Many times, migrating your WordPress site is the last hope to improve its performance and user experience. It is a critical process to ensure a satisfactory, seamless, and interactive user experience – it is a somewhat tiresome, lengthy, error-prone process – that can present a series of challenges.
Ensuring that every website component – content, media, and functionality – remains intact and operational is important. And, you will face issues such as broken links, missing media files, database connection errors, and others that can significantly disrupt the user experience and impact your site’s performance.
Well, don’t worry while we are here. In this blog, we will be exploring the common issues encountered during WordPress migrations and provide comprehensive solutions to address them.
By understanding these challenges and their solutions, you can ensure a smoother transition for your WordPress site, preserving its functionality and user engagement.
So, without any further ado let’s get into it.
What is WordPress Migration?
WordPress migration refers to the process of moving a WordPress website from one environment to another.
# There are different types of WordPress migrations.
Hosting migration involves moving a WordPress site from one hosting provider to another for better performance, support, or pricing.
Domain migration requires changing the website’s domain name, which must be handled carefully to preserve SEO rankings and avoid broken links.
Server migration involves shifting the site from a local development environment to a live server, making it accessible to the public.
Regardless of the type of migration, the primary goal of migration is to ensure that all aspects of the website, including content, design, functionality, and database, remain intact and functional after the move.
5 Common WordPress Migration Issues and Hacks to Fix Them
1. Missing Data While Migration
Our digital product has so much data available, which is quite important. It includes customer data, business data, website content, etc. One of the most challenging aspects of WordPress conversion is losing important files and resources along the road. That certain website elements didn’t cut might not be immediately obvious at first.
There are various reasons why this problem could arise, such as incomplete data transfers, improper settings, or incompatible plugins. Content disparities not only jeopardize the user experience, but they can also harm your website’s SEO rankings.
So, it’s critical to evaluate your website after the migration so you know how to look for missing resources.
Let’s understand how to solve this problem.
One approach to accomplish this is to properly browse your website and ensure that all pages, images, documents, and other resources are intact. Pay special attention to the essential elements that form the foundation of your website.
If you detect any missing information or broken links, it’s a pretty good indication that some of your files are missing.
If you’re using a high-quality WordPress migration plugin, it should include migration logs that can provide useful information about the migration process and any errors that occurred.
It’s crucial to make a complete backup of the website, including the database, to prevent data loss. Furthermore, it is crucial to confirm that all migration settings have been verified and that all files and content have been successfully transferred to the new hosting environment.
Ensure that file permissions are set correctly on the new server. Typically, directories should have permissions set to 755 and files to 644. Incorrect permissions can prevent files from being read or executed, leading to missing resources.
Finally, you can compare your newly transferred site to the last backup you created. If you have already taken the backup, you can just simply replace the missing files and resources by importing their backup copy to your new site.
And, if you have not taken the backup, there is not much you can do about it. You need to do it from the start.
2. Fixing Configuration Problems with Domain Names
Domain name configuration is one of the major issues that can arise even after you have successfully moved all of your data from one server to another.
Your DNS records, which convert human-readable domain names into computer-readable IP addresses, are the source of the majority of typical issues in this domain.
The first is that your DNS (Domain Name Server) records include incorrect information, which means your site will not be accessible through your domain name until they are updated.
Hardcoded URLs in the site’s content may still refer to the old domain, resulting in security alerts and broken links.
Another is that it usually takes some time for DNS updates to properly spread around the Internet, so in the interim, some users might still be sent to the old server while others could reach the new one. This may lead to occasional issues with accessibility and irregularities in the availability of websites.
To troubleshoot DNS issues, follow these steps:
Verify that the DNS configuration is accurate. This includes pointing to the new hosting provider in the A records, CNAME records, and any other pertinent DNS records. To guarantee appropriate configuration, check with your domain registrar or DNS management panel and review your domain’s DNS settings.
Now, you need to take note of the relevant DNS records, which includes:
A (IPv4)
AAAA (IPv6)
CNAME
MX records
Now, examine the DNS information for your new hosting server.
Do they fit together?
If it matches, it is sent to the new server. If not, you have to wait for it.
While some users should be able to visit your website on the new server in a few hours, DNS propagation usually takes 24 to 48 hours to finish. It could take up to 72 hours in certain extreme circumstances.
If you believe that the propagation procedure is taking too long, you can accelerate it by lowering the TTL (Time to Live) number, which specifies how long DNS servers or user devices can cache the information. If the TTL value of your DNS entries is set too high, the propagation process may take a long time, thus decreasing it should help things move along faster.
3. Error Establishing a Connection With Your Database
A few frequent WordPress migration issues can create fewer troubles than concluding the procedure only to discover that there was a mistake in establishing a connection with the database.
The main issue with these kinds of alerts is that they don’t give a precise error code or information on the particular reason why the connection failed. Ultimately, if you don’t know what the error is, how can you solve it?
Thankfully, there is a way through which you can find a problem
To get more detailed problem codes and determine what is wrong with your recently migrated site, enable WordPress by entering your wp-config.php file and checking out the following line:
define( ‘WP_DEBUG’, true );
When you have it. You need to swap the true to false so that it reads:
define( ‘WP_DEBUG’, true );
To create a debug.log file in your “wp-content” directory, save the file and then refresh your website. You can use this file to examine the specific error messages and codes connected with the database connection issue.
