How to Move a WordPress Website from Localhost to an Online Server (Step-by-Step Guide)?

Moving a WordPress website from a localhost environment to an online server involves several steps. Here’s a detailed guide on how to do it:

1. Access phpMyAdmin: Open phpMyAdmin from your localhost environment (usually via http://localhost/phpmyadmin).
2. Select Your Database: In phpMyAdmin, select the database you used for your local WordPress site.
3. Export the Database:

Click on the “Export” tab.

Choose the “Quick” method and ensure the format is set to “SQL”.

Click “Go” to download the .sql file.

• Access Your Hosting Server via FTP: Use an FTP client (like FileZilla) to connect to your online hosting server.
  • Use the credentials provided by your web host (FTP username, password, host, port).
• Upload Your WordPress Files:
  • Navigate to your local WordPress directory (htdocs/your-site on MAMP/XAMPP).
  • Select all the files and folders (including wp-content, wp-admin, and wp-includes), and upload them to your hosting server’s root directory (usually /public_html or /www).

• Log into your Hosting Control Panel: (e.g., cPanel or Plesk).
• Create a New Database:
  • Go to the “MySQL Databases” section and create a new database.
  • Create a new MySQL user and assign it to the database with full permissions.
• Import the Local Database:
  • Open phpMyAdmin on your hosting server.
  • Select the new database you just created.
  • Go to the “Import” tab, click “Choose File,” and upload the .sql file you exported earlier.
  • Click “Go” to import the database.

• Edit wp-config.php: In your FTP client, locate the wp-config.php file you uploaded.
• Update Database Credentials:
  • Change the database name, username, and password to match the new details from the online server.

• Access phpMyAdmin on your hosting server.
• Navigate to the wp_options table in your new database.
  • Look for the siteurl and home rows.
  • Update both URLs to your live website’s domain (e.g., https://www.yoursite.com)

• Log in to Your WordPress Dashboard on the live site (it will be the same admin details from the localhost site).
• Go to Settings → Permalinks:
  • Re-save the permalinks to ensure they are correctly set up on the live server.
• Check for Broken Links: Ensure all internal links and media (images, etc.) are working correctly. Use a plugin like “Better Search Replace” to fix any broken links that still point to the localhost URLs.

• Open your site in a browser and test all functionality, including forms, media, and plugins.
• Ensure the website is working as expected.

• If you had an existing site or different domain name, set up 301 redirects to ensure your old URLs redirect to the new ones.
• This process should successfully move your WordPress website from localhost to a live server.