Knowledgebase

If you have a WordPress site with your current host, you can migrate your site to our hosting platform. While this can be a little technical to preform, we can help guide you through the process here.

Before you start

Before migrating your WordPress website to your MacHighway hosting plan, there are a few steps that you need to do to ensure that the migration completes correctly and no data is lost.

Backup your existing site

First, you will need to gather the site information from your existing host. This includes the site files, as well as the site database.

1. Instructions for backing up your WordPress files can be found here.
2. Instructions for backing up your database can be found here.

You will then need to download these files to your local machine, as you will use them to migrate your site to our servers.

Add your files to your new host

Now that you have copies of your existing site, you can start uploading your files and database to your new host.

1. Install WordPress

You will then need to install WordPress in your document root folder. There are several methods you can use to install WordPress.

• WordPress Toolkit  - found in your cPanel this is the recommended method
• Softaculous Apps Installer - also found in your cPanel
• Manual Install - you can install WordPress manually by downloading the installation files from WordPress.org

Take care to ensure that you are running the same version of WordPress on your old host's server as you are on the MacHighway server. If not, upgrade your WordPress to the correct version.

2.  Create a backup of the config file

You should have a file in the root folder called "wp-config.php". This contains the configuration for your WordPress installation. It also includes the credentials for the new database. Rename this file to "wp-config.php.bak".

3. Install site files on our server

Upload your backup tar or zip file to your document root folder and extract your WordPress files. Overwrite any files that were added when you installed WordPress.

4. Replace the .htaccess file

You should see a file called .htaccess in your document root (it may be hidden). Delete this file and replace it with a fresh WordPress .htaccess file. The following one should work:

# BEGIN WordPress

<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>

RewriteEngine On

RewriteBase /

RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L]

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d

RewriteRule . /index.php [L]

</IfModule>

# END WordPress

5. Edit your wp-config.php file

Now you will need to open the "wp-config.php.bak" file created earlier. This is the file that was created when you installed WordPress on the new host.

You will need to copy the database credentials from this file. You are looking for a section that looks like this:

// ** MySQL settings - You can get this info from your web host ** //
/** The name of the database for WordPress */
define( 'DB_NAME', 'wp_database' );

/** MySQL database username */
define( 'DB_USER', 'wp_username' );

/** MySQL database password */
define( 'DB_PASSWORD', 'SecureDbP@$$' );

/** MySQL hostname */
define( 'DB_HOST', 'localhost:3306' );

/** Database Charset to use in creating database tables. */
define( 'DB_CHARSET', 'utf8' );

/** The Database Collate type. Don't change this if in doubt. */
define( 'DB_COLLATE', '' );

Copy this information and replace the same section from the "wp-config.php" file.

Now, look for the "WordPress vars" section of "wp-config.php" file. Your file may not have this section. If it does not, do not worry. It should look like this:

/** Sets up WordPress vars and included files. */

require_once ABSPATH . 'wp-settings.php';

define('WP_SITEURL', 'http://wp.example.com/');

define ('WPLANG', 'en_US');

Ensure that the "define('WP_SITEURL', 'http://wp.example.com/');" flag is pointing to your domain.

Import your Database

Now that you have your WordPress files all in place, you can import your database.

1. Access your database

To access your database, you can use the phpMyAdmin app in your cPanel. You can find information on accessing this app here. Once in your phpMyAdmin, find your WordPress database (it would have been mentioned in the information added to the "wp-config.php" file).

2. Drop all tables

Now you need to drop (or delete) all of the tables in the database. This can be done easily by selecting all tables and choosing Drop from the "with selected" menu.

3. Import your database

Now you can import the database from your existing site. This is done by selecting "Import" near the top of the screen (be sure that you still have the correct database selected). Once on the import screen, select your database from your existing site and hit "Go". The default settings should be fine.

4. Check the URL entries in the database

Now that you have your database imported, there are a few items you will want to check. In the "_options" table, check to ensure that both the "siteurl" and "home" entries are pointed to the correct domain and folder.

Congratulations, you've moved your WordPress site to our server. You will not be able to verify the success of this transfer through your temporary URL. Your domain name will need to be pointing to the correct server in order to verify the transfer of your WordPress site.

Did this answer your question? If not, please let us know what issues you're having by submitting a ticket.