This is the first of a two-part series covering common and best practices around launching a new WordPress site to your web host. While this first session is slightly more introductory, it still covers some of the more technical aspects of moving files and databases. Topics covered include: • Determining what needs to be moved to your web host • Prerequisites for migrating your site (tools, credentials) • Differences between site files (themes, uploads) and content (database) • Required changes if the domain name has changed The discussion was concluded with a short demonstration. While this is handy information for developers who build sites locally, the hope is that there is useful information for those who find themselves needing to move a site from one web host to another. -- Credits for slide graphics to Wilson Joseph, Noun Project

1. Launching a
WordPress Site 101
Cincinnati WordPress - August 2015
Andrew Duthie

2. Topics
• Anatomy of a WordPress site
• Hosting requirements
• Tools
• Moving content
• Preparing to flip the switch
• Demo

3. Site Anatomy

4. Site Anatomy
The standard WordPress installation includes many
files which interpret browser requests and load the
appropriate files.
Most importantly, the configuration file defines the
settings WordPress should use to connect to a
MySQL database. You can also define security and
site settings.
WordPress Core
Configuration
/wp-admin, /wp-includes
/

5. Site Anatomy
The theme directory contains the layout and styles
for displaying your site.
Each plugin adds unique behavior to your site. The
plugin files describe the behavior, and additional
customizations are typically stored as options in the
database.
Theme
Plugins
/wp-content/themes/twentyfifteen
/wp-content/plugins/akismet

6. Site Anatomy
Media files (images, videos, documents), including
thumbnails, are stored here.
The contents of your posts and pages aren’t stored
in the WordPress site directory, but instead live in
the MySQL database.
Uploads
Content
/wp-content/uploads
mysql://localhost:3306/database

7. Hosting requirements
• PHP 5.2.4 or greater
• MySQL 5.0 or greater
• Usually Apache HTTP Server or nginx
https://wordpress.org/about/requirements/

8. Tools
A FTP (File Transfer Protocol) client enables you to
move files between your computer and a remote
hosting server.
FTP Client
• Always prefer SFTP (FTP over SSH) if offered
by your host, since plain FTP can be insecure
Cyberduck
Mac OSX
Filezilla
Cross-platform

9. Tools
A database client allows you to browse the content
of your WordPress site. It usually provides export
and import options to move your content from one
place to another.
Database Client
Sequel Pro
Mac OSX
HeidiSQL
Windows
phpMyAdmin
Web

10. Moving Files
1. Find or create user credentials for both FTP and
database access. You may need to create a
database if one doesn’t already exist
2. Move entire site from local directory to host
• Or, download and move WordPress core,
theme, plugins, and uploads
3. Export database contents as .sql “dump” using
database client, then import to host database

11. Preparing your site
Content stored in the database includes references to your site’s
previous domain. If this has changed as a result of moving from a
development site, or as a result of changing your domain, you’ll need to
replace all occurrences in the database. This is also necessary for
WordPress to recognize and use the new domain.
Replace old URLs
WP-CLI Search-Replace-DB
wp search-replace 'http://example.dev' 'http://example.com'

12. Preparing your site
If your site is hosted on a different server, you will need to update your
domain records to correctly point to the new server.
Update host records
• Tip: You can also modify a “hosts” file on your local computer
to test how your new server will respond to the domain before
making the real change

13. Demo