How to move WordPress to a different domain at DreamHost manually

Step 1 — Back up your data

You should always backup your data before making any change to your site. View the following article for instructions on how to backup your web site files, database, and any email you wish to keep:

• Manually backing up website data

Step 2 — Add hosting for the new site

Add the new domain (newsite.example.com) to your panel. Make sure to set it as Fully Hosted:

• Adding a website and hosting

Step 3 — Create a new database

Navigate to the MySQL Databases page and create a new MySQL hostname and empty database.

• Create a new database

Step 4 — Transfer your WordPress installation

Transfer the WordPress files you’ve backed up in step one to your new domain. If you had email addresses on the old site (oldsite.example.com), make sure to create the same addresses on your new domain. You can then transfer those emails.

1. Upload your web files using the following article:
   • FTP
2. Upload your database using the Migrate MySQL article:
   • Migrate MySQL
3. Transfer email from your old domain:
   • Email Setup: Use this article to set up your email addresses on the new domain.
   • Import another host's email into DreamHost: This article explains how to import your email to the new domain.
   • Email Client Configuration: This article is a guide to different email configurations you can use.

Step 5 — Edit the new wp-config.php file

Log into your new site (newsite.example.com) via FTP or SSH and open the wp-config.php file (this is in your site's directory). You’ll see the following contents:

define('DB_NAME', ‘exampledatabase’);
define('DB_USER', 'exampledbuser');
define('DB_PASSWORD', ‘database password here’);
define('DB_HOST', 'mysql.example.com');
define('DB_CHARSET', 'utf8');
define('DB_COLLATE', '');

$table_prefix = 'wp_2hdy121d_';

Update the following:

• Database name
• Database user
• Database user password
• Hostname
• Replace the existing WordPress $table_prefix value with the imported $table_prefix value.

  Open the database file you previously downloaded in a text editor to view the correct prefix of each table. The example below shows what you will see. In this example, the table prefix is wp_mwpp89_.

  --
  -- Table structure for table `wp_mwpp89_comments`
  --

Step 6 — Update all URLs in the database

You must now update all URLs in the database since the database is using the old URL. View the following article for several options on how to accomplish this:

• Change the WordPress Site URL

When you update all URLs, the HOME and SITE URL will also be updated.

At this point, your website should load normally on the new domain name.