How to Resolve Typical Errors in Database Connection
It’s a wonderful idea to identify the exact problem code causing your connection issue so you can check it up online and find solutions.
Now let’s examine some solutions for the most common problems for your database connection issues.
# Incorrect database credentials.
One probable reason is that the database credentials given in the WordPress configuration file (wp-config.php) do not match those of the new hosting server.
After considering that, you need to begin searching in your wp-config file and checking all of the following details:
Hostname
Username
Password
Database
And, each one should perfectly match the details of the new hosting server.
# Database Server Configuration
There are instances where your new server’s database configuration differs from your previous one’s. In such a scenario, you’ll need to log into your hosting account and check your database server setup to ensure it meets the basic requirements for running WordPress.
# Firewall or Access Restrictions
In some circumstances, the new hosting server’s firewall settings or access limitations may prevent the WordPress site from connecting to the database server. This typically occurs when firewall rules or server configurations are not adequately modified throughout the migration procedure. You’ll also need to check your hosting account’s settings to confirm that they allow your WordPress site to connect to your database server.
One of the common issues you will face during WordPress migration is the 404 errors that can happen due to permalink problems. Permalinks are the permanent URLs to your individual posts, pages, and other content on your WordPress site.
When permalinks are not configured correctly after migration, visitors may encounter the following:
Visitors receive a “404 Not Found” error when trying to access pages or posts.
Internal links within your site may not work correctly.
Search engines may index broken links, which can negatively affect your site’s search engine rankings.
Let’s understand why it happens.
The .htaccess file, which controls how URLs are handled on your server, may not be properly updated or transferred during migration.
Differences in server configurations between the old and new hosting environments can cause permalink structures to break.
Permalink settings stored in the database might not be correctly migrated or updated.
Custom permalink structures may not translate well during migration, which may lead to broken links.
# Solutions to Permalink Problems
The first and often simplest solution is to reset the permalink structure in your WordPress dashboard. This can refresh the permalink settings and resolve many common issues.
If resetting permalinks does not resolve the issue, you may need to manually update the .htaccess file.
Next, you can check the server configuration and ensure that the new server supports the use of .htaccess files and that mod_rewrite (for Apache servers) or the equivalent module is enabled. Contact your hosting provider if you are unsure how to verify or enable these settings.
Also, to solve the problem you can update the database references. Sometimes, permalink issues can stem from outdated database references. Use a plugin like Better Search Replace to update any old URLs that might still be pointing to the previous domain or server paths.
If manual edits don’t work, you can regenerate the .htaccess file by temporarily renaming it and allowing WordPress to create a new one.
If you use a custom permalink structure, ensure that it is correctly configured after migration. Sometimes, custom structures can break if not properly handled during migration.
5. The Problem of Downtime
As website owners, we are all aware that downtime is one of the biggest issues that could arise. Whether your site is completely offline or lacks sufficient server resources to offer even basic functionality, it not only irritates your customers to the point of driving them away. However, it may also have serious consequences for your business in terms of revenue loss and inability to meet your customers’ needs.
Unfortunately, mission-critical operations like data transmission and DNS propagation will inevitably experience at least some downtime during a website migration due to the very nature of the process.
Well, you have to bear with the downtime, but let’s understand some of the best practices to reduce it and take proactive steps:
The best strategy to troubleshoot migration downtime and keep it from having a substantial impact on your bottom line is to simply schedule the migration for when your website gets the least amount of traffic.
Check your traffic statistics by logging into Google Analytics. Look for off-peak times when there should be, at most, very little disruption to service. Nevertheless, it’s crucial to keep in touch with your users—even if you plan to migrate during off-peak times.
Place a note on your homepage and utilize email marketing, social media, and other channels to notify visitors of the planned downtime. This proactive approach can help you avoid permanently losing customers to your competition because of the site migration.
Before making any changes to the live site, use a staging environment to test the migration. This allows you to identify and resolve issues without affecting the live site.
To reduce the DNS propagation time, lower the Time-to-Live (TTL) value of your domain’s DNS records a few days before the migration. This forces DNS servers to update the records more frequently and minimize downtime.
You can also use a Content Delivery Network (CDN). It helps you minimize downtime by serving cached versions of your site’s content to users while the migration is underway.
To Conclude
We’ve covered five common WordPress migration problems that users often face, along with detailed solutions to ensure a smooth transition with minimal downtime. We talked about issues like missing files and resources, errors establishing a connection with the database, domain name configuration errors, 404 errors caused by permalink problems, and strategies to minimize downtime.
By addressing these challenges effectively, you can keep your migration process smooth, minimize inconvenience for your customers, and avoid significant impacts on your business’s bottom line.
It seems that now you’re aware of the complications of WordPress migration. If you think you need assistance from a professional WordPress development company, then KrishaWeb can help you. We have a team of experts who can understand your needs and can help you navigate the migration process. If you need assistance with the entire migration or are looking for some tips for your website migration, book a meeting for a free consultation with us and we will be more than happy to help you.
Girish Panchal
Technical Architect
A Technical Architect, proficient in WordPress, Drupal, Laravel, and DevOps tasks, crafts robust IT solutions with a blend of expertise and versatility in web development and infrastructure management.
