The Gravity View team has aimed to fix this by creating a plugin to bypass the login portion of the process. It is Gravity Forms Entries in Excel. This plugin will allow you to easily export entries from all Gravity forms.

Today, I will demonstrate how to do this.

What Is Gravity Forms?

Gravity forms is a premium contact form plugin for WordPress. It allows you to create any type of contact form in a stylish and professional manner.

Contact forms allow users to enter personal information for the website to collect. These can come in a variety of forms with the most common being a registration form.

However, there are hundreds of options available.

Collecting the information is only half of the battle. The other half is assembling that information into a readable format that can be used for analytics, which is most common in the Microsoft Excel format.

While Gravity Forms provides a built-in way to export form data to Excel, many users feel that it can be annoying to access. Luckily, there are other options available.

Is It Really That Hard to Export Data From A Gravity Form?

To be honest, not really.

The process is actually pretty straightforward. The issue that many people have with the process is that you have to log in to the Gravity Forms website. While this doesn’t take very long, it can get annoying if you plan to export regularly.

This problem is made worse if the person who needs the CSV file is not an admin because you would need to sign in with an admin account to do this.

The plugin avoids this by allowing you to create a CSV export directly from the forms section of the plugin. In total, it will take less than a minute and can be set up so that any user role in WordPress can get the file for themself.

How to Export Gravity Forms with Gravity Forms Entries

Step 1: Install Gravity Forms Entries

It should go without saying that you do need to have the Gravity Forms plugin installed to use GravityExport Lite. This plugin was specifically designed as a free add-on for Gravity Forms and will allow you to easily export CSV files.

Thus, all of the settings are available with the Gravity Forms settings section. It is compatible with all of the premium add-ons available in Gravity Forms.

Let’s start by clicking on Plugins and selecting the Add New option on the left-hand admin panel.

Search for GravityExport Lite in the available search box. This will pull up additional plugins that you may find helpful.

Scroll down until you find the GravityExport Lite plugin and click on the “Install Now” button and activate the plugin for use.

Note: Without Gravity Forms installed, you cannot do anything with this plugin.

Step 2: Access Entries in Excel

With the plugin activated, you are ready to begin. The first part is to actually find the section the plugin adds to your website.

On the left-hand admin panel, click on Forms and select the Forms option.

Here you will see a full list of forms you have on your website. Hover your mouse over the form of your choice to reveal additional options. Click on the Settings option.

Click on the Entries in Excel option at the bottom.

Step 3: Settings

This section contains all of the settings the plugin offers. It only needs to be configured once. After that, you can simply click the download button. Of course, you can change the settings at any time.

The first thing you will see is an “Enable download” button, but let’s ignore that for now. Instead, below this, you will find the Security and General Settings sections.

The security section allows you to choose if everyone has access to the download feature or only logged-in users have access. Simply pick the best option for your website.

The general settings include a variety of simple options that you can configure. The first is if you want to include entry notes with the download. This is off by default, but feel free to enable it.

Next, you can choose how you want the order to appear in Excel. The plugin offers you a lot of choices including dates, telephone numbers, cities, and more. Use the drop-down to make your choice.

The next couple of choices allow you to select the column position, enter a custom filename, choose the type of file extension (.csv or .xlsx), and choose if a notification is sent out when a download is created.

Underneath this, you will find a Field Settings section. Here, you can select any fields that you do not want to be included in the excel file. Simply drag the fields you do not want to include into the Disabled fields section.

I would recommend excluding any fields that do not have quantifiable data. For instance, the Your Comments/Questions fields allow visitors to leave a comment on the form. While this is valuable information, it might not be great in an excel format.

When you are done, click on the “Save Settings” button.

Step 4: Download the File

At this point, all you need to do is actually download the file. Going forward, this is all you will need to do to create an Excel export for anything in Gravity Forms.

At the top left, you will find the form selector. This is how you select the form you want to use. Simply use the drop-down to select the form you want to export.

Next, we need to actually enable the ability to download a form. To do so, click on the “Enable download” button.

This will generate a download URL for your website. You can disable this ability at any time by clicking on the “Disable download” button.

Below this, you will find a download file section. Here, you can enter a range of dates to choose which information you want to export. Alternatively, you can leave it blank. Doing so will export all of the data available.

Click on the “Download” button. The file can be found within your computer’s Downloads folder.

That’s it, your Gravity Form is now ready for use in Excel, congratulations!

Analytics Is Critical For All Websites

One of the biggest misconceptions that new website owners have is how much work goes into managing analytical data.

Let’s not beat around the bush, it’s getting harder and harder to get visitors to fill out contact forms. Most visitors have become more guarded about their personal information, which makes them more reluctant to share.

Yet, this is only half of the battle. The information you do collect needs to be converted into easily readable data. If it is not, then the information you collected is useless.

The good news is that there are so many programs and sites available to help you get the most out of your data.

Why did you need to export a form in Gravity Forms? Do you find this method easier than the built-in one?

The post How to Export Gravity Forms Entries to Excel in WordPress appeared first on GreenGeeks.

WordPress has a built-in export function (Tools > Export) that will export posts, pages, comments, custom fields, terms, navigation menus, and custom posts. It works great, but it exports an XML file. Is there any way to make WordPress export a CSV file rather than the default WordPress XML export?

As a matter of fact, there is. But to do it, you’ll need a WordPress export plugin. We’re going to use WP All Export. It extends beyond the abilities of the native WordPress export system, so let’s get ready to export.

WP All Export

Log in to your WordPress admin panel.

In the left column navigation mouse over the “Plugins” link and click the “Add New” link.

In the “Search plugins…” box, enter “WP All Export.”

Once you have located the plugin, click the “Install Now” button.

When the plugin has been installed, click the “Activate” button.

Using WP All Export

We’re focusing on how to export WordPress data as a CSV file, but the WP All Export plugin can do a lot more than that. Perhaps most notably, it can schedule automatic exports, export user data, and even export customers and orders from WooCommerce.

All things that the built-in WordPress exporter can’t do.

To get that functionality from WP All Export, you’ll have to opt for the paid version of the plugin, but I thought it was worth mentioning here.

Let’s see how we can export WordPress data in the CSV format.

In the left column navigation, mouse over the “All Export” link and click the “New Export” link.

If you’re comfortable writing your own queries, you can use the “WP_Query Results” button. To keep it a bit more simple in this tutorial, I’m going to use the “Specific Post Type” option.

Click the “Choose a post type…” drop-down and choose “Posts” or “Pages.” Those are the only options that will work in the free version of the plugin.

