Migrating Your WordPress Website with Duplicator

Moving a WordPress website fortunately doesn't have to be rocket science if you have the right tools. The duplicator plugin is the Swiss army knife among migration plugins. In this knowledge base article, we tell you how you can migrate your WordPress website from your external hosting provider to mijn.host. 

Step 1 Download the plugin

The duplicator plugin is free to download in the WordPress plugin directory. You can get here by logging into your WordPress installation via jouw-url.extensie/wp-admin.  

Then look in the left bar for Plugins, then New plugin and then you can find the Duplicator plugin.

After you have installed it, press Activate to activate the plugin. It is now listed under Installed plugins. 

Step 2 Good preparation is half the job

During a website migration, it is always advisable to make a backup of all your files on your site. 

It is also useful to create a new empty database at mijn.host, making sure not to install WordPress just yet. Click on your WordPress hosting package at mijn.host and then at the bottom right under actions on DirectAdmin. Then go to MySQL Management and create your database.

On the right under Actions you can Create New Database. Enter the details for the database here and click on Create database.

Step 3 Create a package

Once you have made a backup and have an empty database from step 2, you can start creating a package of your current website. Click on manage to see the first screen. In the top right of the duplicator plugin, click on Create New. After this, you can optionally change the name, leave the rest as is, and click Next. Then select Yes. Continue with the build process! And click Build.

After the creation is successful, you need to download the Installer and Archive.

Step 4 Installing your new website

Now log in to the Control Panel of mijn.host, click on your hosting package and then at the bottom right under actions: Open DirectAdmin. Go to System Info & Files, now upload your Installer and Archive files from step 3 into the Public_html folder. Note that you should not extract the archive file.

It is possible that an index.html file is already present; you need to delete this before uploading the files. You can leave the index.php file, this is a file that WordPress needs. 

Change DNS

Are you planning to migrate your website but keeping the domain name with your current hosting provider? Please note that you will need to update the DNS at the provider where the domain name is registered. At the previous hosting provider, you must add the new nameservers of mijn.host. You can find the nameservers within the Control Panel once you click on your hosting package. The two new nameservers will then appear at the bottom of the page. 

The installation 

1 Deployment

You start the installation by typing the following url in the search bar: www.uw-domein.nl/installer.php

2 Install Database

Enter the correct database details here, you can check if the details are correct by clicking on Test Database. If all details are correct, you can click on Next, then click on OK to continue.

3 Update Data

In this step, the database and configuration files will be updated. You can change the title as desired or leave it as is. Additionally, you can create a new admin account under options, but it is not required. Click on Next to continue.

4 Test Site

Click on Admin Login and check the box that automatically deletes the installer files.

Verify that the files have been deleted

Your website has now been completely migrated and is ready to use. If you get stuck, you can always contact our support department.