Creating Site Clones & Backups

[Russell H.]

Since the introduction of of Vortex 3 we have removed the "Duplicator" WP plugin out of the VORTEX theme.
We did this to lighten up and simplify the theme, and also to ensure that the latest version of Duplicator was always available. Duplicator is free open source software which is openly available to the public. The copyright is owned by Cory Lamle of lifeinthegrid.com and distributed under GNU General Public License, version 2, as published by the Free Software Foundation.

Originally, we we're intending to fully modify the open source code of Duplicator into our own Vortex version, but it became very clear that we couldn't ever hope to keep up with the "Life In The Grid" version or its excellent dedicated support, so we removed it so that users can now use the external plugin directly.

Basically to use the Duplicator function, you install the plugin from the WordPress directory, and then once installed, simply click on the "create package" icon and then the software will start compiling a copy of your entire WP installation including all themes and plugins as well as the database. It then concluded by presenting you with a link to the package within the control panel.

You can leave copies of the backed up packages on your server or download them and delete the server copy if you wish.
Once downloaded you can then deploy a new cloned site by following some simple steps:

1) Create a new database using the cPanel mySQL database wizard.
2) Upload the entire niche site zip folder to the new site directory (where you want to locate the new site) and then unzip it. This will then unpack the niche site clone zip file and the install.php file into your target site directory.
3) Start the install.php script by typing its address into your browser (e.g. “mynichesite.com/install.php” don’t forget subfolder extension if site is on a subfolder or subdomain) and then fill in the details of the new database you just created (database name, user name). Click to run the script and you’re done.
4) You’ll need to activate the Localbiz Vortex theme using your 20-digit keycode. Then click/select on any of the color skin styles in Vortex Control Panel to activate the styling. (You can change this later to suit your requirements).
5) Reset permalinks: just re-click save in wp-admin/settings/permalinks making sure you have selected “custom name as /%postname%/. Change admin email address in wp-admin/general/ to your admin address. Reset password in wp-admin/users/my-profile/. Then tweak your site, perform SEO and add your Keyword Phrases.

Niche Deployment Video Tutorial *There is a 15 minute video done on how to deploy a Vortex niche site using the Vortex Duplicator feature. This video takes you from the point of original download of niche file to setting up the database using MySQL database wizard and setting up the site folder on your server and then activating the site and theme all ready for fine tuning by you. See the video on your Tutorials page of this member portal and also on this page directly underneath the niche site file links.