You’ll see a dialog letting you know how many posts will be exported.

Below that, there’s an “Add Filtering Options” drop-down, which may appear tempting. But, it is also not available in the free version of the plugin.

“Customize Export File” is available though, so we’ll take a look at what we can do. But first, let’s do a standard export without any customization.

Standard Export

Click the “Migrate Posts” button.

On the confirmation page, “Scheduling Options” are not available to us in the free version. You won’t normally need to change anything in the “Configure Advanced Settings” section (if your export times out, reduce the “In each iteration…” number or use the “Split large exports into multiple files” option).

So, we’ll click the “Confirm & Run Export” button to finish up.

The results page gives you the option to download the CSV file or a “Bundle.” You don’t need to download the bundle unless you’re using the companion “WP All Import” plugin.

There’s also a public URL generated so the export can be downloaded by anyone with the web address. That could be handy if you want to provide the export data to someone, but you don’t necessarily want to give them admin access to the site (or send the data via email).

Customizing the Export

Like we did in the standard export example, click the “Choose a post type…” drop-down and choose “Posts” or “Pages.”

Now on the dialog page, you’ll know how many posts will be exported. We’ll choose “Customize Export File.”

You can see that you now have the ability to choose what data is included in the export.

The box on the left represents the export file. So if we don’t change anything, the box is telling us the file will contain the post ID, Title, and Content (in that order).

Clicking the “Preview” button shows you what the export will look like.

To add data to the export, drag it into the box from the list on the right.

I’ll drag the Author Username over.

Then if we look at the preview, you can see the username is there.

You can also change the order of the data in the export by dragging the items and rearranging them.

The “Advanced Options” drop-down lets you change the CSV separator, and the “Export Type” drop-down lets you export to an Excel file if you prefer that to CSV.

Click the “Continue” button.

Then click the “Confirm & Run Export” button to finish up.

Taking WP All Export Further

You can use the same methods we just went through to export page data as well.

I mentioned earlier that there’s a paid version of this plugin. Since so many of the plugins we cover here have paid tiers, let’s take a minute to talk about plugin developers.

I know we all like free stuff, but supporting plugin developers allows them to continue offering the tools that make the WordPress environment as rich with possibilities as it is. So if you like a tool—or more importantly, if you benefit from the use of a tool—consider supporting the developers by buying a license from them.

Have you ever had the need to export data from your WordPress site? Did you use the native WordPress export or another tool? Let me know in the comments.

The post How to Export WordPress Data to CSV Files appeared first on GreenGeeks.

I’m going to show you how to make it easier with the All-in-One WP Migration plugin.

First, Some Website Migration Basics

Some things apply to every website move, not just a WordPress migration. First things first, though, if you’re moving to GreenGeeks, you can skip this entire article because we’ll migrate your website for you.

For free.

If you’ve ever migrated websites yourself, you know that’s a valuable service. Our migration team has seen it all, so I can confidently say that they can handle your move and save you a mountain of stress and bother.

Okay, that being said, when you’re migrating a website, here are some essential points to keep in mind. If you’ve been down this road, this is probably old news, and you can skip ahead to the next section on installing the plugin.

But if you’re new to site migration, read on.

• Keep the site up at your old host while you plan and execute the move. You want to prevent website downtime, or at least keep it to a minimum, so it’s important that the site stays up at the old host until you’re sure everything is up and running at the new host.
• Databases require special attention. With a database-driven platform like WordPress, you still want to keep the site up and running at the old host during migration. But, you don’t want any updates made to the old site location during that time, as they would be lost when the old site is terminated. Before migration, suspend the updating (or creation) of posts and pages and disable commenting. You can make updates and re-enable commenting at the new location during migration.
• Is your domain name registered through your old host? If so, you may want to move it to the new host or a domain registrar. Don’t leave your domain with a company that you don’t trust to host your website.
• Are you using HTTPS? If not, you should be! The process of moving the SSL certificate that makes HTTPS possible varies depending on the kind of certificate you’re using. A paid or premium certificate will need to be re-keyed, so you’ll want to check with the certificate issuer (that may be your old host) about export details, and to the new host for installation instructions. Don’t leave this step for late in the migration process. Exporting, re-keying etc. can take some time. Plan accordingly.
• If you are migrating WordPress with a change of domain, make sure you make redirect mapping part of your migration. You must be thorough and complete with your 301 redirects, or you are going to suffer SEO setbacks. If you’ve worked hard to improve your search result rankings, dropping the ball here can set you back. Way back. Don’t let that happen. Make sure every URL on the old site is mapped (and redirected) to the corresponding URL on the new site.
• Set up your email boxes at the new host. If your host handles your email, it’s easy to overlook this step. We tend to take email for granted (when it’s working correctly). Make sure you have a new mailbox set up for every existing email account on your domain before you update DNS as the last part of the migration.
• Change DNS and wait. And then wait some more. After you update your domain’s name servers to point to the new host, the changes propagate pretty quickly these days, usually within an hour or so. But there’s a reason everyone says to wait 48 to72 hours before disabling the site at the old host. DNS doesn’t update that quickly everywhere. Updates can be slow for rural ISPs and smaller countries. While most of the world will see your site at the new host right away, some visitors may still see the old site for a couple of days. Whenever I’m migrating a website I leave the old site up for as long as I can. But I always plan for at least a 72-hour overlap.

Installing the All-in-One WP Migration Plugin

Let’s get to the good part, the WordPress migration plugin that is going to make our lives easier during migration.

Log in to your WordPress admin panel.

In the left column navigation, mouse over the “Plugins” link and click the “Add New” link.

In the “Search plugins…” box, enter “All-in-One WP Migration.”

Once you have located the plugin, click the “Install Now” button.

When the plugin has been installed, click the “Activate” button.

Exporting With the All-in-One WP Migration Plugin

In the left column navigation mouse over the “All-in-One WP Migration” link and click the “Export” link.

There are a couple of export options.

The “Find Replace within the database” link does just that. Find and replace will be useful if you’re moving to a new domain, or the path in your URLs is changing.

In my example here, I’m moving between two installations on the same domain, so the path will change. The old path is /108, and the new path is /108b.

There is a “+ ADD” button to add more find and replace entries.

The “Advanced Options” link opens a menu of things you can exclude from the export. I’m not going to exclude anything, and in most cases, you won’t want to exclude anything either.

The “EXPORT TO” button presents you with a lot of cloud-based storage options. For this tutorial, I’m going to export the site to a file. To export your WordPress site, make a selection from the “EXPORT TO” dropdown.

