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2. How to Move WordPress Local to Live

Author: Carl Heaton
He is our senior instructor and originally from Manchester UK. Carl teaches our Web Design and Online Marketing Courses.
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Moving WordPress from local to host is not easy at it has a lot of steps. Luckily this video contains them all and you can hit pause after each stage so you work along side Koen and I.Moving WordPress from local to host is not easy at it has a lot of steps. Luckily this video contains them all and you can hit pause after each stage so you work along side Koen and I.

Step 1 – How to Setup Hosting and a Domain

Step 3 – How Submit a WordPress Website to Google

Moving WordPress From Local To Host – Preparing and Uploading The WordPress Files

First we need to zip the local files ready for uploading to the server. The nice thing about using cPanel is that we don`t have to upload each file separately which can potentially take hours.

Once we have the zip file we can upload it using the cPanel File Manager. This will take some time so once it is uploading we can start exporting our local database.

First go to File Manager, find the correct directory for the add-on domain, or use the root public_html directory if you have just one website.

Moving WordPress From Local To Host – A Clever Way of Updating your Database

Teaching WordPress with trainees who do not yet have hosting can be a challenge as we have to create websites locally. This is great for teaching but not when the trainee wants to see their website live on the web. The reason it is difficult boils down to the WordPress database that needs updating to use the new domain i.e. change http://localhost/charlie to http://www.thecharliechaplin.com.

For a long time I battled with SQL queries and various WordPress plug-ins but still it was never perfect, they always missed something. Then I thought why not just treat the database like any other text file you want to find and replace something. So lets start by exporting the database ready for finding and replacing.

Go to your localhost phpMyAdmin, probably at http://localhost/phpmyadmin (or for Mac http://localhost:8888/phpmyadmin), click the database (e.g. charlie), click Export and at the bottom make sure you have “Save as file” selected with no compression. Once you click Go you will then download a SQL file.

Now here is where the magic starts and we use something like Notepad++. Open the SQL file, you will need something simple like Notepad or Text Edit. Once open, and this may take a while depending on the complexity of the website,

Moving WordPress From Local To Host – Uploading a WordPress Database

We will now log into our hosting which luckily uses cPanel. Creating a database takes three stages. First we will create the database and choose a relevant name so we know what database belongs to what website.

Once you have the database it needs a user to applications like your website can access and manage it. Move down the page and create a user name and add nice strong password. Little tip here is to copy and past the database name, username and password into .otepad document and save it away for a rainy day (especially true if you are doing client work).

Now we need to give the user permissions with the database. Select the user and then the database, when you click add you`ll see the privileges screen. The WordPress documentation recommends adding all permissions while others suggest limited access.

Well done and I understand it already feels like a lot to take in but trust me it gets easier each time you do it. Next to connect the WordPress to the database.

Moving WordPress From Local To host – Connecting The WordPress to the Database

Luckily this is the easy part so first we need to the wp-config.php which is hiding deep in the zip file that should be uploaded by now.

Go to the file manager, you made need to refresh, and right click on the zip file and uncompress it.

Feel good to see the files? Feels like you are moving forward and we are.

Now three changes to the database name, username and password. We get all three from the database name we created earlier and the username password for the user. Did you save them to a .otepad? If so it is time to copy and paste:

moving wordpress from local to host

Click save and then go to your website address, for us it is TheCharlieChaplin.com.

Stage 3 – Submitting Your Website to the Search Engines

With your site now ready and live on the web, you are ready to tell the world about it. Click to goto stage 3 and learn how to submit your website to Google. 

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