MigrateLift – Migration, Backup & Restore

MigrateLift is a WordPress migration, backup, and restore plugin for moving a website between hosts or domains, creating site backups, and restoring saved data. Export your WordPress database and wp-content files into one archive, import a backup on another WordPress installation, or transfer a site directly over HTTPS.

Whether you need to migrate a WordPress website, back up important site data, restore a previous backup, or clone a site for staging, MigrateLift provides a guided workflow from your WordPress dashboard.

WordPress Migration, Backup, and Restore Features

• Website Migration: Move a WordPress site’s database and wp-content files to a new host or domain using an export/import archive or a direct site-to-site transfer.
• Backup and Export: Export the WordPress database and wp-content directory together as one compressed .tgz or .zip archive.
• Import and Restore: Upload a previously exported site archive, review preflight checks, and confirm the restore on the destination WordPress site.
• Direct Site-to-Site Migration: Pair two WordPress installations and transfer an archive directly over HTTPS without a separate cloud storage account.
• Automatic URL Replacement: Update site URLs and filesystem paths during migration while preserving PHP-serialized data.
• Scheduled WordPress Backups: Configure daily automated backups with WP-Cron and a rolling backup retention policy.
• Chunked Archive Uploads: Upload larger backup archives in chunks, with resume support if an upload is interrupted.
• Preflight and Restore Safeguards: Check the destination environment, create a safety snapshot, and use staged file replacement and database table swapping during restore.
• Migration Security: Use single-use pairing keys, HMAC-SHA256 request signing, replay protection, SSRF protection, and SHA-256 archive integrity verification for direct transfers.
• WordPress Admin Dashboard: Manage exports, imports, site migration, and scheduled backups from an interface built with WordPress components.

How to Migrate a WordPress Site

1. Install and activate MigrateLift on the WordPress sites involved in the migration.
2. Open Tools > MigrateLift in the WordPress dashboard.
3. Use Export to download a site archive for manual migration, or choose Migrate to begin a direct site-to-site transfer.
4. For archive migration, use Import on the destination site and upload the exported .tgz or .zip file.
5. Review the destination checks and restore details, then explicitly confirm the restore.
6. Check the migrated site’s pages, links, media, and functionality after the process finishes.

For recurring backups instead of a site migration, configure the daily backup schedule and retention settings in MigrateLift.

Common Use Cases

• Migrate a WordPress website from one web host to another.
• Move a WordPress site to a different domain with URL replacement.
• Export a WordPress database and wp-content files for a manual backup.
• Import a site backup and restore content on another WordPress installation.
• Clone a live site to a staging or development environment.
• Schedule daily WordPress backups and manage retained archives.

Source Code

The admin screens are built with @wordpress/scripts. The source is in the src folder of this plugin and at https://github.com/Razibul-Hasan/migrate-lift. To rebuild it, run npm install and then npm run build.

Important: A restore replaces destination site data. Keep a separate verified backup before restoring or migrating a production website. For sites with active orders, bookings, or other frequently changing data, plan the migration carefully to avoid losing new changes.