Moving WordPress is a task that many people find daunting. The advice on the Codex, while comprehensive, gives you a myriad of options and doesn’t describe the process simply and in one place.

When I had to move a WordPress installation for the first time, I spent hours searching online for information on the various aspects of the process, and eventually wrote myself a checklist — which I still use.

So to save you the hassle, here’s a step-by-step guide to moving a WordPress website. I’ll cover three different scenarios, which in my experience are the most common:

• Moving a website from a subdirectory of a domain to the root directory (for example, if you’ve been using a subdirectory for development while not affecting an existing website that’s in the root);
• Moving a website from a local installation to a remote installation; and
• Moving a website between domains or hosts.

Before You Start

Before you start any of these methods, make a backup of your website:

• Your theme files;
• Your uploads;
• The plugins you’ve used, so you won’t have to spend time downloading them again if things go wrong; and
• Your database.

You can back up the database using one of a number of tools:

• phpMyAdmin;
• Sequel Pro for OS X;
• Terminal commands;
• A MySQL desktop client; or
• A backup plugin such as WP-DB-Backup, which will provide you a copy of your database by email or download.

In this article I’ll show you how to back up your database using phpMyAdmin, as this is provided by most hosting providers and has a relatively easy-to-use interface.

If I’m going to be editing the database (which needs to be done when uploading a website or moving it between hosts or servers), I start by making a duplicate of the database and adding “old” to its name. This is the backup, and I’ll be editing the original database.

Moving A Website From A Subdirectory To The Root

This is by far the simplest of the three moves I’m going to cover, because you don’t actually have to move anything — or nearly anything. This method will work on a standard installation of WordPress, and will work with most frameworks, or if you’re using a parent and child theme structure.

Beware! This method will not work for:

• Multi-site installations; or
• Sites using Genesis as a framework (or so I’m told, I haven’t tested it myself — if you can get it to work please leave a comment below).

The great thing about this method is that it only takes from three to ten minutes depending on your setup — no time at all in the scheme of things.

1. Remove the Existing Website

If there is an existing website in the root directory, remove it. It may be another WordPress installation or it may be a static website.

If it’s a WordPress website, make a backup as detailed above, and then delete all of the WordPress files in the root.

• If you have access to Softaculous or another installation service via your hosting control panel, use that to uninstall WordPress.
• If not, use phpMyAdmin to drop (delete) the database from the existing website. See the next section for details of how to do this.
• After dropping the database, remove all WordPress files. This normally means any files or folders beginning with wp-.
• Beware — don’t remove the existing site until you have made a backup!

2. Turn Off Permalinks

Turn off pretty permalinks in the “Permalinks” screen, which you’ll find in the “Settings” menu. Do this by selecting the “Default” option and clicking “Save Changes.”

Larger version.

3. Change Your Website Address

In “Settings” → “General,” change the address of your website but not the address of WordPress. For example if you’ve been working on the website at example.com/development, change the settings as follows:

• WordPress address (URL): http://example.com/development
• Site Address (URL): http://example.com

Save by clicking on the “Save Changes” button and move on to the next steps before trying to access your website.

4. Copy and Edit Two Files

Using FTP/SFTP or cPanel file manager, copy (don’t move) the following files from your WordPress directory to the root directory:

• index.php
• .htaccess, if you have one. If there isn’t an .htaccess file (and turning off pretty permalinks means you’re less likely to have one), don’t worry about creating one.

Edit the index.php file that you’ve moved. You could do this by:

• Editing it in situ after the move, by using FTP/SFTP or cPanel file manager;
• Downloading it from the subdirectory, editing it and then uploading it to the root directory — instead of making a copy.

The edit you need to make is very simple, to one line at the end of the file. You simply change this:

require ('./wp-blog-header.php)

..to this:

require ('./subdirectoryname/wp-blog-header.php)

So if you’ve been developing in example.com/development, just change the line to:

require ('./development/wp-blog-header.php)

Save the new index.php file.

5. Turn Permalinks Back On and Test

Back in the WordPress admin, turn pretty permalinks on again, with whatever setting you need for your website.

Visit the root domain of your website in the browser and it will display the website that’s stored in the subdirectory, but the URL will show the root URL rather than the subdirectory URL. And that’s it!

Uploading A WordPress Website From A Local To A Remote Installation

This is one of the most common instances of moving WordPress. If you’re working on a local website for development and need to upload it either to go live or because you need to show a client or other team members your work, you’re going to need to upload your WordPress website. This is more complicated than moving from a subdirectory to the root directory, and involves moving three things:

• WordPress itself — you’ll need to install this in the new location;
• The database — which you can move using phpMyAdmin;
• Your theme files, uploads and plugins.

