[wp-hackers] GSoC Proposal - Move WordPress

Sat Mar 20 17:03:16 UTC 2010

Hi Manu!

As moving blog posts would take a long time to execute, I would think of building either something that runs on either the source or the destionation server and copies the files across through XML-RPC or direct database queries (I'd prefer XML-RPC as it would work across HTTP). A Java-based application would seem like a good idea since it would work on both Windows and Linux (and possible any other platforms that folks out there use).

If the application were to be a web-based PHP script, then I'd probably look for something that can migrate a few posts at a time to keep the script from timing out. On my hosting provider, a WordPress upgrade never finishes as the script timeout occurs midway.

Mine is just one thought among the many in the community, so you might want to hear a couple more before you start planning.

Regards,
Nitin Reddy

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________________________________________
From: wp-hackers-bounces at lists.automattic.com [wp-hackers-bounces at lists.automattic.com] On Behalf Of Manu Krishnan T.V [tvmanukrishnan at gmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, March 20, 2010 7:09 PM
To: wp-hackers at lists.automattic.com
Subject: [wp-hackers] GSoC Proposal - Move WordPress

Hi,

I am Manu Krishnan T.V, a 6th semester Computer Science Engineering
student, under Calicut University, Kerala, India.

As I went through the GSoC 2010 ideas of wordpress, I got attracted by
the "Move WordPress". I have thought about such a feature a while ago,
when I had an 'extreme' experience in moving a wordpress blog from one
host to other.

As a part time job and hobby, I do web designing, consultation and
provide web hosting solutions for clients in my area. I have been using
wordpress for years and currently manage many wordpress blogs, including
my personal blog. When I get an assignment of moving a wordpress blog, I
do it in the normal way of backing up database and files and restoring
it and if there is a domain change, I prefer replacing the URL in the
exported sql file.
But, once, I had to move a blog from one hosting provider to mine and
the owner of the blog had nothing except his wordpress login details and
was not in good terms with the old hosting provider. So, I had to do all
the move manually, except the posts(Thanks to those who created
import/export feature).

I think this is the same case for a wordpress.com user to move his blog
to a separate host.

So, my idea is to use the currently available features of wordpress
update and theme/plugin installer to move a wordpress blog to new host.
The idea is to run a feature from a newly installed wordpress with the
target wordpress address, administrator login details and ftp details if
available. Installing new wordpress is not a hard task as most hosting
providers have automatic installers like fantastico.

Since wordpress usually have full access to the database, some code in
the hosted server will be capable to create an export file with the
details needed, similar to the current export, but with extra details
including settings. If FTP access is available, I hope we could move all
the files in the 'wp-content' to the new host (Haven't tried it yet with
two servers)

But, if FTP details are not available(say in the case of wordpress.com
account), from the new export file, we could fetch the details of themes
and plugins and use the theme/plugin installer to fetch and install
them. This is just theoretical and may cause problems with custom
themes/plugins and with different versions. I would like to hear more
ideas for implementing this.

Also, more study has to be done about the architecture of wordpress.com
and what all capability it provides to a normal user in the backend,
like the access to database. This can thus help a wordpress.com blogger
to move to his own host, having more features.

I also have an idea of using this feature for cloning wordpress blog,
there by acting as a mirror or for a backup.

Now, about me. I am a free software supporter and an active member of
the free software user groups in Kerala. I have a good knowledge of php,
MySQL, HTML, tools like phpMyadmin and about the way how plugins work in
wordpress. Now, I spent most of my free time playing with python
scripts. I haven't done any upstream contributions as code, but is a
member of SMC <http://smc.org.in/>, which translates programs to
Malayalam, my mother tongue. I have also created few python and shell
scripts for me, my friends, and my clients, which include manipulating
'gpx' files for OSM and transaction data for banks.

I appreciate all the help and assistance from the community to
participate in GSoC with this project idea.

Waiting for more feedback and suggestions,
--
With love and regards,
Tvm a.k.a Bizzard

Find me @ Bizzard's Hackshop <http://www.bizzard.info/>

Quote: I'm not a HANDSOME guy. But I can give my HAND to SOME one who
needs help. Beauty is in heart, not in face..!! - A.P.J Abdul Kalam
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