Migrations

Plan a multisite-to-single-site split migration

A scenario for pulling one site out of a shared multisite network into a standalone WordPress install, covering the shared users table and network-licensed plugins most split guides skip.

Works with Claude / GPT110 uses 4

The prompt

migrations-multisite-to-single-site-split
One site (blog ID 4, mounted at network.com/clientd) needs to come out of a multisite
network of [6] client sites and become its own standalone WordPress install at
[clientd.com], because the client is leaving the agency's shared hosting arrangement.
The network shares a single wp_users table across all 6 sites, and several
network-activated plugins are licensed at the network level, not per site.

Plan this split so the standalone site works fully independently afterward, covering
what a generic "export a multisite subsite" tutorial misses:

1. Table extraction: which tables belong specifically to blog ID 4 (wp_4_posts,
   wp_4_options, etc.) versus the shared wp_users/wp_usermeta table that spans the
   whole network, and how to decide which users actually need to come over (only
   those with a role on site 4, not every network user).
2. User ID collisions: since the standalone install starts its own wp_users table from
   scratch, explain how to remap user IDs during import so a user who was ID 12 on the
   network doesn't accidentally collide with or get overwritten by a different user
   who happens to get ID 12 on the new standalone site, and how to keep post author
   attribution correct through that remap.
3. Network-activated plugins: identify that any plugin licensed at the network level
   (not per-site) will need its own individual license and standalone activation on the
   new install, and that simply copying plugin files over without reactivating the
   license can silently disable premium features without an obvious error.
4. Media path rewrite: files currently live under
   wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2026/06/file.jpg on the network, but need to resolve at
   wp-content/uploads/2026/06/file.jpg on the standalone site. Explain how to move the
   files and rewrite every reference in post content and postmeta consistently.
5. Verification: what to check post-split (every post's author still correct, every
   image still resolving, plugin licenses active) before pointing clientd.com's DNS at
   the new standalone install.

Give me the extraction and rewrite steps in the order that minimizes the risk of a
broken author attribution or an orphaned image reference.

Splitting a site out of multisite is really two migrations stacked together: extracting the site’s own content, and untangling it from the network’s shared users table without anyone’s authorship or licensing getting lost in the process.