||  Manually Export/Import  ||  Use a WordPress Plugin  ||  WordPress Toolkit  ||

NOTE: 

• Many entities on campus have been unable to consistently, perfectly copy a site from one environment to another regardless of which tools were used--your mileage can vary.
• If you have assets (.css, .js, etc) that are built by your theme or by a plugin, the site clone feature will not edit file paths that exist in the contents of files. For example, all your fonts are defined in styles.css that include the full site domain (example.wisc.edu). Upon clone these assets would still use the example.wisc.edu domain.
• Need guidance with WordPress? Web Hosting - Wordpress Usage Guide

Option 1: Copy the File-systems, databases and update the base URL in WordPress:

• Web Hosting - Customer how to for download and upload of sites files and/or databases
• https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/changing-the-site-url/

Option 2: Use a WordPress Plugin:

• Many folks across campus use plugins to facilitate the transfer of copies of sites between server environments.
• For example, WP Migrate is a popular choice:
  • https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-migrate-db/
  • https://deliciousbrains.com/wp-migrate-db-pro/ (paid version with multi-site support)

Option 3: Using the built-in Plesk WordPress Toolkit for Copying Data or Cloning:

• Plesk offers a built-in WordPress Toolkit, which can be used (or not used) by customers to move WP content and databases.
• The Toolkit doesn’t create test, dev, qa, staging, etc. sites in Plesk.  This would be configured for the account by our team (setup in plesk, SSL, DNS, documentation, etc.) and then you can use the toolkit to migrate content around those environments.  Here you can request to add domains/environments to your account.

IMPORTANT:  We recommend cloning your sites first and then using the "Copy Data", which by default will move your files and databases from one site to another.  Clone first because it creates a new database in your other environment.  Then you'll primarily want to use Copy Data going forward.

Copy Data:

• A maintenance page can appear while data is locked and copied.
• We encourage you to create a restore point and remove the used resources when no longer needed
• Vendor (Plesk) documentation copying data

When Cloning your sites:

• The default will be to place it in a sub-folder and use the existing domain.  It's recommended to use your dev, test, stage, etc. domains and only use sub-folders if you have WP installs in them.
• The default will be to create a new MySQL every time unless you specify your existing MySQL database name.
• This can create Back Ups and Restore Points, so you'll want to remove used resources. 
• Vendor (Plesk) documentation cloning data

Any questions?  Please contact webhosting@doit.wisc.edu