{"id":146901,"date":"2015-10-13T10:00:17","date_gmt":"2015-10-13T14:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/premium.wpmudev.org\/blog\/?p=146901"},"modified":"2019-02-05T15:32:08","modified_gmt":"2019-02-05T15:32:08","slug":"easy-migration-snapshot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/easy-migration-snapshot\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Move a WordPress Site Without Hassle with Snapshot"},"content":{"rendered":"

Moving your site to a different server or a different kind of WordPress installation can be a time-consuming nightmare if you don’t have the right tools. But with our Snapshot<\/a>\u00a0plugin, the experience is more of a sweet dream.<\/p>\nSince Snapshot was launched, we’ve added sooo much new stuff! Head over to the project page to check out all the new features. <\/span> Check out Snapshot<\/span><\/a>\n

While Snapshot wasn’t initially designed with site migration in mind, we have since developed it to include this all-important requirement since so many of you asked for this feature, and, of course, we like to keep our members happy!<\/span><\/p>\n

Migration is a little-known feature in Snapshot, so we’ll cover how to do it in this tutorial. We’ll show you how to move a single install and Multisite install of WordPress and then move one site from a Multisite to a single WordPress install.<\/p>\n

If you need to change your domain name along the way, I’ll give you pointers on how to do that, too.<\/p>\n

Snapshot<\/a> isn’t just for backing up and restoring anymore, so without further delay, let’s look at how to migrate your site.<\/p>\n

Update: Looking to move your site to a new host? Checkout Shipper<\/a>! Our new site migration plugin lets you move your WordPress sites with just a click.<\/em><\/p>\n

It All Starts with a Backup<\/h3>\n

First thing’s first: If you want to migrate your site with Snapshot, you need to backup your site. But before you even do that, you need to install and activate Snapshot<\/a>. You can do this either using the WPMU DEV Dashboard<\/a> plugin in the backend of your site or by downloading Snapshot directly<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Before we move on, it’s worth noting that sometimes Snapshot may run into problems if you have an insufficient memory limit on your WordPress install. So to get around this, check out our post, How to Increase the Maximum Upload and PHP Memory Limit in WordPress<\/a>. It will only take a minute to do and is worth doing anyway as you might come across memory limit issues in the future if you haven’t already.<\/p>\n

Once Snapshot is installed and activated, it’s time to set it up. Using Snapshot, you can learn how to do this in one of our other posts called How to Backup Your WordPress Website (and Multisite)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here’s how you create a backup: Go to Snapshot Backups > Backup Now<\/strong> in your admin dashboard.<\/p>\n

Next, enter a name for your Snapshot backup under Backup Title<\/strong> and any optional notes you would like to add as a private reminder of why you created this backup profile.<\/p>\n

Select the Apply Global File Exclusions<\/strong> checkbox if you would like, or edit to select certain files.<\/p>\n

Then, click Run Backup<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"The
One-click is all you need to run a backup.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Once you see a success message at the top of the screen, your Snapshot is all done being created. Go to Snapshot Backups > Available Backups<\/strong>\u00a0to see it in the list.<\/p>\n

Lastly, check the status of your Snapshot under the Archives<\/strong> column. It should list the status of the backup for the destination you chose.<\/p>\n

Once your Snapshot has been synced to your destination, you’re ready to start migrating your site.<\/p>\n

Migrating\u00a0Your Site<\/h3>\n

Now that you have your Snapshot ready, install a brand new WordPress site (or Multisite install) on your new server.<\/p>\n

Install and activate the same themes and plugins on your fresh install that are currently included and activated on the site you want to migrate.<\/p>\n

Next, install and activate the theme you would like to use for your migrated site. It needs to be activated before migrating your site, even if it’s included with your Snapshot. Taking this step means your site can be ready immediately after migrating.<\/p>\n

Install and activate Snapshot<\/a> on this new site if you don’t already have it active.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

Next, go to Snapshots > Import<\/strong> and enter a public URL or file path to your Snapshot.<\/p>\n

This means if you sent your backup to Dropbox, Amazon S3 or other destinations, you need to either make the file temporarily public, share it with a link or save it to another location.<\/p>\n

