a nice day
prox
nice tutorial i was thinking to do and found your website luckily and also i would like to ask two thing
1. what’s this footer advertisement option is it a plugin ?
2 what’s the plugin your using for newsletter i saw when i enter to your site there’s nice pop up banner that saying do you want to lean about WordPress and then enter your email address
please share if you don’t mind
thank you
WPBeginner Support
Yes the message in the floating footer bar on our website is a plugin that we use to add sticky floating footer bar on our website.
As for the newsletter we use OptinMonster to create optin form lightbox popup that you noticed.
Admin
Nathan
Great help, thanks!
One question, if I buy a theme, can I use it on both my local and live site even though they are different installations and thus have different WordPress id’s?
I am building my first live site but I have set up a local to play with the designs and construct the content.
Thanks.
WPBeginner Support
Nathan, this is a theme licensing question and the themeshop you purchased it from would be better able to answer this. However, we don’t see any harm in that.
Admin
Deepo
wonderful tutorial. complexity made simple
Matt
Hi. Firstly I’d like to thank you, this process was easy to understand and errorless on your end!
My one hang-up was at the very end. I put in the SQL code in order to fix some linking errors, but must not have put the right local host because some small inconsistencies were not fixed. I have been using MAMP and accessing my site by going to “localhost:8888” Is this what I should put in that Step 7 code, or is there a different path?
WPBeginner Support
Matt first you need to make sure that inside your wp_posts table you are using localhost:8888 inside post content. If yes, then use this in the step 7. If you are seeing all your links as localhost, then use localhost.
Admin
Dayomaks
All instructions works fine, thanks, i am so glad, but the issue i am having now is importing my database…while trying to import my database to a live server i got these errors below:
Error
SQL query:
—
— Database: `soundmode`
—
— ——————————————————–
—
— Table structure for table `xs_commentmeta`
—
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `xs_commentmeta` (
`meta_id` BIGINT( 20 ) UNSIGNED NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT ,
`comment_id` BIGINT( 20 ) UNSIGNED NOT NULL DEFAULT ‘0’,
`meta_key` VARCHAR( 255 ) DEFAULT NULL ,
`meta_value` LONGTEXT,
PRIMARY KEY ( `meta_id` ) ,
KEY `comment_id` ( `comment_id` ) ,
KEY `meta_key` ( `meta_key` )
) ENGINE = INNODB DEFAULT CHARSET = utf8 AUTO_INCREMENT =1;
MySQL said: Documentation
#1046 – No database selected
ANY ASSISTANCE ON THERE?
WPBeginner Support
Check your database name, username, and password to make sure that you are using the correct settings to connect to your live site’s database.
Admin
Christie Bellah
This worked great, thanks! In the past I had installed WordPress in the new hosting, dropped database tables, imported, etc. – this is so much faster and simpler.
Stefano
First of all, thanks for the tutorial – invaluable and well written.
Unfortunately, I managed to get stuck anyway.
I uploaded everything via filezilla and phpmyadmin, and when i try to go to my domain it doesn’t show up any error. But nothing else, either.
Just a blank page – which is weird, because by typing /wp-admin at the end of the url i DO have access to the wordpress control panel, and every page seems to be all right.
Sorry to bother, but I really have no clue about what’s happening..
Thanks in advance!
Stefano
Solved!
Apparently, it had some issues with the theme loading.
I couldn’t use the children theme i had worked on, but luckily I had changed just a couple of thing, so no big deal..
WPBeginner Support
Stefano, did you follow the step 5? It seems like you have not changed site URL
Admin
Stefano
I did, and in fact the url worked (even if it showed just a blank page).
I still have no clue about what happened, but setting up the theme again solved it.
Lucky shot =P
javed choudahry
Hi
Sir
Thanku so much .This website is very good for wordpress learn and very help full .
sesan
please am having an error from step 4
SQL query:
—
— Database: `wordpress`
—
CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS `wordpress` DEFAULT CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci;
MySQL said: Documentation
#1044 – Access denied for user ‘Admin7393’@’%’ to database ‘wordpress’
WPBeginner Support
Sesan, the export file prepared by phpmyadmin to import into your live site database, contains a line to check if a database exists if not then it tries to create it. To resolve this issue, you need to extract the zip archive you created. Inside it you will find a file with
.sqlextension. Open this file in a text editor like Notepad and then delete these linesCREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS `wordpress` DEFAULT CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci;Below this line you will see another line like this
USE `wordpress`;Replace wordpress with the name of the database you are trying to import into.
Save your changes and put the sql file back into a zip archive (if it is too big, other wise you can also import it as it is).
Admin
sesan
men you guys are d bomb it worked thank youuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tyler
Hi, thanks for the tutorial!