As soon as I clicked “FILE,” the export started.

When the export is complete, that popup overlay will remain open. You have to click on the download link to save the export to your computer.

Importing With the All-in-One WP Migration Plugin

Okay, now that we’ve got our old site exported, let’s go over to the new site and import.

You’ll have to install WordPress at the new host, then install the All-in-One WP Migration plugin.

In the left column navigation, mouse over the “All-in-One WP Migration” link and click the “Import” link.

Locate the export file from the old location. If you didn’t specify a location, it’s likely in your downloads directory.

Drag the export file into the Import section of All-in-One WP Migration.

At this point in the process, you may experience an error.

Not to worry. You can change that upload limit in the .htaccess file — more on that in a minute. For now, let’s proceed.

You’ll see a warning that the import will overwrite the existing database. That’s okay since we’re importing into a new WordPress installation. Click the “PROCEED” button.

You’ll get a successful import notice, but don’t close it yet!

Click the “Save permalinks structure” link.

You’ll be brought to the admin login of the new WordPress installation.

Now we just migrated the old database to the new installation, so the admin login is the same as it was on the old site.

Once you’ve logged in, you’ll be sent to the “Permalink Settings” page. Don’t change anything here; just scroll down and click the “Save Changes” button.

That’s all there is to it.

If you check the new WordPress installation, it should now match the old existing installation.

Fixing an Import Error With .htaccess

If you experience the upload error, you can fix it by adding a few lines to the .htaccess file in your WordPress root directory.

Since my export is a little over 50 MB, I’ll add this to the bottom of the .htaccess file at the new location. It increases the allowable upload size to 60 MB.

php_value upload_max_filesize 60M
php_value post_max_size 60M
php_value memory_limit 256M
php_value max_execution_time 300
php_value max_input_time 300

You can see that I gave a 60 MB value to “php_value upload_max_filesize” and “php_value post_max_size.” You can increase that M value to whatever you need to upload your export file.

At some hosts, you may not be able to increase the upload value past a certain point. If you make the changes to .htaccess but still experience the upload size error, contact the new host and let them know you need the PHP upload limits raised.

When Editing .htaccess Doesn’t Work: Bypassing the Import Error by Using FTP

If your efforts to raise the PHP upload limit are not successful, you can bypass the PHP upload and use FTP to move the export to your new installation. This feature is only available with a paid extension to the All-in-One WP Migration plugin, so I haven’t verified the functionality.

Make an FTP connection to the new WordPress installation.

Upload the .wpress file (the export) to /wp-content/ai1wm-backups.

In the left column navigation, mouse over the “All-in-One WP Migration” link and click the “Backups” link.

Mouse over the cloud icon to open the “RESTORE” button. Click “RESTORE.”

Migration Is a Many-Splendored Thing

I’ve done more website migrations than I care to remember over the past 24 years, and if there’s one constant in all migrations, it’s this: something unexpected is going to happen. I’ve never had the unexpected thing be a good thing, so it’s wise to be prepared for anything.

The first and perhaps most obvious step to being prepared is to have a backup of your site. When you’re migrating to a new host, that backup should include everything you have access to – site files, mail, databases – everything.

If you have a current backup on hand, the worst migration catastrophe is fixable. So before you do anything, get your backups in order.

Have you used any other migration plugins for WordPress? Let us know about them. Have you ever let a host handle a migration for you? We’d like to hear about that too.

The post How to Use All In One WP Migration in WordPress appeared first on GreenGeeks.

If you’re a professional website developer, you may do local server transfers every day. But most of us will only do it occasionally, so it’s easy to forget steps or get lost in the pesky details.

Hopefully, this will help make the process easier.

Wait, I Can Run WordPress on My Computer?

Yes, you can! And doing so will save you a lot of trouble when developing a new site or making changes to an existing one. Working on a live site is stressful, and it can leave your visitors with a bad impression of your website or business.

But WordPress needs a web server, a MySQL database, and PHP, so how can you run it on your computer?

The answer: WAMP.

WAMP is a package that installs an Apache web server, a MySQL server, and PHP on your computer. Depending on the WAMP package you use, it can all be configured with a few clicks.

I’m using WampServer for this demo. From here on out, we’re working on the assumption that you are ready to do a local server transfer. Meaning you are already running a local version of WordPress, and you want to move it to a live web server.

Preparing to Transfer a Local WordPress Site to a Live Server

If you don’t already have a web host for the live site, you should set that up first. You’ll want that crucial element to be completely up and running before you start the move.

Create a New Database and User on Your Host

A new MySQL database and user has to be set up in your hosting account. If you have access to cPanel at your host, the process is pretty straightforward. If you aren’t using cPanel, check with your host to find out how to create a new database and user.

You do not need to have WordPress installed on the live site. Just an empty directory where you want the site to live. If your host has pre-installed WordPress, delete the files before starting this transfer.

You’ll also need an FTP program for moving files around. You could always use the popular and free platform, FileZilla.

Using a WordPress Plugin to Make the Move Easier

We’ll be using the Duplicator WordPress plugin to help us make the transfer.

If you’re moving your local site an existing hosting account that already hosts a live site, make sure you back up the live site and database files before you do anything else.

Okay, let’s get the Duplicator transfer started.

Installing the Duplicator Plugin to Transfer a WordPress Website From a Local Server

We’re going to install the plugin on our local site. It does not need to be installed on the live site to complete the Duplicator transfer.

Log in to the WordPress admin panel for your local site.

In the left column navigation, mouse over the “Plugins” link and click the “Add New” link.

In the “Search plugins…” box, enter “Duplicator.”

Once you have located the plugin, click the “Install Now” button.

When the plugin has been installed, click the “Activate” button.

Creating a Copy of the Local Website

In the left column navigation, mouse over the “Duplicator” link and click the “Packages” link.

Click the “Create New” link in the upper right corner.

Name the package.

Leave all of the values in “Storage,” “Archive,” and “Installer” as they are.

Click the “Next’ button at the bottom of the page.

The site will be scanned, and you’ll come to a “Scan Complete” page. If all of the checks are “Good” (green), click the “Build” button.

On the “Package Completed” page, click the “One-Click Download” link.

Transfer WordPress Files to the Live Website

Create an empty directory on your site. You can use the root directory for the site, but for this tutorial, I’m using a directory named blog. I’ll upload the two Duplicator package files to the /blog directory.

Go to the installer file’s URL from a web browser.

