Update: The sale is now LIVE and is currently $27.00.
***
One of my developers is almost done with a plugin that will enable you to create an identical copy of one of your existing WordPress sites onto another.
It’s an incredible time saver.
This is what you can do:-
- Maintain a single up to date default blog on a sub-domain.
- Add all your favourite themes and plugins to your default blog.
- Then in a few seconds copy it to a new site.
- Repeat.
Then when you need a new blog creating, all you have to do is enter the FTP and cPanel details of the target site and click go.
A few seconds later your target site contains an exact copy of your original blog and all you have to do is tweak a few things like the name and tagline etc, and you’re ready to go.
I guess you could also use it in reverse to back up your existing live blogs to a backup site on another sub-domain too.
It’s certainly something I’ve wanted to be able to do for a long time and I know there are a few unsatisfactory alternatives out there, but I didn’t feel that they fit my exact requirements.
There’s one that’s an expensive monthly service, and another that’s a Windows application. There’s also a plugin out there, but I think it’s a little too expensive for what it does – maybe if it had a few extra features it would be worth it.
Anyway…
The developer reckons the beta will be ready Wednesday or Thursday next week, and when it’s done I’m going to add it directly to the affiliate scheme at full price as I know it will be a very popular plugin and plenty of people will want to promote it.
But…
In the tradition of the past 12 months and because I like to regularly say thank you for being a subscriber, I’d like to offer it to you at a hefty discount on pre-order.
In return, I’d like a little feedback please. Things like how easy it was to install and use (once you get it), how much time it will save you, any enhancements needed (I’ve already thought of some cool upgrades for later versions), and so on.
Does that sound reasonable for such an amazingly cool and very useful plugin?
This gives you the chance to get this plugin at the lowest price it will ever be for a very short time.
An important note though…
I’ve had lots of people miss these deals and then write to me asking if I could give them the same deal at a later date.
I never do as that’s just not fair is it?
First come, first served, be there or be square. You know the score. 😉
Until tomorrow…
-Frank Haywood
hi Frank
You read My mind again !! I was about to copy a site to save some time but your new gizmo will make SOOOOOooooo much easier…
look forward to getting my hands on yet another of your great plugins
Geoff Lord
Power Blog Hosting
@Geoff Lord:
I can’t wait to get it either. 😉
I thought I might get the first test copy today so I could do a couple of screenshots, but it’s not quite ready yet.
Um, on that note, this is a pre-order sale. I’m not saying you think that, but it might be that some people think it will be available today, it won’t, it’s likely that it will be Wednesday or Thursday next week.
-Frank
I’m chomping at the bit. So If my math is right that’s 10am PST in California?
Cheers,
@Lisa:
Hmm, not sure. 😉
I know I’m 5 hours ahead of EST, so I guess I’m 7 hours ahead of the west coast? That would make it 11.00am your time. I think.
Check the time underneath the picture of me in the sidebar – that’s the time I’m working to. 🙂
-Frank
Great idea! Does the plugin work without C-Panel too?
@Peter:
It might, but I seriously doubt it. We will see.
I know some people don’t like cPanel, but like many others, I love it, and one of those reasons is the built in easy to access backup API that it has which allows entry into the databases as well as the file system. My *guess* is my developer will be tapping into that for this first version.
When I get hold of the first test in a day or so, I’ll know for sure if it will work on other platforms. If it doesn’t then that will be one of the next tasks.
The way I see it, to work across non-cPanel platforms we might have to add a bit extra in such as getting you to enter the db userid and password for WordPress. No big deal, just an extra layer of coding to be done.
-Frank
I was hoping that you would get your team to make this one. I have been tempted to buy several that i have seen in the last year, but i have held out just in case you decided to do something like this Frank. I trust your software 100 percent and have not had any problems so far with all the stuff i have purchased from you in the past.
Thanks for rewarding my waiting game, i knew you would.
Vince
@Vince Andrews:
Cool. And thank you. 🙂
It’s been on my list for a long time, but there’s always been something else I wanted to do first. 🙄
-Frank
Because I’m from Asia, your “tomorrow at 6 PM GMT” means 07 Jan., correct?
I got confused when trying to count in the international time zone without knowing what “tomorrow” really means.
@Dr. John Chen:
Hehe. Yes, the 7th (today as I write this).
-Frank
That’s 12 noon my time (Central) and I’m just starting work! Anything you can do for me Frank? I leave around 11:30 AM central.
@Brad Pollina:
I’m sure you’ll be okay. You might end up paying an extra couple of dollars, but long view it will be worth it especially when we start adding in the new stuff I have planned for this plugin. (Shhhh….)
😉
-Frank
Hi Frank,
My host uses HSphere rather than Cpanel. Are there any special loading needs for HSphere?
