From a manual backup to a new hosting server

  • Resolved dutamulia

    (@dutamulia)


    7 years, 3 months ago

    I’m a IT support with little or no website knowledge. I’ve been tasked to restore a wp made website from a plain /public_html/ folder.

    So what we have here are:
    1. a .zip file of the old /public_html/ folder
    2. WP login username & password info
    3. A new server using cpanel but we are going to use the same domain (transferred)
    4. Latest WordPress installed in the new hosting

    What we don’t have : any other info like mySQL/PHP database name etc (i don’t even actually know what are those).

    I have tried reading some articles but none are helpful or i just can’t understand them. Please guide me how, or point me to any reading. I”m eager to learn and will do my homework.

    Thank you masters

    edit : fixed the thread title

    • This topic was modified 7 years, 3 months ago by dutamulia.
    • This topic was modified 7 years, 3 months ago by dutamulia.
    • This topic was modified 7 years, 3 months ago by dutamulia.
Viewing 8 replies - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)

  • So the real job description here is not moving WP from a backup to a new hosting server, but rather importing or converting a static html website into WordPress system.

    The right method depends on how big that static website is.

    If it’s a small site with not many pages, it’s better to do it manually, this way we will have a clean install and everything is in the right place.

    For a big site with many like hundreds pages, try using a plugin like this one
    https://www.ads-software.com/plugins/import-html-pages/

    From the plugin description, it states that “Imports well-formed static HTML files into WordPress”, so the result will depend on how well-formed that html pages are. Otherwise there will be a lot of things to clean up manually.

    Doing this requires some basic knowledge of WordPress, like post,page,taxonomy, and template hierarchy so that we can manage the content properly where it should belong to. So if you are new to WordPress, I would recommend reading through this page before actually doing it.

    What You Most Need to Know About WordPress
    https://codex.www.ads-software.com/Main_Page

    Thread Starter dutamulia

    (@dutamulia)

    Pardon if I wasn’t clear enough.

    The website was made with wordpress.
    The backup is a manual backup, the backup was made by downloading the whole /public_html/ folder. Inside the folder are wordpress subfolders.
    There are no HTML file inside, they are all PHP.

    The website itself is a simple, just several pages.

    Thread Starter dutamulia

    (@dutamulia)

    In Cpanel the folder is named /public_html/ but there’s none any .html file inside.
    Today i found it is different in Plesk, they call it /httpdocs/

    (ok this is a bump effort, i need answers, deadline is near, i’m desperate)

    A complete WordPress backup are 2 parts; WP folders(and files) AND database. See to it that the person who gave the zip to you also provided the database. Only after you have the complete backup, follow this https://codex.www.ads-software.com/Moving_WordPress But tbh, doing this requires some experiences with database, and most likely it’s not gonna be one time and done for those never done it before.

    Is the old site also still accessible online? If the answer is yes, I think you can still make it

    In your zip, navigate to this
    <strong>/wp-content/themes/{theme-name}</strong>

    Make a copy of theme folder and zip it, then go to your new WordPress install on the new host and login and upload the theme via Appearance > Themes . Since it’s a small site with several pages, it’s better to just manually creating pages anyway. Create pages, also add images (just download from old site one by one) to match each page on the old site.

    Do the same thing for the plugin(s), if there is any that’s necessary.
    <strong>/wp-content/plugins/{plugin-name}</strong>

    Thread Starter dutamulia

    (@dutamulia)

    It is very unfortunate the old website is no longer accessible, otherwise i’d just copy the whole html code manually.
    Thank you Paul, I’ll following your guidance and see what i can do.

    At this point should i just mark this thread as resolved or i should wait and update the progress?

    It’s up t you but I would mark as resolved because the answer to this topic is already in that Moving WordPress link. Also I will monitor this thread if you have further question. I won’t be able to answer right away, but I’ll do my best.

    So as in my previous comment, copy theme and plugin folder and upload to the new WP install. Now we need the database, once you find the database backup (SQL file) that the person gave to you, use a database management tool (like phpMyAdmin or whatever your host provides) to import the SQL file.

    This plugin might help import the SQL file right in the WP admin page (I myself have never used it before but it might be useful for you)
    https://www.ads-software.com/plugins/wp-database-backup/

    and then use this tool to search and replace old site url with new one.
    https://www.ads-software.com/plugins/search-and-replace/

    • This reply was modified 7 years, 3 months ago by paulwpxp. Reason: Add link to wp-database-backup plugin
    Thread Starter dutamulia

    (@dutamulia)

    Many thanks Paul, new hosting was successfully set. I jumped off my chair when the site showed up ??
    Took a day for a layman like me but i’m very pleased haha…

    wishing the best for you Paul

    Congratulation! ?? wishing you all the best too.

Viewing 8 replies - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
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