In this example, I am copying the local site to ggexample.com/blog/, so the installer file URL is https://ggexample.com/blog/installer.php.

You’ll see a “Step 1 of 4: Deployment” page. The “Archive” and “Validation” sections should say “Pass” (green). Click the “I have read and accept all terms & notices” box and click the “Next” button.

The archive files will be extracted, which will take a moment.

Enter the database name, database username, and password for the blank database you created.

Click the “Test Database” button.

In the Validation” section, “Requirements” and “Notices” should say “Pass” and “Good” (both green).

Click the “Next” button.

An “Install Confirmation” box will pop up. Verify that the information is correct and click the “OK” button.

That will bring you to “Step 3 of 4: Update Data.” Verify that the “New Settings” information is correct.

Click the “Next” button.

The “Step 4 of 4: Test Site” page will open. Click the “Admin Login” button to complete the installation.

Notes on Transferring a Local WordPress Website to a Live Site

Any time you move a WordPress installation, you’re going to run into some issues. In this case, moving from a local installation to a live server, the URL will likely change, you may go from HTTP to HTTPS, image paths can change – the list of potential issues is long, and it’s different for every site.

The first thing you should do after the migration is to check your site thoroughly for problems or things that don’t seem to be working correctly. Dig deep and see if you can uncover any trouble spots.

It’s better to find and fix them yourself than to let visitors discover them.

One way to prevent some possible issues is to use the same database name (and database user name) on the live site that you used on the local version of the website. That’s not always easy, as a lot of hosts have restrictions on database names.

If you have to use a different name at the host than you are using locally, you might invest a bit of time changing the database name locally before migrating the site. Duplicator will make the connection to your new database on the live site even if the names are different, but there could still be issues with some plugins or themes if the database credentials change during the migration.

Back It Up

I mentioned it earlier, but it bears repeating: back up your WordPress site files and database before you do anything with Duplicator. That applies when making any site changes, really, not just Duplicator.

Backing up our website and database files is not usually the first thing we think about when making changes, but it’s a habit worth picking up.

Did you know you could run WordPress on your local computer? Have you moved a WordPress site using another method or plugin? Let us know how it went.

The post How to Transfer a WordPress Website From Local Server Using Duplicator appeared first on GreenGeeks.

Today, I will demonstrate how to export and import WordPress users using the Import Export WordPress Users plugin.

Why Import WordPress Users To Another Website

There are multiple reasons why a WordPress developer would need to import and export WordPress users. Profiles contain important information like email address and social media URLs. As you have probably found out, it is difficult to get this information from users.

One of the main reasons you will need to export and import user profiles is to merge websites. If you are running multiple websites or are in the business to buy websites, you want to consolidate your user base.

You will get better results from one larger website than multiple smaller ones.

Not only does it make sense financially, but it is convenient as well. It’s hard enough to get someone to sign up once, let alone ask them to recreate their user profile on another website. A lot of people would leave for a competitors site if asked to do so.

Remember when I said the user profiles contains email addresses? You can use their profiles to create an email list for your customers. This makes it easy to send out promotional material if they opt into your email subscription.

Installing Import Export WordPress Users

The Import Export WordPress Users plugin makes the process of consolidating your user profiles easy. Not only does all of the information in the profile transfer, but also the user role they were assigned.

However, it is important to keep in mind that you need to install this plugin on every website involved.

For example, if you want to export user profiles from 3 websites and import them into another, you will need to install this plugin on all 4 websites. Thankfully, installing a plugin only takes a few seconds.

Let’s start by clicking on Plugins and selecting the Add New option on the left-hand admin panel.

Search for Import Export WordPress Users in the available search box. This will pull up additional plugins that you may find helpful.

Scroll down until you find the Import Export WordPress Users plugin and click on the “Install Now” button and activate the plugin for use.

Export WordPress Users

To begin, you need to first export your user profile data before you can import it. You will need to repeat the following steps on every website you wish to export information. Luckily, this plugin makes the process very quick.

On the left-hand admin panel click on Users and select the User Import Export option. This will pull up the main settings page.

This plugin is divided into two main tabs. User/Customer Export and User/Customer Import. For this section of the tutorial, make sure you are on the User/Customer Export tab.

By default, all user roles will be exported, but if you would like to exclude certain roles, you can. Simply select the user roles you want to export in the user role box.

Scroll down and select what information you want to export. By default everything is selected.

Review all of the information and click on the “Export Users” button.

A CSV file will be added to your download list.  You will need this to import your information. Repeat this on every website you want to export users from.

Import WordPress Users

If you thought exporting profiles was easy, wait until you start importing them. Click on the User/Customer Import on the website you want to import your user profiles to.

Click on the “Choose File” button.

A new window will open. Your export files will be in your computers Downloads folder. Click on the folder and locate the file. It should be named “Custom-Export” with the date and time.

Click on the “Upload file and import” button.

The plugin will now import all users contained in the file. When it is complete it will say, “Import complete.”

Congratulations, you have successfully exported user profiles from one website to another.

WP All Export as an Alternative

The Export WordPress data to XML/CSV plugin is a great alternative to choose. It offers the ability to export and import WordPress users on top of many other features.

However, it should be noted that this is a premium plugin. Although it does have some good functionality in its free version, you get far more flexibility by paying for the tool.

If you are looking to merge websites together, this is the plugin that will make it easy.

Consolidation Is Important

Running multiple websites is challenging, but consolidating their content into one site is better for multiple reasons. One of the key factors is having to cater to one large community instead of multiple smaller ones.

Even if your intention was to attract the same type of visitors, it rarely works out that way.

Instead of creating content for each website, where smaller audiences will read it, putting the same amount of content on a bigger website will generate better results.

How easy did you find the Import Export WordPress Users plugin? How many websites did you export from?

The post How to Import and Export Multiple Users from WordPress Sites appeared first on GreenGeeks.

Luckily, you have all the tools available to make the transition near seamless. The best part is that your content is far less likely to lose position in Google search results.

Today, I’ll show you how to move your website to a new domain using WordPress. Overall, it’s more time-consuming than anything. But, it’s worth the effort for an easy move.

Why Move a Website to a New Domain in WordPress?

Perhaps you found a domain name that is better suited for your purpose. Maybe you discovered you need to upgrade a hosting plan and decided to go with a better domain.

A common reason to move to a new domain is re-branding an online business or persona. You’ll also see this happen a lot when one company buys out another.

Back in the day, moving a website was an arduous process. If you didn’t know what you were doing, you could really screw up a site. Today, systems like WordPress make the entire process far more simple.

