Migrating without losing serialized data?

Export the database with phpmyadmin and use queries to change URLs rather than search/replace in a text dump. See Moving WordPress ? WordPress Codex and https://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/10/01/how-to-move-wordpress-blog-to-new-domain-or-location/

UPDATE 6/16/2015:

This tool is the way to change URLs in the database; it won’t break serailized data, like the queries above: https://interconnectit.com/products/search-and-replace-for-wordpress-databases/

Thanks, but I need to change about 100 tables / 1652 instances total so targeting one table at a time is not going to work, unfortunately. I tried a search/replace tool in a test site this morning, but I still lost all the Text Widgets.

Any other ideas ??

That’s the only way to do it. Use find/replace in a text editor with those queries to build a list of queries to run that includes all tables.

For this kind of thing I always use the wonderful serialized search & replace tool by interconnect/it:
https://interconnectit.com/124/search-and-replace-for-wordpress-databases/

I know about that one, looks good, but I was trying to avoid having to select over 100 tables, that’s why I was using this search and replace tool: https://sewmyheadon.com/2009/mysql-search-replace-tool/ That does the trick with almost everything, except the text widgets. If I use that interconnectit tool, I might as well just go into phpMyAdmin and select the tables thre (same thing really).

Looks like I’m going to have a major issue though:( So far, there seems to be no real solution to retain all text widgets after a migration. (Bummer!) You would think that WP developers would have thought of that one LOL! That’s really a major issue too, it’s all over the internet.

RE: That’s the only way to do it. Use find/replace in a text editor with those queries to build a list of queries to run that includes all tables.

I wish I knew what you were talking about, I don’t know much about phpMyAdmin / MySQL queries, only enough to use a text editor and find/replace, but queries is another language. I’m not a php programmer, unfortunately. And I’m sure it’s too much to ask about in a forum, I’d probably need some sort of full on lesson in mysql right? Unless it’s just a simple one liner that I can copy/paste for each table?

You would think that WP developers would have thought of that one LOL!

They have; use queries in phpmyadmin and not search/replace in a text dump. MySQL queries are much more efficient.

Try https://interconnectit.com/products/search-and-replace-for-wordpress-databases/

Right, but that’s only for the wp_options table. What about the other 100 tables LOL! In a multisite network, it’s unfathomable to think someone would actually sit here and copy/paste a query 1652 times in a row. In our case, over 100 network sites ALL with different table names, so it’s not “wp_options” it’s wp_100_options, wp_102_options, and so on, plus the postmeta, posts, and a few other tables for other plugins, like the broken link checker, etc. so 1652 times copy/paste.

I know how to move a regular site, I was hoping for a workaround only because this multisite is ginormous, and the traditional way of moving a site as I’ve been doing for the past 10 years is not going to work this time.

ugh. but thanks for the help, at least people on wp forums respond. I do appreciate it ??

<tomorrow is going to be a loooong day… I should charge extra for the carpal tunnel LOL!>

A) Use a hosts file to be able to develop on the dev server under another domain, i.e. the one you will be moving to.

B) Use the queries in the examples, open a new text document, and duplicate them and find/replace for the different tables and table prefixes you need and run them a few hundred of them at a time.

C) Learn phpmyadmin to select all tables in the whole database and find/replace, i.e.
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/639531/mysql-search-in-all-fields-from-every-table-from-a-database

A) I would, but I’m not allowed to mess with the server I’m working on (I often do most of my WP work for another design firm; plus I have no idea what that would do to other sites on the test server, I’ve never done that before and wouldn’t know where to begin).

B) I usually do this, but it doesn’t retain the serialized data, so Text widgets are completely gone

C) Same issue as mentioned above. To quote from that post:

“Choose the tables to search” – again, that’s what I was trying to resolve ??

1652 queries. Over 100 tables.. waaayy time consuming, just seems so inefficient. Someone with knowledge of MySQL probably has an answer that’s simple, but I have no idea where to begin. I’ve searched all over the internet, there’s really no info out there (least not in a language I could understand). I’m just looking for a simple query that would be like:

find 12.123.122.123 and replace it with https://mywebsite.com but NOT having to search and select all the tables where that IP address is, just search the entire database and change it.

That tool I mentioned above does that very well, except the text widgets are gone, so that’s the only problem.

Thanks anyway though. I’ll keep researching, otherwise the client is going to have a helluva time adding all her content back for all those text widgets in all 107 websites in her network tomorrow. yuk!