Migrate WordPress from Legacy Linux to cPanel: "The site is experiencing technical difficulties"

[MSY_]

I was previously hosted on the Deluxe Legacy Linux hosting plan which only supports PHP 5.x. This presented multiple problems, including performance (and potential security) issues. I went ahead and purchased the Deluxe cPanel hosting plan and started migrating my multiple hosted domains. Got all the domains configured. The biggest issue I am unable to fix is with WordPress, and I am at a loss after 3 days of troubleshooting. Here is what I have found:

1. Changed PHP to 7.2 on the cPanel plan

2. Restored MySQL DB from the Legacy plan to cPanel

3. Edited the wp-config.php file to point the DB host from DBNAME.db.##.hostedresource.com to localhost

4. Went to the WP site and get "The site is experiencing technical difficulties."

Looked at various WordPress.org forums and other sites, pointing to a multitude of potential issues, including file/folder permissions, Theme and Plugin problems.

5. Renamed the Theme and Plugin folders to isolate if any of them are at fault. Still get the same error. I don't know how to switch the Theme from Avada to the default WP Twenty-whatever theme.

6. Dropped all the tables in the database, and I can go to site.com/wp/wp-admin/install.php to re-install WP. However, this also means that I have to start all over with installing plugins, themes, and configuration settings.

7. Tried exporting the data from the Legacy install and importing into the newly-installed WP instance. It imported the data, but not the configurations.

8. Tried changing the PHP version to 5.6 on the cPanel plan to no avail

Is there anything else I could try to help me get the WP sites back up and running without having to start all over with configuration? My Legacy plan ends 9/22, and so I only have 1 more full day to troubleshoot this before my old files/configs will be wiped by GoDaddy.

Thank you!

[MSY_]

When I enable WP Debug mode, this is the error that pops up (xxx/yyyy masked for privacy):

PHP Fatal error:  Uncaught Error: Class 'Fusion_Widget_Tweets' not found in /home/xxx/yyyy/wp/wp-includes/class-wp-widget-factory.php:100
Stack trace:
#0 /home/xxx/yyyy/wp/wp-includes/widgets.php(115): WP_Widget_Factory->register('Fusion_Widget_T...')
#1 /home/xxx/yyyy/wp/wp-content/themes/Avada/includes/class-avada-init.php(413): register_widget('Fusion_Widget_T...')
#2 /home/xxx/yyyy/wp/wp-includes/class-wp-hook.php(286): Avada_Init->widget_init('')
#3 /home/xxx/yyyy/wp/wp-includes/class-wp-hook.php(310): WP_Hook->apply_filters(NULL, Array)
#4 /home/xxx/yyyy/wp/wp-includes/plugin.php(465): WP_Hook->do_action(Array)
#5 /home/xxx/yyyy/wp/wp-includes/widgets.php(1715): do_action('widgets_init')
#6 /home/xxx/yyyy/wp/wp-includes/class-wp-hook.php(286): wp_widgets_init('')
#7 /home/xxx/yyyy/wp/wp-includes/class-wp-hook.php(310): WP_Hook->apply_filters(NULL, Array)
#8 /home/xxx/yyyy/wp/wp-includes/plugin.php(465): WP_Hook->do_action(Array)
#9 /home/xxx/y in /home/xxx/yyyy/wp/wp-includes/class-wp-widget-factory.php on line 100

[MSY_ · Accepted solution]

I fixed the issue and it couldn't be simpler. It was a "DUH" moment. The solution is to treat the move as if you're moving to a new hosting provider.

0. Back up your files and MySQL databases.

1. Restore the files to the target host.

2. Install a fresh, new copy of WordPress (in my case, WP had errors popping up for 3 of the 5 sites) and the Theme you were using (4 out of 5 sites were not working).

3. Then use phpMyAdmin to drop the wp_options table

4. Restore the MySQL database. This will create a new wp_options table with the info from the source

5. Rename wp-content/plugins folder to wp-content/pluginsOLD

6. Install new copies of the plugins you want to keep, and activate the ones you want

This is oversimplifying all the things I had to do for each of the 5 sites, each having their own challenges/issues that needed troubleshooting. However, those steps were generally what worked for 4 out of the 5 sites.

Hope this helps whoever is running into something similar!

FYI: Tables that are created after WP is freshly configured:

 wp_commentmeta
 wp_comments
 wp_links
 wp_options
 wp_postmeta
 wp_posts
 wp_termmeta
 wp_terms
 wp_term_relationships
 wp_term_taxonomy
 wp_usermeta
 wp_users