A virtual Web server installed on your computer (Or local server) allows you to quickly and easily create and customize a website. Since each edit requires backup and refresh, developing a website on a remote server can easily turn into a nightmare given the limitations of bandwidth and internet traffic.

For this reason, most developers rightly choose to do all WordPress development on a local server and then upload the finished website to the live server. Likewise, future website updates are made and tested locally before being uploaded to the live environment.

In this post, I'll go through the process of moving a WordPress website from a local server to a live server.

This process allows you to safely move all content on your website (images, posts and pages) as well as WordPress themes and plugins from a directory on your computer to the production server on your hosting.

Obviously, there are a few useful plugins that can make this process easy, but it always pays to learn the manual process.

But before, if you have never installed WordPress discover How to Install a WordPress Blog in 7 Steps et How to search, install and activate a WordPress theme on your blog 

Then back to why we are here.

Preconditions

In this tutorial, I guess you have already fulfilled some prerequisites. These are just a few simple requirements that you will need before you start.

1 - Local installation of WordPress

You should have a WordPress website running on your computer. To learn more about setting up your own locale, see our tutorial on how to install WordPress locally.

2 - Hosting plan

You will also need an active hosting plan that offers PHP and MySQL. Fortunately, most service providersWeb hosting support PHP and MySQL. Even better, many providers offer installation scripts for WordPress to simplify things as much as possible.

3 - SFTP access

And finally, you should have access to SFTP your hosting account as well as a client program such as fileZilla. You will use it to upload the files to your hosting. Alternatively, you can use the option " File manager In cPanel but, unlike SFTP, cPanel does not provide a view of your local directory structure.

1 Method: Export and Import Content Using the Internal Features of WordPress

A quick and easy way to move a WordPress website from a local server to a production environment is to use the export tool built into WordPress. This method assumes that WordPress is already installed and configured on your live hosting account and that there is no content on your live website.

This is very important because the WordPress import feature will not overwrite existing content, it will just add. If you have old content, you can still use our guide to reset your WordPress website  so that you have a clean and empty facility.

To start moving your website, go to your locally installed WordPress dashboard and scroll to " Tools ". Select " Export And tick the option " All content ».

Export wordpress content

This will download an XML file to your computer. The file will contain all the details about the content of your website (unless you have selected a single content download option, for example, only your posts, your pages, a custom publication type, or your media).

Now log into your WordPress website, then activate the WordPress theme and the plugins you used on the local server. Once this is done, navigate to " Tools> Import ».

Import content to wordpress

If you are prompted to install the WordPress import plugin, do so and then activate it. Finally, use the plugin to import the .xml file you exported from your local website.

To do this, first click on the Run importers for WordPress content options (Please note:: you can also use this function to move content from other sources like Blogger, Tumblr, etc..).

Get rich by consulting our 7 WordPress plugins to import or export data

Then choose a file to select your XML file, then click to download and import. Now wait for your content to be imported. How long you wait will depend on how much content you upload and your hosting plan.

Method 2: use a plugin WordPress to move your website

If you want a transparent transfer to your website, it is better to consider a plugin. A quick Google search will show free options, but here are our top three favorites.

1. BackupBuddy

Another fantastic solution is BackupBuddy  by iThemes. This charming plugin is the first solution to manage your blog backups. With this, you can create full backups of websites (databases and all), schedule regular backups, store your own copies (Locally or via BackupBuddy Stash) and even restore your website with " ImportBuddy ».

Backupbuddy wordpress backup plugin by ithemes

But did you know that you can also use BackupBuddy to move your local website to your live website? You can use the built-in migration features of BackupBuddy to move your website from one computer to another (or from one lodging to another). The plugin manages domain changes, automatically replaces your URLs, and more to pass your website in a more transparent way.

Download Demo | Web hosting 

2. Duplicator

Duplicator is a great freemium plugin that you can use to manage your own website backups and migrations. With the free plugin " Duplicator You can easily create your own backups on demand, create lots of design websites (a content package, a WordPress theme and plugins to reuse on client websites) and easily move your website from local to a production website (just install the plugin locally on a package Then install it on your live website using the same plugin).

Duplicator - wordpress migration extension - wordpress.org wordpress extension english

Otherwise, if you choose " Duplicator Pro You can use premium features for scheduled backups, synchronization software (Amazon, Dropbox, Google Drive, and more.), multisite compatibility, cPanel API, email notification, technical support and more.

Download Demo | Web hosting 

3. Backup And Restore

Backup And Restore is a WordPress Plugin premium that will help you schedule your website backups to a local server or to different cloud servers such as Dropbox, Google Drive and Amazon S3. You will therefore be able to restore your entire website, including the database, from existing restore points with just one click.

Backup and restore

Downloading your website, database and all your backups will also be possible. This plugin will also help you manage the backup and restore processes in a simple, secure and reliable way.

Its features include: full website backup, Amazon S3 backup, Google Drive, dropbox, the disk space manager, the auto-deletion of old backups, the complete restoration of your website, support for multisiteEtc. ...

Download | Demo | Web hosting

4. Super Backup & Clone - Migrate

Here we present to you the WordPress Plugin premium Super Backup & Clone - Migrate which will allow you to save your website. Indeed, working on your website is always a long and cumbersome process, and it would be a pity if you lost your job due to misconfiguration or mishandling.

Super backup clone migrate for wordpress

This plugin is therefore a reliable backup solution that will allow you avoid losing your data.

Among its features, we will find among others: an intuitive dashboard, the possibility of keeping several instances of backups, migration to another possible server, restoration of backups, automatic diagnosis, excellent customer support, multisite support, etc….

Download | DemoWeb hosting

Other recommended resources

We also invite you to consult the resources below to go further in the grip and control of your website and blog.

Conclusion

Here ! That's it for this tutorial, I hope it will now be easy for you to move your WordPress blog. Do not forget to tell us about your Comments, proposals and suggestions on this article.

However, you can also consult our resources, if you need more elements to carry out your projects of creation of Internet sites, by consulting our guide on the WordPress blog creation or the one on Divi: the best WordPress theme of all time.

Mostly share this article on your different social networks.   

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