Even the most novice of users can effectively move a website to a new domain with WordPress. For the most part, the system does the work for you.

Here are seven steps to redirect from an old domain to a new domain in WordPress.

1. Create a Backup of Your Website

Before you make any major changes to your website, you should always create a backup. This will save you from a lot of aggravation, later on, should something happen.

Being prepared is always better than the alternative.

Personally, I like using UpdraftPlus. It will create backup files of the website itself as well as the database. Which is convenient because you don’t have to take additional steps to export the SQL file.

As an added bonus, UpdraftPlus also lets you connect to Cloud storage systems such as OneDrive and Dropbox.

2. Using the Duplicator Plugin

For this tutorial, I’m going to use the Duplicator plugin for WordPress. It’s a free tool that lets you download the full WordPress site in a package file, which is then used to expand into the new website directory.

Install and activate the “Duplicator” plugin.

Click the “Duplicator” option from the left WordPress admin panel.

This screen will show any packages you have for WordPress. Obviously, we don’t have any as this is the first time running the plugin. Click the “Create New” button on the top right.

In the first step, you can assign storage devices, change how the archive functions or even enable password protection for the installer. But for this example, I’m simply going to leave everything at default values.

Click the “Next” button to move on.

Immediately, you’ll see a scanning screen as Duplicator looks for your files.

When the scan is complete, click the “Build” button on the bottom.

NOTE: If you receive a notice within the scan, you’ll need to expand and address the issues. Large files often trigger these notices in Duplicator, and you can filter out certain types.

Things which trigger the notice include backup, video and large ZIP files you may have stored.

Once the build is complete, click the “One-Click Download” link and save the files to your computer.

NOTE: It may take a moment or two for the installer.php file to download.

3. Add a New Database to New Domain

Now that you have the website files and Duplicator package ready, you’ll need to create a new database for the new domain. This is so Duplicator can export the WordPress database from the old domain to the new one.

Go to “MySQL Databases” of your hosting account. This is easy to find if you’re using a system like our hosted cPanel dashboard.

Give the database a name and click, “Create Database.” You will need to know the name of this database when you run the installer.php file from Duplicator. Otherwise, you won’t be able to connect.

After you create the database, go back to the databases page and scroll down to the “MySQL Users” portion.

Add a username and password and click, “Create User.” You will need this information as well if you want to move the website to a new domain in WordPress while using Duplicator.

When you create the new user, go back to the MySQL Database screen and scroll down to the “Add User to Database” portion.

Use the drop down boxes to add the new user to the database you created a moment ago. Without this setting, your website will not have permission to access data.

In the next screen, click the “All Privileges” check box at the top. This is to make sure your website has everything it needs to operate WordPress without causing errors.

Click the “Make Changes” button on the bottom.

4. Upload and Expand Duplicator Files

With the database ready, it’s time to move on to uploading the files you downloaded from Duplicator.

You can do this a couple of different ways. Many people like using FTP programs like FileZilla. Today, I’m just going to use the File Manager in cPanel.

Upload the two files from Duplicator to your new domain’s directory.

NOTE: If you changed web hosts, this directory may simply be the “public_html” folder of your site.

Now, open a new web browser tab and type this into the address bar:[ht_message mstyle=”info” title=”” show_icon=”” id=”” class=”” style=”” ]https://yourwebsitedomain.com/installer.php[/ht_message]

NOTE: Make sure you change the “yourwebsitedomain.com” to your own domain name.

Once the Duplicator launcher loads, check the terms and notices box and click, “Next.”

After Duplicator extracts the files, add the new database information. This is the database name, user and password you set up earlier.

Click the “Test Database” button on the bottom. This is to test the integrity of the new database. Since we just created it and there’s no information available, it should pass almost instantly.

After the test is complete and the requirements passed, click the “Next” button to continue.

A verification screen will launch displaying your database information. Verify you typed in the name and user correctly and click the “OK” button to proceed.

Update the info for WordPress and click, “Next.” This is the data that is stored in your WordPress website, such as the URL and title. The path should be correctly added on its own.

Finally, click the “Admin Login” button. Leave the auto deletion check box marked as you will no longer need the installer.php file or the ZIP archive. This helps keep the site clean and reduces risks from being exploited.

You can now log into your new website.

As you can see, Duplicator copies everything perfectly. The sample image above is the log in screen I created using LoginPress to add a background and remove the password reset link.

5. Add 301 Redirects to Old Site

After we move a website to a new domain in WordPress, we need to set up some 301 permanent redirects on the old one. This is so you can gain traffic to the new domain from search engines while letting bots know where to find your content.

This is a vital component if you want to keep with the best SEO practices.

You have a couple of ways to set up 301 redirects. You can add a bit of coding to the .htaccess file of the old website or you can use a plugin.

Adding Lines to .htaccess

If you know your way around editing, add this to the .htaccess file:[ht_message mstyle=”info” title=”” show_icon=”” id=”” class=”” style=”” ]#Options +FollowSymLinks
RewriteEngine on
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://www.yournewdomain.com/$1 [R=301,L][/ht_message]

Make sure you change the “https://www.yournewdomain.com” to your website address.

Using WordPress Plugins

Another method of sending traffic after you change a website domain name is by using plugins on the old site.

A few plugins you can try include:

• SEOpress
  SEOPress has a lot of tools beyond creating 301 redirects. It might be something you’d use on your new site as well. Still, it has features that will let you manage how 301s are handled.
• Redirection
  Redirection is probably one of the most popular plugins for handling 301s. It has a lot of customizable options for control including monitoring visitor behavior and usage.
• 301 Redirects – Easy Redirect Manager
  The Easy Redirect Manager is a fairly simple tool to use. You can redirect individual posts, pages, custom post types, and a destination URL. It’s one of the easier plugins to use for setting up 301s simply because it’s pretty straightforward.

The above plugins are only a few of the tools you can install to create 301 redirects after changing a domain name in WordPress. If you want a longer list, you can just enter “301 redirect” when searching for plugins.

Some will even give you control over .htaccess so you can fine-tune your edits.

6. Add Change of Address to Search Engines

The next step is to offer a change of address to search engines like Google. After all, you want search engines to crawl the correct site so your new domain gets indexed.

In this tutorial, I’ll set up a change of address using Google Search Console. At the moment, the new version of Search Console does not support changing a web address. So, I’ll need to do that in the older version of the tool.

In Google Search Console, click, “Go to the old version” on the bottom left.

Make sure you’re in the properties of the old domain name. This is located in the drop-down box near the top right.

