WordPress has an “import” function that you can use to transfer all your blog posts, pages, comments, users and even tags to a new WordPress blog on a different domain. You can find this function under Manage > Import > Import WordPress

You probably won’t need to do this ever, but in my case when I decided to rebrand NetworkRevolution.org to MLMRenegade.net I had to use this function because:

1. I’ve done it before and I know it’s easy
2. You can choose to automatically import images and other attachments from your old blog to your new one, and the actual path to these files will also be updated
3. It maintains every post and comments on the posts exactly as you’d want them to be

This time around however I got this error message:

The uploaded file exceeds the upload_max_filesize directive in php.ini.

It seems there was a limit of 2MB on post attachments in my server, and my import file was 6.7MB so I got stuck.

I searched high and low for the damn php.ini file and could not find it. Finally I found out that this upload limit can be adjusted in the WHM level (dedicated server), and here’s how you do it:

1) Log into your WHM and click on “PHP Configuration” or similar command, this brings you to the php.ini file

2) Then you’ll be able to see where you need to edit the upload size limit:

3) Edit the size limit to whatever you want, but take not this will effect all accounts in your server. Save the file.

4) Now when uploading you should see the new file size limit

You can always revert back to the old file size limit once you’re done with the import function.

5) When importing make sure you check the option “Download and Import File Attachments”

This will sync all your images in your old URL, with the newly uploaded images and attachments in your new URL.

If you’re on shared hosting, I’m not pretty sure how you solve this. According to HostGator you can just download the php.ini file (php.ini), edit the values, and edit it according to the instructions here, but I think it would be better to ask your web host to help you with it.

I think this issue only happens if you’re using the latest version of WordPress with an outdated version of PHP4.X on your web server. In which case, ask your host to upgrade the PHP settings for you.