Copying a joomla site (common method)

Copying the files with FTP
One method of copying the files from one Joomla! installation to another is to use standard desktop FTP software to first download all of the files comprising your Web site from their location on your Web server, then upload these files to the location of the new Joomla! installation. Depending on where you're placing the copy of your Joomla! site, the new location could be a different directory on the same Web server, or it could be a new location on a completely different Web server.
It is important to maintain the same directory structure for all of your folders and files as you move them from one location to another. Fortunately, desktop FTP software will handle this automatically as you upload and download sets of files and folders. (Your FTP software should contain Help documentation which explains FTP and how to use the FTP software interface.)
Note that after you move the files from one location to another, you may still need to edit Joomla! configuration files to get your copy of Joomla! working at the new location; you may also need to change settings for aspects of your Web server to get the copy of your Joomla! site working.
In rare instances, a file may become corrupted during an FTP transfer, where only part of the file is successfully transmitted. If you encounter strange or unexpected errors with your new Joomla! installation after you copy over the files, you may want to try re-uploading your files in case of corruption during transfer.
Download files from server to your computer
Use FTP software (e.g. FileZilla) to connect to the server
Select the directory you want to download (mostly /public_html/ or /htdocs/)
Right click + select files/folder to download, or drag + drop the folder from the "Remote site" view to the "Local site" view
The downloading of the remote files will start
After you've downloaded the files, check the "Failed transfers" to see if there weren't any errors
Upload files from your computer to a server
Make sure that configuration.php has the right settings for the server (especially: localhost, database, database user, database password, log_path, tmp_path)
Use FTP software (e.g. FileZilla) to connect to the server
Select the directory you want to upload, and to where (mostly to /public_html/ or /htdocs/)
Right click + select files/folder to upload, or drag + drop the folder from the "Local site" view to the "Remote site" view
The uploading of the local files to the remote server will start
After you've uploaded the files, check the "Failed transfers" to see if there weren't any errors

Copying the database with phpMyAdmin
The phpMyAdmin tool can be used to export and import a database, providing a simple way to duplicate a copy of a database using a different name on our servers.
Exporting a copy of the database to your computer
Login to the database that you want to duplicate using phpMyAdmin
Click the database name on the left-hand side of the page.
Select the Export tab
Select the Save as file option
Click Go
You'll then be prompted to save the database file on your personal computer.
Importing the copy into a new database
You'll first need to create the new, empty database on your server using the account control panel. It needs to be UTF8 (utf8_generic_ci). After the new database has been created:
Login to the new database using phpMyAdmin
Click the database name on the left-hand side of the page
Select the Import tab
Click the Browse button under "File to import", then select the database file from your computer
Click Go to import the database
Hint: If you see a "No database selected" error, it's probably because you forgot to first click on the database name in the left-hand column.
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