[wp-hackers] Multiple versions of same install independently running on same server

[Bill Dennen]

> I can't imagine a case why it shouldn't work, I guess. Maybe a lack of
> imagination, but an array or object serialized into a string stays a
> string, so there shouldn't be a problem a regex can't handle (if this
> could be said about *life* to...)

Regular search/replace on an export from mysql will break serialized
data. I've seen this mostly with widget settings. That is, you export
the site data in mysql, do a search replace, reimport the data into
mysql and… your widget settings are messed up.

Serialized data does store the info as a string, but if also indicates
the length of the various pieces of data. So, if your hostname changes
and, most importantly, if the length of the hostname changes, any
serialized data that incorporates the hostname would be corrupted with
a simple search and replace.

As mentioned in another thread, this tool works well, even with serialized data:

http://interconnectit.com/124/search-and-replace-for-wordpress-databases