If you've been pacing with this series, then you know that we've been working to not only survey the WordPress database, but work with tools that make our job easier for performing migrations.

Case in point: WP Migrate DB.

In the previous article, we reviewed how to actually migrate data from production to development, but in this article we're going to look at just the opposite.

Though the steps are extremely similar, I find that this situation is a bit more common than the previous, especially for those who are in the business of building a site from the ground up.

Migrating a Database: Development to Production

Before jumping into the screencast, remember that this particular screencast assumes that you've reviewed the previous article and its associated screencast.

If you haven't, please take the opportunity to do so now as it discusses several things - such as media uploads - that are key in understanding some of the material featured here.

With that said, let's get started:

As I said, it's just about the same, isn't it?

Show Notes

• The test data that I used to load up my development environment came from WPTest.io. These are arguably the best tests for WordPress (and they are open source!)
• WP Migrate DB is the plugin that we've been using throughout this series

Is There a Pro Version?

Actually, yes. As powerful as the free version of WP Migrate DB is, the Pro version offers a number of additional features not covered here.

Though you can read more about it from the product page, note that it includes the following:

• Select the tables you want to migrate
• Pull production db down and replace local db
• Push local db up and replace production/staging db
• Unlimited find & replaces (free is limited to 2)
• Multisite support
• Video walkthroughs and howtos
• More frequent bug fixes and improvements
• ...and more

Brad Tousenard - also the developer behind the WP App Store - has done a stellar job with this plugin, and it's one that I highly recommend to my other developer friends.

So if you find yourself wishing for more powerful features to the plugin, then I highly recommend checking out the Pro version.

Conclusion

At this point, we've covered all we set out to cover:

• A survey of the WordPress database
• How to migrate databases from production to development
• How to migrate databases from development to production
• How to upgrade the plugin for even more flexibility (and power).

Hopefully these articles and screencasts will go a long way in saving you guys time when working with WordPress-based database migrations.