Click the gear icon and choose, “Change of Address.”

Next, Google will launch a change of address form. Follow each of the steps and submit your request.

Once Google is aware and verifies the new changes, its bot will start crawling accordingly. This may take a bit of time depending on how often Google crawls your website.

7. Update Social Media and Other Accounts

One element a lot of people forget is to change the domain name on various social profiles. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and anywhere else you’ve added the old domain should reflect the new address.

You want people to start using the new domain immediately.

Also, don’t forget your email signature. If you use the site’s URL in your email signature, you want to make sure it gets updated.

Another thing you want to keep in mind is changing email addresses in apps or other login credentials if you use your domain email for those elements.

Just like moving into a new house, you need to make sure everyone knows the best method to contact you. It may seem like a long process, but it’s better than losing potential traffic.

Simple Ways to Notify Visitors After the Move

• Push Notifications
  Adding push notifications works well to keep an audience coming back to your site. But plugins like OneSignal also lets you send text messages to all who follow your content.
• Writing a Blog Post
  Writing a blog post about the move can keep your audience updated. You can also share these posts on social media to reach out even further.
• Sending Email
  Newsletters and mailing lists are helpful for letting people know your site is moving. Don’t underestimate the power of email.
• Sharing on Social Media
  You don’t need to share a blog post on social media to get the word out you’re about to move WordPress to a new domain. A few scheduled updates to sites like Twitter and Facebook are helpful in this situation.
• Popup Messages
  You don’t have to merely use popups for email subscriptions or login screens. In fact, you can use popup messages in a welcome gate to let others know your site is moving.

Here’s to a Successful Move!

Perhaps the most difficult part to move a website to a new domain with WordPress is changing all of the URLs in various accounts and apps. It’s not just search engines that need the updated URLs.

Take the transitions nice and easy to move WordPress to a new domain. While it may be an easy process, there are a lot of small nuances you could forget…such as changing email addresses.

How often have you thought about changing your domain name? What’s your favorite metric in tools like Analytics and Search Console and why?

The post How to Move a Website to a New Domain Using WordPress appeared first on GreenGeeks.

Making local backups of MySQL databases is quick and easy once you have the proper tool configured. This tutorial uses MySQL Workbench 8.0 CE. Details in future versions may differ, but the basic workflow should be the same.

You can download MySQL Workbench here. You’ll have to create an Oracle account to download, but the account is free.

Configuring MySQL Workbench to Connect to Your Database

The first step in making a backup with MySQL Workbench is to connect to the database you want to back up.

Most commercial hosts will block outside database connections by default, so you may have to add your home IP address to a remote access list. Check with your host to see what their requirements are. If your hosting account uses cPanel, you can set up a remote connection in Databases > Remote MySQL.

Click the + icon to start a new database connection.

A “Manage Server Connections” window will open. Complete the five connection and authorization fields underlined below.

• Give the connection a name.
• Choose “Standard (TCP/IP) as the “Connection Method” (SSH connection configuration is also available if your host requires it).
• Enter the MySQL server hostname or IP address.
• Enter your MySQL database username.
• Click the “Store in Vault…” button to enter your database password (if you don’t want to store the password, skip this field).

Click the “Test Connection” button.

If you get a “Cannot Connect to Database Server” error, check your entries in the connection fields.

If everything is correct, you’ll see the successful connection box. Click the “OK” button.

Click the “OK” button to close the connection test window.

Configuring MySQL Workbench to Back up (Export) Your Database

Click the box for the database connection that you just set up.

Click the “Data Export” link.

To back up the entire database, click the “Export” box in the “Tables to Export” window.

To back up specific tables, click the database name, then select the table you wish to back up.

For this tutorial, we’re making a safety backup of the entire database, so we’re choosing “Export to Self-Contained File.”

Using the “Self-Contained File” method makes it easier to restore an entire database in a disaster recovery situation. The other option, “Export to Dump Project Folder” will make separate backups of each table. The “Export to Dump Project Folder” method makes it easier to restore single tables should the need arise. Which method you should choose depends on the purpose of the backup. If you’re simply archiving the database, use “Export to Self-Contained File.”

Click the “Start Export” button.

When the backup is complete, you’ll see an “Export Completed” dialog. The database backup will be located in the location specified in the “Export to Self-Contained File” path.

If the time ever comes to use one of your database backs for restoration, we have another tutorial that shows you how to take care of that, “How to Restore a MySQL Database From a Backup With MySQL Workbench.”

Keeping a Backup Matters

No one wants to see their website taken down by an errant code or someone accidentally deleting the wrong files. Unfortunately, it happens quite often. And a lot of times, it’s not even your fault.

Using MySQL Workbench to backup the database helps you keep those files safe and ready in case there is a restore process in your future.

It’s always better to be safe than sorry. A few moments today can save you a lot of hassle tomorrow.

Do you make regular backups of your website and database files? Which programs or services do you use to make your backups?

The post How to Make a MySQL Database Backup With MySQL Workbench appeared first on GreenGeeks.

Before we get started, our tutorial, “Making a MySQL Database Backup With MySQL Workbench,” covers the backup part of the equation (using MySQL Workbench).

In this tutorial, we will go through the steps to restore a database from a backup. We will also cover the necessary configuration to connect to your database with MySQL Workbench. This will cover everything for you in one spot, in case you’ve never done so.

Configuring MySQL Workbench to Connect to Your Database

Many commercial hosts block outside database connections, so you may have to add your home or office IP address to a remote access list. Check with your host to see what their requirements are. If your website uses cPanel, you can set up a remote connection in Databases > Remote MySQL.

Open MySQL Workbench and click the + icon to start a new database connection.

Complete the five connection and authorization fields underlined below.

• Give the connection a name.
• Choose “Standard (TCP/IP) as the “Connection Method” (SSH connection configuration is available if your host requires it).
• Enter the MySQL server hostname or IP address.
• Enter the MySQL database username.
• Click the “Store in Vault…” button to enter the database password (if you don’t want to store the password, skip this field).

Click the “Test Connection” button.

If you get a “Cannot Connect to Database Server” error, check your entries in the connection fields.

If everything is correct, you’ll see the successful connection box. Click the “OK” button and move on from there.

Now click the “OK” button in “Manage Server Connections” to close the connection test window.

Configuring MySQL Workbench to Restore (Import) Your Database

Click the box for the database connection that you just set up.

Click the “Data Import/Restore” link.

