The Old School Way
I’ve been moving my blog (this one and some others) several times. In the old days when I still have “too much” time, I did this by manually backup the database (SQL file), the configuration file, and the wp-content, wp-plugin and wp-themes. After that I restore the database and required files on the new server.
The Limited Time
Later when I didn’t have that much time, I tried to look for a simpler way. This was the time when I realize there is a default Export & Import feature on WordPress available.. (Duh!). Of course I choose to use this. Although little did I know that some of my blog post was actually truncated. I have several articles that contain >3000 words. Those are the days when I actively and tried to run a serious blog.
The Lazier & Cheap but Advance
Recently, I migrate this blog to a new server. I tried to use the the default Export & Import (I don’t care if the content truncated.. Haha). But it always failed at ~20% of the progress. No idea why. Now I’m even lazier.. Time is sacred. 😀
Luckily, I found this powerful plugin called “All in One WP Migration“. This plugin will give you option to create backup. Mind you that the only “free” option is exporting to a file. Exporting to GDrive, Dropbox, etc required a paid additional add on. Of course I choose to use the free option, downloading ~300MB of backup. Later I found out that the backup not only contain the blog post/content, it also include the plugin, configurations, even the user account. Basically it automated “the old school way” with simple several clicks.
Importing the backup file on new WordPress host support both file upload and cloud storage sync. But the free option only support file upload. In my case the challenge is the upload limit is only 80MB. The plugin provides 2 option to solve this: A paid add on, or follow a guide to make PHP configuration changes. I don’t want to make payment, because not just lazy, I’m also cheap. Luckily I considered myself and advance user. Took a minute to jog my memory on how to connect to the server via SSH, the command line needed, and where the PHP configuration file might be.
Finally I managed to make those changes, restarting the server and complete the import (restore) of the backup file. Hence you can see this blog post.
For sure, this is a recommended plugin for WordPress blog migration.