@Joe:
This version may not work with HSphere. For now. Let’s see.
-Frank
@Frank Haywood: Thanks Frank.
From your other comments I gather that future versions will work on other platforms so purchasing this version through the pre-order still makes sense to me.
Testing how it reacts to HSphere will give me some marketing data for the affiliate scheme also.
@Joe:
I can’t see why we can’t get it to work with any platform. Because of the way cPanel works, it’s always going to be a bit easier.
A few years ago I had two PC tools (neither now work) that would log into cPanel and lift the backup files directly from it. I’m missing that kind of solution, and I’m just now wondering if we can’t also get this plugin to do the same kind of thing for lots of other sites, not just WP based ones.
So the plugin could just grab the backups, then sends them somewhere else via FTP. I could easily run an FTP server on one of the machines here at home where I work, and have it send my backups here overnight to a schedule.
Food for thought, and something definitely worth doing I think.
-Frank
Hi Frank,
Yep, this plugin is a great idea. I saw the other plugin you’re talking about and didn’t think much of it. I know you’ve looked at it, taken it to pieces, taken the best bits and then added some other cool stuff, so I’ll go with yours.
Tomorrow at 6pm. I’ll be there.
@Gareth C Thomas:
Lol! Well thanks for your faith in what we do.
Straight up though, the first version will be very similar to the existing plugin(s) – I’ve been told about two other sites which are the same plugin being sold by different people – but you’re dead right. There’s a list of things I’d like to see in this plugin which will lift it above what’s currently available – just from my own personal requirements!
Somebody posted a comment a while back saying I don’t use my own plugins. Not true. I get plugins developed for my own use and then also sell them on because most people are going to find them useful. 🙂
-Frank
G’day Frank,
All the best for this year.
Now I reckon I should get this one for nothing.
1. I am looking for revenge for the Ashes 😉
2. For all the sleepless nights I have had waiting to get one of your products. 🙁
3. For the interest you are earning on my advanced PLAHH payments 😎
Sounds Good Looking Forward To My Freebie
Rob P. Cruisin
@Rob Paris:
Lol!
#1 – Stunned everybody that one I think.
#2 – I get a lot of those too as I always get stressed right before a new release.
#3 – This months is a little cracker, go get it now.
🙄
-Frank
Will this clone plugin and theme settings and tweaks?
How about those tweaks made via the “editor” rather than the Admin panel?
@Lee:
I was hoping I’d have the final test version today so I could answer questions like your about theme settings and tweaks. The way we work is I detail out the task to be done, and then I get the completed job back a week or two later. If it needs any tweaks or changes I detail those out and they usually get done within a day.
Right now I don’t yet have my first test version back. And maybe I jumped the gun a little with this pre-order sale, but I want to make this plugin live onthe PluginGreat site next week as part of the affiliate scheme as I know it will be popular. So I’m driving it hard.
Here’s my educated guess based on what I’ve asked for in this first version, and where we’ll be going with the plugin.
This first version will clone your WP database (including posts and pages), themes and plugins, but leave the plugins inactive upon completion – just as a precaution. You’ll then need to go activate the ones you want to use on the new site, change theme, change blog title and tagline and that should be it.
To me, that’s the sensible way to approach a first version. In the next version we’ll give you some options such as changing db user and password, blog title, active plugins and so on.
And… Shhh… What would be really nice is the ability to create some profiles for blog types when cloning. I’ll say no more than that. 😉
-Frank
Dr John, you can use this page:
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/
to check how the time at your particular location compares to Greenwich mean Time which Frank has used for setting the time when he will release the first copies of the plug-in.
It is about 5 am on Saturday in eastern Australia (Daylight Saving Time), unless I’ve got it wrong 😉
Hope that helps,
John Williams
Hey Frank.
Looking forward to picking up another great product from you. I will pick this one up for posterity and just to say “I own it” so when I promote it to others I’m not promoting something I don’t own.
But, like someone else mentioned, I don’t use cPanel – I do everything through FTP or directly on the server. Personally, I’m not a huge fan of cPanel. Regardless, do you have plans to modify this so that it can be used in non-cPanel applications?
Secondly, I’m assuming that this will back-up the entire WP installation, themes, plugins, database, etc. I currently use another one that I purchased earlier this year that works directly on the domain – I just access a “page’ that is not indexed and perform my backup and deployment. But, with it, it backs up everything and deploys everything. It would be really nice if this could be used to back up the themes and plugins and deploy them on a site that already has content in the database without affecting that content – maybe through a selection set of options. I’ve got a specific situation in mind right now. We’re working on a site for someone that had a WP installation with lots of content in it. There is an error in her core WP install or her theme – not sure which. We have been working on a new theme off site and will be ready to deploy it next Tuesday. It would be so nice if we could just pick up the theme, with all the mods and all the plugins and drop it right into place on her old site – pulling all the content from the database and populating the site.