I’m struggling with Step 2. Your tutorial shows several files/folders being uploaded whereas I only have wordpress.sql.gz from Step 1. I can’t seem to extract the file using any software but can open using a text editor.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
WPBeginner Support
In the second step, you do not need to upload your phpMyAdmin export file (wordpress.sql.gz in your case). You need to upload your WordPress files which are located in htdocs or www folder of your localhost
Admin
Tyler
Thanks for the fast reply!
Mario
do I need a cpanel to do this procedure? I am using a plugin to backup and export databases already, unfortunately the host provider that the client is using does not have a cpanel.
WPBeginner Support
Mario, if your client’s web host does not have cPanel or phpMyAdmin, then you can try one of the methods described in our beginner’s guide on how to restore WordPress from Backup.
Admin
Rhomy Prama Dhieka (Web Designer)
thanks for sharing.
it help me alot migrating my wp website.
would you mind if i translte this to my language, then i will put ur credit there ?
thanks.
Adelio Fioritto
Everything perfect, just update http://www.yourlivesite.com to http://www.yourlivesite.com/ in db query
ryan
hi, i am using stablehost and have used them before with WP websites. I followed all your steps and I am getting a parked page from my hosting provider…
WPBeginner Support
There can be several reasons for that. First make sure that you have installed WordPress in the root directory of your website. If you did then make a backup of your .htaccess file and delete the one from root directory of your website. If that doesn’t work, then find the default parked page files there might be an index.html file on your web server delete that file (Do Not delete index.php). If none of these help then contact your hosting provider.
Admin
Alex
Thanks!
I did a search for the ‘ ‹’ character in the extracted .sql file, but got an alert saying: The string ‘ ‹’ was not found.
I don’t know if this matters, but I noticed that my local phpMyadmin version is 5.5.3, while my host’s phpMyadmin version is 3.5.8.2.
Another note is that I had all my WordPress files already up on my public_html directory (which is your step 2) BEFORE exporting my local WordPress database (which is your step 1). I’m not sure if it makes a difference.
I’ll try starting over with step 1, as you suggested, and if I get the same error then I may try the Duplicator plugin that you mentioned.
Alex
PatoPanichelli
You really helped me. This step by step is awesome, I had no problems migrating from MAMP to a live site. Thanks
Alex
Thanks for the tutorial!
Everything’s gone well until I get to the end of step 4. When I press the Go button at the bottom of the page, instead of having phpMyadmin import my WordPress database I get an error message that reads as follows:
#1064 – You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near ‘ ‹’ at line 1
Can you let me know what you think may be causing this?
Alex
WPBeginner Support
Alex, it seems like the database file you are trying to import has a character ‘ ‹’ which is not supposed to be there. You have two options to fix that, first option is go back to your localhost/phpmyadmin and export your local database again and then try to import it again. If the same error occurs again, then extract your database gzip file using 7zip program. Open the .sql file in a text editor like notepad and look at the first line. Also take a look at our database management using phpMyAdmin guide to learn more.
Admin
Anna
Make sure you clicked on the database name on the lefthand side that you’d like to import to. Make sure that is highlighted and then try again. (phpMyAdmin version 4.0.8).
qs
I get this error when I import datebase into live site. How do i solve it?
Error
SQL query:
/*!40101 SET @OLD_CHARACTER_SET_CLIENT=@@CHARACTER_SET_CLIENT */;
/*!40101 SET @OLD_CHARACTER_SET_RESULTS=@@CHARACTER_SET_RESULTS */;
/*!40101 SET @OLD_COLLATION_CONNECTION=@@COLLATION_CONNECTION */;
/*!40101 SET NAMES utf8 */;
—
— Database: `wordpress`
—
CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS `wordpress` DEFAULT CHARACTER SET latin1 COLLATE latin1_swedish_ci;
MySQL said:
#1044 – Access denied for user ‘bossaballsg’@’10.%’ to database ‘wordpress’
WPBeginner Support
Try checking MySQL user privileges to make sure that the database user can perform these operations.
Admin
Chathuranga
Hi,
Hope your DB name is “wordpress”
Change the,
– Database: `wordpress`
–
CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS `wordpress` DEFAULT CHARACTER SET latin1 COLLATE latin1_swedish_ci;
change “wordpress” to your live DB name. It’s at your sql file.
qs
I checked and all the privileges are already set to “yes”.
is it because of the “latin1_swedish_ci” collation in my database? because the rest of the tables are all in “utf8_general_ci”
qs
I checked and all the privileges are already set to “yes”.
is it because of the “latin1_swedish_ci” collation in my database? because the rest of the tables are all in “utf8_general_ci”
fab
hi there,
totally newbie here. hope you can help with this error message during step 4:
Error
SQL query:
—
— Database: `information_schema`CREATE DATABASE `information_schema` DEFAULT CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_general_ci;
MySQL said:
#1044 – Access denied for user ‘renta730’@’localhost’ to database ‘information_schema’
When setting this user I allowed all privileges to the database previously created (named “inicial”).
