Moving a WordPress site from one server to another has always been a bit of a pain. You need to deal with all the website files, the plugins, images, and of course the database. Throw in a domain name change and the whole process gets downright frightening.
After a lot of struggling, mangled websites and completely failed migrations I stumbled upon the All in One WP Migration Plugin by ServMask. After using the plugin my only complaint about this plugin is that it’s just too fast and too easy. Seriously, it just felt wrong that something so complicated could be so incredibly simple.
There are 4 VERY SIMPLE steps to move a WordPress website.
- Install the All in One WP Migration Plugin on the original server. The plugin is available right in the WordPress Plugin repository so no need to download anything. Just head to Plugins in your WordPress Admin screen and choose Add New Plugin.
- Choose Export Site Data and download the file to your computer. You’ll notice a message saying that the plugin automatically detects if a domain name has changed when you import the site on the new server so there is nothing extra you need to do.
- Install the All in One WP Migration Plugin on the new server.
- Select Import Site Data and drag the zip archive into the browser window.
And that’s it. Seriously. It couldn’t be easier. Even with a domain name change there’s no need to edit the MySQL database, it just happens automatically.
There was one small issue I had when using the All in One WP Migration Plugin but it was very easily resolved. I use Safari as my default web browser and have the Open “safe” files after downloading turned on.
I would export the website using the plugin and then download the .zip archive to my computer, all without a hitch. The downloaded .zip archive was automatically decompressed once it finished downloading (as it should) so I re-compressed it using Mac OS X’s built in file compression software – a .zip is a .zip I assumed. I tried to import the file onto the new web server four different times and it failed every single time, saying the .zip archive I was trying to import was not compatible with the plugin. On a hunch I turned off the Open “safe” files after downloading feature and it worked flawlessly. Just something to keep in mind if you have any issues.
I’m not sure if this would happen on other web browsers, or operating systems so please let us know in the comments of your experiences.
The free version, available on the WordPress Plugin Depository allows migrations of website up to 512 MB in size. ServMask also offers a paid version of the plugin, All in One WP Migration Unlimited Extension that is $45 and has no size limitations.