Hope that makes sense. thanks as always Frank for some really great plugins.
@James Dunn:
If this first version is cPanel only due to its use of the cPanel backup API (I’m waiting for confirmation of that) then at some point we’ll add in other methods such as I mentioned in a previous comment. It might need you to fill in a few extra fields but should be possible.
As for your existing site issue. Hmm. Being a “solutions” kind of guy, I’ve had a little think about your problem and I think you may already be able to do that.
WordPress has a built in backup of posts and pages etc. Go to Tools>>Export and you can create an XML file that contains all the posts and page content which can then be re-imported later. I don’t believe it will backup your media library / uploads so you’ll need to do a seperate FTP of that content and may even have to re-add it to the posts afterwards.
So the steps I’d take would be…
#1 – Backup the entire site including files and database using external tools such as those I’d find built into cPanel. This is just to make sure I wouldn’t accidentally lose anything if I messed up, and that I could go right back to the beginning and try again. 😉
#2 – Backup all the uploads / media library using FTP seperately to the backup routines I would have run above. In fact I’d probably do a direct backup of all files via FTP at this point.
#3 – Export the XML file I mentioned above with all the posts and pages inside it.
#4 – REALLY make sure I had a copy of wp-config.php which contains the db access password and also .htaccess. You never know. 😉
#5 – Wipe the site.
#6 – Create a new db, user and password, and re-install WordPress. Alternatively you could use a clone plugin or script to create it all for you. 😉
#7 – Upload the media library / uploads via FTP.
#8 – Import the XML file.
#9 – Upload and activate the theme and plugins.
Okay, I think that’s it. At this point you *should* have a working and up to date installation of WordPress with all the original posts and pages. The only thing I’m not sure about are the uploads / media library being linked to the posts correctly. It *should* work, but you never know.
Yes this is all a bit fiddly, but I’m 95% confident this will work and result in a fresh core for your client together with all the new stuff you’re adding.
If it doesn’t work, then you can wipe it all and restore from your backups taken at #1.
I’ve taken on board your suggestions for cloning themes and plugins but not data to an existing site. We’ll add that later – it should be fairly easy to do as it’s just a straight FTP of files.
-Frank
@Frank Haywood: Thanks Frank. Didn’t tell you all that to get your troubleshooting help, but I really appreciate it. That’s what makes you a real “stand-up guy” – you are willing to help just because you enjoy helping.
BTW, another thing that would be great for your plug-in (probably a major upgrade that you could charge more for) is the ability to have the backup created automatically and either emailed somewhere (an address of your choosing) or uploaded to your AmazonS3 account (or some other type of account like Dropbox). Just another in a long list of suggestions I’m sure you’re getting.
@James Dunn:
You’re welcome.
Yeah auto-uploading to another site or S3 account would be a good idea wouldn’t it? And incremental backups would be really cool too. 😉
-Frank
Hi Frank,
Sounds good but there are already lot of those, what are special for your version compared to for example: [removed to protect the innocent]
What should be the reason for buying your program?
Take care / Lars
@Lars:
I have an active interest in making this plugin better and selling it as one of my premier products. I already have a list of things I’d like it to do, and I’m getting more suggestions from comments here.
The way I see it is, my v1 will be as good as the two you (and a couple of other people) have mentioned, but I’ll be updating it to cater to my own requirements, and so you get the benefit of that very strong driver. 😉
-Frank
Hi Frank! This sounds great. I currently use a clone that Jason Fladlien developed called WP Twin and it works pretty well but a bit more expensive than yours and doesn’t have some features I would like to use. Looking forward to testing out your plugin.
Frank,
You said 50 available.
How many left?
Mike
HI Frank,
I’m a bit puzzled – I signed up for the pre-order of WordPress Clone, and am awaiting notificaiton of when it will be available – but it’s now live on this page at the here, but there’s no update on the pre-order download page, and no email notification to say it’s ready…?
@Gary:
You should find that the pre-order download page has been updated and you can now download your product.
-Frank
Frank,
It’s pretty clear from your last email you are still in catch up mode.
I feel your pain. So am I. Also suffering intestinal infection, pain pills and muddle brained.
I put in a support ticket 4 days ago (#4C77B7) and I’m just wondering if you have an idea when you might get to your support tickets.
No hurry; just wondering so I can do a better job of getting back on schedule myself.
