In this series, we're taking a look at not only the structure of the WordPress database, but strategies that make it easy to perform migrations from development to staging, staging to production, or any of the aforementioned permutations.

Most of the articles and the tutorials that we provide are obviously long form posts; however, for the remaining two articles in this series, we're going to be looking at two screencasts that walk us through exactly how to use the WP Migrate DB plugin.

In this article, we review how to move content from the production environment to the development environment. Then, in the next screencast, we look at how to do the opposite.

So, rather than preparing to spend a lot of time reading, prepare to watch a short screencast on exactly what you need to do, and be sure to review the show notes at the bottom of the post.

Migrating a Database: Production to Development

Before sharing the screencast, some may be wondering what the use case is for this particular screencast. After all, don't we spend the majority of our time working in development, pushing to staging, then production?

Sure - but there are times where we inherit a site in which we pick up development and it's best practice to have a local copy than "doing it live," as they say.

So with that said, here's everything you need to know in order to take advantage of WP Migrate DB and your WordPress installations.

Easy enough, isn't it?

Show Notes

Remember:

• WP Migrate DB does not move media files so you'll need to transfer the files via S/FTP on your own
• Installing the plugin in both production and development helps to make it easy to identify file paths you'll need to specify in the plugin's dashboard
• Remember to review the information about GUIDs so you understand exactly what the plugin in doing

Conclusion

In the final article in the series, we're going to take a look at how to migrate data from development to production - this scenario is far more common than what was outlined here, and is far simpler.

So if you got through this particular screencast, the final article should be a cinch to follow.