The All-in-One WP Migration plugin is an excellent plugin for backing up, copying, cloned or migrating your WordPress website. It’s become my favorite and we use it here at CharlesWorks extensively.

Issues using the All-in-One WP Migration plugin

The only time we have run into problems using it is when the website is not in a standard format. A non-standard format might be if images, for example, are not in the media library. Instead, they might be in a separate folder in the website and accessed directly via their URL. In such a case, it may be necessary to use FTP to place the images or other data into the proper path in the new or cloned or migrated website’s folder structure. Then that material can be served from the new site.

Best practices for using the All-in-One WP Migration plugin

Here are a few of what I believe to be the best practices for using the All-in-One WP Migration plugin. I suggest always removing the All-in-One WP Migration plugins from websites unless you are using it to create regular backups. But remember that creating regular backups uses storage space in your site, so be cautious to not run your site out of space. Since it is easy to download your backup, that may be your best course of action. Then you can safely delete the backup on the web server.

Note: the All-in-One WP Migration extensions are not required in the original website to make and download the initial backup file (EXCEPT in the case of copying a website that is part of a WordPress Multisite installation).

Before the transfer/copy/migration is made (from/on the original server):

• install the All-in-One WP Migration plugin
• make sure it is updated (rest of site does not have to be)
• back up the site with it
• download the backup you are going to use locally
• copy that backup to a folder to keep as an archive
• remove it from the original website

After the transfer/copy/migration is completed (in the copied site’s dashboard):

• remove any All-in-One WP Migration backups
• remove any All-in-One WP Migration extension plugins
• remove the main All-in-One WP Migration plugin