Sometimes a user may wish to move the location of their WordPress files on their server. WordPress does not need to be re-installed in the chosen new location, but can be moved as a whole. How to copy WordPress is explained in a few simple steps.

First, to move one’s WordPress to a new location (thus invariably changing its URL), all of the existing WordPress core files have to be moved either into a specifically created new directory; or, as the case may be, if it is going to be moved to the root directory (which has to be prepared beforehand) all index.php, as well as any other files which are to be copied, have to be backed up. They may also require moving.

The next step is to log in to the blog and change the location of the WordPress URI (WordPress Address box, located within the General panel of Administration/ Settings). While here, the Blog (URI) address location needs to be updated (matching the WordPress URI) as well. Once settings have been saved, the blog should not be opened or viewed and wp-content/cache (the complete folder) has to be deleted by users of WordPress 2.0.

Following this, the WordPress core files, complete with files from the original directory/ subdirectories, can be moved on to the required new location. Any Permalinks in use may require the Permalink structure to be updated (done in Administration – Settings – Permalinks) to the relevant .htaccess file (this file is situated in the directory where the main file index.php is located).

It is possible that some uploaded images will be missing. This can be rectified by changing the path to each image directly in the SQL database. Instructions on how to do this can be found in a tutorial available on the Tamba2 website.

In order to avoid any new uploads ending up in the old folders, the settings for the “store uploads folder” also need to be changed. This is done in the Administration/ Settings/ Miscellaneous panel. The new location must also be updated for existing media/ images upload links.

Depending on the user’s current ISP, some permissions may have been changed from previous settings. Any files showing 0000 permissions should be reverted back to 0644 permissions.

Should various menues be supported by the theme, links to the home page may need to be updated from old embedded subdirectories; this is done within the Appearance/ Menues panel. It is vital to set URI locations before any files are moved. However, it is possible to rectify the situation if files have accidentally been moved before setting URI locations.

When the site has been tested, details such as new addresses may want to be passed on to friends/ other users.

A brilliant website, codex.wordpress.org, has some excellent, in depth tutorials describing in great detail how to copy WordPress, how directories are set up, how to change site URLs, how to rectify problems arising from files being moved too soon and other relevant topics, including how to move WordPress to another server.

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