1. Turn Off Permalinks

Turn off pretty permalinks in the “Permalinks” screen, which you’ll find in the “Settings” menu. Do this by selecting the “Default” option and clicking “Save Changes.”

2. Backup the Database

Make a copy of the database and give it a new name (for example, by adding “old” to its name).

3. Install WordPress In the New Location and Upload Content

Using your preferred method, install WordPress on the server you want to move your website to.

Using FTP or SFTP, copy the files from your local “wp-content” directory to the remote “wp-content” directory, using the same folder structure as in your local install.

Go and have a cup of coffee. These files could take a while to upload.

4. Edit the Database

Open the original database file from your local installation and edit it. Using your preferred text editor, replace the old, local URL for the website with the new, remote URL.

So for example, if your local URL is http://localhost/example, you would change it to http://example.com.

Using the “replace” command in your text editor will speed this up — there could be thousands of instances. Save your new database.

5. Drop the Existing Remote Database

Note: This step only applies if you’ve used a script such as Softaculous or Fantastico to install WordPress, as they automatically create a new database. If you’ve installed WordPress manually, you can ignore this bit.

In phpMyAdmin, drop (delete) the database that was installed in the remote website when you installed WordPress:

• Select the database you’re working with.
• Click on the “Structure” tab.
• Below the list of tables, click “Check All.”
• In the drop-down menu which says “With selected,” select “Drop”:

  
  Larger version.

• You will see a warning message checking that you want to drop all tables. Click “Yes.”
• Finally you will see a message telling you that your query has been implemented:

  
  Larger version.

6. Upload the New Database

While you are still in phpMyAdmin, upload the database you’ve edited:

• Click the “Import” tab.
• Click the “Choose file” button.
• Select the database you saved in step 4 and click “Choose” or “OK.”
• Click the “Go” button.
• After a while (depending on the size of your database), you will see a message telling you the upload has successfully finished:

  

7. Clear Your Browser’s Cache

This avoids any problems you may have if the browser has cached content from the old version of the remote database.

8. Log Into the WordPress Admin For the Remote Website and Update Permalinks

Your log-in details will be the same as for your local website. If you specified different log-in details when installing remotely, these will have been overridden by the imported database.

Visit the “Permalinks” screen and turn pretty permalinks back on.

You’re done!

Moving A WordPress Website Between Hosts

This process is almost exactly the same as that for uploading a website from a local installation. The only difference is that you need to download the files and database from the existing website.

Follow the above process, with changes to step 2:

2. Download and Backup the Old Database and Files

In phpMyAdmin for the old website, select the correct database and click on the “Export” tab. Download the database by clicking the “Go” button. The database will download to your machine.

Move the database out of your downloads folder to somewhere useful and make a copy of it. You’ll be working with this database in Step 4.

Using FTP or SFTP, download the contents of wp-content from your old website. You will upload this to the new website in step 3.

Now return to the original process.

Summary

Moving WordPress doesn’t need to be complicated. As long as you follow the steps above in the right order, your data will be safe and your website will work in its new location. Important points to remember are:

• Always back up your website before you start.
• If moving WordPress within a domain, you don’t need to move the whole thing, just make some changes to the settings and move and edit the index.php file.
• When uploading your database to a new location, make sure you upload the version that you’ve edited with the new URL, not the backup version with the old URL. Otherwise, at the very least, internal links will break and it’s possible you’ll see the white screen of death when you try to install your website.

If at any stage you go wrong, undo what you’ve done and start again with your backup. You did make a backup, right?

Resources

The WordPress Codex includes resources that will help you apply this method whatever your hosting setup:

• Moving WordPress
• Giving WordPress Its Own Directory
• Installing WordPress

For help with phpMyAdmin, see phpMyAdmin’s documentation.

There are also plugins which will help you move WordPress if you don’t want to do it all manually. I haven’t tested all of these, so I can’t vouch for their reliability or ease of use. If you do use one, do so with care.

• WordPress Move
• Backup and Move Plugin
• WP-DB-Backup

(cp)

© Rachel McCollin for Smashing Magazine, 2013.

At 87 years old, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher passed away this morning on April 8th, 2013. She suffered from several strokes since her retirement in 2002, which caused her death.

Not only is Thatcher the only female Prime Minister, but she served for three terms  – the longest time in office since before the 19th century.

Leading the Conservative Party, Thatcher privatized many industries and ended government subsidies to pay off the country’s massive debt. According to The Economist,

Her enthusiasm for privatization launched a global revolution and her willingness to stand up to tyranny helped to bring an end to the Soviet Union.

