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Once just a blog script, now it's one of the most popular CMS out there. Wordpress, is chosen by many web designers and developers alike as their CMS (Content Management System) of choice, when it comes to developing websites. With the simplicity, updates themes, plugins and support that Wordpress provides, it allows the developer to easily, build and manage the website. The website possibilities are endless, that's why I choose it for some of my websites.

With alot of my websites being powered by Wordpress, there are some instances where I might have to move or transfer a website to a new web host. Moving an entire Wordpress website to another host can sometimes include many problems and issues and take lots of time. There is more than one way that you can transfer your Wordpress website to a new host, but I will show you the method that I use. The time might vary according to how big the website is, however this method is guaranteed to work with minimal or no issues.

1)Preparation
Assuming that you have access to both web hosts, log into all two and open both MySQL database managers, most likely it will be phpMyAdmin. Create a new database on the new host and make sure you have both web hosts FTP information at hand. In this guide, the original web host will be referred to as HOST1, while the new host will be called HOST2. Lets begin

2) Back Up Original Website Database
After the initial preparations, the first thing we are going to do is go to HOST1 MSQL manager and save/backup the website database. If you are using phpMyAdmin, this can be done by selecting the database and clicking the export tab or link. I also recommend that you save the database as a file (.sql) and onto your computer for storage and for backup. We will be using that file later.

3) Back Up Original Website
Now that the database is backed up and saved in a good place, it's time to back up the website itself. This can be done in your web host's file manager or by FTP. Connect to HOST1 FTP using your preferred software and back up your entire website to your computer.

4) Upload Backed Up Website to New Host
From here you can start uploading the backed up website to HOST2. This might take a while epending on your website's size. In the mean time you can go ahead and import the previously saved MySQL database.

5)Import Backed Up Database to New Host
Importing a saved database into MySQL can be done by opening the database manager on HOST2. If it is phpMyAdmin, you can import it by clicking the import tab or link and browsing for the database file that you saved earlier.

6) Change your domain’s name servers

Go to your domain registrar, change the nameserver of your domain to HOST2 name servers. This information should be provided by HOST2 using the control panel. DNS propagation usually takes some time to complete, so we can move on to the next step.

7) Edit wp-config.php Database Connection Info
One last change to make in order to complete the website transfer process. For the new website to work, if must connect to the new database. Simple update your wp-config.php file with HOST2 MySQL connection information, and that's it, another Wordpress website successfully transferred.

This method is guaranteed to work, as you are basically mirroring or cloning the old website. The concept is kind of like creating an image of a hard disk and putting it on another. It doesn't have to be limited to just Wordpress websites or Blogs, but any CMS or script that uses a MySQL database. I hope you find this guide and information provided by cfweblog useful. It makes moving an entire Wordpress website to another host so much easier.