I'm sure I'm missing something obvious here! I just designed a new site in Atahualpa - but it was installed on a test sub-domain. Now I want to transfer the custom design to a new site.

This is what I tried:
Using ftp software to download the entire Atahualpa folder to my computer (from the customised sub site).
Installing WP and Atahualpa on the new site.
Using ftp software to upload the entire Atahualpa folder from my computer to the new site.

It failed! The new site still looks like a fresh install.

I guess what's stumped me is - where is Atahualpa saving all those changes I made?

The options (all the customized settings you made using the theme options) are stored in the wordpress database. So to move them from one site to another, you need to EXPORT the settings from the original site's WordPress database and IMPORT them into the new sites WordPress database.

The Theme folder is just the code that creates the look of the site (and handles the backend option settings) - nothing is written to that.

You can do a search using the word 'EXPORT' and you will find manual directions to do this. You will have to use phpMyAdmin.

I've written an export routine (bfa_exportsql.php), but haven't finished the import side of it. If you wish to use the export routine, let me know and I'll send it to you.

Thanks juggledad. I was hoping I could transfer a modified theme to an existing site without transferring the database, as I'm guessing this would overwrite the database on the existing site.

I was beginning to think that was the case so I guess the moral of the story is not to design my "template" on a test domain but to design it in situ.

Carol

you don't have to transfer the entire database, just the Atahualpa options, a small subset of the wp-options table

oh - ok - thanks. If I used your export routine, would that show me how to export just the bit I need?

Originally Posted by rosetrees

oh - ok - thanks. If I used your export routine, would that show me how to export just the bit I need?

I'm in the same boat as you - and, well, I discovered that it IS technical, unfortunately. You'll find instructions at:

http://codex.wordpress.org/Moving_Wo...o_a_New_Server

See also the links at the bottom of the page, especially:

http://www.velvetblues.com/web-devel...og-or-website/

Originally Posted by juggledad

you don't have to transfer the entire database, just the Atahualpa options, a small subset of the wp-options table

juggledad - I succeeded in getting into the MySQL database through GoDaddy Hosting Control Center. I chose the Export function and then wp_options in the left column. I'm now seeing 15 pages of options, one per line in the database.

Should I select all the options whose names begin with "bfa_ata..." and then click Export; then get into the new WordPress database and choose Import? I want to be real careful with this, because I don't want to screw-up the existing site which has a bazillion posts. So please forgive the nitpicking questions.

The bfa_exportsql.php will only export the Atahualpa options. the idea is so you can export from a test site and dump the atahualpa options into a new site so they will look the same.

runbei: You do not have to dump the entire database to copy the Atahualpa options. the directions you are looking at are for MOVING your entire site to a new location.

The code I'm working on is an automated method, currently there is a guide for doing this see: http://forum.bytesforall.com/showthr...ghlight=export

Well, hurrah! That is the answer I'm looking for. Thank you!

Hi JuggleDad. I'm trying to understand this post and have also tried using the Export/Import feature in Atahualpa to transfer my jonathanstein.org site over to embodiedawakeninginstitute.com. They are both on the same server with the same host. Is there an easy way to do this?

I thought that if I just exported the settings text file out of the jonathanstein.org, and import it back into my other site, that that would do it. Not so. My new site still looks like the template theme, fresh "out of the box", so to speak. Do you have more specific instructions for this kind of thing?

This thread is no longer relevant since 3.4.9 when the export/import settings option was added.

Now you just export the settings from one site and import them in the new site.
When you do the import, make sure you see the green 'import successful' message, if not, do the import again. I have had cases where it toke a time or three to get the successful import message to show,

So, I tried it and as soon as I selected the file to import it, a line of red text showed up in the Import section and then disappeared. It looks like this :
Sorry but ...file name...doesn't appear to be a valid Atahualpa settings file.

Then it desappears. and it seems that nothing actually changes on the site. Still the generic theme image...

Do you think it makes a difference that I'm transferring files from the 3.4.9 version to the 3.5.3 version?

And what about this text in the Import section:

4 styles are included in the Atahualpa download. See ata-round.txt, ata-classic.txt, ata-default.txt and ata-adsense.txt inside /atahualpa/styles/ on your desktop computer. For now you'd have to import those files from there, if you want to use them ?

Is there something I should do with this?

