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 complete source URL and destination URL, such as https://old.example.com to https://new.example.com. Migration Monkey also checks the matching HTTP/HTTPS, protocol-relative, escaped JSON, and URL-encoded forms while leaving unrelated email addresses and binary columns alone.

How completion is verified

The migration log reports scanned values, changed values, URL occurrences, and serialized values. Legacy custom-serialized plugin payloads are preserved and sent to needs-attention review instead of being rewritten blindly. Database views, triggers, and other app-specific structures are also reported when they require a separate recreation pass.

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.