Can I Backup WordPress and Transfer It to Another Website?
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If you are looking to backup your entire website, take a look at
- web.config
- hosts
- Sitemap
- Backup
- DbUp
as these are some of the things you need to consider. You might also want to take a look at
- wp-config.php
- wp-content/backup.tar.gz
- htaccess
- indexes
- permalinks
as these are the configuration files for WordPress that you will find in the root folder of your install. Next, you will need to decide how often you want to run your backup, and whether or not you want to include a restore point in case something goes wrong.
Backup
If you are looking to back up your website, the first thing you should do is set up a service that regularly copies your website to a content delivery network (CDN). A CDN allows your content to be accessible from any internet-connected device in any location, regardless of your website’s actual location. In addition to increasing your website’s accessibility, a CDN will also increase its reliability because if one server goes down, the content can be served from another.
A Premium CDN, such as AWS CloudFront, offers incredible value for those looking to host their WordPress sites, as it offers free bandwidth, custom domains, and a dedicated IP to name a few.
Restore Point
A restore point is similar to a backup, but it is only designed to be used in the event of a disaster. A restore point allows you to return to the exact state of your website at a given point in time. Although it is not recommended to use a restore point frequently, it can be very useful in the event of a major disaster such as a server crash or website vandalization.
To create a restore point, you will need to perform a fresh install of WordPress on a new web hosting plan. Once the installation is complete, navigate to Settings in your WordPress dashboard and click Update on the Settings tab. From here you will be able to click Save Settings, giving you a new location to store your backup files in (keep in mind that these will be overwritten the next time you run an update).
Sitemap
A sitemap is an index of the pages on your website. Like a blog post, a sitemap can be used to create content for various platforms like Google Search and digital bookmarks.
WordPress has a built-in Sitemap generator that can be accessed from Settings in your dashboard. The default setting for this generator is located at Settings/Reading and it shows the most recent 20 items. If you would like to change this setting, click Sitemaps and create a new sitemap. To add a new item to your existing sitemap, simply click Add new sitemap.
By default, the sitemap generator will only create XML Sitemaps, but you can generate plain HTML, JavaScript, or CoffeeScript Sitemaps if you wish.
Hosts
A hosts file is a special type of text file that contains the domains for which you want to make sure that your computer does not resolve to when you type in the URL of a site or service. You can use a hosts file to block connections to specific sites that you do not want to access from your PC. In addition, you can use the hosts file to point your DNS settings to perform faster lookups for certain sites (e.g., Google, GitHub, etc.).
The best place to control which sites your computer should not resolve to is Network in your Windows Control Panel. However, if you are using a different OS, you can use the command line to add entries to your hosts file (e.g., sudo gedit /etc/hosts on Linux).
Database
Your website’s content is stored in a database, which is a collection of information that can be organized and accessed through a software application.
The type of database that your site uses will depend on how much information you want to keep track of. If you are looking to host a professional-looking blog with a ton of content, you will want to consider using a database application that is designed for large amounts of data. This will help ensure that your site does not crash or become unresponsive due to heavy traffic or complex editing.
One of the most popular and most efficient databases is WordPress itself. If you are using WordPress to power your blog, the database already comes pre-installed and you do not need to worry about buying a separate database application.
Web.config
As part of the setup process of a new website, you need to make sure that your web server has the correct configuration files for displaying web pages. One of the most important of these files is web.config, which controls the settings for various elements of your website’s appearance. The settings in this file are used to generate the HTML that is delivered to the user’s web browser when they visit your website.
This file is different from your WordPress config files (wp-config.php, etc.) in that it is not specific to one blog. Instead, it is used to configure the appearance of all the websites that are hosted on the same web server.
Let’s say that you have purchased a nice domain name for your site (e.g., mywebsite.com). When someone types in www.mywebsite.com in their web browser, the settings in the web.config file will determine the appearance of the WordPress homepage and any other pages or posts that are delivered to the browser.
You can click Edit next to the Welcome to WordPress string in your WordPress admin dashboard to view the contents of this file. If you see settings that you do not understand or are unsure of, ask your host for help. They will be able to provide guidance on the proper settings for your web server.