There are many advantages from cloning a WP blog. It takes lots of time to install wordpress, install plugins, configure plugins, install themes, customize theme, add posts, add pages and many more steps unique for each website owner needs and requirements. Cloning helps eliminate all that extra overhead.

Here are the steps:

After you decide which website you will clone’

- Login to your cpanel

- Open cpanel File Manager with option “Show Hidden Files” selected

- In File Manager at the top you will find a Button called “Select all”

- Once all files and folders are selected, click on “Compress” button located all the way at the top to the left.

- Select ZIP as compression format

- When all files are compressed, new file will be generated and it will look something like yourfiles.zip (your file name might be different but it should have .zip extension.

- Right click on this compressed ZIP file and select Download

- Save it to your local computer. (Download might take a while depending how many files you have on your server)

- Files backup is done

Database Backup

- From cpanel click on icon “Backups”

- In the backups view you will see title called “Download a MySQL Database Backup” under this title you see your database

- Click on you database name and download will start immediately.

- Save it to your local computer in the same folder where you saved yourfiles.zip

Cloning a new WP site:

- Go to cpanel of your new site

- Open file manager

- Select Upload yourfiles.zip and upload it from your local computer.

- Unzip yourfiles.zip in cpanel File Manager by righ-clicking and selecting extract.

- Once yourfiles.zip is extracted delete by right-clicking and selecting delete.

Restoring the new database:

- Go to the folder where you saved your database the file should look something like this’ yourdata_wrdp1.sql.gz

- On you local computer right click on yourdata_wrdp1.sql.gz and select “Rename”

- Rename yourdata_wrdp1.sql.gz into wrdp1.sql.gz

- On your local computer right click your database file that you backed up above, and select extract (you will need unzip to extract)

- Once unzipped wrdp1.sql.gz will become wrdp1.sql

-  Open wrdp1.sql with Windows Wordpad, (notepad will take long time to open this file it’s huge)

- Withing Wordpad hold down Ctrl button and press “F” to perfporm a search.

- Type in the serach box “Siteurl” without the quotes.

- When Siteurl is found check next to it for the old domain name(example: yourdogdomain.com)

- Copy the old domain name

- Hold down the CTRL button and press “H” to open replace dialog box.

- In the replace dialog box paste above the old domain name.

- In the replace dialog box below type in your new domain name (example: yourcatdomain.com)

- Click on “Replace All”

- Save the database file (wrdp1.sql) and close it.

- Now you need to compress the database file (wrdp1.sql) with gz format (winzip can’t do) you will need gzip

- Place gzip.exe in the same folder as your database (wrdp1.sql)

- In Windows, click on Start, Run, type CMD to run Windows command

- In CMD go to the folder that contains your database file (wrdp1.sql) you can use DOS command CD to navigate to the database folder.

- Once in the folder that contains your database type in CMD the follwing command: gzip wrdp1.sql

- The result will be wrdp1.sql.gz

- Go to cpanel of your new site click on the icon called Backups

- In Backups display you will see Restore a MySQL Database

- Next to Restore a MySQL Database click Browse and press Upload

- Wait until execution and creation of the new database is complete.

- New database creation is done.

Connecting the new database to WordPress files

- Open new domain cpanel -  file manager

- on the root you will find wp-config.php file

- Right click this file and edit

- Look for DB_USER next to it you will find the user name of the old database.

- Copy the second half of the user name example’ if the user name is: mydog_wrdp1 then copy only wrdp1 (second half)

- Go to cpanel and then MySQL Databasses

- Under “Add New User” paste the second half of db user name in this case “wrdp1″ in the Username field without the quotes.

- Again in wp-config.php look for DB_PASSWORD next to it you will find the password copy it without the single quotes.

- Go to cpanel and then MySQL Databasses

- Under “Add New User” paste the password in the password field

- Paste it again in the next field for password confirmation

- Click on Create User.

- In the manage “User Privileges”  click ALL PRIVILEGES and then submit.

- In MySQL Databases Under “Add New User” next to Username you will find the first half of the database name, example: “yourcat_” copy the first half of the database name without the underscore.

- Go back to the wp-config.php file and paste/replace the first half of the database name next to:

It should something like this:

define(‘DB_NAME’, ‘yourcat_wrdp1′);    // The name of the database
define(‘DB_USER’, ‘yourcat_wrdp1′);     // Your MySQL username

- Save and Close wp-config.php file

- You’re done

Open your new WP blog and login to your wp-admin dashboard and you will find all your themes and plugins configured and ready, just change the blog title and tagline and cloning is finished.

If you find these steps are too long and too technical and you need more easy way to clone you website, here is a user friendly tool that will automate all the steps for you instanstly: