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I have a site setup at dev.site.com. I need to move it to site.com. Do I need to physically move all of the images/files/subdirectories, etc to /public_html/ ? All files that I need currently reside in /public_html/dev/. I'm hoping there's an easier way as there are a lot of of images.

I've been doing a test run on a dead domain. Here's what's worked for me. Install WP at dev.dead.com. Setup a test page with an image. Change General -> Settings Site Address (URL) to http://dead.com. Copy index.php and .htaccess from public_html/dead to public_html/. I try checking dead.com/page with no luck. When I install all WP files in public_html/ (WP is also still installed in public_html/dead/) then dead.com/page works. That's what's worked for me, just hoping I can avoid uploading all of those files.

Secondly, what plugin do you recommend for updating URL's? The site relies heavily on Advanced Custom Fields.

Thanks!

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The first part of your question hangs more on how much control over web server configuration you have. If you can point new domain at the same location in filesystem — then no, you won't have to move a thing. Otherwise you do indeed need to move files.

On other hand it's not that complicated to just move everything from one folder to another. If you have something like typical cPanel powered server it likely has file manager right on server.

Then you need to update details in database. The most important would be to use tool that can do so safely and is aware of serialized data (which WP uses extensively on storage). WP-CLI can do this (among other tools) and is useful to have around in general.

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  • For the first part, would pointing the DNS to the subdomain achieve what I want without moving files?
    – Tom
    Commented Jan 7, 2015 at 19:30
  • Your web server determines which particular domain corresponds to which folder. I don't remember domain particulars in this regard, but you really should handle this on web server configuration level properly.
    – Rarst
    Commented Jan 7, 2015 at 19:33
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For the second part:

What plugin do you recommend for updating URL's?

Ive used Velvet Blues Update URLs.

It's made specifically for updating links when you have changed your domain name. It updates links embedded in content, excerpts, custom fields, and even attachments.

It does directly change information in your database so be very careful when using this or anything similar. I'd suggest doing a backup before you do anything that impacts your database.

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