Mike
@Mike Claggett:
I can see you’ve had your support request answered now. I don’t answer support tickets myself except in unusual circumstances where I get a ticket referrred to me. It’s usually then a learning exercise so that new kind of ticket doesn’t come my way any more.
Edesa is one of my favourite people in all the world. 🙂
-Frank
Edesa handled my support ticket Frank.
And MMMMMAN was that good news.
Looking forward to the themes.
Mike
Darn I guess I was too late for the $10 deal I saw on a forum, for $10 I was going to snatch it up and use it later. Since I don’t have a full understanding of how this works yet, I’ll wait until I “do” understand it.
I’m assuming this would be a much less expensive alternative for WordPress Direct, Right? Maybe not as many bells-n-whistles as WordPress Direct, but for a one time pmt of $27 (instead of per month), it sounds like it will be way worth it’s money!
I’ll check back later when I’m actually ready to put it to serious use. That could be within a couple weeks 😉
Gary Anderson
@Stay Boosted Gary:
I’d never heard of WordPress Direct, so I took a look and you know what? I haven’t got a clue what it does.
It seems there’s an increasing trend for site owners to assume that people already know all about their product and what the key benefits it provides are, and that site is a good example of it.
The three videos on the home page cover “Proven Results”, “Easy To Use” and “save Tons Of Time”.
Doing what? Lol. See where I’m coming from? 🙂
The “How It Works” page is no good as it still doesn’t describe what benefit it gives me. The FAQ is no good as I don’t understand the questions because I don’t know what it does. 😉
Hehe. It gave me a chuckle anyway.
Clone and Backup does two things.
#1 – It allows you to keep a master blog with all your favourite plugins and themes pre-installed, which you can then use to create new blogs.
#2 – It allows you to backup any of your sites to another domain/sub-domain.
And on #2, in the pipeline and being worked on now is the ability to take the created zips that are generated during the cloning process and send them somewhere else, effectively allowing you to fully backup a blog (including external directories you may have created) without sending it to another domain/sub-domain.
🙂
-Frank
Hi Frank –
What is the URL of the pre-order download page? Thanks, sir.
Ted
@Ted Stalets:
Raise a ticket at http://support.plugingreat.com/ and someone will look up your personal download page.
-Frank
Hi Frank
do we have a video or anything showing how to use this ? I just read the “read me file” and it’s like “????????” totally confused
Hi Geoff,
Videos will be done either today or tomorrow. I’m officially launching the plugin this week and I’ve been working on the sales copy and design.
The next step in the process is proper documentation including videos.
As a plus, if you go back to your personal download page and re-download the plugin, it’s now at v2. It has a better interface, more features and full cPanel support. ie you no longer need to create the database on the destination site if you’re using cPanel.
The plugin will now also give you the option of backing up the entire site or just the blog, allow you to create a backup file for download, and will also optionally send that backup to a third site via FTP for storage purposes.
I think it’s now best in class and full price will be $67. Pretty good if you got it for 10 bucks. 😉
-Frank
I purchased this plugin yesterday for $27. The readme file is still not very informative. I could not find a video or any other instructions. There is less documentation than for most free WordPress plugins. I have about 12 wordpress sites with blogs, 2 are networks of numerous sites with about 32 plugins. I am experienced in using plugins and WP. I could not make this plugin work for a single site (nevermind the networks). At one point it did appear to work, all the guts of the WP installation were copied. The backend works but on the front end every link gives an internal server error. I went to the support page (an unbranded abandoned looking page with an empty faq…not much of a marketing tool) and filed a ticket. That was almost 24 hours ago and I have not received any response. I have since filed a dispute with PayPal in an attempt to get my money back.
Hi Vaughan,
Refunded. I’m sorry you couldn’t get it to work, my first guess is it’s down to hosting issues.
However…
To make sure there weren’t any problems with the latest version of WordPress, I just cloned two cPanel sites without a problem. I then hit a wall with a third site on a UK server, getting database connection issues. It would go so far and then fail.
I then did a backup and download of the source site as a precaution and that worked fine.
Next, after a few connection problems trying to get to the destination site via cPanel, I wiped the destination site of all files using cPanel’s File Manager, and removed the databases and tried again.
It went through without a hitch. I now suspect the connection problems with the destination site were the real culprit and that it would have worked if I’d persevered and gone back to it later.
So my only thoughts in your case without seeing are maybe you’re running out of space on the target site? It has to have enough storage space to hold both the zipped backup files and also the unzipped versions. In my case the zipped version was about 20mb, so it was quite modest. If you’re trying to clone a large site, that might be the problem.
-Frank
Hi Frank,
Do you have the link to the videos and manual? Thanks for the support.
Spencer
Hi Spencer,
I PROMISE I will do these this weekend. I don’t make promises lightly.
-Frank