I have a site that is running on a Linux server. The site home page is index.php. We build a WordPress site at root/newsite. The WordPress site is ready to go live.
Can I just delete the original site and move the WordPress site up one level?
Would it be better to use a redirect in htaccess?
Should I just export the site, delete everything, install WordPress in the root, and import the site? (Would this even work?)
There are some configuration changes you will have to make in Wordpress. If you are using plugins, there may be even more configuration changes you have to make. For a simple, basic installation with no plugins you will have to change the URL in the “WordPress Address (URL)” and “Site Address (URL)” in the Wordpress admin screen to reflect the new URL after your move. You can find these two options in Settings => General. Then you should be able to copy and paste all of your Wordpress files from the directory they are currently in to the root directory.
If you have a simple setup, moving up a directory will be pretty easy. Shouldn’t take you more than a couple of minutes. I wouldn’t bother with exporting, reinstalling, and then reimporting. You shouldn’t need to. And I certainly would not recommend an htaccess redirect for a move that may be very simple.
http://codex.wordpress.org/Moving_WordPress#When_Your_Domain_Name_or_URLs_Change
If you are using plugins, things may or may not be more complicated. Read the link above for more details.
Just delete the old one and move the sub to top. Open the wpconfig.php from root directory and configure the database and site link. It will work without any issue
Fortunately, it was a small site with easy setup. I managed to get everything messed up, and just deleted the entire site, and reloaded WordPress at the top where I wanted it…