You are all self hosted by now, right? If you aren’t then you should go and read To selfhosting we will go. For those that already are, then this is the post for you. Maybe you have your site for a few years and maybe you would like to have a new theme or design or even a place to test different plugins. Well I am here to help you do just that, simply and quickly.
Pretty much whatever level of hosting you have it allows you to have subdomains (no, it isn’t as kinky as you are thinking) This means a domain that uses your root domain as part of the URL. For example I currently blog (poorly) at https://domsigns.com and if I wanted a place to test things I can simply go into my Cpanel and find the icon for subdomains, give it an name like dev.domsigns.com and then return to the Cpanel page and install wordpress and I now have a new playground. Once I have done that I like to just clone my existing site completely so that I am starting with what I have already. Now you don’t have to do a clone, you can go to your dashboard on your live site and go to tools>> export and down load an xml file. The you switch to your new site, go to the same place and import that xml file and you will have all of your posts and images but none of the current blog styling. But for this I want to have the whole kit and caboodle to test, or modify or even try a whole new theme.
In order to do this I use a wonderful plugin called Clone , it of course as most things I talk about is free. Now they are looking for financial support to develop and keep the plugin alive so please consider donating. Here is how you clone your site. Install the plugin on both sites by going to plugins>>Add new and type wp-clone into the search box
Then after you have clicked the Install Now button, click Activate.
Remember to do this on both sites. Once you have done so, on your live site you will get this screen.
Click Create Backup and wait, and wait until…
Click Copy URL and you will get a confirmation message that the link has been copied. Head on over to your new site and paste in the URL
Choose Restore for URL and paste in the url copied from the live site. Tick I AGREE and click the Restore from URL button. You will then get a success screen and be asked to login again. Remember the login to the clone site will be just the same as the live site site as it is a full clone. You may now experiment with your new development site to your hearts content and once you have made all the changes you want and are ready to put it to your live site the process is exactly the same but reversed. One last thing though, I would suggest you download a backup of your old site before doing that just in case something goes awry as you then have something to restore if the worst happened.
If you have any questions about this, or maybe you would like me to do it for you, you can find me at @newsigns2 or join my Patreon
Eroticon Technical Director