Removing builder and moving WordPress to the main folder

This article is a blend of two processes, removing an existing site created from the Premium Website Builder, and the transition of a WordPress site that was built in a subfolder. Many customers do this so they can keep the Builder site up while experimenting with WordPress or designing the new site. Once they are ready, they want to move the WordPress site to become the main site. Below are the procedures for doing so.

Make a Backup of your account

As a good practice, it is always a good idea to make a backup of your account prior to making any changes. Ideally you will not need this, but it is extra insurance ‘just in case’. Below is a link on making a backup of your cpanel account.
Backup website files in cPanel

Removing the Premium Website Builder site files

After you have created your insurance backup, you will want to remove the files for your Premium Website Builder site. The basic instructions of removing the site can be found in the link below. Although you do not have to worry about any files that are for the builder site as the builder tool keeps a copy on the publishing server, when you are deleting the files, be sure that you do NOT delete the folder that contains your WordPress site. Deleting that will destroy the WordPress version and you will have nothing with which to move on to the next step.
How to delete or unpublish your site in the Premium Website Builder

Prepare your WordPress installation for the move

Prior to physically moving the files, you will need to prepare the installation to accept the new URL name.

  1. Log into your WordPress Admin Dashboard. For example.
  2. Go to Administration -> Settings -> General
  3. Look for the WordPress address (URI): and change it from (example.com/wordpress to example.com)
  4. Look for the Site Address address (URL): and change it from (example.com/wordpress to example.com)

Moving your WordPress from a subfolder to your main folder

After you have made your backup, removed the site files from the builder, and prepared your wordpress files, it is time to move your WordPress to the primary folder.

  1. Log into your cPanel admin dashboard.
  2. From the main cpanel area, look for the Files category and then click on the File Manager tool. Ensure you select the checlbox entitled Show Hidden Files.
  3. Once inside the File Manager, you will want to navigate to the folder you have the WordPress site in. For example, a folder named wordpress.
  4. You will see a list of all the wordpress files and folders in the right hand panel. Highlight them all and click on the Copy icon from the menu toolbar across the top of the page.
  5. A popup will appear so you can enter the destination folder. Continuing with our wordpress folder example, it should show as public_html/wordpress. Remove the /wordpress from the destination path so that it simply displays as public_html. Click the Copy Files button.
  6. This will copy the files up to the public_html folder. Use the File Manager to navigate back to the public_html folder. (You can do this by clicking on the Up One Level button from the toolbar across the top of the right hand panel.)
  7. You should now see the same files as you have in your wordpress folder.
  8. You can now delete the old wordpress folder.

Log in and finish the URL details

  1. Log into your NEW WordPress admin dashboard. For example (example.com/wp-admin or example.com/wp-login.php)
  2. Go to Administration -> Settings -> Permalinks and ensure the link structure is the same as your new URL.

4 thoughts on “Removing builder and moving WordPress to the main folder

  1. Hi, thanks for the instructions.

    2 questions after moving WP –

    1. Will all the links within the site, including images, still work ok?

    2. Will the URLs of all the pages and links be from the root domain, not the subdomain?

    Tx!~

     

    1. Hello!

      You may need to update the links for your images and various components of your website. It my experience, the Velvet Blues Update URLs plugin tackles the task best. The URLs should on all the pages and links should be set with that plugin as well. You will want to set them using the root domain, since you no longer have the site residing in the sub-directory. I hope this helps!

      Sincerely,
      Carlos E

  2. Hi.  Does this work if i want to move my www.test.domain.com site to overwrite my old main site www.domain.com

     

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