If at any point you decide that you want to change your domain name and migrate your content, here are the steps required for a smooth transition. In this example, we will be updating my onlygingersnaps.com website to buymyrecipe.com. I’m making this change because I want to be able to expand on my recipes as sort of an online cookbook. If you find yourself in this situation, here are the steps to follow.
- Purchase your new domain name
- Setup your new WordPress site
- Log into your WordPress onlygingersnaps.com website
- Go to Tools menu then Export.
- Select the content you want to export and save the xml file
- Go to Media and download all media files
- If you already have your files saved then you can skip this
- Log into your new WordPress site
- Go to Tools menu then Import
- Click Install Now under WordPress
- Then click the same link once it changes to Run Importer
- Select the xml file
- Then click Upload file and import
- Select the user to import to and any other items it requests information on. This will be based on the types of information you are importing
- Check the box to download and import files
- This will go to your existing site and download the files and import them
- Click Submit
- Once completed you will see any errors that occurred and a link to see the updated website
- I received a number of error messages but my posts, pictures and comments were migrated.
- My theme was not migrated
- There were some minor tweaks that needed to be done