For this tutorial, we’re assuming you are restoring a “Self-Contained File” backup. See “Making a MySQL Database Backup With MySQL Workbench,” for an explanation of the difference between a self-contained file and a dump project folder.

Select “Import from Self-Contained File,” and locate the backup file that will be used for restoration.

Select the “Default Target Schema” from the drop-down. The drop-down should be pre-populated with the schema name from the backup file.

Since we are restoring the entire database from a self-contained file, “Select Database Objects to Import” is left blank because there is no need to select specific tables.

Make sure “Dump Structure and Data” is selected from the dropdown.

Click the “Import Progress” tab.

Click the “Start Import” button.

When the restoration is complete, you’ll see an “Import Completed” dialog.

That’s it! You have successfully restored a MySQL database from a backup with MySQL Workbench.

While you’re here, let’s talk a bit about what MySQL is and its interesting history.

What is MySQL?

Often pronounced “my sequel,” let’s take a quick look at where this came from. A Swedish company called MySQL AB that originally developed the open-source MySQL all the way back in 1994. The correct pronunciation is “MY-ES-KYOO-EL.” MySQL is considered open source, even though sometimes it feels like it isn’t.

As years went by, a United States tech company by the name of Sun Microsystems took full ownership when they bought MySQL AB back in 2008. After that, the massive US tech giant Oracle acquired Sun Microsystems itself, and MySQL has been owned by Oracle ever since.

Now that you have a little history on it, let’s take a look at the actual definition. Essentially, MySQL is an open-source relational database management system (RDBMS) with a client-server model. RDBMS is actually software that is used to create and manage databases on a relational model.

If you work with something like WordPress, then you will be at least a little familiar with a MySQL database. If you are still having a little trouble with some of the terms above, let’s take a quick look at them together.

Database

A database is a collection of structured data. In order to break it down into a very simple way to think about it let’s use an example.

If you take a video with your phone, that video is the data. Your phone’s video gallery would be the database. The database is the area where the data is stored and organized. In this case the video is the data, and it is being stored and organized by the gallery on your phone.

Open Source

Simply put, open-source means that anyone is free to use, add, subtract, and modify. Anyone can install t and use it for free. You can also learn to customize the source code.

Open source is a way to allow people to contribute and have input while keeping something strong in place.

Client-Server Model

Computers that install and run the above mentioned RDBMS software are called “clients.” Whenever they have to access data, they connect to the RDBMS server. That’s the “client-server” side of the term above.

MySQL is actually just one of many RDBMS software options. Many people think they are actually the same thing because of the popularity of MySQL. It actually seems like everyone is running it these days.

Large entities that we all know like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google, and Yahoo use MySQL for data storage purposes. When it was first created, MySQL was built for limited usage. However, it is now compatible with many important computing platforms such as Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, and Ubuntu.

MySQL and SQL Differences

A little understanding can go a long way to help you restore a MySQL database. It is important to remember that MySQL and SQL are not the same and there are some very key differences. Before I show you how to restore a MySQL database from a backup, let’s take a quick look at the differences between SQL and MySQL.

• SQL is the language that is used to operate the database. MySQL is one of the first open-source databases that are available to use.
• The SQL is the way to access, update, and manipulate data. MySQL is an RDBMS that allows keeping the data that exists in a database organized, as described some above in video and phone example.
• SQL is a “Structured Query Language.” MySQL is an RDBMS to store, retrieve, modify, and administrate a database.
• SQL is a query language. MySQL is database software.

Final Thoughts

If you are someone who deals with your own database backups and restorations, then the Workbench tool we talk about above is going to be very helpful to you. It gives you the ability to do all sorts of things, including creating and restoring MySQL databases.

I hope this tutorial has given you a clear and easy way to restore a MySQL database. The Workbench tool can be very useful and is not too difficult to use. Performing the steps above should give you exactly what you need in just a few minutes. Remember, MySQL is extremely popular, so if you are dealing with a database, there is a good chance is MySQL.

Have you ever had to restore a database from a backup? Do you use backups for development purposes?

The post How to Restore a MySQL Database From a Backup With MySQL Workbench appeared first on GreenGeeks.

In fact, you can create some amazing data-driven files to help in content marketing.

For example, you can keep track of what posts perform better according to content style by having the spreadsheet create a graph based on visitors and dates.

In today’s tutorial, I’ll show you how to import CSV file data into WordPress for posts. Spend the weekend coming up with ideas and then upload them all at once Monday morning.

How Do I Import a CSV File into WordPress?

You can easily import a CSV file by installing and activating a plugin in WordPress. In this tutorial, we will examine how to do this with the WP Import Export Lite plugin, but there are plenty of others to choose from.

CSV files can be uploaded as individual posts, pages, Woocommerce products, or pretty much anything your want.

How to Use WP Import Export Lite

1: Install WP Import Export Lite

The WP Import Export Lite plugin is an excellent choice to handle all of your CSV importing and exporting needs. The process is extremely simple and only requires a few clicks to get started, thus you can begin importing in a matter of seconds.

It also has a wide array of add-on support that some websites may find useful. Some of these add-ons include things like Woocommerce, Google Drive, Onedrive, DropBox, and much more. These tools can save a lot of time when you need to move data around.

Let’s start by clicking on Plugins and selecting the Add New option on the left-hand admin panel.

Search for WP Import Export Lite in the available search box. This will pull up additional plugins that you may find helpful.

Scroll down until you find the WP Import Export Lite plugin and click on the “Install Now” button and activate the plugin for use.

2: Import CSV Files

Upon installation, the plugin is ready to go. While there are a few settings you can configure, they can be ignored. In reality, you are ready to start importing and exporting CSV files in WordPress.

On the left-hand admin panel, click on WP Imp Exp and select the New Import option.

This area is how to import CSV files in WordPress. The plugin provides three options which include uploading files from your desktop, using a previously uploaded file, and using a URL. More options are available if you install add-ons for the plugin or upgrade to the Pro version.

Simply click on the option you want to use and upload the CSV file you wish to import.

Once the file has been uploaded, click on the “Continue to Step 2” button.

3: Customize CSV File

You can now select what the file will become. The plugin provides a lot of options to choose from and some of these include a post, page, Woocommerce products, taxonomies, users, comments, product reviews, and much more.

As a result, you have a lot of options for any CSV file you upload. Choose the option that best suits your needs.

You can also select how the plugin will handle new and existing items. Once you are done, click on the “Continue to Step 3” button.

The third step allows you to add filters, select file options, and preview the data you are importing. Once you are satisfied, click on the “Continue to Step 4” button.

