Copy website to use it as a template for a new site

  • Resolved meisha

    (@meisha)


    1 year, 5 months ago

    I would like to clone a website for the purpose of using it as as a template for a new, completely different website, so in the process of copying, I need the info in the database to all be changed to refer to the new domain, with no connection at all to the original site. The copy is to be a starting point for a new website, and all the content will be changed. I’m surprised that none of the tutorials I see talk about using it for this purpose, as I would think this is a very common use. All the tutorials I find are about cloning for the purpose of testing new code or designs, and for replacing the original site in the end, but this is not at all what i want to use it for. I’m making a whole different website with the copy. Sorry if I’m over-explaining, but it seems like there is very little about this usage, so I’m trying to be clear about the difference. Could anyone please point me to instructions for doing exactly this? Thank you for your help!

Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
  • Courtney P.K.

    (@courtneypk)

    1 year, 5 months ago

    Hi @meisha, it looks like there are a few plugins that could help with cloning your site to create a new, separate site:

    https://wordpress.org/plugins/duplicator/
    https://wordpress.org/plugins/backuply/
    https://wordpress.org/plugins/ns-cloner-site-copier/

    I personally haven’t used any of these, but they look like they can clone the website’s plugins, themes, content, etc. then replace the URLs and information for the new site.

    Thread Starter meisha

    (@meisha)

    1 year, 5 months ago

    Thanks, Courtney! Yes, I’ve been looking into the plug-ins and I wish i could find a tutorial that shows the exact use I have in mind in case there’s a difference in any of the steps. All the tutorials for Duplicator and the others that I’ve looked at show how to clone with the intention of deleting the original site. Maybe it makes no difference, but I don’t know for sure.

    Courtney P.K.

    (@courtneypk)

    1 year, 5 months ago

    You’re welcome, Meisha! I wonder if anyone that uses or develops Duplicator can give you some guidance. Maybe ask in their support forums? https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/duplicator/

    I’ll keep an eye out for a specific tutorial for your use case and let you know if I find anything. If you find any tutorials too, it’d be great if you can update this thread so other folks looking for this info can find it. Thanks! 🙂

    Thread Starter meisha

    (@meisha)

    1 year, 5 months ago

    I appreciate that, Courtney, and thanks so much for the link! I think I’ve honed in my question, at least, so I know what to ask them. I need to know is whether, in the restoration process, Duplicator will change all the references in the database to match the new URL automatically. I’ll ask at the forum you linked to! Thanks again!

    Thread Starter meisha

    (@meisha)

    1 year, 4 months ago

    Courtney, I asked my hosting provider, Siteground, for instructions and they told me their Migrator tool would do this, so I used it and it worked great in only two steps. It copies the site to the new URL and updates all the database references with the domain name. So all’s good! I just wanted to let you know how it came out. Thank you for all you help! 🙂

    Courtney P.K.

    (@courtneypk)

    1 year, 4 months ago

    Thank you for the follow-up, Meisha! That’s great to hear, especially since I also host with Siteground. 🙂

Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
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