You can't import a 3.4.9 style into a 3.5.3 theme. You can either manually upgrade the theme you are copying from and then do an export/import or cut and paste the styles from the various areas.

Do you think it would be easier to upgrade the developed site and then export it to the new site? It seems it would be. But would I lose any formatting, etc. if I did an upgrade that way?

If you upgrade the developed site just be sure to use the manual method as outlined in the FAQ. Then if something isn't quite right you can just switch back to the 3.4.9 theme. As always you should backup first. But no you shouldn't lose any formatting.

There is a link at the top of the Atahualpa page to upgrade to the latest version, so that part looks like it'll be pretty easy. Where do I find out how to run a back up?

DO NOT use the link to upgrade as it will not upgrade to 3.5.3. and may cause issues. You need to use the MANUAL method as described in the FAQ section. Here is a link to the upgrade instructions. You will need to download 3.5.3 from the wordpress.bytesforall.com site.

There are several plugins for backup up your WordPress Database. One is WP-DBManager

I tried WP-DBManager but it's a bit too technical for me. I couldn't really grock the README file so I gave up after a while. I installed DBC Backup which gets good ratings and was very easy to install. Do you think this is a good choice? And now, what is the best path to back up to? I presume (naive as I am) that it would be backup up someplace on the servers directory, yes? Can you offer any specifics about how and where to create the backup directory?

I don't know about DBC Backup but it is pretty old and so I am unsure if it will work with WP 3.0.1. Another backup I saw but have not tested is Online Backup for WordPress.

The other option is to hire this done. You can contact me in a PM if that is something you want to look at.

There was a change from 3.4.9 in the method the export was created, If you want to use an export from 3.4.9 - you need to follow the directions in the 3.5.2 release notes (http://forum.bytesforall.com/showthread.php?t=8374)

Export/Import system now uses the JSON format instead of the serialized/base64_encode format used in 3.5.1
The reason for the change is that Wordpress.org won't list the base64_ version due to the malicious things often done with base64. Sorry I should have thought about that. base64 encoding the settings files seemed to be a quick fix for the issues many users had with the settings files.
Unfortunately this means that if you exported a settings file in 3.5.1 and want to import that in 3.5.2, you'd need to do some legwork: Download this zip file, extract it, rename the "uploadBASE64.php" to "upload.php" and replace the existing "upload.php" in Atahualpa 3.5.2 with it.

Originally Posted by lmilesw

You can't import a 3.4.9 style into a 3.5.3 theme. You can either manually upgrade the theme you are copying from and then do an export/import or cut and paste the styles from the various areas.

So, as far as the second option goes (since I'm terrified I'll mess up if I try the first option you suggested), is this just a matter of copying all the files over to the new site, one by one?

Eek gad. It doesn't seem like this is going to be an easy thing to do.

The second option is to open the 3.4.9 site and go to all the sections in the Atahualpa Theme Options and copying the contents of those boxes to the same box in the 3.5.3 Theme Options. for instance you would to to ATO>Add HTML/CSS Inserts and copy all the code in the various boxes to the same boxes in the 3.5.3 theme. I would just have the two themes open in different tabs of my browser.

Do you have FTP access to your site? If so then the manual upgrade is not a big deal. You just download the 3.5.3 zip file from wordpress.bytesforall.com, unzip it and copy the enclosed atahualpa353 folder to the same place where you current atahualpa folder is. YOU DON'T OVERWRITE. So when you are done copying you will see something like the following in the themes folder.

atahualpa
atahualpa353
twentyten

Then after copying the folder there you go into the WordPress dashboard and select Appearance>Themes and switch to the 3.5.3 theme.

Does that seem clear?

But I still would like to see you get a backup as that is important no matter what you are doing. I had a client the other night that would have lost their entire blog because of something the host did if we hadn't had a backup.

Thank you Larry. OK. Maybe I'll try that. Somehow, the instructions from juggledad had me confused. Man, I can get SO into all this web stuff...literally hours disappear in front of the computer...but it's a bit stressful sometimes.

Anyways, I did back up the whole thing with the second backup plugin you suggested. Do you think the wp-content folder got backed up as well>? Is there any way to check?

I'm not sure but you could always just use FTP to download it to your computer.

Is there an FTP client you'd recommend? I'm just using the app that my host provides but I can't actually download a whole folder, just individual files. Cute ftp? Doesn't mozilla make one too?