Transferring the wp-content folder from your site on your previous host is an important step to take if you’re using our Manual Migration process. In this article we’ll explain two methods you can take to get your wp-content folder to our servers.
Note: If you’re using the WP Engine Automated Migration tool, you can follow these steps instead.
Uploading your wp-content folder through User Portal
Once you’ve downloaded your wp-content folder from your previous host, you can easily upload this folder or zip file to our Support Team so we can help you with this step. To do this, just go to your User Portal and choose Installs at the top, choose the install where you’d like to import this content, and then click Site migration in the left column. At the top right of this page, click the button labeled Manually migrate your site.
On this page, scroll down to the section called “Import: Now let’s import your files to WP Engine” and expand it. Then choose the second option in the list to “Import your wp-content zip file to WP Engine”. When you upload the zip file and click to Notify Support, it will automatically open a ticket with our Support Team, where we will take care of the unzip process for you!
Uploading your wp-content folder via SFTP
Uploading your wp-content folder is also possible via SFTP. To do this, you’ll need to connect to your site via SFTP. Once you’ve entered your credentials, you should then be connected to your file system on our servers. You’ll see your local computer’s files on the left panel (bordered in blue in the screenshot below) and the basic WordPress files for your install on the right side (bordered in orange).
Note: You will not be able to unzip the wp-content folder once it is uploaded via SFTP. Be sure to unzip your wp-content.zip file on your local machine before uploading! If you do end up uploading the wp-content.zip file, no worries! Just reach out to our Support Team via Live Chat in your User Portal, and we’ll help you out.
To copy the wp-content folder from your computer to our servers, first use the left panel to navigate to wherever the wp-content folder is stored on your computer. Then click and drag the folder over to the right panel.
You’ll be prompted to confirm that you want to overwrite, or merge, the existing files. There will be many files that will need to be overwritten, so you’ll want to check the box for “Always use this action option” (as shown below).
Finally, click OK and everything will begin uploading.
Important notes on WP Engine’s file structure
For the smoothest migration experience possible, copy only the wp-content folder. We recommend this because there are some files and settings that are unique to WP Engine (in particular the mu-plugins folder and wp-config.php file). If these are accidentally replaced during your import, please just let us know and we can put them back in place for you.
Sometimes images or media used on a website are saved in a folder other than wp-content. In this case you will also need to download—and then upload—this folder to WP Engine. Any other resources that are not stored in the default WordPress location will also need to be manually transferred.
Go back to the Migration Process Guide