Manually clone a WordPress site in 10 minutes
Here’s the method I use to clone WordPress sites. This will copy everything–your database, posts, plugins, settings, images, etc.
This should work for any host that provides cPanel. This isn’t the only way to do it, but it works for me.
If you somehow manage to ruin your site while using this method, just Google “how to carefully follow directions.”
FYI, the source is the site you are cloning and the destination is the new site.
Short Version
1) From phpMyAdmin, download the source DB as SQL
2) Open the SQL file in a text editor
3) Find all instances of the source URL and replace them with the destination URL (including the .com/.net/.org suffix)
4) Use the cPanel database wizard to create a DB and user for the destination site, noting the DB name, user name, and password
5) In phpMyAdmin, import the source DB into the new D
6) In File Manager, zip the source website7
7) Move the ZIP file to the destination folder
Use the File Manager editor to enter new DB info into wp-config.php
Long Version
Download the source DB as an SQL file
1) From the phpMyAdmin home page, click on the source DB
2) In the menu, click Export
3) Leave the Quick option selected and click Go
Change the website name in the SQL file
1) Open the SQL file you just downloaded in a good text editor
2) Perform the following find and replace operations:
oldsite.com > newsite.net
old-site-directory > new-site-directory
Some themes and plugins reference the directory of your WordPress site, so you need to make sure to change it in the DB. This won’t apply to all sites.
Create a new DB and user
1) Open cPanel and open the MySQL Database Wizard
2) Follow the directions to create a new database and user with full privileges
3) Make sure to copy down your full DB name (with prefix), full user name (with prefix), and password
Your DB and username prefix is usually your cPanel username, so your DB name would look like cpanelhandle_dbname.
Upload the source DB into the new DB
1) Open the SQL file you downloaded earlier and copy the entire thing
2) Go to phpMyAdmin and click on the name of your new database
3) In the menu, click SQL
4) Paste your copied SQL text and click go
It might take a minute for this to finish, so be patient. You can also use the Import option, which might be better if you’re cloning a large site.
Copy and move the source website
1) From cPanel, open File Manager
2) Open the directory of the source website
3) Click Select All, then Compress
4) Click the new ZIP file (you may have to refresh the window first) and click Move
5) Enter the destination directory (e.g. public_html/newsite) and click Move File(s)
6) Open the destination directory, select the ZIP file, and click Extract
Modify wp-config.php
1) In the destination directory, select wp-config.php and click Code Edit
2) Change the DB, user, and password to reflect your new site’s details
You should now be able to go to yoursite (dot) com/wp-admin and login using the details from the source site.
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