Documentation

Quick Start Guide

Last updated April 12, 2023


For more video tutorials on how to use WP Migrate, check out our video screencasts that guide you through your first migration.

Introduction

To get started with WP Migrate, you first have to decide which operation you want to perform:

  • Export — generates a MySQL dump when exporting just the database or a ZIP archive when exporting a full site (database and files)
  • Pull — replaces a local WordPress database with the contents of a remote WordPress database
  • Push — replaces a remote WordPress database with the contents of a local WordPress database
  • Find & Replace — Run a find & replace on the current database
  • Import — Import a SQL file into the current database

Can’t decide between push and pull? Perhaps this diagram will help.

Export Quick Start

  1. In the WP Migrate user interface, click the Migrate tab or the New Migration button
  2. Select the Export action in the list of migration options
  3. In the “Custom Find & Replace” section, add any values you would like changed in the database during the export (optional). Please refer to the Custom Find & Replace documentation if you’re unsure of what these values should be
  4. To include site files in the archive, select the checkbox for each group of files you would like to include
  5. Click the Export button
  6. If only the database was selected, then a MySQL dump file will be downloaded which can be imported using WP Migrate
  7. If files were included in the export, then a ZIP archive will be downloaded which can be imported to Local or another environment of your choice

Pull Quick Start

  1. Log in to the site that will have its database replaced by a remote database
  2. In the WP Migrate user interface, click the Migrate tab, or the New Migrations button
  3. Click the Pull button in the list of migration options
  4. Log in to the remote site and browse to the WP Migrate user interface
  5. Click the Settings tab
  6. Ensure the “Pull” toggle under “Permissions” is enabled
  7. Highlight and copy the “Connection Info” into your clipboard, or use the Copy to Clipboard button
  8. Switch back to the site you logged into during step 1
  9. Paste your clipboard into the “Connection” text area in the “Remote Site” panel, you will be connected to the remote site
  10. Configure any additional migration options (optional)
  11. Click the Pull button
  12. The remote database will be pulled into your local WordPress installation

Push Quick Start

  1. Log in to the site that will have its database pushed to a remote site
  2. In the WP Migrate user interface, click the Migrate tab or the New Migrations button
  3. Click the Push button in the list of migration options
  4. Log in to the remote site
  5. Click the Settings tab
  6. Ensure the “Push” toggle under “Permissions” is enabled
  7. Highlight and copy the “Connection Info” into your clipboard, or use the Copy to Clipboard button
  8. Switch back to the site you logged into during step 1
  9. Paste your clipboard into the “Connection” text area in the “Remote Site” panel, you will be connected to the remote site
  10. Configure any additional migration options (optional)
  11. Click the Push button
  12. The local database will be pushed to your remote WordPress installation

Find & Replace Quick Start

  1. In the WP Migrate user interface, click the Migrate tab or the New Migrations button
  2. Click the Find & Replace button in the list of migration options
  3. Fill in the empty text fields in the “Find / Replace” section. Please refer to the Find & Replace Fields documentation if you’re unsure of what these values should be
  4. Configure any additional migration options (optional)
  5. Click the Find & Replace button

SQL Import Quick Start

  1. In the WP Migrate user interface, click the Migrate tab or the New Migrations button
  2. Click the Import Database button in the list of migration options
  3. Select an SQL export file to upload and import
  4. The import will automatically configure the find and replace values. You can edit the replacement values if they are not correct, or disable each value by un-checking the relevant checkbox.
  5. Optionally, you can choose to back up the current database before running the import, by expanding the “Backup the database before running the import” section and choosing from the available options. Your backups can be found (and downloaded) in the Backups tab
  6. If you don’t want to import the ‘active plugins setting’, expand the “Advanced Options” and check the “Do not import the ‘active plugins’ setting” checkbox to preserve the currently active plugins on the site
  7. Click the Import button