Word Press Clone Site

To clone a WordPress site when host provides cPanel X

CAUTION: You can mess up your existing install and or databases if you don’t know what you’re doing.

  1. Use Fantastico to create a new WordPress install
  2. Identify the new MySQL database name
  3. Export the old MySQL database , if cPanel then use phpMyAdmin
    Hint: Check out the “Comments” table to be sure you have the right one
    Hint: Be sure to check all the tables before exporting
  4. Import the old database to the new MySQL database using phpMyAdmin
  5. Download the old WordPress files and folders to your local computer, perhaps using Filezilla
  6. Delete the files and folders in the new WordPress install, perhaps using Filezilla
  7. Upload the old files and folders to the new WordPress install, again perhaps using Filezilla
  8. If database name or user changes, edit wp-config.php to have the correct values. Filezilla will let you edit the file and then upload it back.
  9. Now to change the urls in the new database follow the directions here:
    http://interconnectit.com/124/search-and-replace-for-wordpress-databases/
  1. Basically download searchreplacedb2.php, put it in the root directory of the new install and run it
  2. Note: You can find the old url in the database’s posts table (use phpMyAdmin to look)
  3. Note: You want to swap the old url for the new url
  4. Note: If you can’t remember the username/password, use cPanel’s MySql Databases to create a new one and apply it to the new database.
  5. Note: This is why it’s kinda messy to be doing this cloning stuff — but a lot less trouble than recreating all those plugins, settings, menus, images, blah, blah
  • That should do it.