Thatcher worked closely with Reagan and supported Gorbachev’s rise to power, but argued against the reunification of East and West Germany. 

While social media is lamenting over Thatcher’s death, its also mourning the passing of another icon: Cher.

A website called “Is Thatcher Dead Yet?” changed its home page from a big NO to a big YES as of today. It also provides a Spotify playlist, a search result to finding parties on Facebook, and a link to the official Twitter hashtag, “#nowthatchersdead.”

Unfortunately, many are confused and reading the trend as “now that Cher’s dead,” which completely brings the focus away from the actual point of the hashtag. But it seems that more people are correcting the misleading link than lamenting Cher.

Here’s the philosophical question of the day: who would get more media attention if they died on the same day… Margaret Thatcher, or Cher?

jQuery Mobile 1.3 is now available as a stable release.

This new version spearheads the jQuery team’s efforts to fully incorporate responsive web design principles into its robust library. Among the new features are several widgets optimized for touch interfaces, including smooth panel overlays, dual-handle range sliders, as well as two different options for responsive tables.

The new features

The new panel widgets allow hidden information to be displayed in a very smooth, eye-catching way. With three modes for transitioning—overlay, reveal and push—the panel slides in from the left or right with a swipe, click or press of the keyboard, keeping the design responsive regardless of the user’s chosen method of input.

Also making its debut is a new feature of the tried and true list view: autocomplete! This feature works just as it sounds. Simply begin typing your desired criteria, and voila! Just like a Google search bar, matches are automatically displayed below the input.

Tables in jQuery Mobile 1.3 now allow two additional modes: column toggle and reflow mode. Column toggle mode allows the user to select which columns of a table to hide and which to display. Reflow mode takes responsive web design to heart and solves the headache of formatting tables dynamically for small screens. It does this by breaking down a table and displaying each row as its own table, with the column labels as row headers and the row data transposed into a column format.

What this means for responsive web design

jQuery has long been a dependable framework, favored for its ability to simplify otherwise tedious and complex JavaScript tasks. jQuery Mobile has been tasked since its inception with bringing that same simplicity to the mobile arena, where touch interfaces rule the roost.

Given the nature of having two separate implementations for two different platforms, the jQuery team has witnessed some confusion with the recent responsive web design movement. People have asked whether they should use responsive web design or jQuery Mobile for their sites, to which Todd Parker (member of the jQuery Mobile team) has responded with an emphatic “both”!

Mr. Parker might be on to something here, too. By employing the rich features of the jQuery mobile framework, web designers can quickly blend their mobile sites into a broader responsive strategy without sacrificing innovation.

Only a few of the new features are listed here; the entire change log can be viewed in the release announcement. Also, take a gander at the jQuery Mobile 1.3 demo site for some quality hands-on time.

Do you use jQuery, jQuery Mobile, or both? Which new features are your favorites? Let us know in the comments.

Get Certified Adobe Training for Web Design – 50% off!

Hacking anything connected to the Internet

The Shodan search engine allows anyone to search for anything connected to the Internet and if security settings are not turned on, take control of the device.

Video here: http://money.cnn.com/video/technology/2013/04/05/t-ts-shodan-hacking-devices.cnnmoney/index.html?iid=HP_LN

Students are trying to start a chapter of the Delta Alpha Pi honors society at UMBC.  It is an  honors society for students with documented disabilities. 

Since this is an honors society students must meet specific criteria in order to become a member.  This is a pre-established international honors society so these requirements have been predetermined and unfortunately cannot be manipulated. 

For undergraduate students:

1. Must have a documented disability.

2. Must be interested in disability issues

3. Have a UMBC GPA of at least 3.1

4. Have completed at least 24 credits at any school.

Graduate students are also welcome:

1. Must have a documented disability.

2. Must be interested in disability issues.

3. Have a GPA of at least 3.3

4. Have completed at least 18 credits.

Delta Alpha Pi is a way to celebrate the academic accomplishments of those with documented disabilities. Disabilities include all types as long as they are documented (physical disabilities, learning disabilities, ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorders, ect.) I want to do this because as a student with ADHD and learning disabilities I have to work harder than the average student to get an A and I know I am not alone.  I realize that a lot of people with disabilities are embarrassed about it or fear it may hurt them for graduate school or going into the work force.  Delta Alpha Pi can only help you because it shows that although you have disabilities you have shown that you can beat the odds. Delta Alpha Pi members also do activities to take away the stigma of disabilities and to educate the community.   

For more information you can contact me at Sjul1@umbc.edu or leave comments below.  The official Delta Alpha Pi honors society website is also attached to this message. 

This is a great opportunity and we just need 10 students to get started!