Title: Installation/Database issue
Last modified: August 22, 2016

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# Installation/Database issue

 *  [NDentalHux](https://wordpress.org/support/users/ndentalhux/)
 * (@ndentalhux)
 * [11 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/installationdatabase-issue/)
 * OK, I had my WP site up and running and then went to change the database prefix
   in order to better the security of the site. I can’t remember what I did exactly,
   but I’m pretty sure I made a mess of it..I also switched from GoDaddy to NetLogistics,
   so I took the opportunity to start over and re-installed with my backup files.
   
   Now, through cPanel, I am seeing all my files in File Manager, but in WP I’m 
   seeing a fresh ‘Welcome to WordPress’ page with all my plugins but nothing else(
   exactly what I saw after I botched the prefix change) – and all I see in myPHPadmin
   is the old database with the prefix that I changed, and no files to be seen anywhere.
   The name of this database however matches the name of the NEW one that was setup
   during the install via NetLogistics. My very VERY limited knowledge is exhausted
   here, can anyone help? Thankyou!

Viewing 1 replies (of 1 total)

 *  [vtxyzzy](https://wordpress.org/support/users/vtxyzzy/)
 * (@vtxyzzy)
 * [11 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/installationdatabase-issue/#post-5277330)
 * Many times, you can’t just transfer a site by installing the backup files. When
   you move a site, you must replace the old URLs and paths with the new ones. Some
   of these are stored in the database in ‘serialized’ form where the string length
   is stored along with the string. You must use special tools to search and replace
   the old values with the new ones.
 * If you replace an old URL with a new one of a different length, it will break
   the serialization, causing many different problems.
 * If the old site is still available, you can use the steps shown in this article
   to copy the site: [http://wordpress.mcdspot.com/2012/08/22/migrating-a-wordpress-site-step-by-step/](http://wordpress.mcdspot.com/2012/08/22/migrating-a-wordpress-site-step-by-step/)
 * If the old site is not available, and you still have a copy of the database from
   that site, you should be able to use this tool to make the changes: [http://interconnectit.com/products/search-and-replace-for-wordpress-databases/](http://interconnectit.com/products/search-and-replace-for-wordpress-databases/)

Viewing 1 replies (of 1 total)

The topic ‘Installation/Database issue’ is closed to new replies.

## Tags

 * [database](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/database/)
 * [prefix](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/prefix/)

 * In: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
 * 1 reply
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [vtxyzzy](https://wordpress.org/support/users/vtxyzzy/)
 * Last activity: [11 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/installationdatabase-issue/#post-5277330)
 * Status: not resolved

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