How to Migrate WordPress Blog to New Domain Print

If you find yourself in a situation where you want to move to a new domain, one thing that probably stresses your mind is how to move your WordPress blog to the new location. The process is easy and involves a few simple steps. 

These are things that you should first do on your existing domain. Find the ‘Export’ option under the Manage tab in the WordPress dashboard. Save your file on the hardware at a convenient place from where you can quickly retrieve it later. Next, download your WordPress content folder. The download will take along everything including plugins, themes, pictures and other content. If you have sub-directories or sub-domains for your blog, make sure these are saved as well. 

Now, install WordPress on the new domain and upload your WordPress content folder. You will need FTP access to complete the download on the old domain and to upload on the new domain. All you have to do is override the existing WordPress content folder from the newly installed WordPress.

Find the import option under the Manage tab on the newly installed WordPress dashboard and use the file that was saved on the hard disk earlier. You should then click on the Design and Plugin tabs to activate the themes and plugins. Ensure that the same plugins and themes are activated as the ones you had on the old domain and update the plugins to match the old domain. 

You must make sure that the themes and plugins are inspected so that they are the same as what you want for your website. Testing the functionality of the themes is a recommended step. Upload and run the URL’s plugin to update the domain part of the URL with the new one. Once you have updated everything that you want to run on your new domain, go to the domain registrar and complete the redirect process and wait for the process to be completed.