WordPress Search And Replace During Migration

WordPress stores URLs in normal text, JSON, and serialized PHP arrays. A safe migration cannot simply run a blind SQL replace against every value because serialized strings include length markers. Migration Monkey’s WordPress route can rewrite values with serialized-safe handling during database transfer.

When to replace URLs

• Moving from an old domain to a new production domain.
• Restoring to a temporary domain before final DNS cutover.
• Switching from HTTP to HTTPS.
• Changing a subdirectory install into the domain root.

What to replace

Use the exact source URL and exact destination URL. Include the scheme, such as https://old.example.com to https://new.example.com. Avoid replacing only a bare hostname unless you are intentionally cleaning mixed scheme data.

After replacement

Flush permalinks, clear object cache, clear page cache, check media URLs, review forms, and test checkout or login flows. If a CDN is active, purge cache after final cutover so stale HTML does not point back to the old domain.