How to copy a live WordPress site to a local host | Duplicator

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• Ease of Use
• Support
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• A small learning curve for beginners

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Copy a live WordPress site to a local host

Copy a live WordPress site to a local host using the Duplicator Plugin in 5 easy steps.  This is great for testing or developing your site offline without risking your live site.

Snap Creek has now introduced Duplicator Pro to their line of products.  This new premium product will allow you to easily deploy and backup your website.  You can read more about all their products here.

Did you find that the video lacked details? In that case, below are step by step instructions on how to copy a live WordPress site to a local host using the Duplicator Plugin.

Step 1

Installing the Duplicator Plugin

•  Click on  “Plugins”.   A new window will open.  On the top left hand corner of the new window, click on “Add New”
• In the top right hand corner of the screen, you will now find a field labelled “Search Plugins”.  Type “duplicator” in this field and hit the ENTER key.
• Find the plugin labelled “Duplicator” by LifeInThGrid and click on “Install Now” button.
• Click on “Activate Plugin”

Step 2

Creating and downloading the Duplicator Packages

• A new item should now have been added to your dashboard.  Click on the newly added “Duplicator” item.
• A new screen will now open.  On this screen, click on “Create New”.  A new screen will appear.
• Leave the defaults alone and click on “Next”.  This will scan your system and prepare to build a duplicate of your site.
• Click on the “Build” button.  The button is located at the bottom of the screen.  The will initiate the building of your duplicator package.
• A message will appear stating “Package Completed”.  Below this message are 2 buttons.  One is called “Installer” and the other is called “Archive”.  Click on each button and save to your desktop.
• Select the two files that were downloaded to your desktop and copy to your clipboard. We now have to prepare the database.

Step 3

Creating a directory for you local site

•  Locate your XAMPP folder and open it.  Inside this folder is a folder called “htdocs”.  Open this folder.
• Create a new folder inside the “htdocs” folder.  You can name it whatever you like.  Make note of the your folder name.
• Open the newly created folder and paste the “Installer” and “Archive” files from your clipboard into the folder.  A shorcut for pasting is CRTL+V

Step 4

Creating a database for your local site

• Open phpMyAdmin.  There are a few ways to open it.  An easy way is to type “localhost/phpmyadmin” into your browser and hit enter.  A log in screen will appear.  Enter your Username and Password to log in.
• Click on the “Databases” tab.
• Enter a database name under the heading “Create database” then click on “Create”.  Make note of the database name as you will need it to install WordPress.

Step 5

Installing a copy of your live site to your local host

• Type the following into your browsers address bar  “localhost/*your folder name*/installer.php” and click ENTER.  Don’t forget to substitute *your folder name* with the name of the directory you created in “htdocs” in step 3.
• Fill in fields listed below;
  • Name (newly created database name)
  • User (database username)
  • Password (database password)
• Click on “Test Connection”.  You should see a message that says “Server Connected: Success” and “Database Found: Success”
• Click on the check box labelled “I have read all warnings & notices” and click on “Run Deployment”.  You will get a warning message, click “OK” and your local site will begin to be created.
• Once the site is ready to be updated to your local host a new screen will appear.  At the bottom is a button labelled “Run Update”.  Click this button.
• You will now be presented with 4 options.  The only option we are interested in is the 4th option.  It is labelled “File Cleanup”.  Click on this option.  You will be presented with a message to confirm the deletion of the installer file.  Click on “OK”.
• You will now be prompted to log in to your dashboard.  Use the user name and password for your live site and click “Log In”.
• SUCCESS. You have now copied your live site to your local host.

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