Have you ever had to move a WordPress website from one host to another? Although you can always do it just by the traditional method of exporting the content via FTP, and then backing up the database through Phpmyadmin, this is annoying to do and could be tricky for a beginner.
There are lots of different tutorials out there, but they often provide slightly different instructions or ones that are outdated. Furthermore, if you are using a less-than-common host, then it can be tricky to find instructions that closely match what you see at each step of the process. Not fun at all!
Don’t you wish you could just export a single file of your site on its existing hosting, and then upload that to your new hosting instead?
With a nifty little WordPress plugin called All-In- One WP Migration you can do just that.
This is a really short review, but hopefully you’ll get the idea:
What Is All-In-One WP Migration?
Basically, it’s a plugin for migration a WordPress website. You can use it for backing your site up, although the real intended purpose is for moving your site from one host to another. You might be changing host due to performance issues, price, or any other factor.
This will be relevant to you if you a looking at migrating from say Hostgator to Bluehost. It can be used whether or not you are changing domain name as well.
Is It Free?
Yes, All-In- One WP Migration is free up until a file size of 512mb. That means that if your website is larger than 512mb, then you will need to spring for the premium edition. This requires purchasing the Unlimited Extension from the developer, Servmask. The good news is that you can use this on unlimited websites, and get premium support.
This costs $59 USD and can be paid via Paypal or with Bitcoin, which is cool.
You can also purchase other upgrades that allow you to things like backup and import from a URL or FTP.
How Do You Use It?
This is SO simple you just won’t believe it. The first step is to install the free plugin. Just go to the WP plugin search and look for the following:
Now install it like you would any other plugin.
Once it’s installed you need to click here from your WP sidebar and choose Export:
This will load up the export options panel where you can actually create the image of your site to be exported:
Now there are advanced options available if you want to use them. For example, you can choose not to migrate things like spam comments. This can be helpful to cut down on wasted space (especially if you are just over 512mb in backup size which would require you to purchase the unlimited subscription for the plugin).
My advice is that if you don’t know what the advanced options do, then don’t touch them.
You can also pick some different places to export to. I just chose File, which generates a file that downloads to your computer. Most of the other options (e.g. export to Onedrive) require you to purchase an additional upgrade to the plugin:
Once it has done its magic and exported your site file (using a custom file extension called .wpress if I recall correctly) you are ready to import your site to its new hosting.
All you need to do is install the plugin on a clean WordPress install and then choose import:
Remember that if your exported file was over 512mb, then you’ll need an additional upgrade that costs $59 USD.
Once you’ve selected your file to import you just sit back and let the plugin run.
When everything is ported over successfully you will get a popup message telling you to save your permalinks twice. I’m not sure exactly why this is necessary, but for whatever reason it is important to ensure that your site migrates in a working fashion.
After that process is complete, you will log back in to your “old” site on its “new” hosting. And that means JOB DONE … YOUR SITE IS NOW MIGRATED.
Conclusion
Is All-In- One WP Migration worth installing?
Heck yes.
This is one of the best tools I have EVER used in my entire online marketing career. If you’re running a WordPress-based website and want the ability to easily move your site to a new host, then it’s well worth giving All-In-One WP Migration a try.
It took me under 30 minutes to completely migrate a WordPress site – and with just about no hassle whatsoever. I didn’t even have to have my passwords changed! How awesome is that?
The free tier is really good; all you miss out on is the ability to migrate sites larger than 512mb (if you’re building smaller affiliate-type sites, then you’ll probably not be exceeding 512mb anyway). The site I moved was over 1Gb so I had to pay for premium access. $59 to say goodbye to hassle is a small price to pay, in my opinion.
The unlimited option would be KILLER if you were selling websites through a platform like Flippa. You could easily migrate the site from your hosting to the new owner’s with almost zero hassle and fuss. What a dream.
If you’re using WordPress and need to change your hosting for whatever reason, then go and get All-In-One WP Migration right now.