PanelAlpha Migrator

Moving a WordPress site by hand means downloading files, exporting the database, uploading it all again and fixing links to the old address. PanelAlpha Migrator does this for you from the WordPress dashboard. You install it on your old site and on the new one, copy one address, paste it, and click Start Migration. Everything comes along: pages, posts, images, themes, plugins, settings and user accounts. Links that point to the old address are changed to the new one while the site is copied, even inside saved plugin settings. The plugin was made for moving sites to servers that run PanelAlpha, and PanelAlpha uses the same plugin when it moves a site for you. You can use it to move a site to any other WordPress site as well. How to Move Your Site

1. Install and activate PanelAlpha Migrator on both sites: your old site (the source) and the new WordPress you are moving to (the destination).
2. On the new site, open Migrator in the dashboard menu, click the download icon (Destination) and copy the address.
3. On the old site, open Migrator, paste the address and click Start Migration.
4. Keep the tab open until it says the migration is complete. Then log in to the new site with the username and password from your old site.

Large Sites Are Fine Your site travels in small pieces, and each piece is checked when it arrives. Big sites do not hit upload size or time limits on your host. If the browser closes or the connection drops halfway, open Migrator again and continue from where it stopped. Nothing is sent twice. Move First, Switch the Domain Later You can copy the site to the new server while your domain still points at the old one. Enter the new server's IP address under Advanced Options (the gear icon). The new site is then ready before you change DNS. What Gets Copied

• Every table in the old site's database, including users and settings.
• Every file in the site folder: uploads, themes, plugins and hidden files, with their permissions and dates.

What Stays on the New Site

• wp-config.php, so the new site stays connected to its own database.
• The .htaccess file in the site folder. Copy your own redirects over by hand.
• The migrator plugin and its own token.
• Tables that exist only on the new site.

node_modules, .git and .svn folders are never copied. You can leave out more files under Advanced Options. Before You Start The migration replaces the new site's content with the old site's. Each table that the old site has is deleted on the new site and created again from the old site, and files with the same path are overwritten. If the new site holds anything you want to keep, back it up first. Treat the address you copy like a password. While the plugin is active, anyone who has it can write to the new site. When you are happy with the result, deactivate and delete the plugin on both sites.

1. In WordPress, open Plugins > Add New Plugin, search for PanelAlpha Migrator, then click Install Now and Activate. You can also upload the plugin zip under Plugins > Add New Plugin > Upload Plugin.
2. Do this on both sites, the old one (source) and the new one (destination).
3. A Migrator item appears in the dashboard menu. Only administrators see it.
4. On the new site, open Migrator, click the download icon (Destination) and copy the address.
5. On the old site, open Migrator, paste the address and click Start Migration.

You need an administrator login on both sites, PHP 7.4 or newer with the cURL extension, and WordPress must be able to write to wp-content on both sites.

1.2.2

• The migration lock is a plain JSON file in wp-content/migrations/. The plugin no longer writes PHP files to wp-content.
• The token of a migration is kept only in the WordPress database.
• The site address comes from WordPress, not from the request's Host header.
• Debug messages go to the PHP error log only when WP_DEBUG is on.
• Updated the Symfony polyfill packages.

1.2.1

• New name and slug: PanelAlpha Migrator, panelalpha-migrator. Requires WordPress 6.2.
• The destination receives the migration through the WordPress REST API, protected by its token. The separate receive script is removed.
• The destination keeps working during a migration: tables are imported into temporary tables and swapped in one step at the end, and PHP files move into place at the end. A failed swap is rolled back.
• The source checks that the destination answers and accepts the token before it sends anything.
• Abandoned migrations are cleaned up after 48 hours.
• The site token and the settings are now stored in the WordPress database. config.php is removed. A plugin update no longer loses the token.
• The destination keeps its own token and settings after a migration.
• New one-time setup file wp-content/panelalpha-migrator-setup.php to preset the token and settings. It also sets allowed_destinations.
• New uninstall.php: deleting the plugin removes its options, temporary tables, backups of old tables and its files in wp-content/migrations/.
• Requests to the destination use the WordPress HTTP API.
• Admin texts can be translated (text domain panelalpha-migrator).
• Removed unused code and packages.

1.2.0

• Every migration endpoint now asks for an administrator or the site's token.
• A migration reports success only after the destination has confirmed every piece.
• Destinations on the same server or on a private network are refused unless listed as allowed.
• The destination address is checked once and then pinned. The HTTPS certificate is checked.
• Files and tables are kept inside their folders. No database password is written to disk.
• Skipped files no longer stop a migration. A warning shows the count.
• One migration runs at a time. An abandoned one stops blocking after 15 minutes.
• PHP 7.4 to 8.5 supported.

1.1.4

• Migrate to a destination with a different table prefix.
• The destination refuses any file path that leaves the WordPress folder.

1.1.0 - 1.1.3

• Migrate to a server whose domain is not live yet, with a destination IP address.
• Support for WP Cloud and Bitnami layouts, and for binary data in the database.
• Older and unusual tables restore on strict MariaDB and MySQL servers.
• Tables restore in any order.

1.0.0

• First version: migrate a site from the dashboard or over the API, with stop and resume.