Noticed that too. Custom Find & Replace no longer auto-fills with the site URL and the site root file path. I like that feature as it saved time from having to go gather the root file path info. Would really like to have that back as it is part of what makes this plugin easy to use.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by
mssbee.
Hi @mickyhood and @mssbee,
Thanks for the feedback. We did decide to remove the site URL and path fields from the default Find & Replace fields. The reason is that it was causing extra friction for users who had to fill out those fields or delete them just to do a simple export of their existing site.
In addition, tools like WP Migrate Pro and Local handle the domain and path replacement for you when importing a database, so with those tools, there is no need to manually do it yourself anymore.
However, I do see the value in having those fields pre-populated if you’re exporting the database and then doing a manual import using something like phpMyAdmin.
Could you tell me a little more about your workflow for exporting and importing? Maybe we can find a way to surface that helpful information in a different way that makes it available if you need it, but not if you don’t.
-KH
Many times I have had to transfer a website to a new server that I don’t have any access to the cPanel. So having the path of the site where it resides before the transfer was a big help to me. I would love to see it come back as you suggested.
How would I do that without the path info with the lite plugin? Would local handle moving their live site to live/dev? When I think of local I think strictly of a site hosted on my computer like using a program like WAMP. Do I need the pro version to handle that?
Workflow when developing a site from scratch: Local build to Live Dev site to Client site on client hosting. I import the databases via phpMyAdmin.
Also, looking at the database export section – Export all tables with prefix “wp_”. What if the site’s table prefix isn’t “wp_”? Do you need the pro version now to handle that?
Just wanted to add my two cents to this – my team and I are also really missing the pre-filled paths. It’s the main reason we’ve used this plugin over all of the others for years. Looking up the paths manually is time consuming, especially if you don’t get them right first time!
Would really love for this to just be some sort of hidden option that can be turned on by checking a box. It sets the plugin apart from others in my opinion. I know a lot of plugins try to do as much as possible for you by obfuscating the trickier bits and trying to be a one-click-and-done solution, but being able to see the paths and edit them if needed is a unique selling point for us. Hopefully this would be a relatively easy/quick addition since the code to generate them is/was already there.
Hope you consider adding the functionality back to what is an otherwise great plugin.
I am still in hope that they return the feature.
But, I realized rereading the comments that this is part of the Delicious Brain’s troubling reply is troubling: “In addition, tools like WP Migrate Pro and Local handle the domain and path replacement for you when importing a database, so with those tools, there is no need to manually do it yourself anymore.”
Neither of these tools really takes the place of the simplicity of the functionality of pre-filled paths provided. Pro costs money and Local is a product by WP Engine which recently acquired this plugin and transfers of websites are limited to hosts WP Engine or Flywheel.
Time marches on and things change, but perhaps they will turn back time on this feature and return this much-beloved feature of this plugin to the WP community.
Thank you all for the feedback. We hear you, and we’re going to make sure the path is once again able to be populated when exporting the database. You can look forward to its return in an upcoming release.
Also, looking at the database export section – Export all tables with prefix “wp_”. What if the site’s table prefix isn’t “wp_”? Do you need the pro version now to handle that?
@mssbee This feature actually was a Pro feature that is now available in the Lite plugin as of version 2.6. The reason you are seeing this new panel is because Lite users now have the ability to select which tables they want to migrate. This can be useful for excluding tables of logs or anything else you want to leave behind. If your prefix is something different than wp_, then you will see that prefix reflected here.
-KH
Thank you! Will be looking forward to the update. I appreciate your support and contribution to the WP community.
@deliciousbrains very often I have to migrate websites to hosting where I have no idea what the correct path is, ergo I do a clean installation with only your plugin. This helps me a lot because by doing this I can never go wrong.
Furthermore, it is still convenient because in this way I can create a sort of list with all the hosting services I work with, all thanks to your plugin. That’s all.
@deliciousbrains oh I forgot. I have been using your plugin for years and find it better than all the various backup or migration plugins (like all in one migrate). Which in addition to being full of bugs and potential intrusions over time, do everything automatically, leaving the user who uses it absolutely ignorant, without understanding what is behind it and what work the plugin does. Unfortunately, people have no idea, precisely because of the use of “simple” plugins, of how to make a backup for example. Your feature of displaying the initial path is very useful and something no plugin does.
@deliciousbrains, sorry, last question: but why did you remove it as a function? I mean for what purpose? That is, for a migration, how can the plugin know where the user will migrate the site and therefore, consequently, how does it enter the correct path?
Hi @mickyhood,
why did you remove it as a function? I mean for what purpose?
I mentioned in a previous reply that we removed these pre-populated values to reduce friction in the export experience by establishing smart defaults. I admit we were not totally successful in doing so. This decision came from the belief that a user should be able to create a new Export profile and immediately run the export without throwing errors. This was not the case before version 2.6, because a user would have to either know the values to be replaced at the destination or delete those rows before they could even run the export.
That is, for a migration, how can the plugin know where the user will migrate the site and therefore, consequently, how does it enter the correct path?
When importing a database using a tool like WP Migrate Pro or Local, the tool has the benefit of knowing what the path should be for the new environment even if the old path still exists in the database. These tools handle the URL and path update for you as part of the import process, which means you don’t need to worry about manually setting it during the export process. This is another reason why we removed those fields from new Export profiles.
However! We realize there are still use cases, such as manual database imports, that benefit from having the path readily available during export so you don’t have to hunt it down yourself. That’s why we’re bringing that information back in a way that strikes a balance between smart defaults and ease of access when you need it.
-KH
@deliciousbrains
ak ok it’s clearer to me now. But one thing: how is it possible that the plugin “knows” where the database can be imported? I.e. is there something I ignore as a function of the plugin?
In what sense you say:
“When importing a database using a tool like WP Migrate Pro or Local, the tool has the benefit of knowing what the path should be for the new environment even if the old path still exists in the database. These tools handle the URL and path update for you as part of the import process, which means you don’t need to worry about manually setting it during the export process. This is another reason why we removed those fields from new Export profiles”?
Hi @mickyhood,
When importing the database through a tool like WP Migrate Pro or Local, you are importing to an existing WordPress install. Because the tools have access to the WordPress install, they can use a core function like get_home_path() to get the destination path, and then use it to replace the source path within the database. For this reason, you do not need to find and replace the path when exporting the database if you plan to import with one of these tools because the tool takes care of it for you.
Alternatively, if you plan to do a manual database import using a tool like phpMyAdmin, then you would still need to handle the path replacement yourself. This is where it makes sense to perform the find and replace when exporting the database because phpMyAdmin is not capable of figuring out the correct path for you when importing.
Hope that helps to clarify.
-KH
@kevinwhoffman yep ok ok i get it. Thanks for the explanation.
This feature needs to be put back in the plugin. I’ve resorted to using an old version of the plugin to get this functionality. We have the max paid level of your plugin and I understand your explanation above, you should at least make this an option for people that want it b/c it saves us a lot of time. Please bring back the automatic hosting path populating! We already put in a ticket with support about this as well.
