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Do you need to clone your WordPress website?
Do you want to know how to clone WordPress Site can be helpful if you want to move to a new hosting provider, establish a development or staging site, or make a backup of your current website.
In this post, we will guide you through the process of quickly cloning your WordPress site. You will learn how to replicate your website’s content, settings, and configurations in minutes by following step-by-step directions.
Why Would You Want to know how to Clone a WordPress Site?
Cloning a website is a time-consuming process. It is not a simple task. So, what is the point of doing so?
One cause is when switching to a new host or domain name. Cloning the website speeds up the migration procedure while also reducing some work.
Another scenario in which you might clone a site is during site development. This enables you to test the changes before making them public on the site.
Another important reason is to host a client’s website on your local server. This promotes a smooth flow of labor. After finishing the project, it is simple to clone the site and move it to the client’s live website.
How to clone WordPress site Back up your existing site
You need to completely back up your website before trying to copy it. We mean completely! When storing up a WordPress site, you must include all data and files. You can never predict when the missing component will appear and cause errors on your copied site.
Backing up your website includes all of the files and datasets. The core files, plugin files, theme files, setup and settings files, and uploaded files can all be considered as part of your files. Your user information, posts, pages, links, comments, and other user-generated material are all stored in your database.
We advise you to back up the following methods in order to make your job easier and more efficient.
Back up Manually:
The most time-consuming and least efficient way of backing up files and data is the conventional method. This approach’s ineffectiveness might cause you to move slowly and feel heavy-handed. Instead of painstakingly backing up your website, you could accomplish something more worthwhile.
However, keep in mind that you will need to back up the files and database individually if you decide to go ahead with it. Typically, your system’s integrated cPanel provides you with manual backup assistance. However, you might need to access a client FTP or the FTP of your server in order to backup files.
Do you know how to clone wordpress sites However, keep in mind that manual backups are the least effective because they are unreliable, take a long time to download, and cannot be tried before restoring. This should discourage you from using this technique unless it is your last resort.
Backup via Web Host:
Most web servers include website backups in their packages. You can check the conditions of your agreement or contact their support team for more information.
This technique generally consists of a few steps. These are their names:
- Logging into the dashboard of your hosting account
- Selecting the target site to backup
- Clicking on the backup option, which usually appears on the navigation panel
- Following the steps as instructed by the host.
This technique, however, should not be your first choice because you will need to call the host’s customer service team whenever you require an offsite backup. Furthermore, if a malicious attack sprouts from your backed-up site, your host will instantly take it down or take it offline
Back up via Plugins:
A plugin is the most effective and efficient method to back up how to clone a WordPress website. These plugins help you plan automatic backups and use one-click restores with maximum results, saving you significant time, effort, and hassle in backing up website content. Most plugins provide limitless storage (based on package) as well as offsite backups not to mention the protection and dashboard that most plugins provide.
Install Duplicator Plugin
After you’ve backed up your website’s data, it’s time to get down to business: cloning!
You can clone in two ways: manually (which is less favored but a viable option for DIYers) or with plugin support.
Do you know how to clone wordpress sites Because we favor cloning via a plugin, let’s go over it step by step. To illustrate this, we will use the Duplicator plugin for your convenience.
To begin, after activation, the plugin will copy and back up all of your files and databases. It will check your website content for issues and notify you before duplicating and backing up. Your duplication procedure will resume once these issues have been resolved (as advised by Duplicator).
You must now download the duplicated website content to your computer after backing up current content and creating duplicated content. The contents will be archived and available for safe download.
You can obtain the archive file, which includes an installation file for sharing. The installation file will be used to unarchive the data, which will lead to uploading to a live website or a website on your local server.
Next, navigate to the folder where you saved your copied website. Insert the archive and installer files into the subdirectory. Also, make sure that the folder contains only those two folders.
Create a new WordPress database that unpacks your copied version of your current WordPress site; if you haven’t already. You can create a database whether your new location is online or a site on your local server.
If the site is online, one method is to simply log into your hosting account and create a database using MySQL Databases. Another approach is to start phpMyAdmin http://localhost/phpmyadmin/ or ‘http://localhost:8080/phpmyadmin/ from a local host installation in your web browser. You can do so by going to
in your native web browser, navigate to phpMyAdmin.
After installing the website files and databases, execute the Duplicator installer script, which opens your archive file and unpacks all material with a few clicks.
Finally, try the cloned page to see if there are any unwanted issues. Remove any unnecessary files or material, and verify the admin area for any errors. Refer to pertinent guides to resolve any errors, or contact web hosts like Univahost for assistance.
How to clone a WordPress site manually
Do you know how to clone WordPress site As mentioned earlier, manual cloning is the least preferred among all types. But in case you are the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) type of person, check out the following steps:
- Make a backup of all of your website’s files and save them to your smartphone or computer.
- Place the data you copied on a web server.
- Copy the databases from your existing site to the web host by exporting them (using tools such as phpMyAdmin and Adminer).
- Create a database for your live site’s clone to keep its content and settings.
- Transfer your live site’s datasets to the clone’s databases using a SQL file.
- Modify the wp-config.php file, which contains the core configuration details for your website, to reflect the correct database information. This file is stored in your website’s root directory.
- This file should be saved and re-uploaded to the base directory of your cloned site.
The preceding procedures will result in a cloned WordPress website. If you want to go to the bother of doing it manually, we recommend using an FTP client like FileZilla.
Conclusion
Cloning a WordPress site is a bit complicated and should only be done in exceptional circumstances. It could be used to migrate to a new host computer. It could also be for a client’s project job, among other things.
However, this cloning process can take a long time and cause a lot of mental stress, particularly if done manually.
If you must clone WordPress sites, we recommend you save time, unnecessary tension, and unnecessary effort. To do so, you can use Univahost to help you quickly clone your site in a short period of time and with minimal effort. You also get the best outcomes with the least amount of effort.
So, we hope this guidance gets your 2023 off to a great start. When you decide to make a duplicate of your How to clone WordPress site, do it the SMART way with Univahost. With the assistance of experts, you can enjoy secure and effective cloning.