Any thoughts?
WPBeginner Support
You are not supposed to install WordPress in the database information_schema. Create a new database for your WordPress site, and continue from the step 4.
Admin
neha
Hi,Nice tute,but can u plz tell how to change database name and password etc from wordpress from live server?
WPBeginner Support
To change database username and password connect to your live website using an FTP client. Find wp-config.php file and edit it. You will see your database name, database username, and host information. Change it to the database information for your live site.
Admin
Kerry O'Connor
I’ve tried every variation of my ‘host url’ in the wp.config file and uploaded it every time, no avail, still getting ‘Error Establishing db..’
Where before it was ‘localhost’, now it should be ‘mywebsite.com’, is that right?
thanks
WPBeginner Support
For
MySQL hostname, localhost works fine for most user. However, if you don’t know your database host, then you can ask your web hosting provider.Manish Patel
Good Explanation.We can easily setup from this tutorial.Nice Post.I have helpful it.
Mohammadreza
Best ever, I really appreciate your clear explanation. you’ve got your new follower for sure
Changdeo Mhaske
Thank You,
would only make sense if this is a new site. If it is an existing site, then you would have to constantly comment out the hosts file in order to access the live site.
Justin Esparza
Thank you very much for this clear concise how-to. It helped immensely. You have a new follower.
Satyanarayana
Hi Dude.
Actually i followed the process as you explaned above is very nice and clear.
but i was getting the error “page not found”. when i click on link in a website
i am changing my files from main server to localserver
Can you please help
Carol
New to WP and completely lost. But I managed my first migration thanks to this article.
Thank you! Thank you!
Steve
As a beginner, I found this article very helpful, but couldn’t get my site up live after developing locally. Everything was fine until Step 6. I did see the Error Establishing Database Connection error, and then edited the wp-config.php file. However, my site became a blank screen at that stage and I haven’t been able to change it.
I continued on and went to my WordPress admin panel, and checked Settings » General. They still showed the localhost web address so I changed it to my site url. This is when things turned ugly. I was automatically logged out of Wordpress and can’t get back in. In fact, when I ask Wordpress to email me a new password to log in, its sends a localhost URL that takes me to a sign-on page with a message that reads “Sorry, that key does not appear to be valid.” I have no idea what caused that.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
WPBeginner Support
Open your database in phpMyAdmin as mentioned in Step 5 and make sure that in wp_options table, your site url and home url options point to your live website.
Admin
Steve
Thanks for your suggestion. I double-checked and yes I had completed that step. Both have the correct URL
Part of my confusion is that I now have two databases for this website. I originally had one accessible through a URL that starts with the number of an IP Address/phpmyadmin. Then I have the one I created in Step 3, which I did through my hosting company’s e-panel. They have different passwords and names. But I’ve tried both combinations in the wp-config file and still get the blank screen. Which one of these databases should I be using? They seem to have identical content.
Patrick
Sparky!
Your step-by-step guide was spot on. I am a mac user, and after MAMP, I am live now. Thanks a lot. It worked perfectly for me.
Hat docked!
Vishal Kumar
I have done migration form live site to localhost successfully. But I noticed that Comment facility is not there after this. I have also checked all the option in ‘Setting->Discussion’ page. Everything is cheked but Commenting option and Leave comment box is not visible anywhere in the localhost. Please give me any suggestion for this because I am new in wordpress I am a Zend framework developer basically.
WPBeginner Support
Did you check comments template? Ity is usually comments.php file in your theme.
Admin
NARESH
Instead of moving the wordpress site, I would like to fresh install wordpress using fantastico or hostgator’s quick install, so will I be able to do like this too just by exporting and importing databases and uploading the themefiles? or this is the only way we can do it?
I don’t know why. my local machine wordpress loads very slow than one, whichever is installed on live server using fantastico or quick install.
WPBeginner Support
Naresh yes you can import your posts and comments using import/export tools in WordPress, then you can upload theme and other files using FTP. There are multiple ways to do things you need to choose one that works best for you.
Admin
Siddharth Khare
Best Explanation Ever. I was able to set up in a mere 5-10 mins
Editorial Staff
Thanks Siddharth.
Admin
Mark Jones
Do all of these instructions remain the same if there’s already an older, existing, non-wordpress page built where you want to move your wordpress page? For instance, rebuilding an existing site as a wordpress site, then switching over.
Editorial Staff
Yes because in theory, you will be overriding everything that is there.
Admin
Erwin
Best way (IMO) to change the URL in the database is via the Search and Replace tool of Interconnect it > http://interconnectit.com/products/search-and-replace-for-wordpress-databases/
Editorial Staff
Thanks for leaving a comment Erwin. Yes, some others have recommended that tool as well in the comments.
