Perplexing Guide on How to Migrate a WordPress Site from Localhost

As a website developer, you must already know that building a WordPress site from scratch can take an immense amount of time and effort. That’s why most developers prefer using a local server on their computer or a staging environment on a remote server before deploying to the live site.

But moving the site from localhost to the live server can be quite perplexing, especially for newbies. Don’t worry – in this article, we’ll blast through the steps of how to migrate a WordPress site from localhost.

What You’ll Need

• Access to your WordPress localhost site.
• Access to your live server (FTP/SFTP and cPanel/SSH access).
• An FTP program (e.g. FileZilla).
• A SQL database management tool (e.g. phpMyAdmin).
• A text editor (e.g. Sublime).

Step 1: Export the Local WordPress Database

The first step of migrating your WordPress site from localhost is to export your database. To do this, log in to your local host and access your database management tool, such as phpMyAdmin.

Once you’re in phpMyAdmin, you should see a list of databases. Select the database that you want to export and click on the “Export” button.

In the “Export Method” section, select the “Quick” option and the “SQL” format. Then, click the “Go” button to export your database.

Step 2: Upload the Files to Your Live Server

After exporting the database, you need to upload all the files from your local server to your live server. You can either use an FTP program or your web hosting control panel to upload your files.

When using an FTP program, connect to your live server and navigate to the public_html directory where your website files will be stored. Then, drag and drop all your website files from your local server to your live server.

Step 3: Create a Database on Your Live Server

The next step is to create a new database on your live server. You can do this by logging into your cPanel account and clicking on “MySQL Databases” or “MySQL Database Wizard.”

Enter the name of your new database and click on the “Create Database” button. After that, create a user for your database and give this user all the necessary permissions by selecting the “All Privileges” option.

Step 4: Import the Local Database to Your Live Server

Now that your new database is set up and ready to go, you’ll need to import your local WordPress database. To do this, log in to phpMyAdmin on your live server and select the database you just created.

Click on the “Import” button at the top of the page and select the SQL file you exported from your local server. Then, click on the “Go” button to import your database.

Step 5: Edit the WordPress Configuration File

The next step is to edit your WordPress configuration file (wp-config.php) to connect your WordPress site to your new database on your live server.

To do this, open the wp-config.php file using a text editor like Sublime and locate the following lines:

define('DB_NAME', 'database_name');
define('DB_USER', 'database_username');
define('DB_PASSWORD', 'database_password');
define('DB_HOST', 'localhost');

Replace the database_name, database_username, and database_password with the information for your new database. DB_HOST should remain as “localhost” if you’re using shared hosting.

Step 6: Change Your Local WordPress URLs to Your Live URLs

After making the necessary changes to the wp-config.php file, you should be able to see your website on your live server. However, if you click on any link on your website, it will still take you to the local URL.

To fix this, you need to change all the URLs in your MySQL database from your local server to your live server. To do this, you can use a plugin like Better Search Replace or manually update the URLs using phpMyAdmin.

If you decide to use Better Search Replace, download and install it on your live server. Then, go to “Tools” and select “Better Search Replace.” In the search field, enter your local URL (e.g. http://localhost) and replace it with your live URL (e.g. http://example.com). Make sure to select all tables and click the “Run Search/Replace” button.

Step 7: Update Your DNS

The final step is to update your domain name system (DNS) to point to your live server. This step can take up to 24 hours to take effect.

To do this, log in to your domain registrar account and find the DNS management section. Replace the existing name servers with the name servers provided by your hosting provider.

Conclusion

Migrating a WordPress site from localhost to a live server can be quite perplexing, but following these steps will help you migrate your website hassle-free.

Remember that every WordPress site is unique, so you may encounter additional steps or issues during the migration process. Don’t worry if something doesn’t go as planned – troubleshoot the issue until you find a solution or reach out to your hosting provider or WordPress community for help.