How do I move my media to a new domain?

  • steeld

    (@steeld)


    12 years, 8 months ago

    I’ve tried the Import/Export procedure with limited success. I tried to follow the Codex page on Moving WordPress but that caused me a headache. As soon as I changed the URIs and saved the settings, WordPress tried to log me into the new domain which, at present, contains an empty WP system. There seemed to be no way to get back to my original installation without going into the database and setting the siteurl back to what it was.

    What seems to be skated over in the moving procedures I have seen (on the WP pages and elsewhere) is how to move the media files. Even the Export All content option under Tools says “This will contain all of your posts, pages, comments, custom fields, terms, navigation menus and custom posts” and doesn’t mention the media. I’ve tried simply FTPing the media files to the right place but they don’t show up in the Media Library. Maybe I’m doing things in the wrong order.

    So, to move the text data I will do an export “as is” and then use a text editor to search and replace old_domain for new_domain. My problem is understanding how to move the media – I don’t want to have to reload a 100 or so images. Any ideas?

    Thanks

    David

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  • Samuel B

    (@samboll)

    12 years, 8 months ago

    the import/export is also limited as it doesn’t contain what themes or plugins you use, permalinks and other stuff
    it is preferable to do a database export/import
    http://codex.wordpress.org/Backing_Up_Your_Database#Using_phpMyAdmin
    http://codex.wordpress.org/Restoring_Your_Database_From_Backup

    however, if you had trouble with the moving instructions this is likely above you as well

    to get the media files – and other stuff – it is recommended to download a copy of your wp-content folder via ftp and upload it to the new site – replacing the current folder

    Thread Starter steeld

    (@steeld)

    12 years, 8 months ago

    OK, fixed it. If only the Import/Export routines would make it clearer that they can copy media as well. My procedure was this. Ignore all the instructions that talk about changing site URLs in the Dashboard – this only messes things up. Simply Export everything “as is”. Don’t touch the exported file – leave that alone. Go to WP on new domain and Import this file and check the option to Get file attachments. It may take a few moments but everything (apart from a little tweaking) then appears to work. There is intelligence built into the Import/Export routines – the confusion is caused by it not making it clear that it can handle the media and numerous other Web pages describing more complex ways of migrating to a new domain.

    The only other thing I had to do was to run the Velvet Blues Update URLs plugin to rename any URLs embedded in posts as Permalinks and then fine-tune the menus and plugins.

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