You are concerned about your website being down for several weeks if you decide to replace an old WordPress site with a new one. No one wants to provide a maintenance page or, worse, a broken page to clients or readers.
When we decided to redesign our website, we faced the same challenge. We tried and tested almost every possible method.
We were able to make a huge difference with this upgrade. This upgrade allowed us to showcase our potential and attract new customers.
We will show you how to make new clients or get new customers. This is all without any impact on your existing site.
TL;DR
Make a duplicate of your site’s live website and renovate it. Then, replace the old site with this duplicate. You can create a duplicate site as a subdomain of your hosting server. You can also use a separate staging server or local site server. Staging is a good option, as it reduces risk and makes it easy to merge the staging site with the live one. Subdomains and local websites require manual steps that can be time-consuming and even daunting. Our guide will show you how to set up a WordPress staging website.
How to replace your old WordPress site with a new one
You will need your new WordPress website ready in order to replace an old WordPress site.
You don’t have to purchase a new domain or hosting. It’s easy to copy your existing site. Modify that site. Once you’re done, replace the old site with your new WordPress site.
You can create a replica site on a staging server, your local computer, or a subdomain. These articles will provide assistance in creating a replica.
- How to make a staging website
- How do you create a subdomain
- How to make a local website
After creating and editing a new website, you can replace an old WordPress site with a new one.
- Pro Tip: Make sure you have a backup of all your WordPress sites. You can quickly restore your site to normal if that happens. If you don’t have a backup service, this listicle will show you the best WordPress backup plugins.
Let’s move on…the steps required to replace your old website with the new WordPress site will vary depending on how the site was created. If you created your new site using a staging plug-in, you could use that plugin to replace the staging site with the original site. To replace an old WordPress site that was created on a subdomain or local server, you will need a plugin called All-in-One migration.
We’ll be revealing the steps you must take to get there in the next section. The next section has been divided into two segments.
1. Replacing an old site with a staging site
2. Replace the old site with the local site or subdomain
1. Replacing an old site with a staging site
It is very easy to replace an old WordPress site by using a staging site.
Two things are possible:
1. Manually copy the changes from the new site to your old one
2. You can use a push or merge option to replace the old site with your staging site.
This second option is the fastest. The merge option must be available if a plugin was used or your hosting provider created the site.
We researched the top hosting providers and the best staging plugins, and we tested them all to see how they let users merge their sites.
A. Staging plugins:
- BlogVault
- WP Staging
- WP StageCoach
B. Hosting Services
- BlueHost
- SiteGround
- Kinsta
A. Staging Plugins
> BlogVault
Step 1 – Log in to BlogVault’s dashboard, and choose your website. Go to Staging> merge
Step 2- BlogVault starts drawing a comparison of your old site and the staged site. It will show you all files and tables that have been added, removed, or modified to the staging site.
You can opt not to merge certain files or database tables by simply deselecting them.
Step 3 On the next page, you will need to enter FTP credentials.
Step 4: Next, you will be asked to choose the WordPress folder in which your website is stored (i.e., public_html). BlogVault will merge the staging site with its old counterpart.
> WP Stage
Step 1 Log in to your WordPress Dashboard and navigate to WP Staging Pro.
Step 2 You will be able to choose which WordPress files and database tables you wish to push to your old site.
Step 3 Next, click Push To Live Site. The plugin will merge the staging site with the older one.
> WP PageCoach
Step 1: Log in to your WordPress dashboard and go to StageCoach > Import changes > Check for.
Step 2 Next, you will be able to choose whether you want to merge the files or the entire database. Next, click Import. The staging site will be merged into your existing site.
Don’t worry if you don’t use any of these staging plugins. It doesn’t matter which plugin you use, and you should be able to merge. Be careful. This is an important step. They will guide you through the process.
Check with your hosting provider if you created the staging site using your hosting service. As shown below, most hosting services offer a merge option.
Our latest guide Restoring WordPress From Backup.
B. Hosting Services
> BlueHost
Step 1 To merge changes from the staging site to the old website, you must first access the staging page. Go to Staging from your WordPress dashboard.
Step 2 A new window will open in which you’ll be asked for the following options:
- Only deploy files
- Only deploy the database
- Both Deploy Files & Database
Select any option to begin the process of merging.
> SiteGround
Step 1: Open your Siteground account. Go to cPanel >My Account > Original Website > Push To Live.
> Kinsta
Step 1:Log into your Kinsta dashboard, and choose the staged site.
Step 2 Next, visit Staging Environment and then click on Push S Staging to Live.
You don’t have to worry if your hosting service isn’t one of these services, but most hosting providers offer an easy way for you to merge your old site with the staging site.
You have two options: you can either look at the help documentation of your hosting service to show you how to merge, or you can directly ask your hosting support for assistance.
2. Replacing an old site with a local site or subdomain
You may have created a site on your computer, while others have created it on your website serves as a subdomain.
It is almost the same process as replacing an existing site with a subdomain or local site. This section will cover both of these topics.
Step 1 -Install the All in One Migration plugin both on your old site as well as the local subdomain.
Step 2 Log in to your local subdomain or site and navigate to All In One Migration > Import to > File. Your site will be packed up by the plugin. This may take several minutes.
Step 3 Next, click on the Download button. This will allow you to download the site onto your computer.
Next, upload the file to your live website or subdomain.
Step 4 Open your WordPress dashboard and navigate to All in One Migration > Import > Import from > File. Choose the files that you have just downloaded. Wait for the file’s upload to complete on your old website.
If you encounter an error:
- This is because you have a limit on how many files you can upload. Any file larger than 256 MB will result in an error. Uploading a larger file requires that you go to your website’s backend and either edit the wpconfig.php or the htaccess files. Insert a code snippet into one of these files. This guide will provide the code snippet. If you are unsure how to locate or edit files, ask your hosting provider.
Upload complete? Congratulations! You have successfully replaced your WordPress site with a local website or subdomain.
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