This step allows you to customize various field mapping options like the title, content, images, custom fields, taxonomies, and more. And like the other steps, click on the “Continue to Step 5” button when you are done.

This is the final step and contains the advanced options. Simply go through them and click on the “Continue” button. You will now see a summary of your choices. If everything looks good to go, click on the “Confirm & Run Import” button to finish the process.

Your file will now be imported.

4: Manage Imports

The plugin provides a management section that allows you to manage any files imported or exported.

To access these options, click on the Manage Import option.

Here you can choose to download the CSV file, download the file log, reimport a file, or delete any imported file on your website. There are also options to do this in bulk.

All of these options are found on the right-hand side of the page.

This covers all of the plugins importing features and tools. It also has a full exporting tool that I will briefly discuss below, but if you are only interested in importing, congratulations.

How Exporting Works

The plugin’s exporting tools are quite similar in usage when compared to the importing tools. They allow you to export any post, page, taxonomy, or any file type you can import. This allows you to easily collect information from your website.

This can be a big time saver as it can take hours to create spreadsheets that contain all of the information from your pages. Especially on larger websites with years of content. Instead, you can use that time to analyze the data you collect.

Essentially this feature is just working backward from the importing process. Thus, if you can import, you can export.

Other Post CSV Import Plugins to Try

The WP Import Export Lite plugin is a great tool, but it’s not the only option available in WordPress. In reality, there are a lot of choices when it comes to CSV importing and exporting options. Some even have additional features that you may find useful.

Here are just a few of the other great CSV importing and exporting plugins I could find. While they may take a bit more time to upload your CSV files to WordPress, these plugins will get the job done.

WP All Import

WP All Import is a flexible system that includes the ability to upload from CSV or XML file types. It has a range of options for posting content whether it’s a post, page, or WooCommerce product information. While the Pro version is attractive, the free plugin works exceptionally well for importing WordPress posts from CSV files.

Ultimate CSV Importer

Ultimate CSV Importer not only gives you a strong plugin for uploading content from CSV, but it also comes with importing statistics. It also comes with extensive customization and a drag-and-drop interface. One thing that sets it aside from the others is support for the Yoast SEO plugin for optimization settings.

Importing Post Ideas to Manage the Workflow

Spreadsheets are incredibly useful, especially for those who love data and crunching numbers. Using WordPress to import CSV info into a database helps cut time and build a good process for content creation. And it also saves a lot of time for developers.

All it takes is the right plugin, a few minutes, and a bit of patience to learn the tool.

How do you keep track of importing WordPress posts? How often do you use a spreadsheet to keep track of information and site statistics?

The post How to Import WordPress Posts from CSV Files appeared first on GreenGeeks.

Not everyone keeps complete backups on hand. And if something drastic happens on your server, you could lose everything.

So, what can you do to restore a WordPress database?

In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to restore the website from a database backup in WordPress.

Restoring a WordPress Database

Ideally, you would want a complete backup to quickly get the site back up and running. In this instance, it’s better to use UpdraftPlus.

But let’s say that the website was completely destroyed and you only have the SQL database file saved to your computer.

What then?

Create a New Database

We’ll need to start by creating a new database on your server. This will give you a location for which to import the data you’ll use.

Click MySQL Databases from the cPanel dashboard.

Give the database a new name. This is the name of the database you’ll use when you reinstall WordPress. I’m simply going to name it, “wpdb007.”

Take note of the prefix of the database name. You will need this to connect your website. It may look something like, “test_.” You will need the text and the underscore before the database name.

So, the name as a whole would look kind of like, “test_wpdb007.”

Click the “Create Database” Button. This will save the empty file to your web hosting server.

Once the database is created, click the link to “Go Back.” This will take you back to the MySQL Database page.

Create a New User

To recover a deleted WordPress site from a backup of the old database, you need a new user. This is the login information that lets WordPress connect to the new database. Without it, the website won’t have access to the information.

Scroll down to the “Add New User” section of the page.

Input a new username, password and click, “Create User.”

It’s probably a good idea to write down these credentials for when you reinstall WordPress. It’ll make it easier to remember the log in information. And don’t forget to take note of the prefix to the username.

It should be the same as the database.

Add User to Database

Scroll down to “Add User to Database.” You need to make sure WordPress can connect to the site with this account.

Use the drop down boxes to select your user and database.

Click the “Add” button.

On the next screen, click the box for “All Privileges.” This will give WordPress full access to the database.

Click the “Make Changes” button on the bottom.

The account is now ready for WordPress to use it.

Importing the Website Database Backup for WordPress

Now that we have an empty database ready to go, it’s time to upload the file.

Go back to cPanel and click “phpMyAdmin”.

Find your database in the list and click it.

Click the “Import” option from the top toolbar.

Click the “Choose File” button and select the database from your computer.

Make sure the Format is set to SQL and click, “Go.”

After a few moments, the database will be ready. How long this takes is dependent on a few factors. For example, database size and Internet upload speeds will affect the amount of time it takes to import.

Adding the Database to Restore the Website

With the database filled and ready to go, it’s time to add it to WordPress.

Now, you’ll have a couple of ways to install the content management system. You can use easy methods, such as installing WordPress with Softaculous. However, some people like to install WordPress manually.

Unfortunately, Softwaculous does not have the ability to use an existing database when setting up WordPress. It only works for new sites with unique databases.

When installing WordPress manually, you’ll come to a page for the database. Input the database and credentials of the account you created earlier.

Once you click “Submit,” you’ll get a message stating WordPress is already installed. This is normal.

All you need to do now is click the “Log In” button and access your website normally.

Restoring the Rest of the Site

Unfortunately, the database doesn’t hold some of the other nuances you might have had on your site. Things like plugins, images and themes will need to be added again.

However, you might be able to search your browser’s cache for some of those images or retrieve them through a cache of your site on search engines.

This is one of the reasons why I suggest using plugins like UpdraftPlus or other backup tools. You won’t have to worry about trying to find all of these elements.

And there are plenty of plugins to choose from for creating a complete save of your site.

It simply makes recovering deleted WordPress sites easy from a backup.

Never Underestimate Redundancy

Having a backup on hand saves a great deal of trouble, lost traffic and possibly lost income. Don’t wait too long to have a proper method for creating copies of the site. Whether it’s a server crash, hackers or malware, not having a quick and easy plan can prove to be devastating.

What kind of backup methods do you have in place? Do you find it useful to backup files to the Cloud?

The post How to Restore a Website from Just the Database Backup in WordPress appeared first on GreenGeeks.