If you have your Snapshot on your server, just type in the file path to the backup.<\/p>\n

When you have your Snapshot entered into the import field, click the Scan\/Import Snapshots<\/strong> button.<\/p>\n

A “success” message should be displayed at the bottom of the page. If you entered a file path, more than one message may appear. Now it’s time to complete the site migration by going to Snapshots > All Snapshots<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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\n
\n
\"Snapshot
A snapshot has been imported successfully.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Find your Snapshot listed, then hover over the title and select the restore<\/strong> link. If you’re not sure which is which, try matching the snapshot file name with the one in your destination folder.<\/p>\n

Next, you should be redirected to the archive page for all the backups for the snapshot profile you chose.<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"The
Click restore<\/strong> to finish migrating your site.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

I only have one Snapshot in my archive, but you may have more listed. Pick the one you would like to use, then hover over the snapshot title.<\/p>\n

\"Archived
Choose to restore the Snapshot of your choice.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Click the restore<\/strong> link that appears. On the next page, you can review the options and what you would like to migrate.<\/p>\n

Finishing the Migration and Changing the Domain<\/h3>\n

Scroll down to the Restore Blog Options<\/strong> section and click the Change<\/strong> button next to the label Site URL. This is where you can change the URL of your backup files so your old site can be used with your new domain.<\/p>\n

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\"The
You can migrate your site to a different URL.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In the field that dynamically appears, you can enter the site ID or blog path of the fresh site you created to be replaced by your Snapshot. Click the Lookup<\/strong> button and you should see the site you selected now displayed.<\/p>\n

In the next section called What Tables to Restore?<\/strong>\u00a0click the option for\u00a0Restore selected database tables<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"The
Don’t select the first option to restore all blog tables since some tables are excluded.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Click the Select All<\/strong> link next the label WordPress Global Tables<\/strong>. The other tables should be selected by default, but if they’re not, also click the Select All<\/strong> links.<\/p>\n

Select the\u00a0Include selected files<\/strong> option in the next section and make sure to check all the boxes. If you’re not migrating to your main site, then select the Restore all files<\/strong> option instead.<\/p>\n

In the last part of the page, choose the theme you would like to use from the list of ones available in your current installation.<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\"The
Make sure the theme you want to use for your migrated site is already installed and activated.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Also, be sure the checkbox for\u00a0Turn off all plugins<\/strong> is not<\/em> checked, otherwise your migrated site may not display correctly.<\/p>\n

Finally, click the Restore Snapshot<\/strong> button at the bottom of the page.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"The
Once your snapshot migration has completed, you should see a success message appear.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On the next page that loads, you should see a list of your tables and files with a loading bar to display the uploading progress. Once your migration is complete, a success message appears at the top of the page and that’s how you know you’re done.<\/p>\n

Easy Migration with Snapshot<\/h3>\n

Your newly migrated site is now ready to go and looks exactly the same on your new server and even with a new domain. You have also migrated your site easily with Snapshot in well under the several hours this process would take if you completed it manually.<\/p>\n

There’s also another way you can easily copy any site within your Multisite network in just a few clicks and that’s with our Cloner plugin<\/a>. To see how you can copy a site, make changes, then push your new site live in a few clicks, check out one of our other posts: Quick and Reliable Bug Testing with Cloner for WordPress Multisite<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Moving your site to a different server, or to a different kind of WordPress installation, can be a time-consuming nightmare if you don’t have the right tools. But with our Snapshot plugin, the experience is more of a sweet dream.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54213,"featured_media":147314,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"blog_reading_time":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_tutorials_categories":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1117,263,4161,11260],"tags":[10269,10254],"tutorials_categories":[],"class_list":["post-146901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-multisite","category-tutorials","category-wpmudev","category-wpmu-dev-products","tag-migration","tag-snapshot"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/54213"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146901"}],"version-history":[{"count":41,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146901\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":201264,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146901\/revisions\/201264"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146901"},{"taxonomy":"tutorials_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tutorials_categories?post=146901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}