WordPress Blogging

The Duplicator plugin proved to be a lifesaver for me in April 2014.

I had 90 WordPress blogs spread over 2 domains (45 on each). Around April 25, 2014, both domains were hacked and everything got destroyed/deleted. This was from a very reputable hosting company.

When I realized this, the hosting company was immediately called to find out what had happened.

They informed me that my domains had in fact been hacked. After a few hours had passed, they sent me an email stating that they had a backup and could restore them. This was from a very reputable hosting company.

They sent me another email after the restore had been completed and everything seemed to be back up and functioning.

Then 2 days later, the same thing happened again. Every blog on each domain had been trashed again.

As soon as I realized what had happened,  the hosting company was immediately called again and told me what was going on. This was from a very reputable hosting company.

Somewhere between 2-3 hours later, I called them to find out what is going on and this time, they tell me they have NO backups to restore any of the blogs.  This was from a very reputable hosting company.

Well, needless to say, I was pissed, I was furious. As soon as I got off the phone with them, I immediately began looking for a new hosting company and found one. This new company is much more reasonable with what they charge and they do daily backups.

They helped me get a new account set up. In less than 2 hours the new site was usable to the point that I could use the backups created by the Duplicator plugin and start re-creating each blog. Instead of having 2 domains again, I decided to have 1 domain, with 1 blog, and have 100 categories.

So once again, this plugin was a tremendous help to me.

Duplicator is a free WordPress plugin that allows you to:

1. Backup the blog’s database

2. Backup the blog’s WordPress files and folders

3. Restore a damaged or corrupt blog

a.) Database

b.) WordPress files and folders

4. Clone an existing blog into a new blog and then modify the new blog as you want

After creating a new blog, it might take anywhere from 30 minutes to a couple of hours to get everything set up the way you desire.

By cloning an existing blog into a new blog, it takes maybe 15 minutes or less

The plugin can be downloaded by Clicking on this Link.

Video for the Plugin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=tdP3quWLM0Q#t=4

This is a step-by-step procedure I created to use the plugin for cloning. After doing this 2-3 times, this write-up was no longer needed.

BLOG CLONING – DUPLICATOR WORDPRESS PLUGIN

Some of the steps maybe are different with newer versions of the plugin.

Make sure you have the username and password for the original blog.

Some of the steps maybe are different with newer versions of the plugin.

Make sure you have the username and password for the original blog.

• Create a new blog in CPanel
• Use File manager (CPanel) and copy the wp-config.php file from the new blog to your computer.
• Use File manager (CPanel) and delete all files/folders from the new blog
• Select an existing blog to clone and Use File manager (CPanel) or FTP and copy the installer.php and archived zipped file to the New blog folder

These will be the only 2 files in the blog folder.

• Load Your Browser and Type the URL of the New blog/installer.php

For example http://yourdomain.com/blog-name/installer.php

This step starts the actual creation (clone) process

Extract Archives and Install Database (Deployment)

• On the install Database screen enter the info from the wp-config.php file
• You will need the Username, Database name, and Password from the wp-config.php file that you saved onto your computer.
• Select Test DB, Click on Next and Select OK for Installation Confirmation

Check Settings (folders) and Change Title if necessary

• Click on Next to Update Data

On completion,  the new blog has been cloned.

• Click the Admin Login on the new blog

Use your domain name and the folder when the blog was created

(http://yourdomain.com/blog-folder/wp-admin)

 Use the User Name and Password from the original blog

• Delete the installer files if you see a message to remove them.

• Select the Dashboard and Check to see if there are any updates for WordPress, Themes, and Plugins.
• It is extremely important to keep your blog updated!

• Add a new user with desired User Name and Password for the new blog and Set role as Administrator

Make sure to save the Username and Password.

• Log off and log back in using the New Username and Password

• Delete the old user

Attribute all content to New User

Confirm the deletion

• Check All Settings

• Resave Permalinks under Settings (/%postname%/)

Under Appearance

• Add Resources for products to be promoted (Widgets)

• Delete anything not wanted, so you have a fresh blog

• Check out the new blog to make sure everything is set up correctly

• Create a New post (s)

• Backup New blog with Duplicator

If you follow the Steps, you will be able to get the new blog set up in less than 30 minutes.

After you have gone through the process 3-5 times, you will be able to do it without the instructions and it will take less time.

To set up a new blog from scratch and get it the way you want it, could take several hours of trial and error.

By cloning a blog, you are taking something that you have already created and have set up the way you want and then using it for another blog.

You have now cloned a working blog into a new blog. Now you just need to configure the settings in the new blog and make whatever changes or additions you want.

Would I recommend this plugin to anyone who has a WordPress blog or blogs? That is a big YES!