Migration and multisite – Advanced WordPress management

Two topics that scare beginner administrators: “How do I move a site without breaking anything?” and “What is this magical Multisite and do I need it?”. Let’s tackle them.

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#Part 1: WordPress migration

Moving a site (e.g., from local server to production or changing hosting) is a 3-step process:

1. Files: Copy everything from public_html (via FTP).
2. Database: Export the .sql file (e.g., through phpMyAdmin).
3. Domain Change (Key moment!): WordPress stores the site address in many places in the database (in wp_options, but also in post content as image links).

Amateur mistake: Manually editing the SQL file in notepad. This breaks “serialized data” (serialized arrays) of plugins and widgets. Professional method: Use WP-CLI (wp search-replace 'old.com' 'new.com') or Better Search Replace script. They maintain data integrity.

#Part 2: Backups

The 3-2-1 rule:

• 3 copies of data.
• 2 different media (e.g., server + cloud).
• 1 copy off-site (outside the office).

Don’t rely solely on hosting. Install UpdraftPlus or Duplicator and send copies to Google Drive/Dropbox. It’s your insurance policy against hacker attacks or server room fires in Strasbourg (greetings to OVH).

#Part 3: WordPress multisite

Multisite (MU) is a feature that allows running 100, 1000 or a million sites on one WordPress installation.

• One set of files (core, themes, plugins).
• One database (with separate tables for each site).
• One super-administrator.

When to use?

• You have a network of franchise sites (e.g., newyork.company.com, boston.company.com).
• You’re a university giving a blog to every student/professor.
• You run a multilingual service (though WPML/Polylang on a single installation often works better here).

When NOT to use?

• When you have 5 sites for completely different clients. If one site “dies” (PHP error), they all go down. Shared user database can also be problematic.

Multisite is a powerful tool, but requires a solid server and admin knowledge. Don’t enable it “for fun”.