How to set up a MySQL database server on Ubuntu for Drupal to WordPress migrations

Content Management System (CMS) migration projects involve moving data between databases with different schemas. Table names, field types and constraints often don’t match up, leading to a number of frustrating errors. This is especially the case with highly complex Drupal to WordPress migrations that use custom scripts to extract, transform and load the data. Read on to find out how to set up a MySQL database server on Ubuntu for Drupal to WordPress migrations.

Read the article

How to fix a ‘Object of class WP_Error could not be converted to string’ error in WordPress

If you see a blank page while trying to log in to your WordPress site, check your web server’s error logs. You may get the following error: stderr: PHP Catchable fatal error: Object of class WP_Error could not be converted to string in /var/[PATH TO YOUR DOCUMENT ROOT]/wp-includes/default-constants.php on line 139 Note that the line… [more]

Read the article

How to fix https version of a site redirecting to the wrong domain

Some hosting providers restrict customers to a single SSL/TLS certificate per socket. (In simple terms, a socket is the combination of IP address and port number.) Since Apache listens to port 80 for non-SSL connections and port 443 for SSL connections on the same IP address, customers usually need a separate IP address for each… [more]

Read the article

Post-migration troubleshooting: Gateway timeout when enabling plugins

Here’s one that caught me out on a recent Drupal to WordPress migration. As is common with my projects, there were three parties involved: the client, an external development team and myself. The WordPress site was first built on the development team’s server, after which it was migrated to my local environment. When everything was… [more]

Read the article

Post-migration troubleshooting: WordPress redirects to old site after updating database

If you’ve ever migrated a WordPress site, either to another URL or for a Drupal to WordPress migration project, you’ll know that WordPress stores the domain name in its database. This means you’ll have to jump through some hoops when moving WordPress to another environment. A critical step is to update the database to reflect… [more]

Read the article

Importing a WordPress database: How to fix the Unknown collation: ‘utf8mb4_unicode_ci’ error

If you do a lot of exporting and importing to different database servers, you’ll be familiar with the frustration of encountering MySQL import errors. Every so often when importing a WordPress dump file into a client’s database, I will encounter an Unknown collation error like the following: Unknown collation: ‘utf8mb4_unicode_ci’ Sometimes it will come up… [more]

Read the article

Post-migration steps: what to do after a Drupal to WordPress migration project

From time-to-time I get clients who ask me to only export the content to a WordPress database, after which they’ll complete the remaining setup themselves. If this applies to your project, you can use these migration notes to help get your new WordPress site running properly. Import the database dump file Please see these notes… [more]

Read the article

Handling Drupal terms during a Drupal to WordPress migration

When migrating Drupal terms into WordPress, it’s important to understand exactly what terms are and how the two systems handle categorising information. A primer on Drupal taxonomies One of Drupal’s most powerful features is its ability to organise content with taxonomies. Unfortunately, the taxonomy system is also notorious as one of the trickiest things about… [more]

Read the article

Drupal to WordPress migration notes

These Drupal to WordPress migration notes are intended for clients who are handling some aspects of the migration themselves. Users of the Drupal to WordPress Migration Tool or MySQL queries might also find information here to resolve some problems. Admin account password and email address Your content management system (CMS) administrator password and email address… [more]

Read the article