Admin
Abrishca
It’s easy to forget just how much work a good plugin really does for us – I personally use the Duplicator plugin to transfer new websites from my development server to the client’s domain and you can see how much time this plugin (and Backup Buddy) can save you.
Editorial Staff
Totally agreed with you there
Admin
Praveen
Hi,
I am facing problem in changing the database after creating the new database.
Is there any problem with my hosting service or anything else
Iskandar Dzulkarnain
thanks, your tutorial is solution for my problem
Anna
Are you reading my mind?! Just a little while back I sat down at the computer to figure out how to add a Facebook like button to my first website, currently in development. Whala! “How to add a Facebook like button to your posts” was that day’s article. Then I’m wondering how to begin the local to live migration today, and AGAIN, here’s this post! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!
And seriously, thank you very much for the invaluable help you’ve given to a beginner like myself.
Editorial Staff
Haha the little birdie told us that you needed this article
Glad to be able to help.
Admin
Jean
Nice tutorial, thanks.
riaz ali shah
great article, the technique i often use for develop wordpress sites for clients, i use dummy text and images for local and then i move my theme only on server.
John Coleman
This was a great article. Another option to address the broken links issue is to do a find/replace on your .sql file (in a text editor) of the local URL to the production URL before you import it. This is also handy when moving a site to/from a sub-directory, or to push from staging (e.g. http://staging.domain.com) to production (e.g. http://www.domain.com).
Thanks for putting this out there. I am sure it will help a lot of people.
David
Could have used this article 20 months ago. The trick I discovered in making the move was to open the database file in a good text editor. From there I did a search & replace maneuver to change localhost to the proper URL. It discovered numerous instances without me tracking down the tables, or worrying if my command syntax was correct.
There’s a plugin called Broken Link Checker that’s worth running as well after the move.
There are some web-hosting sites who’s infrastructure keeps everything in your WordPress site as localhost. No need to change anything in your local build. Just copy it over. Will definitely chose one of them next time.
Mark
2 suggestions to make it easier to move:
1. When developing locally edit your HOSTS file (c:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc\hosts) to point your domain name at local server. This avoids having to change the SITE URL and other links/images. Note: this will require config changes to your local web server.
2. If you have to modify the SITE URL etc, after you have exported the local database and before import, Open the file in notepad and search for all instances of localhost/yourtestsite and replace with http://www.yourlivesite.com
Editorial Staff
Mark,
1. would only make sense if this is a new site. If it is an existing site, then you would have to constantly comment out the hosts file in order to access the live site.
2. Yes that would make sense.
Admin
Mark
Changing the hosts file is something I do quite often and have a shortcut on my desktop giving me quick access.
Gregg
I also recommend DeskTop Server which I have been using for more then a year. Desktop Server allows you to create a local version of your site and then direct deploy it. Awesome!
Sü Smith
Great post! I typically just do find and replace on the .sql file with Notepad++ before uploading it to phpmyadmin. This is a nice alternative.
Mike Ott
Unfortunately this only works for some sites. A lot of wordpress plugins store serialised data in the database (Gravity Forms is one such plugin), and serialised data isn’t portable so doing an SQL dump and importing via PHPMyAdmin won’t work properly because of the string length differences between your local URL and live domain. You can’t even run an SQL query over serialised data.
The best thing I’ve found to get around this problem is by using the WP Migrate DB plugin (http://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-migrate-db/). It handles the serialised data problem flawlessly every time and you won’t have to do half the other things you mentioned in this post.
Have fun.
Mark
Just had a light bulb moment! I have run into this issue before, thanks for the heads up Mike and pointer to the plugin,
Augustas
For replacing paths and URLs I always use “Search and Replace” tool ( http://goo.gl/MCsKl ). It replaces serialized data, and it can be used for other CMSs as well, not only for Wordpress.
estudiowp
Nice article an well explained steps!
However, many people will find troubles in their migrations because of the serialized data.
Some plugins and themes use serialized data, and the replaces in step 5 and step 7 won´t change all the urls and paths that need to be changeed.
For those steps you could use these tools or plugins:
· wp migrate db plugin: http://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-migrate-db/
· search and replace tool: http://interconnectit.com/products/search-and-replace-for-wordpress-databases/
I hope this comment will be useful and sorry for my english!
RW
awesome post! I could have used this with my first local > server migration!
Jean
Great article – best I’ve read on this subject.
I moved a site a while back and the only thing I would add is that you might need to re-save the permalinks settings. I had to do this because none of my menu links worked so this was an easy fix (luckily!)
Editorial Staff
Good suggestion. Added that to the article.
Admin
Mike Ott
If anyone wants to know what that happens, it’s the .htaccess file shows a different RewriteRule between local and live.
A quick edit to .htaccess fixes the problem or as Jean pointed out, re-saving the permalinks settings will also do the trick as it’s just fixing the RewriteRule.