Migrating a WordPress development site to a live production environment is a crucial step in website deployment. It ensures your site is fully functional for users while retaining all your local customizations. This guide provides a clear, step-by-step process for a smooth WordPress migration from development to live.
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How to Migrate Your WordPress Development Site to Production
When it’s time to take your WordPress site live, a proper WordPress migration process ensures all your content, settings, and configurations are transferred seamlessly. This section breaks down the steps for an efficient WordPress migration, covering essential tools and techniques to migrate a WordPress development site successfully.
Expert Note: We’re going to cover the traditional WordPress migration process, which is lengthy. To save a great deal of time and effort, use a modern and fully automated migration tool.
Back-Up Your Local WordPress Site
The first step in migrating your WordPress development site is backing up all your data. Use plugins or manual methods to create a backup that includes your database, media files, themes, and plugins.
This ensures that no important elements are lost during the migration process, securing your WordPress migration.
When migrating your WordPress development site, InstaWP simplifies the backup process. InstaWP automatically creates a staging environment for your local WordPress site, allowing you to quickly generate backups of your site files, themes, plugins, and database. Here’s how you can back up your local WordPress site using InstaWP:
- Create a Staging Site with InstaWP: First, spin up a staging environment of your local WordPress site on InstaWP. This temporary clone ensures your live site is untouched during testing and migration.
- Generate a Full Backup: From the InstaWP dashboard, click on the “Backup” option for your staging site. InstaWP will automatically create a backup, including your database, media, themes, and plugins, in a few clicks—no need for external plugins like UpdraftPlus.
- Download the Backup: After the backup is created, you can download the backup file directly to your computer for safekeeping. This will be used later during the migration process to restore your site in the live environment.
By using InstaWP, you streamline the backup process, ensuring that all vital data is securely saved before proceeding with the WordPress migration.
Check Hosting Requirements
Before migrating your WordPress development site to a live environment, it’s crucial to verify that your hosting provider meets the necessary WordPress specifications.
- PHP Version: Ensure your hosting provider supports at least PHP 7.4 or higher, as WordPress requires this version for optimal performance and security.
- MySQL or MariaDB: Confirm that your managed WordPress hosting supports MySQL version 5.6 (or higher) or MariaDB version 10.1 (or higher) for seamless database operation.
- WordPress-Specific Features: Make sure your host supports features like HTTPS, mod_rewrite for clean URLs, and enough memory allocation (minimum 128MB, preferably 256MB) to ensure fast and reliable performance.
By verifying these details before migration, you can avoid compatibility issues and ensure that your live WordPress site runs smoothly after the migration process.
Export Your Local Database
To migrate your WordPress development site, you first need to export your local WordPress database. Here’s how:
- Access phpMyAdmin on your local server (e.g., XAMPP or MAMP).
- Select your WordPress database and click on the Export tab.
- Choose the Quick export method and set the format to SQL.
- Download the exported SQL file to use in your WordPress migration.
Upload Site Files to Live Server
The next step in your WordPress local-to-live migration is to upload the local WordPress files to the live server:
- Access your live server via FTP (e.g., FileZilla) or the file manager in your hosting dashboard.
- Navigate to the public_html or www directory, depending on your host.
- Upload your entire local WordPress site folder, including the wp-content folder.
- If you’re using Hostinger, you can utilize their hPanel migration tool for this process.
Create a Database on a Live Server
To complete the WordPress migration, you’ll need to create a new database on your live server:
- Access phpMyAdmin on your live hosting account.
- Create a new, empty database for your WordPress site.
- Record the database name, username, and password, as these will be needed to update your site’s configuration.
Update wp-config.php
To connect your live WordPress site to the new database:
- Open the wp-config.php file in your WordPress root directory (where your site is hosted).
- Edit the file to include the new database name, username, and password.
- Save the changes to ensure the WordPress site connects to your new live database.
Import Database to Live Server
Now you can import your local WordPress database into the live server:
- Access phpMyAdmin on your live host.
- Select the new WordPress database you created earlier.
- Click the Import tab and upload the SQL file that you exported from your local site.
- Set the character set and format options if necessary, and click Go to complete the import.
Update URLs
After importing the database, you’ll need to update the WordPress URLs for your live domain:
- Log into your WordPress admin area on the live site.
- Go to Settings → General.
- Update the WordPress Address (URL) and Site Address (URL) to reflect your live domain.
- Save the changes to complete the update.
Test and Launch
Before you officially launch your migrated live site, make sure everything is working properly using staging sites:
- Test your pages, posts, media files, and all functionality to ensure the managed migration went smoothly.
- Verify that forms, links, and third-party integrations (like payment gateways) are functioning as expected.
- If you’ve changed hosts or domains, update your DNS settings to point to the new live site.
- Once everything is confirmed to be running smoothly, launch your live WordPress site!
Conclusion
Migrating your WordPress development site to a live environment is a crucial step in bringing your project to life. By following these steps—from backing up your data to importing your database and updating URLs—you can ensure a smooth WordPress migration process with minimal downtime.
Whether you’re a developer working on client projects or managing your own site, careful planning and preparation can prevent issues and ensure your site is fully optimized on launch. Take the time to test everything thoroughly before going live to guarantee a seamless transition. With the right steps in place, your WordPress local-to-live migration will set the stage for a successful website launch!
