Why Clone a WordPress Site?
Cloning a WordPress site can be useful for a number of reasons, such as moving a site from one domain to another e.g. from terrykyle.net to terrykyle.com after the .com became available to buy.
In this step-by-step walkthrough, we are going to be using the free version of the ‘Duplicator WP plugin on WPX Hosting, arguably the world’s fastest WordPress host.
The main limitation of the free version is that the site being cloned cannot be more than 500 Mb in overall size (including files and database, 200 Mb database + 300 Mb files = 500 Mb, for example), the paid version removes that limitation.
In the example below, we will clone wpxexample.net to a new domain name newsite.com
Activating the Duplicator Plugin
Firstly, you obviously need to install the free Duplicator plugin, which can be found in the back end of WP from the “Add Plugins” menu or here:
Creating a Backup Package
After installing the Duplicator plugin, you have to create a “Package” which you will move later to your new domain.
This ‘Package’ contains all of your website files and the database with an installer.php file which is needed for the second part of the process, as discussed below.
It’s very easy to create the package – go to the Duplicator menu and click “Packages”, then click the “Create New” button:
There are a lot of options on the next page and a lot of visible settings under the Storage, Archive, and Installer icons, but you don’t have to touch any of them.
Just leave them as default and click “Next”:
The Duplicator plugin will then scan your website files and database and check if they exceed the 500 Mb threshold of the free version.
IMPORTANT: If your website is bigger than 500 Mbs, the plugin will not allow you to continue further (that means you will need to either reduce the size of the website or upgrade to the paid version).
There will also likely be some notices and warnings from the plugin but none of the described issues will prevent the plugin from properly working – for example, one of the warnings here about the “PHP Open Base Dir” is ON but that should not cause any issues.
From here, click the tick box, then the “Build” button:
Downloading the Package
After the ‘Package’ is built, you now have to download the “Installer” and the “Archive”:
We’re about halfway there now – phew!
From here on, we do not have any more work with the website we are cloning (wpxexample.net in this case).
Uploading the Duplicator Package
Moving forward, now we have to upload the Installer and the Archive files into the directory of your new domain.
Note: You must add your new target domain to your hosting account BEFORE you continue further – we are using the current WPX user panel in this demo.
If you are not aware of how to do that please check the following guide. Both of those files can be uploaded via the WPX File Manager or FTP with FileZilla, for example.
In this example, we will use the WPX File Manager.
Navigate to the /public_html of your new domain name. Our new target domain is newsite.com (yours will be different, of course).
Simply drag and drop BOTH the Installer and the Archive files in the empty /public_html of your new domain name.
After both files are uploaded, you have to run the installer file from the browser, which is easier than it sounds.
Running the Duplicator Installer
In the browser bar, type the new domain name slash installer.php – in this example this will be http:/newsite.com/installer.php
If everything up to this point has been done correctly, this is what your screen should look like:
We are very close to finishing the whole process – yay!
The only step left is to connect the database.
The Duplicator plugin will ask you for:
Host:
Database:
User:
Password:
The “Host” is always localhost with WPX, as it’s set by default. The rest of the required information you will need to copy from your own WPX User Panel.
The “Database” name can be found in the “Databases” menu in your WPX Client Panel. Navigate to your Client Panel → Database (1) and copy the database name (2) that is connected to your new website.
Next, you need to create a database user for your website.
As you are in the “Database” menu – click on the “Add new database user” button on the right-hand side of your website’s database:
A full tutorial can be found here. Once you create the database user, fill in the username and the password in the Duplicator Wizard.
In the next step, the Duplicator plugin screen shows you your new URL and the new path to your files which the plugin will use to automatically search and replace in the database.
To check the changes to your site’s URL that will be applied to the database paths and the Site URL – select the “Settings” tab.
Leave everything with the default settings and then finish the process by clicking the “Validate” button:
Once the installation has been validated, you need to accept the terms & notices(1), click Next(2), and then OK to confirm the settings.
Congratulations!
You successfully migrated/cloned your website to a new domain name without any downtime.
Check the new website
Now click the “Admin Login” button to log in to the new website but use the same WP admin login credentials from the original website.
Final Thoughts
Cloning your WordPress site with Duplicator is quick and easy. Whether you’re migrating, setting up a staging site, or creating a backup, this guide has you covered.
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